Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force

The Good
Elite Force (EF) is probably the best licensed Star Trek game since 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites.

You play Ensign Alexander Munro (or Alexandria if you play as a female), second in command of the "Hazard Team" - a newly formed unit onboard Voyager. The game starts out onboard a Borg cube, with you on point while downing Borg left and right. After accidentally blowing up your team, the holodeck appears. It was a training scenario. Thus begins the game, which actually looks like an episode of Voyager. From "Opening Credits" that looks like the TV show to the end credits.

The games graphics look absolutely great. Raven had access to the set, and the blueprints of the sets themselves so they could accurately recreate Voyager. They went as far as taking picture of the carpet to get the color right for textures. Using the Quake III engine and it's ability to create curved surfaces, Raven faithfully created the bridge, shuttlebay, mess hall, and engine room. The alien ships are also rendered true-to life, curved and very fluid looking.

The sound is very impressive. Again using SFX from the show (probably first-generation SFX, the actual effects used in the show, not secondary recordings), it immerses you in the game. Original music by the developers sounds like the background music to an episode.

The controls are standard FPS shooting fare, with the exception of reloading. Since there are no clip weapons (they are all engery weapons), you never have to worry about reloading. Although you need to keep an eye on your energy ammo.

The gameplay is varied. A lot of different logical puzzles are thrown into the game, and some really require you to think about where to go. Cutscenes further along the story much like when are watching an episode of Voyager. And being able to test out new weapons on the holodeck BEFORE going into a game situation is really cool. Especially the personal photon torpedo weapon.)

The Bad
On normal mode, the game is really easy to defeat. I've come to expect a lot more challenge to a FPS (especially after playing games like Return to Wolfenstein and Half-Life) on their respective Normal modes of play. This game just didn't challenge me, it really frustrated me on some levels. One instance is when the harvesters attack and you are killing them off one by one in the corridors. The number is so overwhelming (think of the bugs in the movie "Starship Troopers") it gets frustating when you run out of ammo.

The AI of the crewman that are on your side isn't the best. I can't begin to count how many times a crewman has stepped into my line of fire. And the AI of the enemies is pathetic as well. It seems that any enemy automattically concentrate ALL their attacks on you, even when there are THREE OTHER crewman firing at them? Granted I'm shooting at them, but others are as well.

And I'd have like to see more interactivity with other people. Between "Missions" you are required to go and talk with others in order to get the next part of the story going.

And I like action in the game. Granted your supposed to "be" a Ensign, but there was too much "lag time" between missions.

The Bottom Line
Not quite a must-play FPS, but well worth checking out for the unbelievable job Raven did with re-creating Voyager and the Star Trek look. Argueably the best Star Trek game in years, despite it's flaws.

The Good
This game is very good. If you like shooter games, this is for you. You can get a bunch of Star Trek weapons that you've seen on the shows. (and some you haven't) It has the best storyline that I have ever seen in Star Trek games. You literally get attached to the characters. (at least i did) Another great thing is that each weapon has an alternate attack. Most of the time they are more powerful than the regular attack, and all of them take up a bunch more . The graphics are great for a 2000 game, and you don't have to have a top of the line computer to play it on. I haven't found a single bug in it and i've beaten it twice. This lets you know how it is to use the weapons instead of commanding people to use them. In the holomatch mode, there are tons of characters and levels to choose from. You can play on teams or take on the everybody else.

The Bad
There is only one bad thing about this game. It's too SHORT!!

The Bottom Line
If you don't mind beating it the first day then this is a great game to buy. (it only costs about 10 dollars)

The Good
Lt. Commander Tuvok has decided that Voyager needs an ELITE FORCE of operatives who can defend Voyager and operate as a quick strike landing party. This ELITE FORCE will be called... the Hazard Team. Oh well. Vulcan creativity aside, this game is really good. Elite Force combines traditional first person shooters with squad based shooters. You will often work with a team of heavily armed crewmen on dangerous missions.

Voyager was been whisked into an Intergalactic junkyard populated with aliens and scavengers and is trapped by a central object known as the Forge. A series of missions (largely seamless) explore the mystery of the Forge as you travel to alien ships, ships that mirror Federation technology and defend Voyager against hostile attacks. Between missions you can interact with the senior staff (all voiced by the series' actors- a great touch), visit the Holodeck, the mess hall and other Voyager environs.

In addition to your trusty phaser (one of the best fps stand-by weapons since the crowbar/wrench? in System Shock 2), you have a wide selection of beam weapons and explosive devices including a personal photon torpedo launcher! As the game's tagline suggests, Stun is not an option.

Most of the missions involve killing everything in your path, but others require some degree of stealth. Team mates are largely unexpendable and senior staff members never are, so some missions require defensive strategies as well as a good offense. There are few, if any, key finding missions and the puzzles are logical and largely confined to restoring power and bypassing blockages.

Lastly, while I'm not a multiplayer fan, it seems like Elite Force's Holomatches would be pretty cool.

The Bad
Elite Force feels immersive to a degree but the amount of movement is severely restricted on Voyager (it's a bad sign when finding your quarters is an Easter Egg) and levels are pretty straight forward. While you can interact with your teammates, unless they have a scripted dialogue, they just acknowledge you and walk off. Also some elements that feel like they should be branching (like saving a crew member) have no payoff.

As a squad based shooter, the team AI did little other than jump into my line of fire or shoot me in the back. At best they drew fire away from me so I could flank around the enemies.

Load times were pretty long.

Finally why Voyager? Voyager was a boring rehash of earlier Treks that featured a mediocre crew boldly going home. Wouldn't it have been cooler to see the Elite Force concept used in a Star Trek Black Ops game (Section 31, baby!)

The Bottom Line
A really good Star Trek first person shooter with some flaws. Others have commented that this game was short and it might be, but I don't think anything would be gained by making this specific game longer. If you seem to be getting through the levels quickly, I recommend restarting at a higher difficulty level.