While you might be eyeing Star Wars Outlaws for your next adventure in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter’s Aspyr-developed remaster offers a most welcome return to the gritty world of Star Wars’ PS2 and GameCube era.
Recalling the PS2 launch of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter in 2002, I fondly remember it becoming a personal favorite due to my affinity for Jango Fett’s appearance following his exit from Attack of the Clones. As a seasoned warrior clad in iconic Mandalorian armor, he made a lasting impression with his impressive feats of bravery on screen, wielding two formidable laser pistols that earned him a special place in my heart as my absolute favorite. That was sound 10-year-old logic. While the allure of the sport eluded me until Christmas Eve, I was surprisingly captivated by its intrigue for months afterward. With unwavering enthusiasm, I approached Aspyr’s latest Star Wars remake with fervent hopes, only to be met with a mixed bag of results.
Last year, the Star Wars Battlefront base game received overwhelmingly negative reviews due to numerous issues. While preserving the core expertise remained relatively intact, including previously platform-exclusive content, the online components suffered from a lack of cohesion, leaving a sense of disarray. Furthermore, the inflated installation size across various platforms was perplexing, raising questions about its necessity and potential impact on player experience. While most kinks have been worked out with the remake of Bounty Hunter, it’s understandable that seasoned Star Wars enthusiasts remain skeptical about the project’s revival after a prolonged hiatus.
After replaying the game surprisingly quickly, I’m fairly confident in reporting that the Bounty Hunter remaster ranks among Aspyr’s best Star Wars efforts, successfully rinsing away the unpleasant aftertaste of post-Battlefront mediocrity. Jango Fett’s armor glistens with an unparalleled sheen, while the environments burst forth in vivid colours, unlike ever before. Yet, despite its polished visuals, Bounty Hunter remains one of the most enigmatic and unconventional Star Wars games due to the preservation of its distinctive artistic vision, even as we’ve grown accustomed to upscale enhancements – plus some welcome touches of dynamic lighting, ambient occlusion, and motion blur (all toggleable).
Significantly outperforming its predecessors on PS2, later ported to PS3/4 and GameCube, the sport excels due to an intuitive, optional (yet default) control system that allows it to truly feel like a polished third-person shooter should. While the original launch possessed certain unconventional binding configurations, these ultimately resulted in actions feeling marginally more arduous than intended, rendering them a significant Quality of Life (QoL) adjustment within the overall remastered package. While playing on PC, I encountered some sporadic set-off sensitivity issues that caused Jango’s aim to randomly fluctuate in and out of focus. While the Steam Deck didn’t exhibit this issue, the Xbox controller functioned seamlessly across various video games, leaving me reasonably content that the problem stemmed from dead zones inherent to a specific game rather than any pre-existing issue.
Efficiency cannot be a top consideration when it comes to these remasters; rather, it’s essential to avoid approaching them in such a way. While anyone possessing a high-end gaming computer or console shouldn’t have to worry, some remastered titles unexpectedly place significant demands on even mid-range hardware. While I’m unable to discuss various platforms, it’s expected that the PC model would be fully utilized at 120 FPS and 2K resolution with a powerful setup like the 4070 Ti and 7800 X3D. Despite initial hiccups, a notable issue emerged in the early stages: Bounty Hunter’s persistent reliance on the CPU graphics instead of the dedicated Nvidia GPU, resulting in suboptimal performance. The consequence? Regardless of my tweaking efforts, the game stubbornly refuses to breach the 30 frames-per-second barrier. Upon conducting an initial inquiry with the duty supervisor, it was discovered that the dedicated GPU was not being utilized. The development team has been informed, and a possible patch might have already been rolled out; nonetheless, if you encounter unexplained framerate dips, bear this in mind as a potential solution.
As my fondness for retro gaming grew, I found myself gravitating towards the Steam Deck’s impressive capabilities in rendering vintage titles at their best, with even the likes of Bounty Hunter effortlessly maintaining a silky-smooth 60 frames per second performance at maximum settings and native resolution. While later generations may exacerbate the already considerable GPU load, potentially leading to efficiency declines, this is otherwise an exciting and dynamic technology that delivers enhanced visuals.
Bounty Hunter remains one of the most challenging Star Wars video games, with difficulty levels increasing significantly in its latter acts. The four remaining chapters expertly balance intense combat and platforming segments, often creating large-scale areas that feel expansive despite being part of a linear game, even by today’s standards. Recalling the innovative spirit of LucasArts in the early 2000s, it’s remarkable how they managed to push boundaries despite the hardware constraints. Throughout LucasArts’ formative years, a plethora of intricate facets within the Star Wars settings stood out, including the astonishingly high number of non-playable characters in certain regions or the surprisingly realistic sound design, showcasing the meticulous attention to detail that defined this era of innovation and boldness.
Despite advancements in gaming technology, many boss fights in this era remain woefully outdated, frequently overwhelmed by simple maneuvers like strafing and boosting while simultaneously firing both triggers with precision using your trusty Westar-34 twin pistols. In other regions, however, Jango’s diverse arsenal presents numerous opportunities for strategic exploitation; accordingly, careful planning and calculated risk-taking are essential to successfully navigating the complex landscape and emerging unscathed. For the first time ever, curiosity is rewarded with the exclusive unlockable Boba Fett skin, accompanied by a generous selection of achievements carefully crafted for the most dedicated players. Earning a perfect score on all secondary bounties requires dedication and perseverance.
By all accounts, Aspyr has excelled with this title, avoiding a misstep into mediocrity. One could argue that the only criticism lies in its trustworthiness and conservatism, making it a suitable option for those seeking remasters that are genuinely faithful to the original. The latest incarnation of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter may stray from its original form, yet Aspyr’s dedication to reviving classic titles with care and admiration remains unwavering? At around $20, you can’t really expect much more. Notwithstanding its reputation as a fairly superior prequel, Legends presents itself as a robust narrative precursor to Assault on Clone’s action-packed storyline, exceeding initial expectations with its richer, more substantial storytelling.
