Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force

aka: STEF
Moby ID: 2536
Windows Specs
Buy on PlayStation 2
$19.00 used on eBay
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Description official descriptions

On its course to the Alpha Quadrant, the U.S.S. Voyager is attacked by an unknown ship and is transported to a graveyard of ships with a giant space station in the middle. The player is Ensign Alex Munro (male or female, according to the player's choice), second in command of the newly formed Hazard Team, an elite force of Voyager security personnel. It's up to the player and their team to find out why the Voyager was brought here and to find a way to escape. To do so, they will have to complete several missions on different ships and space stations.

Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force is a first-person shooter that uses the Quake III engine. The different types of missions range from pure combat to stealth missions. The enemies include many well-known Star Trek races like the Borg or the Klingons, but also other alien races and creatures invented specifically for this game. All the weapons have a futuristic design, ranging from the low-damage hand phaser to stasis weapons and grenade launchers. The weapons either gradually recharge ammunition automatically, or require ammunition that can be collected from other weapons or terminals.

Though the player directly controls only Munroe, up to three teammates usually accompany him (or her) during the missions and fight the enemies, controlled by the AI. Scripted events and cutscenes often involve actions committed by these teammates. When not on a mission, Munroe can explore the space ship, talking to characters directly or overhearing their conversations with each other. A few decisions can be made by the player during the course of the game, which may influence the subsequent events.

A multiplayer mode called "Holomatch" is also available.

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Credits (Windows version)

243 People (188 developers, 55 thanks) · View all

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[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 45 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 80 ratings with 9 reviews)

The Security Red-shirts that don't die and actually kick your ass!

The Good
Raven delivers once again, and boy did they make a blockbuster this time!

Elite Force is the final proof of Raven's genius and understanding of action games and the fps sub-genre in general. These guys took a lame-ass license like Star Trek Voyager fit for anything BUT an action game, licensed the Quake3 engine instead of wasting time trying to code a lackluster clone and voila: They made the coolest fps to be released in quite a while.

Following the Half-Life school of thought the game puts an emphasis on scripted events and seamless levels that weave a large, cohesive storyline instead of splitting the action among different subdivided missions. The game fully immerses you in the game from the get-go as you take on the role of Alex Munro (either Alexander or Alexandria) second in command of the newly formed Hazard Team, a special ops version of the red-shirted cannon-fodder security officers that are equipped with enough firepower to, you know, not die so much!

After a kickass intro/training sequence which sets the stage early on (clasically displaying how our hero isn't as skilled as we think but setting the stage for his/her rise to the challenge and later display of courage), the Voyager encounters a nasty probe which transports it to an unknown galactic graveyard filled with scavengers of all corners of the universe all stranded in the location in the same way as our heroes. The quest is on, as the crew needs to find a way to escape their predicament and at the same time protect themselves from the assorted collection of desperate scavengers that see in the Voyager their ticket home. A good choice was taken by the designers to make the game as similar both in structure and storyline as a Voyager episode would be, you have the problem-establishing intro, followed by the Voyager show presentation (same one as on the TV show), the plot then resolves in standard Star Trek way with the entire crew chipping in from their area of expertise towards the succesful resolution of the problem, and finally everything ending with a lame joke and laughs as the Voyager speeds away. In this aspect the game will bring many smiles to Star Trek fans as it manages to believably cram many elements from the show in the game, including several races such as the classic Borg and Klingons as well as some nifty additions such as the alternate federation from the evil mirror universe, in a part of the game that takes place on an original Star Trek-era starship!

As you progress through the game you'll be sent away to all sort of hostile starships as you try to uncover clues as to how to escape, each location playing out as a mission of sorts with all manner of scripted events such as interacting with some aliens or infiltrating a hostile ship, stealing cargo by sneaking around and busting out and rescuing captured friends, etc. What's interesting here is that Raven also incorporated a series of branching events that can go either way depending on your actions, for instance, yeah we all had to infiltrate the Borg Cube, but did you save your about-to-be-assimilated CO or not? The game is sprinkled with small "decision time" moments such as these and while the game allows for only one ending, it's nice to replay it and see how the different decisions have their different consequences in the way the plot develops.

For those of you that are wondering by now if this is an adventure game fear not, the gameplay is definetively action oriented, and while there are some light puzzle/sneaking sequences in between the main objective of the game is to shoot the shit out of every enemy you encounter, and boy oh boy is it fun to do so! Raven made the right choice by not sending you alone in the missions (except for some specific sequences) and mimicking the actual away teams in the series you usually go at it with a group of squadmates to cover your rear and take care of special tasks (like hacking some system or interfacing with the Borg), while some reviewers qualified them as dumbass bots, I join the ranks of those that found their pathfinding excellent and welcomed their addition. Sure, they won't win the game for you, and they hardly make any sort of real damage, but they add a lot with their presence alone, making fights much more exciting and feeling more like co-ordinated, brutal assaults rather than a "one-man army takes on all comers" affair as it usually gets like in these games. Plus they add to the general vibe with their comments and in-mission dialogues, so another good addition by Raven.

