Star Trek Voyager Elite Force

                  Reviewed by Nick Edmunds

Possibly one of the worst things about Star Trek for me is that
everyone is so bloody nice and I find it particularly annoying the
way that the Federation always take the moral high ground as if
the rest of the universe needs some sort of parental guidance.
It's not that I don't appreciate the sentiment, but they even try
to mother species they've only just encountered, whereas we all
know that sometimes things just need to be killed.  This self
righteous attitude has tended to translate poorly across different
media and as such the dilemma with Star Trek games has always been
that the directives of the Federation tend to be quite
restrictive, particularly in relation to wholesale slaughter.
Let's face it, who would want to watch any film with a "Federation
Approved" rating?  Diplomacy may be very civilised but it ain't
half dull and that's where the Elite Force of the title come in.
The Elite Force are a special hazard team for those times when a
forceful response becomes the only viable option, alternatively
for when alien races get in the way.  Given that an armed response
is now acceptable, what better way to present the action than to
combine the best of the Star Trek series with the best of the
first person shooters?  Thus we have Voyager meets Quake 3 -
hurrah, another plan with no flaws!

EF is essentially two games: a mission based single player and a
death-match which can be played solo against bots, or multiplayer
over a network connection.  In the single player game you get to
play the miscellaneous new guy in a red shirt with the slim life
expectancy. Cast as the plucky ensign Alex Munro you are given a
choice of genders (Alexander or Alexandria - clever, eh?) and
rather than clad in any sort of androgynous armour, these are two
very different skins.  Whichever sex you plump for, Alex's hot
head is a bit of a liability in the earlier scenes and it's your
job to turn him/her into a valued member of the crew under the
watchful eye of your immediate superior Lt. Tuvok.

While the plot line isn't particularly intricate or clever it
serves to carry Alex from one away mission to another at a steady
pace.  The missions themselves feel quite short with little in the
way of game play as they are quite linear with no real decisions
to be made.  The long cut scenes do a good job of narrating the
plot, but at times it feels as if the levels link the video
sequences rather than vice versa.

Between missions you get to explore Voyager itself, watch other
members of the crew interact and listen to them moan on in that
whiney Federation way.  Many of these crewmembers are clearly
recognisable as characters from the TV show. And all your Voyager
favourites are featured with most of the voices provided by the
actual cast. Fans of the series will also recognise many of the
enemies encountered - the Borg, Species 8472 and Klingons are
featured, although as ever the Borg are by far the coolest.
(Captain we are about to experience flamage from the Klingon
faction!). Apparently even the environment visuals were created
directly from sets used in the TV shows, which means we are
treated to a very accurate representation of Voyager itself.
This level of attention to detail is consistent throughout
ensuring that EF is absolutely chock full of StarTreky goodness.
With more references than I could begin to assimilate there are
certainly times when some basic Trek knowledge would be helpful.
In fact you'd need to be a complete StarTrek Spanner to follow it
all.  Not only is EF true to the Star Trek theme, it's laid out
like an episode of Voyager, which means there's a fair amount of
cheese in circulation, right down to the sickly sweet ending.

Multiplay and death-matches take place on the holodecks and are
thus holomatches (do you see what they did there?).  This works
very well both in terms of visuals, which are carried off
practically perfectly, and in getting around the directives about
killing people for fun (apparently it's not really allowed, but
venting your aggression in a simulated environment in the guise of
training is perfectly kosher behaviour).

Multiplay mode offers a choice of skins covering different species
and genders and the AI of the bots is quite reasonable at higher
skill levels.  The graphics are good, the maps are limited, and
it's hardly groundbreaking stuff.  In fact it's exactly what you
would expect from a Star Trek theme wrapped in a Quake 3 engine.
Regardless of the skins, a first person shooter death-match is a
first person shooter death-match, what else can you say?

All in all EF comes across as a reasonable game relying on the
popularity of the TV series to carry it.  While enjoyable EF is a
little disappointing.  Even as a package it lacks longevity and
after the excellent introductory levels gameplay tails off
culminating in a truly awful boss level.  The whole thing is very
well put together, but remains little more than a large Quake 3
mod.  Unless you're mad keen on the Trek and first person shooters
it might be an idea to resist this one.








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