By: Raven Software

Well, perhaps I went in with my hopes set too high, but when it was all said and done, Voyager Elite Force was not what I expected. I was at first daunted by the prospect of walking the decks of the ship and talking with the crew. Unfortunately, what the game has in novelty it is severely lacking in challenge. Not only is the gameplay limited to firing at various alien creatures, but it was all over before I knew it!

I'll give the game this, the storyline is at least as clever than most of the storylines of the television series. In short, the ship is pulled into an area of space where ships from across the galaxy are abducted and then stripped of their resources. As leader of the crew's new Hazard Team, the player must accomplish various tasks, mainly laying waste to alien adversaries with 1 of 9 possible gats¹. (1 of 9? Seven of Nine's less attractive cousin perhaps?)

On the ship there are a few menial tasks which sound as if they might be very complicated at first. For example, near the beginning of the game the player has to prevent a warp core breach. Complicated? Not really, it involves clicking three panels in three different parts of the engine room. It takes about ten seconds and after actually preventing the breech, what fans of the show would figure is one of the greatest challenges of an engineer, seems as easy and dull as turning on the bathroom faucet.

Now I enjoy shoot-em' ups as much as anyone else, but I would at least expect it to keep my attention for more than the five days it took me to fly through Elite Force. Needless to say I could have tried playing it on the hardest difficulty level, but who can be bothered once they've already seen the ending? What do I look like, someone who's not lazy?

Saving this game is the mere fact that it does provide one of the closest simulations to actually being on a Starfleet ship. The multiplayer game is well designed (Quake with Star Trek characters). The graphics are quite good for most of the characters and many of the cut scenes are worthy of the television show. The Borg ship levels are incredible creating an atmosphere as vast and foreboding as the television show. A huge flaw with the gameplay is the aiming however. Often times the crosshairs can seem to be fixed on a target, but in actuality an obstacle that seems to be out of the way obstructs your fire. Sometimes it is merely a wall and nothing is lost besides valuable ammo. Other times it is a fellow shipmate and firing on them a few times could result in them retaliating.

Music and sound are exceptional in this game. There are the many familiar sound effects from the show. And though chatting with the other characters can be more irritating than a conversation with Anne Robinson, Jar Jar Binks, Pauly Shore and the comic book guy from the Simpsons, it is used to good effect in advancing the storyline and making you feel like a part of the crew. The music is spine tingly dingling² to say the least. Pardon my language.

Despite good graphics and sound, despite decent gameplay, I find this game should have been about three times longer. I'll have to get my money's worth out of the multiplayer game. If you're a Trekkie³, give it a try, but go easy on it. If not you can take it or leave it. I give Elite Force a 9.

¹ gat: some variety of firearm.
² spine tingly dingling: Creating a sense of apprehension. Frightening.
³ Trekkie: one who enjoys Star Trek to a degree that surpasses acceptable social standards. One who knows Star Trek trivia better than they know their friends, family, field of study or profession.

MastaCSG
Nine

DroopyMcC		Fun at first, but increasingly ho-hum as time goes on.
Nine

ASY		The novelty of the Star Trek license wears off very quickly, and you're left with a mediocre shooter.
Crazy Eight