A Saga Of A Warp Jump Gone Horribly Wrong
So, now that we made it clear that my review is in no way based on some ancient prejudice. My review is based on a simple and a very solid fact that this game is as bad as those alien females that Kirk used to roll in the hay with.
Let's start with the good things, which are plentyful, and yet are not enough to save this game from crashing head-on into a gas giant. The graphics are stellar, as expected. Space crafts, weapon effects, nebulas and whatnot - crisp and beautiful. I did find it strange, though, that space crafts bounce off each other like rubber balls when they clash. Future technologies i guess.
The voice acting is top notch, no complaints there. The storyline is solid, but nothing to remember. All together, the looks, the music and the storyline manage to immerse you very well into the Star Trek universe. What makes this game such a flop is the controls.
Space ships are not cars. They are not planes in pc games back from the early 90-ies.They cannot be controlled properly by the typical WASD control. And yet, the developer, in his ultimate wisdom, decided to ignore that. That is why you will find yourself repeatedly bashing your keyboard on your beloved Klingon dictionary, frustrated beyond your belief. The game is unplayable. As simple as that. Trying to manouver during battles in 3d is just... let's put it this way - if any of the Star Trek captains had the WASD controls, the series would have been very short. Speaking of battles, and AI - as soon as you add ships to your fleet, you realise that the Academy prefers to enlist lobotomized captains. Friendly AI is as basic as Commander Keen (which was a great game, better than this one). You will find them wandering off very often, in the heat of battle, instead of firing on those damn enemy ships. Battles usually revolve around you hitting the WASD controls, the firing button and cursing the command screen map that dances around and you have to be very patient, and better yet, have superpowers, to be able to send your ships where you want them to go. Battling the controls, the AI, and the whole simplified version of Star Trek should proove too much for all but those who speak Klingon and DO have Shatner's posters in their bathrooms (???)
Since no control configuration is possible (a typical console port), some options will be discovered by you only by sheer accident, such as cloaking. Ignore the manual, it's incorrect on half of the commands anyway. I could continue this for another 4-5 paragraphs, but i feel that this experience has drained too much of my energy already. My final advice to you - save this money to buy a Futurama DVD set. At least you'll get some laughs that will not originate in frustration.