Last week The Void announced that it was partnering with ILMxLAB and Disney to debut a Star Wars-themed VR arcade-style experience at locations near both Disneyland and Disney World.
Titled Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, the experience is a large-scale multiplayer adventure that takes place in the Star Wars universe. Its exact timing and placement in the timeline isn’t strictly defined yet but based on the single piece of concept art (included below) we can make a few guesses.
It looks like players take on the role of rebel soldiers fighting against Empire forces, as we can see Stormtroopers firing back from the background. Since this appears to take place on a lava planet, presumably the same one where viewers saw Darth Vader’s secret base in Rogue One, we can also probably assume it’s where Anakin and Obi-Wan had their final standoff at the end of Episode III, although that last bit is never specifically confirmed. So, we’re assuming Secrets of the Empire takes place on Mustafar. Based on the name of the experience, it sounds like we might have to infiltrate Vader’s base and steal “secrets” of some kind, which falls in line with the timing that presumably puts it (we’re assuming) near Rogue One in the timeline.
Now, let’s get to our wishlist of stuff!
Cool Jedi Things
This is a big shot in the dark because Secrets of the Empire probably takes place during or near Rogue One in the Star Wars timeline, which means there are basically no Jedi left, at least not any that are publicly gallivanting with lightsabers and force powers at the time.
We would love to see some Jedis face-off in the experience, but we’re gonna chalk this one up to the least likely item on the list. I guess people can still return to Trials on Tatooine to feel what it’s like wielding a lightsaber in VR for now.
Hacking a Door
The scene where Han Solo and company have to hack into a bunker door on the planet Endor is one of the most iconic (and intense) moments from Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Watching one player’s back while he or she frantically taps away on a control panel or tries to reprogram it and gain access would be a ton of fun.
This would also be a great way to add some asynchronous elements to the experience and encourage people to play through it multiple times so that they can try out different aspects of the adventure each time.
Face-Off Against Stormtroopers
Other than the Jedi, Stormtroops are arguably the most iconic thing from all of Star Wars. They’re renowned for their horrible aim, meaning it would be very simple to have them as enemies in a VR experience without providing a ton of challenge to players.
Let us face off against them in a big field like in Force Awakens (pictured above.). Or let us take them out from across long corridor hallways like seen so often in the original trilogy of films. We expect this to be a staple of the experience since we can already see them advertised prominently in the concept art work.
Darth Vader Appearance
This is what everyone really wants. We want to come face-to-face with the lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader. He makes a grand appearance during Rogue One and is the key character throughout essentially the entire Star Wars saga as a whole.
It would be great if we saw him off in the distance approaching as we tried to escape and any blaster shots we sent his way he just effortlessly deflects. That would be incredibly intimidating and serve as an excellent (and terrifying) finale to the whole journey. Writing this list article makes me more excited than ever for the Darth Vader VR experience ILMxLAB is also working on.
Cooperative Ship Combat
The end of this experience probably involves a getaway of some kind. To properly have a sci-fi themed getaway, you need a spaceship (like the Millennium Falcon) and a crew to operate it. Why not build out a room on location at the event that’s mapped out like the interior of a ship with chairs and controls for players to actually use.
Let us fly the ship off of Mustafar at the end, blasting away at enemies as they chase us. This would be an epic way to end it all as a Tie fighter falls away and crashes for us to narrowly escape. This is really just an excuse to fly a ship in VR again because the Battlefront VR Mission made it seem so fun.
What do you hope is included in Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire? Let us know down in the comments below!
