Star Trek: New Worlds

The Good
The idea of the story, Star Trek based on the ground. What happens when new worlds are charted and plotted by the galant Enterprise crews ? Well now you can see it first hand.

The graphics are quite sensational and the camera angles and option are truly great. There is nothing like commanding the units from the locked overhead perspective and then changing to the first person view to 'join' in on the action. I wish they had this in Command n Conquer. What would have made the game even better would have been to been able to jump in the unit of your choice.

The scenery is quite nice, from lava cascading down hills, to pockets of gas erupting sporadically to trees, lakes and glaciers alike. AND YOU HAVE TO SEE THE CLOUDS ... they are nearly the best part of the game.

The Bad
The inability to save during the missions, and the lack of multiplay ... a patch fixing some small bugs would have been nice as well.

The Bottom Line
If you are looking for the latest and greatest RTS game, then you will be dissappointed. If you are looking for a ground based Star Trek game with an RTS feel, then you will be happily surprised.

In short, -if you are a Star Trek nut/fan then you will like this game. -if you are a die hard RTS purist you won't like this game.

The Good
The story was half good, if not a bit silly. Planets appearing out of nowhere because of some weapons test seems a bit far fetched to me, even for Star Trek. The disk can be used as a coaster or other fun toy.

The Bad
First, after I completed the first 3 missions, there was only about two military units!!! Things took a long time to move around. It also seems to ignore most Star Trek Technological advances. Like most RTS games, there is a "fog of war". But in Star Trek, it still has the fog of war!!! If you watch a Star Trek episode, they always scan planets and can magnify the planet on the viewscreen etc. But in this game, they've apparently never heard of satellites or scanners!! This wouldn't be so bad if resource collecting was simple. You have to build a mining station to get resources. The only difference is that you have to be in some kind of special map mode to see resources. The resources have ridiculous names so it's anyone's guess as to what they do. There also a bunch of them, all with a different color on the map. Back to "combat". You have an array of nearly 3 different units to choose from and you build "Phaser Tanks". Click them to go somewhere and wait. You will see that they will get "snagged" on cliffs and other terrain, if that makes sense. You can play as Federation, Klingon, or Romulan, but all units and buildings are the same except for voices and skins.

The Bottom Line
I can't really say much about this game. It has so little substance. . If you see it, set phasers to kill....

The Good
The only thing I liked about this game was the presentation. It’s a fairly original Trek story, and a nice variety in the planet types. The graphics are neat and tidy, with some great looking ships and lighting effects. But........

The Bad
....... It’s nothing compared to past titles like Starcraft. The max number of players in mulitplayer is three; gameplay can be confusing at times, and the 1st person camera angle is a waste. The big problem with this is that it’s just not Trek-ky enough. Sure, you have all the races there to play with, but an RTS Star Trek title is nothing compared to being on the bridge of the Enterprise.

The Bottom Line
It’s an original Trek title that fails to deliver. If you love RTS games, Starcraft is you’re best bet. If you’re a Trek fan, and have the power of a P3, take a stab at one of the Starfleet Command titles.