Star Wars: Bounty Hunter review: Always a pleasure

The Star Wars universe is chock-full of engaging side stories that put lesser-known characters in the spotlight, and there’s arguably no greater example than 2002’s Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. Released off the heels of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, the game not only shed more light on Jango Fett but also provided context for several major plotlines of the Prequel Trilogy. Over 20 years later, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is back thanks to a stunning remaster from Aspyr.

A simple man trying to make his way in the universe

Growing up in the 2000s, I loved Jango Fett. The intergalactic bounty hunter was introduced in the Prequel Trilogy and served as my generation’s version of Boba Fett, who remains one of Star Wars’ most recognizable characters. As flawed as they are, the prequel films made an effort to show how badass Jango Fett was as a character, and LucasArts doubled down on that idea with Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.

Set before and parallel to the events of Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter follows Jango Fett as he’s tasked with the dangerous mission of finding and eliminating a Dark Jedi. During that journey, he explores several locations from the Star Wars films, interacts with beloved characters and kills a whole lot of aliens.

The story adds color to Jango Fett’s past, showing us how he got his iconic ship, how he met his closest allies, and why he was cloned. It’s the perfect supplementary material that rewards players for engaging with it, and still oozes intrigue and mystique all these years later. Of course, the story of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is no longer considered canon to the main Star Wars timeline following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, but it’s still an awesome tale in the Legends universe.

The galaxy’s finest

Aspyr has given Bounty Hunter an extreme visual makeover in this remaster. The assets are virtually unchanged, but there are incredible improvements to textures, lighting, and color. Jango Fett’s armor is among the coolest designs in Star Wars, and it looks beautiful here.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter has also received a much-needed quality-of-life feature with the addition of the flashlight, which can be toggled on and off to illuminate dark corridors. There are still traces of that early aughts video game technology, and the flashlight makes it easier to navigate areas that are darker than they should be.

Aspyr has also added vibration support for controllers. I was playing on PC with an Xbox controller and felt vibrations in the triggers and handles when I fired weapons or received damage. When using the PS5’s DualSense controller, there are lighting effects around the touchpad to indicate Jango Fett’s health.

A little rusty

While Star Wars: Bounty Hunter sports a beautiful coat of paint, there are some pain points in revisiting this 22-year-old third-person shooter. This includes the camera, which unexpectedly whips around during combat, disorienting me and making it harder to focus on what’s happening in a fight. This issue is exacerbated when you lock onto an enemy. In most cases, I found it easier to keep my feet on the ground and just strafe from side to side while shooting.

Speaking of standing and shooting, I found some of the combat sequences to be a bit dull on a revisit. Boss fights are a good time, but many of the engagements with standard enemy groups boiled down to me spamming the shoot button while slightly moving from side to side. It’s exactly how the original game was, but child me couldn’t care less.

The legend of Jango Fett

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is an excellent revival of the GameCube/PS2 classic. It retains all the charm that made fans fall in love with it back in 2002, with several quality-of-life improvements to make it enjoyable for modern audiences. There are cracks where outdated designs/mechanics shine through, but Star Wars: Bounty Hunter remains a fantastic story from a galaxy far, far away.

This review is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter releases for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC on August 1, 2024.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_