Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is a video game that was launched in 2001, exclusively for the GameCube console. This title, Rogue Leader, was crafted by Factor 5 and brought to market by LucasArts, serving as the initial sequel to the original Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Opening crawl

Plot summary

Ison Corridor from Rogue Leader

In the early stages of the Galactic Civil War, Red Squadron, under the leadership of Luke Skywalker, evolves into Rogue Squadron and takes part in several of the most important conflicts of the war. Skywalker operates as Red Five during his first engagement as part of the emerging Rebellion against the forces of the Galactic Empire, specifically during the Battle of Yavin, which culminates in the destruction of the original Death Star I.

Following this triumph, the Rebellion experienced growth, which in turn provoked increased retaliation from the Empire. Red Squadron found itself escorting a convoy from Yavin 4 en route to Hoth, only to be caught in an ambush by Imperial forces. Following Skywalker's crash during the Battle of Hoth, Wedge Antilles assumed command of Red Squadron. After the Battle of Hoth, Antilles participated in an investigation in The Maw, to scout an Imperial asteroid base; where he and Rogue Squadron freed prisoners taken on Hoth. Bothan spies transmitted the schematics and coordinates for the Death Star II to the corvette Razor, which was captured by an Imperial Star Destroyer. The Rogues disabled the Star Destroyer and sent it crashing into the planet Kothlis where the Rogues provided support to a commando team moving into the burning hull of the cruiser after its destruction to retrieve the data.

After obtaining the stolen data, the next phase of the Rebellion's strategy was initiated: under the guidance of Crix Madine, Wedge infiltrated the Imperial Academy situated on Prefsbelt IV, successfully stealing an Imperial Lambda-class Shuttle. As the Rebellion geared up over Sullust for their assault on the Death Star II, Antilles spearheaded a strike force tasked with capturing tibanna gas for the Rebel fleet stationed at Bespin. From that point, Wedge Antilles, in conjunction with Admiral Ackbar and Lando Calrissian, spearheaded a significant offensive against the Empire, culminating in the pivotal Battle of Endor waged against the Death Star.

Gameplay

Rogue Leader built upon the original game by delivering enhanced visuals along with a fresh tactics interface, empowering players to organize their squadron or designate targets for their squadron, such as laser turrets or opposing TIE Fighters. The game further expanded upon the unlockable stages featured in the original, with Beggar's Canyon being included in the tutorial, the initial level Battle of Yavin appearing in both games (Rogue Squadron referred to this level as Death Star Trench Run), and the Battle of Hoth being rendered with greater authenticity, thanks to the GameCube's advanced processing capabilities. The other significant engagement from the original movie trilogy, The Battle of Endor, was arguably the most extensive and demanding scenario presented in the entire game.

Levels

Scene from the Battle of Hoth level
  • Tatooine Training Grounds
  • Death Star Attack - This involves the assault on the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Initially, players are tasked with destroying the deflection towers positioned on the Death Star's surface to facilitate trench runs for Y-Wing bombers. Immediately following this, Yavin 4 informs Red Squadron of approaching enemy fighters. Upon successfully eliminating all TIE fighters, players gain the opportunity to proceed with their Trench Run. Players must navigate past turrets and obstacles, while also evading Darth Vader's TIE Advanced, accompanied by two TIE Fighters, all of which can be destroyed. After successfully evading Vader and his TIEs for a sufficient duration, players will hear Han Solo exclaim "Ya-hoo!" and must then launch proton torpedoes into the Death Star's exhaust port situated at the end of the Trench. Subsequently, players will witness Wedge, Luke, a Y-Wing, and the Millennium Falcon retreating from the Death Star, just before its explosion.
  • Ison Trade Corridor Ambush - Rogue Squadron, while escorting the frigate Redemption and several Rebel Transports, traverses the Ison Corridor, only to be ambushed by TIE Fighters. Players must defeat all TIE Fighters targeting the Rebel Transports to advance to the subsequent stage. After eliminating all TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors reinforce the Imperial ambush, granting players the option to switch vehicles to an A-Wing. Once all incoming TIE Interceptors have been destroyed, players, along with the transports and the Redemption, proceed into the nebula. Immediately upon entering the nebula, players are tasked with defending the transports from yet another wave of TIE Interceptors.
  • Battle of Hoth - This level allows players to reenact the Battle of Hoth. During this level, the gameplay is permanently switched to Wedge Antilles.
  • Prisons of the Maw - This is a bombing mission where players are required to liberate Rebel prisoners from an Imperial prison located within an asteroid field.
  • Razor Rendezvous - Players are tasked with shooting down the Star Destroyer positioned above Kothlis.
  • Vengeance on Kothlis - Players must fend off Imperial Forces until an infiltration team successfully secures vital data.
  • Imperial Academy Heist - Players must infiltrate the Imperial Academy and commandeer the shuttle Tyderium.
  • Raid on Bespin - Players must repel the occupying Imperial forces and safeguard the Tibanna Gas.
  • Battle of Endor - This level enables players to recreate the Battle of Endor.
  • Strike at the Core - This level lets players recreate the climax of the Battle of Endor with respect to the bombing run targeting the Death Star's core.

Secret levels

Development

When Factor 5 received early GameCube prototype hardware around the middle of 2000, the development team, which was then engaged in the creation of Star Wars: Episode I: Battle for Naboo, decided that their next project would be a direct sequel to what was, to that point, Factor 5's most commercially successful game: Star Wars: Rogue Squadron. With the consent of LucasArts, the team immediately set about building a tech demo to showcase at Space World, a trade show hosted by Nintendo. In a span of 19 days, Factor 5 managed to produce both an introductory cutscene that mimicked a scene from Star Wars and a playable demo, both of which were unveiled alongside Nintendo's GameCube hardware at the show. According to GameSpot, the cutscene "wowed audiences," and IGN described the demo as "drop-dead gorgeous."

Similar to Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo, Rogue Leader was once again a collaborative effort between Factor 5 and LucasArts; however, the majority of the game's development was handled by Factor 5. In contrast to previous collaborative ventures, the bulk of the level design, which had traditionally been overseen by LucasArts, was instead created by Factor 5, in addition to the game's engineering and programming. Factor 5's internal development team was composed of 25 members, along with two freelance employees. One level designer and the game's lead artist were employed by LucasArts. The development of the game's art assets began in that same year. Anticipating the project, modelers promptly began constructing high-polygon models of the playable spacecraft using Maya and proprietary in-house tools, and usable art was retrieved from the archives. Towards the end of December 2000, mission designers convened with director Julian Eggebrecht and producer Brett Tosti to commence planning for the game engine. The team eventually finalized Battle for Naboo, and full-time development of Rogue Leader commenced in February 2001.

The draw distance, significantly improved compared to the original Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo, was extended as far as technically feasible. A subtle amount of haze was intentionally introduced to evoke a sense of depth, but not to obscure the drawing itself. The game also features three distinct levels of detail; as the player approaches objects, their level of detail increases accordingly. By leveraging the GameCube's Graphics processing unit's TEV pipeline, Factor 5 was able to develop the shader necessary to produce the visual effect utilized by the game's targeting computer. The developers aimed to make the game as faithful to the movies as possible, studying Industrial Light & Magic's special effects, and incorporating some of the same sound effects, music, and voice acting from the films. The original actor, Denis Lawson, was also contracted to record new dialogue for Wedge Antilles.

With the development of the open-source Dolphin emulator, several HD texture packs were created.

Cast

Appearances

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