Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire

Rebel Assault II is the sequel of the LucasArts action games set in the world of Star Wars.

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 the Return of the Jedi. 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).

Story
After the Death Star, Darth Vader has begun a new project for the Galactic Empire. Meanwhile, in the Rebel Alliance, some rumours have grown concerning 'ghost ships' attacking Rebel patrols.

Rookie One while flying with his wingman, receives a distress call from a transport, when 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. Rookie One is left alone and lands on the planet where he goes to rescue the captured transport and escape with it.

In its records, the Alliance learn about a secret Imperial mining facility in the asteroid Belt of Arah and a squadron of Xwings moves to destroy it. It turns out that the Empire was manufactring a secret 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 figher from the rebels.