Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (2024)

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was provided by Aspyr for review. Thank you!

I remember when I was a young lad worshipping my Nintendo GameCube. To this day, it will be my favorite console that I have fond memories playing games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Naruto: Clash of Ninja, and One Piece Grand Adventure. I remember going to EB Games near where I grew up to check out new titles to buy, and there was always one that caught my eye: Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. I was a huge fan of the series and I thought it was so cool to play as Jango Fett and fly around, though sadly, I never got to experience it for myself. Fast forward to now, I finally get the chance to play the game I had been curious about, and while it was enjoyable, I think past players will feel the most fulfilled playing this again.

For some context, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter was originally released on the GameCube and PS2 in 2002. The new remaster, which we are reviewing, comes with improved texture and lighting effects, as well as a flashlight for darker areas in levels. There is also a neat easter egg that allows you to play as another character from the series once you beat the game and get 100% completion, but I won't spoil who that is.

The story of Bounty Hunter takes place in between Episode 1 and Episode 2 of the Star Wars movies. You play as Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter in his prime, who has been hired by the Sith to eliminate the Jedi Komari Vosa. He will race against time and other bounty hunters to achieve his goal and get the millions of credits for completing the job.

The story is great, and if you are a fan of the Star Wars series, it answers some questions and provides background information about Jango Fett's character. For example, we learn how he acquired his iconic Slave 1 ship and discover why he was chosen as the genetic template for the Republic. I love games that are part of a larger series and tell smaller tales to fill out the lore behind popular characters, and Bounty Hunter does just that! Jango Fett is a really cool character, and being able to see more of him and learn about his past before we meet him was great.

The visuals are also getting a nice upgrade with this version of the game. Compared to the original version, everything has gotten a nice upgrade, with visibly better textures, lighting, and a resolution bump. It still has the level design and overall feel of the original, so newcomers playing this version may still feel like it's dated, but it does look better overall.

Then we have the gameplay, which will definitely feel dated, but it's still very playable. You play in a third-person view with a behind-the-model camera, instead of the usual off to the side that we see in most third-person titles nowadays. At its core, the goal of each level is to get to find your way through the level to get to the end, or sometimes beat a boss. You have an arsenal of weapons on you, ranging from dual blasters to flamethrowers, and you can switch to each at any given time. Enemies are sprinkled throughout the levels as well, so you will have to shoot and kill them with your arsenal as you run through.

The gameplay loop is pretty standard, and it can be enjoyable, but there are some aspects that make it feel dated. The camera view is the biggest one, and even when you zoom in to shoot enemies, it goes directly behind your head instead of to the side. It isn't the end of the world, but it still feels awkward at times. The enemies are a bit bullet spongey, and while you do have some auto aiming when running around and shooting, you have to be consistently looking in the direction of the foe, or else you will shoot away from them.

Even with all of that, I still enjoyed the gameplay. I had a good time running around and shooting the enemies, even if it was a little monotonous at times. It wasn't as engaging as other current titles, but going into this as a remaster of a classic game made me keep my expectations in check and not hoping for more modern mechanics.

The levels are designed with both vertical and horizontal movement being considered, so while you can run around, you will also use your jetpack to fly upwards or over longer distances in front of you. Using the jetpack as a way to move around is nice, though it does have a cooldown and you can't use it forever. I like using the jetpack, though due to the camera placement, it can sometimes be hard to see certain angles for the spots you have to fly to, especially if you are hanging on a ledge. This didn't happen often, but it was still there.

Bounty Hunter also has a solid amount of collectibles to get. You can find a feather in each level that unlocks trading cards, you can unlock a full comic in-game the more levels you complete, and you can get concept art by capturing or killing different bounties across every level. To find out who has a bounty on them, you can put on your viser to scan people, and use a rope to capture them alive or just shoot them. Once done, you can claim the bounty and get credits, which will automatically unlock concept art. It does give a reason to go back and play through levels again, which I did enjoy, and having the easter egg be unlocked for getting 100% on the game is awesome.

But no matter how you slice it, there's no better way to play this than on the Steam Deck.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter - Steam Deck Performance

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is nearly perfect on the Steam Deck, with fantastic 60 FPS performance no matter how you choose to play it. There are some graphical settings we can change, which does influence the battery drain, but even still, it never goes too high. But, since there is some difference, I have two different groups of settings to use and help you enjoy the game:

Recommended Settings

This was a difficult decision to make, but in the end, I went for extra battery life over the maximum quality. I didn't see the minor details that were no longer there with the reduced settings, and with an extra hour added to battery life, it was hard not to pick it. The biggest draw on battery is Ambient Occlusion, which deals with shadows that project from one object onto another. Keeping it off, and setting Anti-Aliasing to FXAA, we can get a great picture with an average 7W battery drain.

The change is a bit obvious with some shadows missing, but overall, it doesn't feel necessary to enjoy the game.

Quality Settings

Then, we have the quality settings. The game goes look slightly better overall, mostly due to the Anti-Aliasing, but it does raise the battery drain to around 10W - 11W. This does take away an hour or so of battery life, but it isn't the end of the world. If you want the best looking version of the game, this is the way to do it!

Accessibility

There are some small changes you can make in the game like toggling vibration and subtitles, as well as inverting camera controls, but there isn't much more for accessibility. You can also change your controls to mirror the older style, but the current/modern one feels much better for current times.

The game supports 16:10 resolutions, so no black bars for us, and has both cloud saves and controller support. There are no HDR settings.

Conclusion

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a trip down memory lane. It's a great way to experience the classic in its glory with updated visuals and other quality of life improvements, like the new controller scheme, and a new easter egg to unlock. Not much else has changed though, which does mean the gameplay loop and mechanics feel very dated, along with the visuals in general. The story still holds up though, and for the price, I did find myself feeling satisfied with this contained adventure. I think this will appeal primarily to those who played this in the past, but it's still a nice title to check out.

It helps that it runs extremely well on the Steam Deck, no matter how you decide to play it, so I would recommend it as a great portable game to play!

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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