Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire

Star Wars: Rebel Assault II - The Hidden Empire is the sequel of the LucasArts action game Star Wars: Rebel Assault, set in the Star Wars universe.

This part of the series contained mostly original filming with actors and stunts, while the scenery and the space scenes were, of course, 3D rendered. According to LucasArts' magazine "The Adventurer", this game was the first media to incorporate live-action actors and footage in the Star Wars universe since Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The stormtrooper armors, weapons, helmets and suits (and possibly Darth Vader's costume) seen to be worn by the actors, were not made for the game, but are the actual props seen in the original trilogy, taken from the archive storage of Lucasfilm.

The game makes use of the INSANE game engine.

Here, the player Rookie One is clearly shown and is obligatorily male. He commands ships not appearing in the previous game, like a YT-1300 Corellian Transport, a B-Wing, a Y-Wing and encounters new opponents, like TIE Interceptors. The fly videos now seem to move and rotate according to how the player 'moves', so that there is an illusion of 'steering' the ship (which in reality is following a 'rail' in a pre-rendered course).

Plot
After the destruction of the first Death Star, Darth Vader has begun a new project for the Galactic Empire. Meanwhile, in the Rebel Alliance, rumors have grown concerning "ghost ships" attacking Rebel patrols.

Rookie One, while flying with his wingman, receives a distress call from a transport being attacked by TIE fighters. The pilot has crucial information about the Empire's new project. Rookie One's wingman is shot down by an unseen attacker, and Rookie One crash lands on the planet where the captured transport has been taken. He escapes with the transport and its information. V38 "Phantom" TIE V38 "Phantom" TIE

The Alliance learns that the Empire has constructed a secret mining facility in the asteroid Belt of Arah and a squadron of X-Wings moves to destroy it. The facility is not simply mining ore, but is instead supplying rare metals required to manufacture the new V38 "Phantom" TIE, equipped with a cloaking device invented by Grand Admiral Martio Batch.

Disguised as stormtroopers, Rookie One and Ru Murleen board Admiral Sarn's cloaked Super Star Destroyer and steal a Phantom TIE. They destroy the Super Star Destroyer and the Imdaar Alpha facility manufacturing the new fighters. After returning to a Rebel base, the Phantom TIE self-destructs.