Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

The Good
Shadows of the Empire (SOTE) was conceived as a multimedia project in the mid-nineties as the closest we'd get to another Star Wars film, without the expense of actually making one, and before the prequels appeared. It purposely uses a time frame between 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi' a period little covered, and focussed on the chase for Han Solo (frozen in carbonite) with a new baddie thrown into the mix. In a novel move for the time the creators decided to split the story across three media; a book, comic series, and this game. Each tackles a different facet of the story, occasionally intertwining scenes. The novel is really the lynch-pin of the group and I'd recommend anyone wanting to play this game should read that first as it will help you understand quite what is happening in the game.

The whole storyline for all the version is a bit shoddy really, even by later Star Wars standards, so the game didn't really have much to live up to. The plot of having a monstrous new evil guy, Prince Xisor, as powerful as Darth Vader is just lazy. Though you never really know it from the game, which plays out on the periphery of the main story, with three pretty unrelated scenarios; the escape form Hoth, finding Han Solo, and stopping Xisor. It's clear that the game's plot was developed last, the designers handed a complete story and told to fit a game around it. They made a good choice by focussing on one character, Dash Rendar, a new character devised for the series who has bizarre cameos in the other media, seemingly designed to fill in plot holes as he's constantly traipsing across the galaxy. Elsewhere he's portrayed as a more callous Han Solo, but the game designers evidently made him more loveable, removing that aspect along with his stubbly beard. The here-there-everywhere nature of dash makes him quite versatile as playing him enables you to be at several points of the action, and action is the game's speciality.

What kind of game did this create? Well for a start it was made for the N64 initially, with this Windows version being clearly a port. It means the level design is made to fit the console, and the whole game is quite short. The Windows version has been upgraded with higher resolution textures and completely different cut-scenes to the N64, now in full 3D. SOTE has a definite arcade feel to it, like the later Rogue Squadron III, mixing aerial combat with ground mission. In fact the first level seems to have directly inspired the Rogue Squadron series, with a game only scene of Dash piloting a snowspeeder against AT-ATs. The battle has been heavily altered to fit the constraints of the time and does really capture the atmosphere of a retreating action, or the scale of the later Rogue Squadron versions. Next mission reveals the slightly dodgy 3rd person shooter play mode as you escape Echo Base, where contrary to most shooters you don't pick up new guns but different ammo for your gun instead. Typical console shooter practices are in force here; enemies who are slow to respond and poor shots allowing you to first first, and auto aiming which makes any precious ammunition difficult to conserve. Then the final chapter of the Hoth sequences demonstrates the last mode of play as you man the turrets of your ship, the Outrider, to take out attacking fighters, whilst your droid co-pilot makes the getaway.

The rest of the game repeats one of these three types as it picks on any crumbs left from the novel's story to expand into levels, or else just alter the plot to include dash. Game-wise it delivers quite an action-packed experience, as the designers have tried to give each level something unique, such as moving trains, jet packs etc. Story-wise it's confusing and feels like someone's just handing you odd jobs, you have no feeling of control. the levels are all linear, you'll rarely get lost or stuck, but they are fun and I enjoyed playing them without getting bored. It's quite a short game, something I always like in shooters, with only ten levels. some of which I completed hardly aware they were separate levels. I just found it confusing that some of the events in the game differ completely from the novel just to give Dash a bigger role, but undermine the bigger story.

The Bad
That the game has been ported from the N64 really shows through and can make for a difficult playing experience. the flying levels are fine but the shooter levels have horrendous mouse control, causing several avoidable deaths. The auto aim is also frustrating as they do not allow any fine control, and often Dash decided to shoot at an enemy hidden behind a wall rather than the one who was shooting at me a little further away. it's a shame that the console limitations affect the level design so much, even for 1996 even though the texture have been upgraded from the console they are still horribly applied, appearing stretched and distorted. It also carries over the checkpoint save system of the console, so a couple of levels I had to start from scratch on, though this wasn't so bad as the levels are generally quite small.

My main hang-ups come from the bland storyline. Whilst it's nice you get to play as one character and follow their journey, dash really is a shallow Han Solo clone. The levels are simple shooting matches, no puzzles to solve and no alternative to fighting. The variety level type though (shooting, flying, 3rd person) is nice though, especially the flying which nicely handled and must have inspired the first Rogue Squadron. The 3rd person levels are pretty poor though, really feeling halfway between Dark Forces and Jedi Knight. It's a shame they tried to fir this into the main SOTE story so much, it could have been much more engaging rather than a series of disconnected missions. This is evident at the start of each levels, where are are directly told what you must do and why, rather than discovering it through playing.

The Bottom Line
This game feels like a play-through of scenes that didn't make the man SOTE story, with a character who desparately wants to be Han Solo. Still, it avoids any of the really stupid aspects of novel (sometimes even contradicting them) and instead makes a fairly short and fun action game. The variety of levels work here to create a more epic scale, though the lack of alteration from the N64 version means that frequently you die at the hands of cumbersome controls. However without the backup of the silly bigger story, the game can't really deliver much of a lasting impression.

Oh yes, of course it is another chance to re-use all the music and sound effects of Star Wars, including the famous death scream!

The Good
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• Immersive Star Wars experience: deserves praise for its ability to transport players into the Star Wars universe, with its captivating narrative and familiar locations.

• Varied gameplay: The game successfully blends different gameplay mechanics, allowing players to engage in thrilling third-person shooting, intense space battles, and even vehicle segments, providing a diverse and enjoyable experience.

• Authentic atmosphere: Captures the essence of the Star Wars universe, thanks to its iconic characters, memorable soundtrack, and impressive attention to detail.

• Engaging storyline: Shadows of the Empire expands the Star Wars saga, introducing new characters and filling gaps in the narrative, which keeps players invested in the game's events.

