Star Wars Bounty Hunter Review

Star Wars Bounty Hunter, a remaster of the 2002 PS2 and Gamecube game, puts players in the virtual boots of bounty hunter Jango Fett, Prime Clone of the Grand Army of the Republic, who has been hired to hunt and capture a twisted and deranged Dark Jedi so he can stop his maniacal shenanigans.

Star Wars Bounty Hunter is a third person shooter where players run, jump, shoot and fly around various levels in order to reach the next. The jumping mechanic is pressure sensitive as the harder you press the button, the higher you’ll jump; in order higher spots.

The game is separated in six chapters and each has three levels. Along with your main objective, levels also has optional quests to complete such as finding and capturing specific targets. About 30 minutes in, you also unlock the jet pack. It’s a great way to navigate levels which will help you reach out of reach areas. Obviously, its meter is limited allowing you to fly for short distances.

Thankfully, the meter replenishes rather quickly, allowing you a chance to avoid certain death if falling from high spots. In terms of shooting, the game has three different ways. You can either run and shoot, pressing LT will move into a first person view where you can aim down or lock on your target for easier killings.

Developer Aspyr gave a great paint of HD coating to Star Wars Bounty Hunter that it makes it look good enough by today’s standard. Again, given this is a remaster not remake, the development team the best they could. The game’s visuals are drab; which is understandable given the game was developed for PS2 and Nintendo Gamecube; which at the time offered limited power and technology. The soundtrack is mostly M.I.A.. As you explore the various levels, you’ll get an ambient score with soundbytes of NPCs and when firefights break out, that’s when the classic Star Wars sounds come out.

As you’d expect, there’s a few things that dumb down the experience. The locking system is wonky at best; you’ll often try to lock on to a target in front of you, yet, it’ll lock on a target either on your left or right or even on a higher platform despite looking in the rich direction. It’s also a where the fuck do I go kinda game; it is expected as a 2002 game given the improvements made over time.

Aspyr did a good job bringing Star Wars Bounty Hunter to a new generation of gamers, but unfortunately, they couldn’t address the core mechanics of the game such as the navigational aspect of it, the clunky lock-on system. If, like me, you are curious to try to 2002 classic or want to relive it for nostalgia, this remaster is worth (re)visiting, but if you’re too familiar and reliant on more recent gaming features such as checkpoints and map/objective tracker, you might feel more frustrated than anything else.