Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire

Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire is a 1995 video game. It is the sequel to Star Wars: Rebel Assault.

Story
After the Death Star (and probably the game takes place after the Battle of Hoth although there is no such indication in the plot), Darth Vader has begun a new project for the Galactic Empire. Meanwhile, in the Rebel Alliance, some rumors have grown concerning "ghost ships" attacking Rebel patrols.

Rebel pilot Kirby with his wingman, Rookie One, receive a distress call from a Corellian Transport, while attacked by TIE Fighters. The pilot had crucial information about the Galactic Empire's new project. After the first wave of TIEs, laser shots come from nowhere and shoot Kirby down. Rookie One is left alone and lands on the planet Dreighton where he goes to rescue the captured transport and escape with it.

In her records, the Alliance learn about a secret Imperial mining facility in the asteroid Belt of Arah and a squadron of X-wings moves to destroy it. It turns out that the Empire was manufacturing a stealth version of the TIE Fighter equipped with a cloaking device. This allowed them to move through space neither spotted on radar nor by any pilot until they were ready to strike. Rookie One joins with Ru Murleen and as stormtroopers, board the Terror. Stealing a Phantom TIE, they manage to destroy the facility.

After returning to a Rebel base, the Phantom TIE self-destructs, killing no one in the process, but keeping the secret of the fighter from the Alliance.

Levels
And their Beginner Mode Codes:
 * (intially available) - 1 - The Dreighton Triangle
 * JABBA - 2 - The ''Corellia Star
 * ENDOR - 3 - The Mining tunnels
 * LACHTON - 4 - The Asteroid field
 * BORSK - 5 - Interceptor Attack
 * KROYIES - 6 - The Mining Facility
 * AURIL - 7 - TIE Training
 * KAMPL - 8 - Flight to Imdaar
 * FERRIER - 9 - The Mine field
 * GALIA - 10 - Speeder Bikes
 * DENARII - 11 - Aboard the Terror
 * SADOW - 12 - The Sewers
 * ONDERON - 13 - Escaping the Star Destroyer
 * ALEEMA - 14 - TIE attack
 * CATHAR - 15 - Imdaar Alpha

Characters

 * Rookie One
 * Ru Murleen
 * Admiral Sarn
 * Darth Vader
 * Captain Merrick
 * Admiral Krane
 * Ensign Till
 * Commander Jenn
 * Corellia Star Captain
 * Commander Kirby
 * Ina Rece
 * Darnell Reggs
 * Palpatine
 * Ackbar

Species

 * Human
 * Mon Calamari
 * Mynoks

Locations

 * Dreighton Nebula
 * Dreighton
 * Imdaar
 * Imdaar Alpha

Production
This part of the series contained mostly original filming with actors and stunts, while the scenery and the space scenes were 3D-rendered. According to LucasArts' magazine "The Adventurer", this game was the first media (apart from the Ewok adventures) to incorporate live-action actors and footage in the Star Wars universe since the Return of the Jedi.

In what would foreshadow the shooting of the Prequel Trilogy, the actors were mainly shot against bluescreens. Most of the environment seen in Rebel Assault II was computer generated; Not even the cockpits of the starfighters were constructed sets. Instead, the actors were placed on a bobbing seatlike thing and filmed; The cockpit (including the proper ship movement) was added in post production.

The Stormtrooper armors, weapons, helmets and suits (and possibly Darth Vader's costume) seen to be worn by the actors, were not made for the game, but are the actual props seen in the original trilogy, taken from the archive storage of Lucasfilm, worn for the first time after 18 years. It is notable that Vader was mistaken by the media to be played by David Prowse, but in reality he was once more portrayed by C. Andrew Nelson.

Cast

 * Jamison Jones &mdash; Rookie One
 * Julie Eccles &mdash; Ru Murleen
 * Gary Martinez &mdash; Admiral Sarn
 * C. Andrew Nelson &mdash; Darth Vader (costume)
 * Howard Swain &mdash; Imperial Officer
 * Roy Conrad &mdash; Captain Merrick
 * Craig C. Lewis &mdash; Admiral Krane
 * Michael Aron &mdash; Ensign Till
 * Zachary Barton &mdash; Commander Jenn
 * Marc Bauman &mdash; Cargo Captain/Stormtrooper
 * Chopper Bernet &mdash; Commander Kirby
 * Nicole Galland &mdash; Ina Rece
 * Carl Magruder &mdash; Darnell Reggs/Stormtrooper
 * Mark Christiansen &mdash; Rebel
 * Laddia Holly &mdash; Rebel
 * Garrett Griffin &mdash; Rebel
 * Jo McGinley &mdash; Rebel
 * Howard Meehan &mdash; Rebel
 * Marilyn Moeten &mdash; Rebel
 * Ron Roggé &mdash; Rebel
 * Greg Scott &mdash; Rebel
 * Carolyn Taylor &mdash; Rebel
 * Matthew Troncone &mdash; Rebel
 * Blake Tucker &mdash; Rebel
 * Denny Delk &mdash; Intercom/Red Shirt One (voice)
 * Nick Jameson &mdash; Palpatine/Stormtrooper (voice)
 * Colin Michael Kitchens &mdash; Stormtrooper (voice)
 * Scott Lawrence &mdash; Darth Vader (voice)

Canonicity
While Star Wars: Rebel Assault was deemed as S-canon, its sequel is generally superior and more sophisticated, and attempted not to have any inconsistencies. Although it is only a sequel, this chapter is considered C-canon. The TIE Phantom has been thence adopted to other sources, and described by Star Wars Insider 66.

Cheat codes
'Playstation Go to Options > Passcodes:


 * Easy Difficulty - X, O, X, O, X, Triangle
 * Medium Difficulty - X, X, Triangle, O, X, Triangle
 * Hard Difficulty - Triangle, Square, Square, Square, X, Triangle

Trivia

 * This part of the series contained mostly original filming with actors and stunts, while the scenery and the space scenes were, of course, 3D rendered. According to LucasArts' magazine "The Adventurer", this game was the first media to incorporate live-action actors and footage in the Star Wars universe since Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (although this is incorrect; the first Ewok film (Caravan of Courage 1984) holds this distiction). The stormtrooper armors, weapons, helmets and suits (and possibly Darth Vader's costume) seen to be worn by the actors, were not made for the game, but are the actual props seen in the original trilogy, taken from the archive storage of Lucasfilm.


 * The game makes use of the INSANE game engine.


 * Here, the player Rookie One is clearly shown and is obligatory male. He commands ships not appearing in the previous game, like a Corellian Transport, a B-Wing, a Y-Wing and encounters new opponents, like TIE Interceptors. The fly videos now seem to move and rotate according to how the player "moves", so that there is an illusion of "steering" the ship (which in reality is following a "rail" in a pre-rendered course).