~Rebel Assault 2

Info uploaded to the Cheet Sheets BBS, extracted from a compilation
of screen shots.


Never underestimate the power of the 
Force.  In spite of its weak gameplay, 
Rebel Assault somehow managed  to find 
its way into over 1,000,000 homes around 
the world. If some twisted student 
chooses to do their thesis on the 
phenomenon, they will want to mention 
the facts that the shop demo was the 
sharpest looking bit of software at the 
time, and after just a few months Rebel 
Assault was given away free with just 
about every multimedia kit sold.

Now LucasArts; eager to get another
Officially Licensed Star Wars Product
onto the market; are to soon release
Rebel Assault II. Blessed be the
gamer, for LucasArts have taken the
care to make sure Rebel II suffers
none of the afflictions that dragged
the original down - like crappy
joystick routines, run on rails flight
sequences, unfair difficulty and a
plethora of bugs (in the PC version).

The same basic formula is left
untouched. The three basic game
modes are: hand-to-hand combat,
flight manoeuvring and cockpit
combat. It sounds suspiciously like
more of the boring same, but
LucasArts assure us that oodles more
playability is a dead set cert. Ground
combat will include far greater
interaction with the environment,
with hiding and dodging the new skills
your rebel scum is blessed with.

They still can't hear you scream in
space, but anyone within a radius of a
couple of blocks will be treated to a
cacophony of wails, as your ship is
repeatedly pummelled to stardust.

With a hefty variety of ships to pilot,
as well as a meaty new range of
space-borne missions, Rebel II is
looking good for value. It also
faithfully adheres to the gaming adage
that "thou shalt not make a space
shooting game without at least one
asteroid field".

Fans of convoluted and unnecessary
FMV will find Rebel II a right treat.
The cool computer generated
characters from the original have been
replaced by live action (real people!)
footage. It's the first time Star Wars
material has been filmed without the
input of George Lucas, so the game has
much to live up to.

The plot picks up soon after your "shot
in a million" destroys the Death Star in
the first game. The astronomical
equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle is
sucking in rebel ships faster than...
things that suck fast. It smells like the
Empire is up to no good, with a bit of
recon work on the cards to get the plot
out of first gear.

Initially a PC CD ROM only game, Rebel
Assault II is due sometime towards
the end of the year, with a full HYPER
review sometime before then.