Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II (2016)
Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II is a 2016 shooter video game made by LucasArts and Disney Interactive.
Two of the earliest CD-ROM showcase games, bundled together. Rebel Assault and its sequel The Hidden Empire put you on rails through the Star Wars galaxy, swooping through asteroid fields, canyon runs, and trench battles while grainy live-action and pre-rendered footage plays around the action. You aim and shoot; the game flies the ship. In the early 1990s this was jaw-dropping stuff, a movie you could shoot back at. Today it is a time capsule of full-motion-video ambition, more about spectacle and atmosphere than deep control.
Quick answers
What is Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II about?
Two of the earliest CD-ROM showcase games, bundled together. Rebel Assault and its sequel The Hidden Empire put you on rails through the Star Wars galaxy, swooping through asteroid fields, canyon runs, and trench battles while grainy live-action and pre-rendered footage plays around the action. You aim and shoot; the game flies the ship. In the early 1990s this was jaw-dropping stuff, a movie you could shoot back at. Today it is a time capsule of full-motion-video ambition, more about spectacle and atmosphere than deep control.
When was Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II released?
Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II was released on 29 March 2016.
Who made Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II?
Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II was made by LucasArts, Disney Interactive and Lucasfilm.
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A few thoughts on Star Wars: Rebel Assault I + II
If it is the pure spectacle you are after, big scripted set pieces carrying you from one wow moment to the next, Half-Life 2 does that with far tighter controls and a physics engine to play with. A modern reminder of what these early showcase games were reaching toward.
Landmark games that pushed technology forward
Rebel Assault wowed 1993 players purely as spectacle, a CD-ROM showpiece more interested in dazzling you than challenging you. These earned their fame the harder way, pairing technical leaps with real design: Half-Life's scripted world, BioShock's undersea philosophy, Portal's physics toybox. Where Rebel Assault dated fast, they still hold up today.
Cinematic action games with movie ambitions
Rebel Assault chased the dream of a film you could shoot back at, splicing live-action footage between trench runs. These are what that dream grew into: set-piece adventures where the seams between cutscene and control nearly vanish, from Uncharted's runaway trains to The Last of Us. The spectacle Rebel Assault promised, finally playable.
Sprawling open worlds to get lost in
Rebel Assault flew you through the galaxy on invisible rails, one fixed path per mission. These hand you the opposite: huge open playgrounds where you choose the route, from Los Santos to the frozen reaches of Skyrim. If the strict corridors of the old shooter chafe, roam somewhere that lets you wander freely.