The intergalactic haberdashers at good old GOG.com have made this a Star Wars Day (AKA “May the Fourth Be With You”) to remember by re-releasing the Windows version of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire through their digital storefront.
Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1996, and later ported to the PC a few months later, Shadows of the Empire was Lucasfilm’s first attempt at a cross-media “sequel” to the original trilogy. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the game (and companion novel) stars roguish smuggler Dash Rendar, and follows his journey to help the Rebellion in Han Solo’s absence.
Like a lot of games from the late 90s, the third-person controls were a bit unforgiving, and you needed to be one with The Force to competently play Shadows of the Empire back in the day. But its depiction of the Battle of Hoth is legendary, and is the reason why game developers keep returning to the icy planet after all these years.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire will be regularly priced at $5.99, but nostalgic fans who grab it from GOG.com in the next seven days can pick it up for just $4.79.
