Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

I just realized I missed out on the opportunity to do an on-theme post for the whole “May the 4th be with you” thing.  Oh well, better late than never I guess.

It probably won’t come as a surprise that there are eleventy billion Star Wars video games out there, ranging from completely mainstream to totally obscure.  I bet most of you out there have so familiarity with “Battlefront” or “Force Unleashed,” but how many of you have played “Yoda’s Stories?”  I figured I would split the difference with a game that was a huge deal back in the 90s, but has since fallen out of the gaming consciousness: “Shadows of the Empire,” a third person shooter for the Nintendo 64.

Before I get into the game, I should say that I am the rare “casual” Star Wars fan.  It seems like this is a franchise that everyone either loves to death or straight up doesn’t care about.  I have seen, and thoroughly enjoy, all the classic trilogy films.  I have seen all the prequels as well and I am of the opinion that the first was okay despite being unable to live up to the hype, the second was garbage and the third was solid.  The new ones are okay as well.  I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying I like Star Wars, but don’t LOVE it like some people.  I’ll put it this way, I’m a big enough fan to know that “who shot first, Hahn or Greedo?” Is a thing but not a big enough fan to care who actually shot first.

But in 1996, it was impossible for me to ignore Shadows of the Empire.  The Nintendo 64 had only two games at Launch, Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64.  I had no interest in Pilotwings and was beginning to tire of Mario 64, despite the fact that its an all time classic.  I am sure many N64 owners were feeling the same as they waited for the next batch of games to release.  But for me that group was underwhelming.  I had no interest in Cruisin' USA (and I still don’t) or Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey (which I later learned is actually awesome) and a weekend rental of Mortal Kombat Trilogy proved incredibly disappointing.  So that left Shadows.

While there are Star Wars games that follow the films, most of them tend to fill out stories from its vast “extended universe.”  Shadows of the Empire falls into the latter, covering the surprisingly eventful gap between “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”  You play as Dash Rendar, a mercenary hired by the Rebel alliance.  After helping out in the battle of Hoth, Dash’s quest to rescue Hahn Solo finds him between a rock and a hard place, caught up in the plans of the criminal Black Sun Syndicate.  The Black Sun is led by Dark Prince Xizor (which is pronounced shee-zore, despite what literally every kid on the playground tried to convince me back then), who plans to curry favor with Emperor Palpatine by eliminating Luke Skywalker.  In doing so, he will expose Darth Vader as a failure, establishing himself as the empire’s new second in command.

The story is conveyed through cutscenes that were pretty impressive at the time, with moving characters and flying vehicles.  Stuff like that wasn’t easy to do on the cartridge-based N64.  The sound is also pretty solid, it has a lot of the familiar Star Wars music and the quality is great.  The sound effects are pretty solid too, although they almost sound like they were recorded separately and just spliced in.  The presentation goes a long way in making the game really feel like Star Wars, from the theme to the fonts to the scrolling text.  It’s kind of cool that they don’t rely too much on familiar faces like Luke, Leia, Darth Vader and co. And let Dash, Xizor and others shine even if they aren’t the most memorable characters in the universe.  Instead, the game keeps you grounded in the universe with the aforementioned cues, as well as the villains both general (Wampas, Stormtroopers, Dianogas aka nightmare fuel, etc.) and critical (Boba Fett, the imperial walkers, etc.)

There are 9 levels, with five on-foot stages and 4 vehicle stages.  They range pretty drastically in length, with stages taking anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour to complete.  All of the vehicle stages are short and sweet, particularly the first stage.  It might not look like much now but at the time, playing the battle of Hoth in full 3D, blasting probe droids and roping walkers, was unbelievable.  The swoop bike stage is pretty cool too, you really get the sense that you are running through Moss Eisley and Beggar’s Canyon at high speed.  The flying stages are a little meh, and its disappointing that the final level is a flying level, but I don’t think they are bad.  The meat of the game comes from the shooter levels, the shortest of which will take about 20 minutes to finish.

