Post by Gilvan Blight on Sept 4, 2007 18:08:55 GMT -5
Quickly: great space combat system and nothing more.
[glow=red,2,300]Summary: [/glow]I don't get why pretty much all Star Trek games have to suck. I'm not a huge fan of the series, no Trekkie or Trekker, but enough of a fan that I know there is a difference between those terms. I've always enjoyed Trek, and I still think the background would be a perfect setting for an rpg based game. Unfortunately there are only two good Trek Games out there, the original C64 one where with ASCII graphics and @ symbols for Romulans, and the 25th Anniversary rpg. Star Trek encounters continues this trend, being another poor Trek game. You take control of some of the most famous ships in Star Fleet history and get to re-do some of their famous missions. The original Enterprise is there, the classic Enterprise, the next gen Enterprise, The Defiant, The Voyager, and even the Sovereign. You start with only the "Enterprise" timeline unlocked and as you beat missions you unlock later series (later timeline wise, not release wise).
The game itself is pure ship combat. You never see your crew and spent the entire game way zoomed out on your tiny ship, watching all the enemies fly about over dazzling background. Each ship has it's own capabilities and array of weapons and other tools like Transporters. You fly your ship about in either death-match style combat, or missions. The missions are interesting as they very from following way points, to stealth jumping between nebula in a stolen Klingon Warbird. Each mission starts with a Voice over by the Shat, which is cool.
[glow=red,2,300]The Good:[/glow] a really great ship combat system. Using one control stick to move and the other to target weapon arcs is very natural. The left analog sticks control altitude which though it only varies by High, medium or Low still adds a 3d feel to the 2d space. The right top controls your weapons, with the various other buttons for weapon selection. The right bottom is used for locking on, which if you can lock on and track your enemy with the right stick you can actually target various parts of the ship like the engines or weapons etc. There are some cool tricks as well like disabling the enemies weapons, then beaming an away team on board to steel photon torpedoes. The combat is fun.
[glow=red,2,300]The Bad:[/glow] The missions get hard quick. To hard, so hard that I quit before even getting through the Kirk Years. The lack of anything to do with the crew just kinda stinks. Sure you pick up com badges floating in space then get a pop up that says 'you found Scottie' but it's more like picking up health in Gauntlet then any real accomplishment. The sounds are good but get repetitive fast, the music is also good, but you get sick of it quick.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly: [/glow]it's just all space combat. There isn't a even a linking story. The missions are just random samples from the various series, and even then they don't follow any established plot line. The only actual story you get is maybe 20 seconds of Shatner talking and then it's all text and way points. This could be a great game if it was more then just a combat system. This is more like a Fighter, like a Tekken then any other type of game. Chose your ship, fight your fight, repeat. Add a story mode to make it 'slightly' more interesting.
[glow=red,2,300]Overall: [/glow]a great Star Ship combat system that really needs a game. The fact that I picked this up for only $7.50 is the only thing that made it worth it. If you are a die hard Trekker you may want to rent this (or if you can find it cheaper then a rental as i did, pick it up) just to say you played it, that's cool. It is fun for a bit, but the lack of any meat really hurts this one.
[glow=red,2,300]Summary: [/glow]I don't get why pretty much all Star Trek games have to suck. I'm not a huge fan of the series, no Trekkie or Trekker, but enough of a fan that I know there is a difference between those terms. I've always enjoyed Trek, and I still think the background would be a perfect setting for an rpg based game. Unfortunately there are only two good Trek Games out there, the original C64 one where with ASCII graphics and @ symbols for Romulans, and the 25th Anniversary rpg. Star Trek encounters continues this trend, being another poor Trek game. You take control of some of the most famous ships in Star Fleet history and get to re-do some of their famous missions. The original Enterprise is there, the classic Enterprise, the next gen Enterprise, The Defiant, The Voyager, and even the Sovereign. You start with only the "Enterprise" timeline unlocked and as you beat missions you unlock later series (later timeline wise, not release wise).
The game itself is pure ship combat. You never see your crew and spent the entire game way zoomed out on your tiny ship, watching all the enemies fly about over dazzling background. Each ship has it's own capabilities and array of weapons and other tools like Transporters. You fly your ship about in either death-match style combat, or missions. The missions are interesting as they very from following way points, to stealth jumping between nebula in a stolen Klingon Warbird. Each mission starts with a Voice over by the Shat, which is cool.
[glow=red,2,300]The Good:[/glow] a really great ship combat system. Using one control stick to move and the other to target weapon arcs is very natural. The left analog sticks control altitude which though it only varies by High, medium or Low still adds a 3d feel to the 2d space. The right top controls your weapons, with the various other buttons for weapon selection. The right bottom is used for locking on, which if you can lock on and track your enemy with the right stick you can actually target various parts of the ship like the engines or weapons etc. There are some cool tricks as well like disabling the enemies weapons, then beaming an away team on board to steel photon torpedoes. The combat is fun.
[glow=red,2,300]The Bad:[/glow] The missions get hard quick. To hard, so hard that I quit before even getting through the Kirk Years. The lack of anything to do with the crew just kinda stinks. Sure you pick up com badges floating in space then get a pop up that says 'you found Scottie' but it's more like picking up health in Gauntlet then any real accomplishment. The sounds are good but get repetitive fast, the music is also good, but you get sick of it quick.
[glow=red,2,300]The Ugly: [/glow]it's just all space combat. There isn't a even a linking story. The missions are just random samples from the various series, and even then they don't follow any established plot line. The only actual story you get is maybe 20 seconds of Shatner talking and then it's all text and way points. This could be a great game if it was more then just a combat system. This is more like a Fighter, like a Tekken then any other type of game. Chose your ship, fight your fight, repeat. Add a story mode to make it 'slightly' more interesting.
[glow=red,2,300]Overall: [/glow]a great Star Ship combat system that really needs a game. The fact that I picked this up for only $7.50 is the only thing that made it worth it. If you are a die hard Trekker you may want to rent this (or if you can find it cheaper then a rental as i did, pick it up) just to say you played it, that's cool. It is fun for a bit, but the lack of any meat really hurts this one.