Title: Star Trek: Elite Force (1/2)
Genre: First Person Shooter
Date Released: 2001-2003
Date Reviewed: 26/12/2003
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Raven/Ritual
Ah, first things first, you may be wondering why I'm reviewing both these Elite Force in the same review. Well, despite the fact that this is done by two different developers, the games are both so short, and similar that they could have come together as one, or the second being another expansion pack for the first. Never the less, the Elite Force series are a blessing to a game license that has seen more than its share of bad games. By far, Elite Force is the best use of the Star Trek license aside from the Starfleet Command games. It is a riveting shooter, and although it makes no breakthroughs in the genre, it is fun and enjoyable. Actually, its gameplay is much like that christened by the Serious Sam series, where the user basically shoots everything that moves. Not to say that its bad, infact, by the end of the game, you'll probably be asking for more of this ST goodness.
Story:
Hmm, a game that plays like a novel. Although I've only read a couple Star Trek novels, I'm pretty sure none of them involved anything like these games, it is easy to tell that it was built around having the player visit all these exotic locals. That aside, you got the good guys and the bad guys, and the pseudo-bad guys, who all make their appearance before the "final-boss". I have to admit that since the real actors that play Picard, Seven of Nine, etc. are all present, it makes the game that much more believable.
Gameplay:
Classic FPS shooter, where you get a load of weapons and you beam off somewhere to fight aliens. Nothing really new, aside from the ability to protect secondary NPCs that "may" affect the outcome of any given mission. It is very linear, and the second one even has sappy Choose-your-own romance thrown in. This game is however, very fun to play, albeit very cliche, even for the Star Trek universe. Especially the super-hero main character (who in this case, had 723 kills through the course of the game). I have to admit that these games are really too short in length, only 11 missions or so in each, which translates to maybe a 10 hour window per game. On the other hand, everything is exact, and short games tend to keep the player intrigued and captivated. What I would have enjoyed would be a free form exploration of the Voyager and the Enterprise (I believe they had an expansion for this, but it could've easily been made into the game itself), I remember playing a mod in Quake that allowed the user more freedom than this game ever allows.
Atmosphere:
One of the better aspects of the game, it does a good job of pulling you into the Star Trek universe, even if you aren't a trekkie. If you are, then you will admire the developer's persistence in translating the diverse environments from the show to the game. All in all, when you are running away from twenty borg chasing you down a cramped corridor, you'll realize just how good this game is.
Characters:
Yes, the characters are a little cliche, but they (for the most part) resemble greatly their tv counterparts. Especially Tuvok, who makes an appearance in both games, with his trademarked Vulcan tone. The characters in the first were from the ST: Voyager season, and although the second one promised to be from ST: The Next Generation, the only character I saw was Picard. No Data or Worf (Klingons take leaves?), although the Korban-Chell relationship kinda makes up for the humour between those two. As mentioned, the second game had a romance thing threw in there which was kinda weird (mostly because it was like choosing between bad and worse). Overall characters act as they should act, Federation acts like Federation, Borg like Borg, that makes the game much more enjoyable.
Controls:
I won't spend a lot of time on this subject, since it's only a FPS. You have the option to set whatever keys you want, I didn't come across any real problems. Probably the best thing is that they kept the weapon count to a bare minimum. I know that some games have like 20 different weapons, yet players only use a few of them throughout the game. Elite Force contains a diverse number of levels, some of which require the use of particular weapons. As they say, a jack of all trades, is a master of none.
Graphics:
Very nice, especially when Elite Force first came out. Now, even though Elite Force 2 runs on the same Quake 3 engine as the first, the developers have spared no detail in bringing the Star Trek universe to life. Everything looks as it should, and even things that they created look Star Trek-ish. Best part is that I was running on low-everything and it still looked good (hey, I'm using a P3 and a TNT2), I'm sure people would have much better results when everything is turned up.
Audio:
You have the classic orchestrated Star Trek theme, but music in between is sparse. However, in-game sound effects are believable, and the weapons and environments are resonating with sounds. Everything from the good-old phaser burst to the eerie clucking of birds in the dense jungle, work together to make the game captivating. Voice-overs are great, especially from the crew of the tv series.
Final thoughts:
If you aren't a trekkie, I would recommend this game as one while waiting between other shooters, such as Deus Ex 2, Half Life 2, and Doom 3. If you are a trekkie, I'm pretty sure that you've already played this game many times, and don't need someone like me to tell you to get this. Although this game is not a breakthrough of any sort, it is a fun, arcade shooter that anyone can enjoy. Overall, a solid game that, although hindered by some gameplay issues, is fun in single player, and even more so in multiplayer. I would certainly enjoy third installment, though it might be unlikely seeing as nothing new has come out lately, aside from ST: Nemesis (as compared to Star Wars of whose pre-series movies have prompted a barrage of new games).
Score: 82 ±5% (-5 if you are a veteran FPS player, you won't find anything spectacular in this one. +5 if you are a trekkie fan, these games are simply the best use of the Star Trek liscense, ever.)
Screens: (Yes, i know they are a little small)
[Spoilers-drag mouse over to view]:
Most memorable moment:
Running around the underbelly of the Enterprise E, trying to snipe some Idryll (sp?). The Idryll were attacking left,
right and bottom using some kind of wave weapon, and 20ft into space, I look down, get two of em before floating back down to the hull, frantically trying to
disarm the hacking device. Nice.
Most disappointed moment:
Fighting a Klingon riding some contraption circling me like a vulture. I had 3% health remaining, twenty shots, and the screen
went blank. Overjoyed, I watched the cutscene, only to find that he wasn't dead, had 80% health and was slowly opening the gates to suck me
out into space. Damn.