This was pretty much the entire reason for the trip down to Anaheim. Ever since reading about Secrets of the Empire I wanted to see it for myself. It is Hyper Reality, meaning that you wear a VR headset but there are actual walls and objects you can touch as well. It is around 35 minutes long.
This was a lot of fun to do, so much fun that it seemed like we had barely started and it was over already. The backpack feels heavy at first, but once you get started it feels comfortable. The story is satisfying and immerse. You really feel like you are part of the story and on a mission. Spoilers after the photograph.
It all starts with a message from Cassian about a crate containing a secret of the empire. You mission is to collect the the secret, and return to base. You are the asked to customize your stormtrooper armor with a color, to help differentiate you from the rest of the group.
One you are strapped into the backpack and get to the starting point you are joined by k2so and a trooper. They further iterate your mission, and give you details of where you are going…
From there it is off to Mustafar and you take a lava skiff to the outside of an imperial building. From there you have to activate the lift by pulling a lever on the wall.
Next you get a blaster from the rack and proceed to shoot at some imperials troopers and some lava bugs. When you get hit the backpack will provide feedback in the form of getting warm.
After defeating the queen lava bug your lift descends further into the lower level of the building, with a newly made doorway courtesy of the afore mentions bug. When you walk over the melted doorway you can actually feel it squish under your feet.
You meet back up with k2so on the other side of a security gate. Your new task is to enter the sequence in the order that the buttons flash. I;m terrible at these sort of memory sequences, but nearly got them all before k2so overrode it. I really wish I had just blasted the panel to see what would happen.
Upon entering the next room you see a imperial droid carrying the secret crate. Of course you blast the droid so it will drop the crate. The trooper from the ship opens the crate to reveal that inside is a Jedi Lightsaber. Then you hear heavy breathing…the sound of Darth Vader he walks in as stormtroopers approach your location. After mowing down the stormtroopers Darth Vader will kill the friendly trooper and then turn his attention to your party. He will disable your blasters before k2so comes to the rescue with a starship right into Darth Vader’s pathway.
You get on board k2so shuttle, and hyperspace back to base. the Shuttle has a black R2 unit inside the bay, and as the show ends and you pull off your Headset you can see that the R2 unit is actually there.
You precede to have a photograph taken of your group with the backpack and headset on, to commemorate your mission success.
