The Star Wars: Bounty Hunter current-gen remaster had a lot to live up to. Not only is it a modern re-release of a cult classic title dripping in nostalgia, but it is also the first classic Star Wars game to get a remaster following the absolute disaster that was the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection. Also, both remasters were developed by the same studio; Aspyr.
Thankfully, the Bounty Hunter remaster isn’t anywhere near as much of a mess as the Battlefront Classic Collection was at launch. Other than falling through the map once while crawling through an air vent, I never encountered any technical issues during my time with this remaster, which was nice.
The Star Wars: Bounty Hunter remaster is available on August 1st for Nintendo Switch, PC PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Not launching as a broken mess is one thing, but being an actual fun gaming experience is another. The Bounty Hunter remaster is one of those examples where your enjoyment will likely heavily depend on what your expectations are going in. If you are only looking for a better looking version of a fun game that you played 22 years ago that captures the nostalgia of that era then you’ll have great time.
However, if you go into this experience expecting the game to play like a current-gen title with free-flowing combat encounters and smooth traversal controls, then you are going to be disappointed. While the controls have been remapped from the original in order to somewhat make the game more accessible to a modern audience, it still doesn’t feel anything close to the moment-to-moment gameplay of something like Jedi: Survivor.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Remastered Doesn’t Feel Like a Modern Game
The aiming feels awkward and stiff, as do the camera controls in general. The traversal controls are frustrating and finicky. The cutscenes begin and end with a level of abruptness that is almost comedic.
Also, while the audio does contain all of those classic nostalgic Star Wars sound effects, the mixing is pretty awful to the point where it is sometimes hard to make out voice dialogue over the musical score. Other remnants of the past that we seem to forget about when we don our rose tinted glasses are also present here like checkpoints that are incredibly few and far between.
A certain level of patience is also required if you want to make actual progress through the fairly short game, as the way forward is rarely obvious and almost never signposted. A tutorial on how to hunt bounties is never offered either, instead opting for a, “figure it out for yourself,” approach.
My favorite gameplay element that I encountered was undoubtedly the jetpack. Sure, it is pretty primitive when compared to things like Anthem or Peter Quill’s jet boots in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but it does make for some fun traversal and combat scenarios. Flying around a room while blasting enemies is all that I wanted from Star Wars 1313, but in the meantime this will have to suffice.
A Very Pretty Coat of Paint
The coat of paint that the game has been given does improve things a great deal on a visual level. If you go to the effort of comparing screenshots of the original game to screenshots of the remaster, the difference is night and day. The effort that has went into not just up-ressing textures, but improving character models is noticeable and appreciated. It is just a shame that the in-game audio wasn’t given the same amount of love as the graphics clearly were.
In summary, the Bounty Hunter current-gen remaster is not a lazy remaster. Although a ground up remake would have been greatly preferred, the effort that has clearly been put into this re-release is palpable and feels like a welcome breath of fresh air following the Battlefront Classic Collection.
If you played this game as a kid, (like I did,) and you are just looking to relive some old memories from a simpler time, then there is a lot to enjoy here. If this is your first experience with Bounty Hunter and you go in expecting something akin to a modern AAA sci-fi action experience, then you will be sorely disappointed.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter – 7/10