The character development however, doesn't happen on the away missions, but instead on the Voyager. In another winning design decision, Raven borrowed some elements from the classic Wing Commander games, in which the gameworld doesn't stop between the combat sequences and continues to evolve via conversations and character interaction. Basically what you have here are breather sequences that add dynamism between the all-out fighting sequences and which take place in the Voyager, as you walk around it's corridors and talk to your various friends and companions. Interacting with them usually rewards you with an interesting, well written conversation which furthers the plot in some cases but mostly serves as a way of further developing the characters. Be it the bully/balls-to-the-walls general attitude of Biessman or the budding love interest between your character and Telsia (regardless of wheter you are male or female!! yay! Lesbianism in space!!). Anyway, at the end of the day these sequences provide more than just breathing room between the fight sequences, and give the entire cast of characters a more human touch that helps them become as memorable a cast as in any rpg game.

Going back to the action the game delivers quite an impressive arsenal of weapons, which while mostly being sci-fi versions of the standard fps arsenal manage to deliver some cool surprises with each weapon having alternate firing modes all with some kind of useful purpose. The weapon effects are simply astounding, triggering all sorts of colorful ray and particle effects that turn firefights into exciting lasershows just as you would expect them to be in Star Trek. This eye-candy however, comes courtesy of the Quake3 engine and boy does it get to strut it's stuff in this game! It might be the sci-fi setting, but quite frankly even after Medal of Honor and Return to Castle Wolfenstein I have not seen a better implementation of the engine. The character models are spotless, the lightning effects are incredible, the texture detail is awesome and the backgrounds... oh man, they are just incredible! From the green-glowing, intrincate interior of the Borg cubes to the bio-mechanical alien spaceships and the federation starships, every location in the game is rendered with lush detail (with the Borg cubes being the absolute winners). And the best thing about it is that you don't have to worry about performance hits! Since the entire game takes place on starships of varying size, the game maximizes the engine's preference for closed enviroments, thus you can have dozens of baddies battling a full squad of your friends with all those impressive lighting weapon effects flying around and still be able to run the game on a modest system! And that's with the amazing soundtrack and ripped-straight-from-the-show sfx thumping around in full surround audio!

If you do have problems however, you can always turn to the excellent detail-scaling options present in the fantastic interface that mimicks Star Trek's computer readouts and which also includes a small character/technical database for your perusal and easy access to the multiplayer component which delivers another homerun with a giant collection of models, skins and maps, as well as different gamemodes and a remarkably competent bot AI for when you just can't find anyone to play with.

The Bad
To the risk of sounding like a deranged Trekkie I have to admit that Elite Force has barely any flaws worth mentioning. As I perused through other reviews I noted how many people noted this or that, but bitching aside they are all personal considerations regarding how each one of us considers fps's to be (some people want to idly explore more of the Voyager, others want more control over your squadmates, etc.). The truth is that Elite Force is the best fps to come in a loooooong time, with it's only real flaw being that since it was probably aimed at action-allergic Star Trek fans, the difficulty and lenght of the game were kept simple and short. All you need to do to circumvent this is to turn the difficulty level up a notch and that's it.

The Bottom Line
A stellar fps about Star Trek? That doesn't make sense...Wait, a stellar fps by Raven? That's what explains everything! These guys know their shit and no other game proves this as much as Elite Force.

There's really not much more I can add. Excellently designed, action-packed, technically flawless and with plenty of innovative touches. Get Elite Force NOW.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2004

A short, but very satisfying FPS...

The Good
This game has everything a good FPS should have: fun gameplay, a nice plot, cool cutscenes, plenty of action, light to moderate puzzles, and good weapons.

The plot is nowhere near the plot of a game like Deus Ex, but it still good nonetheless. The games progresses like a Voyager episode: the crew is faced by some impossible problem, they blame it on the borg, and Janeway inspires the crew to pull through. Despite this, however, the plot is driven along by nice cutscenes with plenty of dialogue.

The game's really outstanding characteristic is its graphics. The Quake 3 engine shines once again, allowing the developers to craft some of best-looking levels ever seen in an FPS. From the shiny, curvy, sterile feel of the Voyager to the dark, ominous, creepy feel of the Borg cube, the game captures the environments featured in the show perfectly.

Another noteable thing about Elite Force is the multiplayer. Simply put, multiplayer is a blast. The weapons are great, the gameplay is fast, and it doesn't rely on heavy gore or excessive violence to make it fun. Sure, the gameplay of multiplayer is a bit derivative of Quake 3 (many of Q3's features remain in EF), it is the excellent weapons that set it apart.