• Nostalgic charm: Players who grew up with the game on the N64 will fondly remember Shadows of the Empire for its nostalgic appeal, making it a beloved classic among Star Wars and retro gaming enthusiasts.
  
  The Bad
  

• Dated visuals: The game's graphics have not aged well. With polygonal character models and low-resolution textures that can be jarring by today's standards, it isn't looking its best.

• Controls can be challenging: The controls can feel clunky or unresponsive at times, which can hinder gameplay enjoyment. Camera controls also are missing/lacking.

• Limited replayability: Despite its strong narrative and engaging gameplay, Shadows of the Empire offers limited replay value once the main story is completed, as there are few additional incentives or alternative paths to explore.

• Inconsistent Difficulty: While the game generally offers a fair challenge, some sections can become overly difficult or require repetitive attempts, potentially frustrating less experienced players.

• Limited Character Development: While the game features familiar Star Wars characters, the depth of character development is limited, leaving little room for emotional investment in their stories.
  
  The Bottom Line
  Shadows of the Empire is a classic Star Wars adventure that still holds up today. It provides an immersive and authentic Star Wars experience, featuring varied gameplay and an engaging storyline. While the graphics may show their age and there are occasional control challenges, the game's nostalgic charm and overall enjoyable gameplay make it a must-play for fans of the franchise and those seeking a taste of retro gaming magic.

The Good

• Successfully conveys the Star Wars feel
• Nostalgically reminds me of the (far superior) Dark Forces series
• Nice variety in level types
• Cool story and cut-scenes

**The Bad**

• Limited control over the camera
• Some very bland and empty levels
• Badly thought out level bosses

**The Bottom Line**
At the time of this game's release my PC did not live up to the minimum requirements. So even though I was quite a Star Wars fan I had to let this title slip by. I did have the chance to play the first level at a friend, but it stayed at that. Until 2010 when I finally got around playing this game. Interestingly for an early Windows 95 game it installed without any problems whatsoever on my Windows XP machine. I could just jump straight into the action. Unfortunately I was staying at my parents where I did not have a gamepad at my disposal, so I was forced to play the game with mouse and keyboard. I must say that I preferred playing it with just the keyboard. Except for the boss fights where quick circle strafing seemed to be the dominant strategy. More on this later. The game sucks you in immediately with splendid Star Wars music and sound effects. The menu interface is obviously designed for consoles, but hey we're kind of used to that in 2010. Might have been a shock at the time. The first mission is immediately one of the best. It's a re-imagining of the Battle of Hoth from Star Wars Episode V. The player controls a Snow Speeder and has to take out Probe Droids, ATSTs and ATATs (2 legged and 4 legged walking tanks). The controls are very easy and very arcade like. And even with the keyboard it's quite easy to aim at your targets even with the lack of a cross-hair. The Snow Speeder scene is the only level in which you get to fly on land. There are some other missions where you fight in space, but most of the missions are third person shooter levels. Although the camera is configurable. It is also possible to play in first person, top-down or with a stationary camera. But even though I'm a big fan of first person perspectives I found that 3rd person works best for this game. Mainly because you can't look up and down. Dark Forces and its sequel Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight count themselves as some of my favourite games of all time. And I think that in the end those games are the reason I started liking this game. Because in reality it is far inferior to those two games. Continuously throughout the game I was welcomed by warm nostalgia. Textures and 3D models that were reused in Jedi Knight, rooms which had a very similar layout to rooms in Dark Forces and other similarities forced my mouth into a smiley at a regular interval. But while there was a lot of recognition and the art was quite good for the time, there's not much positive to be said about the actual level design. Most levels are very straight forward and plain to look at. There are some interesting levels that try to do something completely different. For example a train level in which you need to jump onto passing cargo trains. And some levels feature slightly more elaborate switch puzzles. But nothing to tease the mind. The controls for the third person sequences work, but pale in comparison to Quake, which was released some months earlier. The fact that you can't look up can be annoying, because often levels can be quite vertical. The vertical aspect is further explored in some of the levels where you have a jet pack to your disposal. This jet pack seems like a lot of fun at first, but soon turns out to be a chore. The reason for this is again that you can't look down or up. So you can't really see where you are going. The story of the game is pretty cool. It follows the story of the book and graphic novel of the same name and ties in nicely with the films. In-game the story is told in high quality rendered full motion videos which are quite a reward for finishing a level. The worst part of the game is arguably the level bosses. There's quite a few of them, but most battles don't seem very well thought out. Take the ATST for example. This mini-boss has to be defeated several time. The ATST has 1000 hit points and hitting it with the laser pistol does 1 damage. When circle strafing around the ATST it's impossible for it to hit the player. But it takes a couple minutes before your damage adds up to a thousand. The game usually assumes you still have some missiles left which do more damage, but that's not always the case. Often I missed a few of my missiles and got the ATST to 500 hit points. leaving me to circle strafe for two minutes before it would collapse. Many of the other bosses can be killed in the same way. They will never be able to hit you. Others can fly and you need to use your jet pack to get to the same height first. Which is again annoying due to the poor camera system. The final boss can be killed in three hits because at that time you find some really powerful weapon. The game sees re-playability through its different difficulty levels and the challenge points which can be found in each level. Frankly I didn't bother with them. The game is great for a single run-through, but doesn't really invite for a second play-through. The game is remarkably short. I finished it in roughly four hours. By no means is this a really good game. And quite frankly I think that people with no relationship with Star Wars will not find any satisfaction in this game. The main elements that make this game fun is how it reminds of Star Wars and Dark Forces similarly to the way Outlaws reminds of Dark Forces (compare the sewer levels for example). Hence the guilty pleasure. I had a lot of fun this weekend with this game even though there are so many better games around.