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
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