Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire

Overview

Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire, also known simply as Star Wars Rebel Assault II, is a sci-fi on-rail shooter developed and published by LucasArts for DOS PCs in November 1995, with a Macintosh port released sometime in 1996 and a Sony PlayStation version released on November 1996.

A sequel to the 1993 game Star Wars: Rebel Assault, The Hidden Empire features higher-quality full-motion video with original live-action cutscenes (which is noted in promotional material as the first new Star Wars adventure "filmed in over a decade") that make use of chroma keying with pre-rendered 3D backgrouinds (a technique LucasArts later used in Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II).

Unlike the previous game, which was based on key battles throughout the Star Wars films, The Hidden Empire features an original storyline set sometime after the events of the original film. Players return to the role as Rebel Alliance pilot Rookie One as he recovers a captured freighter ship only to find out that Galactic Empire is mining rare materials used to manufacture a new secret weapon: stealth camouflage.

While the game retains its simplistic, arcade-style, on-rails action from the original, it includes several new vehicles to pilot (including the B- and Y-Wings, as well as the same freighter ship type as the Millennium Falcon). The "on-foot" sequence have also been significantly updated with a cover-based mechanic. The PS1 version, developed by Factor 5, reworks the in-game sequences in a real-time 3D game engine. While several of the missions still use full-motion video in the PS1 version, the ships are now fully-rendered 3D models.

Chapters

Similar to the previous game, Rebel Assault II includes multiple types of gameplay sequences. Third-Person "overhead" sequences were removed.

In the PS1 version, several of the first-person sequences can be optionally played in third-person.

1. The Dreighton Triangle (B-Wing) - First-Person
2. The Corellia Star - Third-person "on-foot" sequence.
3. Mining Tunnels (Light Freighter) - Third-Person, followed by First-Person
4. The Asteroid Field (X-Wing) - First-Person
5. Interceptor Attack (X-Wing) - First-Person
6. The Mining Facility (X-Wing) - First-Person
7. TIE Training (TIE Fighter) - Third-Person
8. Flight to Imdaar (Y-Wing) - First-Person
9. The Mine Field (Y-Wing) - First-Person
10. Speeder Bikes (Speeder Bike) - Third-Person
11. Aboard the Terror - Third-person "on-foot" sequence.
12. The Sewer - Unique first-person "on-foot" sequence. Unlike the other on-foot sequences, this one does not use cover-based mechanics.
13. Escaping the Star Destroyer (TIE Phantom) - First-Person
14. TIE Attack (TIE Phantom) - First-Person
15. Imdaar Alpha (TIE Phantom) - First-Person