Re:Play: Episode #5 - Star Wars Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire

Terrible gameplay, poor CGI , and even worse acting, Rebel Assault II has it all…

Welcome to episode #5 of Re:Play, a series where I look back at a video game or comic book that I have fond memories of to see if it holds up to my past experiences. So far we’ve dived into Alien Vs. Predator: War, Xenoblade Chrioncles, Star fox, and Rogue Trooper, with each being a mixed bag of nostalgic-filled fun. 

This time I’m heading to that galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire.

I first experienced Rebel Assault II back in the days of the original PlayStation. My middle brother still lived at home and while he was at work, his PlayStation console and game library was mine to control. While we didn’t actually own Rebel Assault II, my now defunct local video rental store did. Thankfully during one weekend visit the game was in stock and for £1.99 it was mine for two nights! As I raced home on my imitation BMX I couldn’t wait to dive into the world of X-Wings, Rebels, and the insidious Empire. However, in a shock turn of events (and due to poor standards at the time) the forst disc was too scratched to be played. So while my Dad took the game back to exchange I had to make do with Final Fantasy VII instead - a game that no one is going to complete in two days. In fact if memory serves me correctly I only got to the Midgsr Slums. Anyway, it would be a few more years before I finally got to delve into Rebel Assault II. 

At its crusty heart, Rebel Assault II is an on-the-rails shooter that’s been mixed together with a cinematic experience. While it’s set within the Star Wars universe, the story here doesn’t feature anything to do with the films of the original trilogy. Instead we’re thrown into the boots of “Rookie One”, a somewhat unnamed pilot of the Rebel Alliance. Taking place in between the events of ‘A New Hope’ and ‘Empire Strikes Back’, the destruction of the Death Star has seen the fledgling Rebel Alliance strike a major blow to the might of the Galactic Empire. Due to this loss the Emperor has tasked Darth Vader with overseeing a new development which could turn the tide of war back in the Empire’s favour. Meanwhile, rumours of ghost ships swell amongst the Rebel fleet. When a routine patrol sees Rookie One encounter a Corellian freighter that’s being hunted by a pack of TIE Fighters, its cargo may be the answer to these rumours of ‘ghosts’. 

Being honest my description here makes the plot sound a lot better than it really is. Rather than being its own story Rebel Assault II takes the interesting bits of the original movie trilogy and throws it in with stealth technology, and a new model of TIE Fighter. It’s quite forgettable and doesn’t add anything new to the overall Star Wars “experience”. Considering that the story is a bit of cliched mess it is still vastly better than Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. Where previous Star Wars title used more traditional storytelling mechanics of the time, Rebel Assault II brought a more cinematic twist with plenty of full motion videos that seamlessly connected each section of the story. These scenes then add plenty of context to each pixel filled battle, with each actors own performance adding to the tension of the overall mission. 

While overall presentation of the acting is okay, it’s far from perfect. There’s a few scenes when the acting doesn’t work such as the scenes between Grand Admiral Sarn and Darth Vader. These mirror Vader’s scenes from Empire Strikes Back with the Sith Lord losing his patience with the glum looking Imperial Officer pretty much accepting his fate. The same can be also said to the Rebels with some less than stellar performances from the supporting cast. Yet even with its often amateur feeling, Rebel Assault II was only created by team of fifteen people, and only took eighteen months to complete. While the team did utilise the technology that LucasArts had available at the time, I can only imagine what the game would have been like with a much larger team, and budget. 

From a gameplay perspective, Rebel Assault II plays like a typical on-the-rails shooter. Across the adventure you’ll be controlling Rookie One as he finds himself in one of four combat environments. These range from dogfights in space, rooted to the spot ground combat, awful flying missions, and a redeeming mission that plays homage to Dark Forces. While the gameplay isn’t excellent its environments and sound set each scene well. The opening mission for example sees you sneaking through an Imperial base, blasting Storm Troopers as you go  this is accompanied by those familiar blaster sounds and John Williams epic music score. 

As amazing as this sounds the gameplay is soon hampered by some less than serviceable flight mechanics. Controls here are ridiculously loose and the slightest movement will send your craft hurtling into scenery and other objects. The worst of these is dying the mine escape on a craft that resembles the Millennium Falcon. Here you’ll be in a high speed chase across multiple areas filled with duct work other vehicles and TIE Fighters which doesn’t leave much room for error. Likewise there’s an Endor style speeder level which sees you zipping through the woodland with only your reflexes keeping you from restarting the stage. There is some respite, as playing via the PlayStation 5 does give you a rewind feature that’s handy to correct any mistakes. Yet the original PSX release didn’t have this so any failure results in a stage restart.

Star Wars Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire will always be one of the favorite games of my childhood. While its gameplay hasn’t aged well, it stands as a testament to LucasArts commitment to expanding the Star Wars Universe before Disney retconned everything. Even with its janky controls and amateur acting, the narrative does enough to keep you engaged across its 3/4 hour run time, and you certainly feel part of “something bigger”. If you want to experience a slice of Star Wars past that’s away from Luke Skywalker and the Jedi, then definitely give Rebel Assault II a look. Even better is that it’s currently available as part of the PS+ Ultimate which means it’s entry fee is far cheaper that what a physical disc will cost you! 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social