Shadows of the Empire is another favorite target of the “aged poorly” crowd and that kind of starts with the graphics.  They are very blocky and the textures aren’t great.  The Wampas especially look like a bunch of Lego blocks melted together with faces drawn on them.  But that doesn’t detract from the gameplay.  Neither do the controls, even if they aren’t what you would see in a modern shooter.  It’s difficult to explain, but its kind of a cross between Resident Evil’s tank controls and shooter controls that were common at the time.  That sounds awful, but it works here.  A jumps, B Shoots, the C buttons switch weapons, move the camera, activate your jet pack and duck, the L and Z buttons lock you in place and allow you to look freely and the R button locks the turn axis, allowing you to strafe.  There is an auto aim, which gets more accurate the longer you fire and the closer you are to foes.

Surprisingly, the controls are actually responsive.  You can move and turn faster or slower depending on how hard you lay on the analog stick and the jumping, while floaty, works because you jump so high and far that it rarely matters.  But the biggest reason all of this madness works is because the challenges the game presents are designed with the controls in mind.  You are never going to be asked to take on 100s of enemies at once, but you still have to make decisions as to where to best take out enemies.  Is it a better option to get closer and let the auto aim do its thing, or should you keep your distance, lock down in look mode and test your aim?  Enemy fire takes off a pretty good chunk of your health, so you need to understand the terrain in the level, as well as how each type of enemy behaves.

Much of the challenge comes from exploring and understanding the levels, which are big, expansive and open.  Shadows of the Empire has surprisingly good draw distance for a N64 game of this era, so you can usually spot enemies before they spot you.  Getting the drop on enemies is way more important on the higher difficulties, as they drain your life in just a few blaster shots.  Most of the levels allow you to attack them with your own style and pace, letting you take care of the challenges as you see fit.  You always have the tools to do what you need and once you get the jetpack mid way through Gall Spaceport, the game really opens up and allows you to search for secrets or find the best way to attack your enemies.  I think the level design here is exceptional.  There are so many memorable moments, from jumping trains in the Ord Mantell Junkyard to sneaking through the sewers to taking down an AT-ST on foot.  

The game encourages you to go outside your comfort zone by placing challenge points throughout the level.  I think they did a great job of making these varied.  Some require you to challenge your skills with tricky jumps, while others reward you for exploring or understanding the level.  The reward you receive for getting these is substantial as well, as extra lives in this game are critical.  You respawn very close to where you died, which wasn’t a given at the time.  You can’t get a game over in the truest sense, but once you lose all of your lives you will be taken back to the top menu.  With all the enemies and pits in the later stages, losing all of your progress is a very real possibility.

It’s not all positive here.  The controls are responsive, but they do take some time to get used to.  This will be especially true for anyone more used to modern games who plays it for the first time.  The levels are big and expansive, but they can sometimes feel a little too long and this really stands out in Gall Spaceport.  There aren’t a ton of enemies, which could be a dealbreaker for folks that are looking to pump everything they see full of lead (or lasers, whatever).  I didn’t find that to be a problem though.  There are a few dirty tricks the game plays on you with enemy placement and I swear there are times where you absolutely have to take hits.  I did feel like some of the boss fights were underwhelming.  The AT-ST fight is great when you do it the way the game intends, but it can be cheesed easily.  What should be epic encounters with Boba Fett and IG-88 quickly turn into damage races once you recognize their patterns and the loader droid on the Imperial freighter is an absolute joke.  

The biggest issue though is that the game is just too dark. Sometimes you will find that you have absolutely no idea where you are going when you enter a tunnel or long highway.  This is especially pronounced in the last two levels, which have a bleak dreary aesthetic.  The short draw distance and random fog characteristic of the N64 also doesn’t help.  That being said, this can be remedied by adjusting the brightness on your television or playing on an old school tube TV if you have one of those laying around.  

Time may have forgotten “Shadows of the Empire,” but I certainly haven’t.  I was worried this game wouldn’t hold up and while it’s graphically dated, I found it a refreshing departure from modern third person shooters.  I don’t generally like these kinds of games and cover based third person shooters may be my least favorite kind of video game.  Everything is trying to be Gears of War.  EXTREME! ALIENS! HUGE GUNS! BULLETS! EXPLOSIONS! MORE BULLETS! JACKED UP DUDES! FIRE! MOUNNNNNTAAAAAIIIIIN DEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!  It gets old.  Shadows is more about exploration and approaching each challenge in an effective manner.  The excellent vehicle stages provide great variety and plenty of memorable moments. I think its an underrated gem and a great playthrough, whether you like Star Wars or not. Fans of the series will love the recreation of the iconic battle of Hoth and extended universe lore, but non fans will also find plenty to like.

9.5/10