hadows of the Empire is a sub-plot of the Star Wars Trilogy that Lucasfilm created to placate fans -- and make money -- waiting for the release of the new Star Wars films. The Shadows story takes place between the events in the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and it heralds the appearance of Dark Prince Xizor. Xizor is head of the Black Sun crime syndicate, and he has ambitions of displacing Darth Vader as the Emperor's right-hand man. But to do that he has to get Luke Skywalker out of the way.
In the game players take on the role of Dash Rendar, a mercenary-for-hire working to protect Luke and rid the Rebel Alliance of Xizor's threat. The action starts on the ice planet Hoth as imperial troops -- including the famed AT-ATs -- advance against the Rebel stronghold. In the first of 10 levels Dash takes the controls of a snowspeeder to battle Imperial Drones, AT-STs and the AT-ATs, earning challenge points (good for extra lives and other surprises) for taking out the AT-ATs with tow cables.
In the ensuing levels gamers will pilot Dash's ship, the Outrider, against Imperial TIE Fighters, fly a swoop bike through Beggar's Canyon and take Dash on foot through junkyards, sewers and finally Xizor's palace itself. Along they way they will fight a range of mini-bosses, including the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Thin story, fast action
While acknowledging that the Shadows story line is not much more than a glorified marketing scheme cooked up by LucasArts to sell merchandise, there's no doubt that this is a hot game. Shadows makes good use of the N64's capabilities to create detailed, 3-D graphics that bring to life the entire array of Star Wars characters and scenes, from the lumbering walk of the Wampas to dizzying fields of tumbling asteroids.
As with the previous Star Wars games (produced for the older Super Nintendo system), LucasArts also does an outstanding job with the music and sound effects. Blaster shots, Storm Troopers yelling out commands and even the eerily encrypted tones of Imperial Probe Droids all sound vibrant and close-at-hand, turning the N64 into a home version of a THX theater.
Where Shadows does falter slightly, however, is in play control. Because Shadows offers a variety of games in one package (first-person shooter, space combat simulator, etc.), players must learn new control techniques as they progress through the various types of levels. While the N64's controller was designed to be used in two positions -- joystick-and-trigger or standard push pad -- it's an uneasy solution. Add to that fact that pressing B fires a weapon on one level but moves Dash backward on another and it's easy to see how things can get confusing.
But ultimately having to learn new controls is worth the tradeoff for the variety that Shadows offers, and it won't prevent most gamers from enjoying this excellent addition to the Star Wars universe.
