Choice. The goal of society, to give us as much choice as possible, for us to choose what we most want. No matter where you go these days, there is multiple options fo just about everything. Films, comedy? Which stars do you want to see? Clothes, what style? What Colour? What cut? Apples: green or red? Cox’s or Granny Smith’s? The choices seem endless and are all readily available, no matter the time of year. Yet this wealth of choice also has a major drawback that has a huge effect on us socially. With so much choice, with so much individualism, we as a society, rarely do things together, things that can bind us together.
This could not be truer for computer games. There is that much choice, that to be playing the same game as someone else at the exact same time can be rare but there’s even more to it. Because you might be playing the same game, yet most play is now online, meaning those revelations in story that might happen, are not encountered at the same time. That ‘wow’ moment you get to share with games, missed. And with so much choice, you don’t ever stay with one game very long.
So why am I mentioning this for a game review? Because the context for a game, a game that is twenty-five-year-olds is essential to understand the impact that this game had on a whole generation of not only fans, but gamers. With so little choice in the nineties, there are certain gaming events that have stayed with gamers to this day. People can remember, vividly, the day that they went to a ranch and got their horse with Link (and actually get to places a lot quicker), the day when they found out they could kneel as Oddjob in multiplayer mode and start running amuck amongst friends or the day when they finally defeated the forces of Andross in their trusted starfighter. These are all events that, mention to most gamers of the nineties, will bring back memories of gaming, of shared experiences.
Shadows of the Empire is one of these experiences, one that even after twenty-five years, can be remembered without pause. It had a huge impact on gamers. Why? I wish I could say it was for the game as a whole, but in all honesty, it’s because of one level that shook the world: the snow speeder level on Hoth. With games being so expensive, demos were a huge part of our lives in the nineties. PC Gamer, Gamepro and Edge, there were tons of magazines that gamers would buy to get reviews of games and even better, to get demo discs. For months, the only demo seemed to be playing was The Shadows of the Empire one.
This level was a new way of playing for Star Wars, this was a level direct from a movie that you could actually play and do what you wanted. Up until now, game graphics had been hit and miss and those with good graphics only gave you limited control over what you could do. The closest (if I remember correctly) at that point was Rebel Assault 2, which had pretty good graphics, but you could only move your craft left or right while the ship moved forward (and who doesn’t remember that sharp right turn through the tunnel!). Shadows changed that, you could move all through the plain of Hoth, deciding what you wanted to do. Were you going to shoot, or were you going to try and use your tow cables to bring down the AT-AT’s? Obviously Tow cables! Yet, this wasn’t like those previous games, you didn’t just engage your tow cables, move your snow speeder a little here and there while the computer moved you around. Oh no! You actually had to pilot. Many an hour or two of trying to stay close to the AT-AT so the line didn’t break but get too close and BOOM! You explode. Oh, it was exhilarating, it was frustrating, but it felt like Star Wars, you felt like a pilot of Rogue Squadron. Everyone at some point, as they got closer to that third pass, uttered, “just one more pass!” The joy when that AT-AT came down and that realisation, you have to do it again on the next AT-AT! Hours, literally hours spent on a single gaming level.
It is this level that epitomises the whole game, the freedom to be in the Star Wars universe. Everyone talked about this level for months and months. Everyone in the house would play it (I remember my dad sat there with an intent look on his face, determined that this time he was going to do it). It was the next step in gaming, and we all knew it. To come back to a single level again and again would be unheard of in this day and age, but back then we never questioned it.
From just this one level, this game achieved so much. It opened up a world of gaming for fans of gaming and Star Wars. This is however just one level and it can’t be forgotten that there was a whole game here! The game starts during The Empire Strikes Back, hooks you in through the nostalgia trip that the level brings, but then quickly moves onto events from Shadows of the Empire. We are introduced to the main character of the game (and the book) Dash Rendar, the replacement Han that has an awesome ship (The Outrider) and also his droid Leebo. A little fact that I should probably point out, that meant absolutely nothing to us fans in 1996, is that Leebo is voiced by a voice actor called Tom Kane. I’m sure he might have done some Star Wars roles since! From here, the game goes to a very different feel with the Outrider having to escape an asteroid field. Again, this plays on the nostalgia of The Empire Strikes Back, where you take the firing controls of the Outrider, trying to ensure the ship isn’t hit. This level, again, was so memorable for me and yet it is so different to the level on Hoth. This really sums up this game. Whereas Rogue Squadron you were always flying in a ship, in Dark Forces you were always on foot, Shadows had a wide variety of types of level, you never knew from level to the next what you would be doing, would you be in a ship, on foot, piloting a swoop bike.
