Resistance is futile! (Star Trek Voyager - Elite Force (PC))

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Star Trek Voyager - Elite Force (PC)
Date:	27/04/02 (323 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Star Trek, Uses cast voices , Atmospheric

Disadvantages: Star Trek, Too easy and too short

There haven't been many good Star Trek games released over the years, and the only other one I can remember offhand was another first person shooter (FPS) called "Klingon Honor Guard". However, that wasn't a particular success, partly I think, because no one wants to be a Klingon. Everyone would rather play as Kirk, Data, Seven of Nine etc. rather than some uncultured alien.

Here, in Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force (STV:EF from now on), you get the chance to pull on those Federation boots and go boldly where no-one has gone before.

This review covers both the original STV:EF game and the recently released add on pack.

=-= The Story =-=

As Ensign Alex Munro, you have successfully applied to join a new elite group of personnel on Voyager called the Hazard Team whose duties involve dangerous away missions and other erm... hazardous tasks. Just as your training finishes, Voyager comes into contact with a hostile alien probe that attacks without provocation and does not respond to contact attempts.

Voyager sustains heavy damage, but at the last minute is able to destroy the probe, after taking heavy damage. However, when the probe is destroyed, it releases some type of energy wave that transports Voyager and it's crew to an unknown part of space.

When the short-range sensors come back online, it appears Voyager is not alone and there are other ships in the "graveyard", held here by the same dampening force that is stopping Voyager from escaping. What are the crew to do? Can Capt. Janeway and her crew figure out what's going on, repair the damage to Voyager and more importantly, escape from the graveyard?

=-= The Game =-=

First of all, I suggest you install both the game and the expansion pack at the same time. This doesn't make any difference to the game itself, but part of the expansion pack is the version 1.2 patch which contains Jeri Ryan's voice files.
This means that when Seven of Nine speaks in the game, it will actually be Jeri herself who speaks, rather than some voice actor (who doesn't do a particularly good job, it has to be said). All of the main Voyager cast lend their voices to the game, and this creates the feeling that you are actually inside an episode of the programme rather than just watching the telly.

The game uses a tweaked version of id's Quake 3 engine code, alongside Raven Software's Icarus AI code. Raven Software are well known in the world of FPS games, especially with their work on modifying id's 3D engines. In the past they have also produced Soldier of Fortune, and current projects include Jedi Knight 2 and the forthcoming Quake 4. However, it seems that the AI routines are only for your teammates. You are rarely on your own for too long in away missions, and your team mates do a good job of covering you and each other when you come under attack, although not perfectly. Sometimes they get in the way in battles and end up either shot by yourself or shooting you. Another minor point is when you are required to use lifts - your team members take an age to position themselves so you can go up or down. (Handy hint: Don't wait for your teammates - walk onto the lift and press the activation button. This seems to give your AI teammates a kick in the bum, and they get on the lift sharpish after that). However, the enemy AI leaves a lot to be desired. More often than not, when the enemy appears, they make a beeline straight for you, ignoring several team members who may be between you and the advancing enemy. This does get frustrating at times because you're meant to be fighting some of the most dangerous species in the galaxy, and they don't behave in the proper manner.

The Quake 3 engine feels "right". If you play a game on another 3D engine, then there's something about it which nags away at the back of your mind that you're not &q
uot;there", but are controlling a game character. This is especially true of the LithTech engine rather than the Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament engines, and can have a huge impact on the atmosphere of the game. Although, some of the other characters movement is decidedly second rate. On occasions, Tuvok hovers his way across the room, Seven of Nine walks like a female WWF wrestler, and other minor characters look like they're break dancing. On the other hand, the faces of the Voyager crew are well done, and each person looks like they should.

Speaking of atmosphere, STV:EF is very entertaining. You don't need to be a huge fan to enjoy this game, but if you've ever watched an episode, then you'll feel right at home. The storyline is excellent, so much so that it could easily be an episode of the programme. As is the norm these days, the story twists and turns until the finale. Also, you can play as either a male or female although this doesn't make any difference to the gameplay apart from having a male or female voice in the cut scenes.

