Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, & PC)

For decades now, the Star Wars franchise has been the gift that keeps on giving. Fans have received a consistent supply of high-quality games set on the galaxy far, far away. And while most games have been excellent by their own merit, some have slipped through the cracks, more precisely, games that launched many years ago. In an effort to revive history, Aspyr has launched a remaster of 2002’s Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. The studio is seeking to push current and next-gen hardware to the limits, not just by emulating the outdated game but by porting it over to modern consoles to run natively. The question is, have they revamped the new game enough to capture veterans and newcomers’ hearts alike? Cue our Star Wars: Bounty Hunter review.

Jango Fett the Great

Jango Fett first hit the spotlight in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. A skilled masksman and crafty mercenary, Jango quickly gained a steady fanbase. He was a breath of fresh air from Star Wars’ ever-consistent strive to do good. The Force remained untainted by villainy, but Jango desired to push the envelope of right from wrong by becoming the best bounty hunter in the galaxy and essentially going after whoever would rack him up the most cash. To be fair, many of Jango’s targets were bad people: dark Jedis, corrupt senators, drug smugglers, and other scum. But often, Jango mowed down multiple Jedi in violent ways; his methods left immense collateral damage.

In any case, we’re trudged back to the origin story of Jango Fett, learning his background. On the surface, you’re tasked with killing a Dark Jedi and bringing a cult called the Bando Gora to justice. But far more nitty gritty plotlines carry on throughout your mission, all pieces that complete the puzzle of Jango Fett’s life. At some point, you become entangled with another bounty hunter, Zam Wessel, and at another, you unravel how Jango came to own his iconic Slave I ship. Now, the missions themselves are linear, with often plenty of focus geared toward pushing forward. Hardly ever will you need to branch off the beaten path to explore, and that’s entirely fine. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is still very much the same as the original.

Dual Pew Pew

Your go-to weapons are dual blasters that you wield on both hands. You’ll need to lock onto enemies and fire endlessly. Locking-on is, unfortunately, clanky. The camera often bugs out alongside the platforming sections of the game. It can be quite frustrating, especially when there are waves of enemies coming at you. But at least the freedom to lock onto two different targets at once soothes the soul. Indeed, you’ll cling to your dual blasters for most of your playthrough. It’s the best way to decimate enemies, who often spawn in groups. But you can switch to alternatives, including sniper rifles, poison darts, machine guns, and more. 

You’ll need to tap the fire button over and over with limitless ammunition. Depending on how fast you fire, enemies will come tumbling down before you. But at a certain point, it becomes a mindless affair, especially when you consider the inconsistent enemy AI. Enemies just don’t seem to adapt to combat. Sometimes, they charge at you, uncaring of leaving themselves vulnerable. Other times, they’re spongy at the multitude of bullets you spray at them. They do peak intrigue when they’re a bounty that can rake you up some quick cash. Bounty hunting is a side objective that you can choose to take on or not. While it sounds enticing on paper, the implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

Stop, Switch, Repeat

See, to identify a bounty target, you have to scan them first. But to scan targets, you need to switch out the weapon you currently have with the scanner. It leaves you immensely vulnerable to attack with no weapon to defend yourself. So, you’re forced to weigh the risk versus reward of scooping up a new bounty. But it gets worse. To switch out weapons (and tools like ties to capture bounty targets), you’ll need to slow down and pull to the menu. You’ll then navigate through your inventory, which, with the 480p resolution originally built for this game, makes the icons annoyingly large and all still in the middle of battle. It’s a damning slog that discourages you from going after bounties. Eventually, you just stick to the mission to avoid interrupting the flow of combat. 

More frustratingly, modern games have already straightened all of these out. Switching weapons is now so seamless that you almost do it involuntarily. And if you must navigate to the menu, it’s only unless necessary. Sadly, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter maintains the original’s outdated systems. Surprisingly, as you can experience DualSense’s vibrations mid-combat, you still have to make do with fussy mechanics. In the long run, combat waters down into a trigger-happy adventure. It gives little thought to strategic maneuvering of the battlefield. And with inconsistent enemy AI, you’re left charging headfirst into battle, spraying everyone you come across with bullets till the level is clear. It takes away the fun of conscious thought, narrowing down missions to checklist runarounds that you can’t wait to wrap up. 

Across the Galaxy

To add to the frustration, when you die, you’re forced to redo the entire level. Alongside seamless switching out of weapons, needless backtracking should be a thing of the past. But then again, we have to remember Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a 2002 remaster. Still, the 2002 game wasn’t particularly spectacular. Its combat, although intriguing on paper, wasn’t fun to play. Besides combat, you’ll spend most of your time platforming. Thanks to a jetpack strapped to your back, you can fly, albeit for short distances, to reach higher platforms. Level designs vary as you move from one planet to another. But, like the combat, platforming isn’t as fun as you would hope. Aspyr has kept the combat and platforming intact, resulting in outdated design and wonky controls.

The visuals are a different story, though, as Aspyr seemingly focused their attention on improving the graphics. Textures are more defined now, distinguishing different platforms and environment designs. Further, the lighting has been improved immensely. The original was pretty dark and convoluted in some places, so much so that navigating the environment was tough. But with the new dynamic lighting system, finding your way around is much, much easier. Even Janga Frett’s suit has received a fresh coat of paint, with moments where you can see reflections of the environment around you bounce off of your helmet. But, again, the visuals are only as good as the original game’s era allows. 

Peachy

Ultimately, you cannot compare the visuals here to those in modern games. However, if you solely consider the graphics in the light of the original game’s era, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter does an impressive job. Similarly, the voice acting is commendable, although not excellent. While the music score is just as spectacular as you may expect from Star Wars games. 

Performance-wise, it runs pretty smoothly. Hardly any mishaps spring up that detract from the overall experience, save for minor bugs here and there. At times, Janga falls through surfaces, while some platforming feels inconsistent. Overall, though, your playthrough runs smoothly.

Perhaps worth mentioning is the flashlight feature added to the remaster. It’s pretty basic in that you don’t actually wield a flashlight to see through the dark. Instead, a burst of light just jumps out before you. Plus, you’ll hardly use the flashlight, seeing as the dynamic lighting does a fantastic job of making every place you visit clear. 

Verdict

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is an unexpected remaster that Aspyr has brought out of a 20-year hiatus. And perhaps the studio should have left it there, seeing as very little has been tweaked to justify a new game. Sure, the graphics are much better looking, but they barely hold a candle to modern games. You could say the dynamic lighting and more refined textures elevate the gameplay. But I’m not so sure every gamer will appreciate the efforts the studio has made. Even upon the release of the original game in 2002, it didn’t make waves. The combat and platforming were mediocre and rendered Star Wars: Bounty Hunter among the less compelling Star Wars games to play. 

But alas, the remaster is only going for $19.99. So, perhaps the price tag is enough to consider playing the game. If not for the mediocre combat and platforming, indulge in nostalgia. The plot, too, weaves some intriguing plot points about the bounty hunter Janga Frett’s backstory. It introduces some familiar characters who have appeared in other Star Wars entries. Ultimately, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter can use a lot more polishing of its controls. Preferably, a ground-up remake that ushers the combat and platforming to today’s gaming scene, though I’m not so sure a remake will spice up an already unimpressive game.