Even if you're not a Star Trek fan, go buy this game. I've never actually liked the shows all that much, but I saw the game used at a local cd shop, so I figured what the heck. I didn't regret it. It's pretty inexpensive now, so you have no excuse not to get it.

The Bad
The game is just too short. I beat it on moderate difficulty about two days after I got it. Despite this, however, I enjoyed it immensely.

Otherwise, there isn't anything else that is wrong with this gem.

The Bottom Line
Even if you're not a Trekkie, get it. You won't regret it.

Windows · by Drew Dorton (71) · 2001

Good but needs to be longer

The Good
I'm a Trekie. My favourite Episodes of Star Trek are Voyager. It isn't just a shoot em' up: there are puzzles to be solved, and some missions require a lot of stealth in order to be passed. The team interaction is extraodinarly good. The levels are self-contained and there are plenty of them.

The Bad
I didn't like the short annoyed answers that you get every time you try to speak to anyone like your team members or any of the crew, and the fact that they disappear into thin air if you follow them. It is still essentially a shoot em' up.

The Bottom Line
It is a fun game worth playing but a bit short.

Windows · by ewan anderson (3) · 2003

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Actors

  • When the game was first released, Jeri Ryan wasn't available to do the voice-overs, and a sound-alike was used. All other TV cast members contributed their own voice to their cyber-counterparts. Jeri's voice was added in the latest official V1.2 patch.
  • Devon Raymond, the woman who does the voice for Alexandria Munroe, also appears in the Voyager TV series finale as a cadet.

AI

In the Gamasutra Postmortem for Elite Force, the developers note the challenges behind tweaking the PC-controlled Elite Force members' AI. Initially, the Elite Force was too good, killing most of the enemies and leaving little for the player to do. Then they made the team less effective, but this resulted in the enemies killing them off unless the player protected them. The solution was to have the Elite Force be less effective, but have the enemies target the player more than the rest of the team.

Characters

While most of the hazard team characters were invented specifically for the game, Chell the paranoid bolian is actually a minor character from the Voyager TV show who appears in the episodes "Repression" and "Learning Curve". He's also played by the same guy who does his voice in the game.

Cut content

As told by project lead Brian Pelletier, originally if you left Foster to be assimilated by the Borg, he would appear in the end to help you fight the Forge Boss (in fact, the Borg were supposed to help you anyway) however this final team-up was scrapped from the game at the last moment because of time constraints and AI problems, so Foster had to go.

Desktop

The game actually installs two icons to your desktop: one for the single-player campaign, and a separate icon for the multi-player Holomatch.

Development

Because of Paramount licensing requirements, The game was developed so none of the TV characters would be killed. Raven opted to create the Elite Force in compliance of the requirement.

Friendly fire

If you fire on a fellow officer, you'll quickly find yourself being targeted by numerous other personnel. If you actually survive the attack for 30 seconds, you are shown to be in the brig, being lectured by a cast member. The cast members actually follow a list, so if you quicksave before you kill a shipmate, you can hear all the crew members lecture you about your criminal actions.

References

  • During the "R & R" mission, after visiting the mess hall, you can visit your quarters. Inside, you'll find a PADD with "Vulcan Love Slave 3: P'orn Farr" as the content... No, you can't really read it.
  • Some members of the Elite Force are named after employees of Raven. For example, Rick Biessman is named after Eric Biessman, who did Holomatch Level Design for the game. Other examples include Odell, Foster and Munro.
  • The alternate federation you encounter mid-game is taken from the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the original Star Trek series, in which captain Kirk got trapped in an alternate universe where the federation is actually an evil dictatorial conglomerate.

Sexuality

Whether you play as a man or a woman, you end up being flirted with by a female character. This is almost certainly an oversight by the programmers, and is ironic as the Star Trek lineage has usually shied away from having overtly homosexual characters. The series' original creator Gene Roddenberry was reportedly in favor of the idea, note that the various Star Trek series have often been ahead of their time in having a multiracial cast. Other members of the staff (especially Executive Producer Rick Berman) had ruled against diverse orientations.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2001 (Issue #201) – Best Opening Scene of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Action Game of the Year
    • 2000 – Special Award for Best Use of a Franchise
  • PC Player (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2001 - Best Action Game in 2000
    • Issue 01/2001 - Best Star Trek Game in 2000

Information also contributed by Alan Chan, Dr. Elementary, Istari, Kasey Chang, Martin Smith; Scott Monster, Terrence Bosky and Zovni

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Related Sites +

  • Elite Force Universe
    Tons of resources for the Elite Force series.
  • The elite force homepage
    This wonderful little websites offer's you game infomation, as well as screen shot aided walkthrough's and stuff regarding Elite Force.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2536
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Terok Nor.

PlayStation 2 added by Kartanym. Macintosh added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Apogee IV, paul cairey, Patrick Bregger, Plok.

Game added October 23, 2000. Last modified March 14, 2024.