An Astounding TV Tie-In
The early 2000s were an exciting time in the gaming world. Computer games were getting established with online communities for the first time, aided by programs like Gamespy and The All-Seeing Eye. One of the most prominent games I remember from that time was Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force.
Let's begin with the campaign. Though it wasn't the longest campaign of the day, it was certainly an interesting and well crafted one. It ranges between you fighting on Borg cubes, beaming onto alien ships, defending Voyager from pirates and trying to find your way out of a strange, perilous void. The action is fast and the control is great, as you'd expect from a game running on the Quake 3 engine. Though the graphics may be a little dated, that doesn't stop the game from conveying an interesting and well-written story to you with rendered cut scenes as well as in-game cut scenes. Though the mouth syncing isn't anything beautiful, the voices are instantly recognizable for any fans of the TV show. All the characters are voiced by their TV actors (with the exception of Jeri Ryan doing 7 of 9 unless you have the 1.20 patch or the expansion pack) and deliver their lines as though they are acting it out in front of a camera. If one thing can be said about the campaign, that is that it feels exactly like watching an elongated episode of the show. The story stays true to what Voyager was about as a show and feels very much as if it could fit in with any 2 or 4 (or 6)- part episode. Though the campaign starts a little slow, you'll want to see it through to the end.
Along with the great campaign in this game comes an added bonus: a fairly impressive multiplayer.
As previously mentioned, this game runs on the Quake 3 engine. This means that the action is fast, brutal and accurate. Armor shards, health pickups and Quad damagers are still present (though replaced with crystals, hyposprays and... Well, it's still a Quad) and the weapon selection is familiar; but totally different. There are no weapons that shoot "bullets" per-say, but you still get grenade launchers, rocket launchers, ranged weapons, close-range weapons - they all just shoot laser beams and cause people to disintegrate rather than burst into gibs. All your favorite game modes are present too: Deathmatch (Holomatch), Team Deathmatch (Team Holomatch), CTF as well as some fun games like Assimilation, Disintegration, Action Hero and Gladiator. Though the online community has died down in recent years, there are still plenty of servers up (most of which populated by bots, but there are still some people there too) and is still worth playing. The glory days may be over for Elite Force's multiplayer, but it's still a damn good multiplayer.
Though this game is not available via any of the more popular download sites (Steampowered, GoG, etc) at the time of this review, this is still a game worth checking out if you can get your hands on it. It comes highly recommended to fans of the show, but those who aren't as familiar with the characters probably won't get as many of the inside jokes or character quirks that come through in the dialogue. Also, though the campaign is great, it may be a little short for some. Short or not, check it out if you're missing the show and want another story out of the Voyager universe.