Level design is distinctly uninspired, and the puzzles consist of the usual hitting switches to open doors, although the graphics are excellent, and do resemble the alien environments. So, any difficulty encountered in the game is as a result of hordes of enemies and finite amounts of ammo, rather than not being to solve a puzzle.

A slight negative point would be the weapons selection, although this is mostly to do with the Star Trek universe rather than the game. The selection of weapons you get is a major influence on how well the game plays. The original Unreal was a good example of an excellent game not being the best that it could be due to a weak selection of weapons. I would have to say that STV:EF is another game where the weapons are not great. They're practically all hi-tech beam weapons, although you'll probably only recognise the phaser and rifle weapons. None of t
hem have any "character" like the favourites of other games, and perhaps a few low-tech weapons would have added some much needed variety. There is a weapon for every circumstance, and so there is no real thought required to despatch your foes. The Borg, possibly the Star Trek universe's ultimate enemy, has had a weapon designed to defeat it, and rather than the cunning that is always required when they make an appearance in a Star Trek episode, it's now simply a matter of selecting the right weapon (the IMOD) and blasting away.

My one major criticism of the game is that it is simply too short. It took me three days to complete the game from start to finish, and that wasn't even with concentrated play. If I'd paid the original price when this first came out, I think I'd have been very annoyed, and even now I think it's slightly over-priced at £20. If it were £15, I think it would be more sensible.

=-= The Expansion Pack =-=

Apart from adding the latest patch (including Jeri Ryan's voice), what does the add on pack actually offer? Well, you get "Virtual Voyager", a small "adventure" where you are required to perform various tasks and hunt out items around Voyager itself. It's interesting for about five minutes, but there's no challenge to it, and no reward at the end. If it included some secret areas with some decent easter eggs, it might have been worthwhile. There is more to do - you can enter people's quarters and read their logs. You can also investigate the databases and look up info on various topics in the Star Trek universe, although these are really only for the hard core Star Trek fans.

There are also some extra games in the form of holodeck programs. For example, you can enjoy one of Tom Paris' "Captain Proton" programmes where you have to take part in one of those 1930's space operas, complete in black and while.

It seems st
range that Raven/Activision decided to charge money for this when it was first released, because it's essentially nothing that couldn't have been included in a free download. If you already own STV:EF, then I would avoid the expansion pack and just download the 1.2 patch instead.

You can download the 1.2 patch from the internet for free so that your original game can be compatible with the online servers without having to pay for the add on pack, although you do not get the "Virtual Voyager" or other extras.

=-= Multiplayer =-=

While STV:EF is primarily a single player game, there is the usual multiplayer aspect. You can play online against human opponents, or offline against AI bots. The AI bots can be configured to several levels of difficulty, so you can gain some much needed practice before entering proper online play. Some of the multiplayer maps are too claustrophobic, and like elements of the full game, seem lacking in invention sometimes.

Raven have added nothing to the multiplayer aspect, and really this is little more than a "Star Trek" modification for Quake 3.

=-= PC Specifications =-=

The minimum specifications quoted for this game are:
Pentium 2 233Mhz (or AMD K6-2 350 Mhz)
64MB RAM
8MB Video card
Direct X 7.0a
650Mb HD space
Sound card (DX7.0a compatible)

I ran the game on:
AMD Duron 750Mhz
192MB RAM
32MB GeForce video card
Soundblaster Live! Soundcard

I think the minimum specifications are too low - my experience tells me that I wouldn't even consider this unless you had at least a 500Mhz processor and 128Mb of RAM. You can, of course, scale all the sound and video options to get a smooth game on most systems.

=-= Overall =-=

At £20, it's slightly over-priced. If you see it at £15, and if FPS games are your cup of tea then by all means go for it. This is especially true if you're a S
tar Trek fan, although much more could have been made of the license and game, it's by no means a disaster.

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