You then have to track down Boba Fett and the levels require you to be Dash, moving his way over train carriages on foot. Again, these levels are just as memorable as the previous two, having to carefully time your jumps so as not to fall off the carriages. If the first level ever felt frustrating, it was this level that made it an art form. The one problem I remember from this game (and a common problem of a lot of games of the time) was the camera angle. “I can’t see!” was uttered many, many times in our household, as I’m sure it was in lots of others. Sometimes you just couldn’t see what you needed to do, if only the camera would move a little to the left. It left one feeling extremely annoyed as Dash fell, again, off the carriage and to his death. From Ord Mantell and Gall, encountering IG-88 on the quest for Fett, there was a real Star Wars feel to these levels. The change from flying to first person brought an interesting change that meant the game levels felt fresh and not repetitive.
From here, you head to Tatooine to protect Luke and have to take control of a swoop bike. Oh, the joy of flying a swoop bike. It felt new but also such a throwback to Return of the Jedi. The speed, the intensity, it was again a level with a new feel to it that really touched those memories of the original films. The swoop designs looked superb and the fact you were on Tatooine (which at that point, wasn’t the centre of the galaxy) just made it even more perfect. Now this is where my memory fails as there is a level before the sewers, and I remember the sewers! This is where Dash gets the plans for the second Death Star (or so I read). This is the first point in the review I’ve had to check on the levels. I don’t say this as a failing of the game, I think to remember this many levels after twenty-five years is a testimony to the strength of the game and the levels it has given us.
Because the sewers into Xizor’s palace I remember well. The darkness to the whole level, remembering that I had to wait, with curtains closed, for the sunlight not to be so bright in my room as I needed it as dark as possible to see the enemies that would pop out. Oh, those old television sets! The wrong time of day could be a death sentence for your character! There was a wonderful grimness to this level, which really set the atmosphere. And from there, the final battle in space, blowing up the skyhook. It culminates beautifully and by the end you were proud.
Now some more modern players maybe they’re thinking, that’s it?! How many levels? This was the joy of the games of the generation, they weren’t always very long. Yet Shadows never felt short for us. The differences in the types of levels, the annoying camera angles that made us have to play levels again and again, it all kept bringing us back day after day, trying to finally complete the game. And of course, back then, we replayed a lot. This game was released on both PC and the N64. Camera angles aside, the only real thing that let Shadows down at the time, at least for the N64, was that it was only single player. With Goldeneye showing us how amazing four player multiplayer could be, to not be able to have any form of multiplayer for Shadows meant that with friends’ round, it didn’t get played as much as it might have done. But this is a very minor quibble from a game that brought Star Wars gaming back into the spotlight.
As you can probably tell, bar one level, I remember the whole game quite vividly. Shadows was an experience that was so unique, with graphics that were amazing. The variety of the types of levels meant there was something for everyone but also meant each level was memorable. But just like Dash, we were also trying to find ways to save Han and help the Rebellion. This was a game that we could relate to and fit into what we knew about the movies. It is this nostalgia that played a huge part in the success of the game. The soundtrack was both what we knew of Williams, as well as new tracks created from the soundtrack that encompassed the whole project. The game perfectly balanced the familiar with the new to create a gaming experiences that few would forget and even after twenty-five years, I think it would be very easy to get lost again in the world of Shadows…
While researching for this series of articles, we found this complete walkthrough video of the Shadows of the Empire Nintendo N64 gameplay and thought it worthy of sharing for those who played to reminisce and those who didn’t to view it for the first time. There are adverts in this video that are embedded by N64 Archive and not Jedi News.
