The 2002 Jango Fett story Star Wars: Bounty Hunter has found a new life on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC thanks to a new HD re-release from Aspyr in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, and early reviews and comparisons confirm that it's head and shoulders above the maligned Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection from earlier this year.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter follows ol' Jango through a galaxy-spanning conspiracy that sets up his role in the events of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. It's a third-person action-adventure game that's big on blasters and jetpacks but also incorporates a variety of set pieces ranging from stealth and melee sections to sniper galleries and giant bosses. Naturally, you can also scan, tag, capture, or sometimes kill marked bounties found throughout the game's bespoke, remarkably dense levels – some of the many secrets this game is hiding. The best secret may be the collection of unlockable, lovingly animated and voiced "bloopers," many of which continue to live in my head rent-free.
Just as Jango straps on new weapons and gadgets as you progress, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter has been outfitted with some nifty features for its re-debut. Aspyr says the lighting and textures have been polished, controls have been modernized (with full mouse and keyboard support for the first time, to boot), and there's even a new flashlight to help out with some of the darker areas. The biggest complaint I had with the original, the sometimes jerky camera, has also been updated, which is encouraging to hear. Otherwise, it's the same game under the hood, and you won't hear any complaints from me. YouTube user Pentoplanya put together a nice side-by-side on YouTube for you graphics hounds:
As you may have gathered, I have a lot of love for this game, so it does my heart good to see people on Steam, the PlayStation Store, and the Xbox store all saying that this version plays and runs well. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter holds some of my most vivid childhood memories, from discovering this game at a friend's house while eating chocolate Buncha Crunch candy, to mowing down groups of dudes with the flamethrower like it's GTA. I have fond memories of rationing the one-hit poison darts, being scared half to death by the horrible alien leopards in the jungle level (the primary reason I was rationing the poison darts), and later replaying the game countless times on my own PS2. It's good! It's honestly held up pretty well, and that was true even before this HD version.
Meanwhile, Star Wars Outlaws is really starting to feel like Red Dead Redemption in a galaxy far, far away.
