You remember that episode of Star Trek: Voyager where Neelix and Mr. Tuvok were merged into the "entity" via a transporter accident and became the ultimate crewmember: Mr. Tuvix? You don't? Well, I sure as hell do. Stardate 49655.2 - episode 39 of Season 2 (okay, I had to look that up, I admit it). I think Tuvix caused me to come to an inevitable conclusion: Star Trek had become, sadly, stupid. The introduction of the Borg to the Voyager series could not save the show-whilst watching even the GOOD episodes of the show two words echoed throughout the cavern of my mind: "Remember Tuvix."
It seems as though Raven Entertainment had a bit of a transporter accident themselves, because in Elite Force one finds traces even glaring examples of what could have been a really exceptional Star Trek game-but dammit, they had to go and put Voyager in there. Let me be absolutely honest: Elite Force is a good game, just as Mr. Tuvix was a good officer (as showcased by his ability to not only take on Mr. Tuvok's tactical position, but he did some cooking akin to Neelix as well)- - there's something inherently stupid about it.
Let me say first though, if any of you are diehard Star Trek fans, go buy this game now. Even if you do not like Voyager-I must admit that Raven did a hell of a job getting the best elements of Voyager (sadly, Tuvix does not make an appearance, but I'll get to that) and scraping away all the crap. The game's principle allows Raven to cram in some elements not found in Voyager as well which helps add spice to the mix.
In the game, you are transported to a ship graveyard where an entity known as "The Forge" is collecting ships. What's the point? To get out, of course. But along the way you encounter Scavengers (a group made of Klingons, Humans, and Malons). I will not disservice those who wish to play the game through by spoiling any of the plot, but suffice it to say that it is more engaging than most first person shooters (it tries to be Half-Life, but falls flat before it even comes close) and it is definitely more engaging than ANY episode of Voyager I can recall off the top of my head. Even still you have to put up with the ridiculously bad cut scenes featuring Janeway et al (voiced by their real-life performers!). Though it could be said that Raven scored big, given that I think the polygonal representatives of the actors are a lot more emotive than the actors themselves.
At the heart of this, past the entire Voyager silliness lays a really competent first-person shooter that is fun to play. Raven has really taken the Quake III engine and made something fine out of it. Was it really necessary to name every single little section of the game though? Is it really necessary to call the section of the game after the first away mission where ALL YOU DO IS GET HEALED BY THE DOCTOR AND THEN GO TO A TURBOLIFT "RENEWAL"????????? It's distracting, if not anything more. Granted, naming each away mission something would have, perhaps, set the whole game into the feeling that it was made up of a few episodes, whereas now it is literally made up of hundreds of sequences and nothing really whole forms.
As for the multiplayer aspect of the game, it's nice to have it included-but the fact that it is actually not in the game (you load it separately) gives the impression that it was rushed and not thought through (which is kind of ironic, given it is the Quake III engine, a multiplayer only game). The weapons, while effective in single-player mode, seem terribly unbalanced in multiplayer. The I-MOD looks pretty and everything, but more than often I found myself being "phazered 2 death" by the "weakest" weapon while I plugged shot after shot into my fearless opponent. AND, on top of all this, there are about four different skins for Seven of Nine and not a SINGLE ONE for Mr. Tuvix. Where's the justice in this world! -Jake
Company Line: Uses the Quake III Arena(TM) engine technology.
Starting with this base engine allows us to concentrate on improvements and extensions. We take full advantage of the dynamically tessellated curved surfaces, multiple stages of texturing, and custom texturing effects.
Multiplayer capability.
Multiplayer modes offer Free-for-All, Capture the Flag and Team play. Multiplayer via Holomatch allows you to switch between playing as a member of the Voyager crew or as an alien, including the Borg. Take on the role of a Voyager crew member or Hazard Team member in Holo-deathmatches.
New and unique alien environments, as well as known locales from the TV series.
From a Borg cube, to a Klingon Bird of Prey, and even a surprise or two. Then enjoy what Star Trek is all about, by exploring never-before-seen alien vessels.
Realistic 3-D exploration of a Starfleet vessel - Voyager.
An uncanny likeness of the interior rooms and hallways of the Starship Voyager, using authentic artwork and textures from Paramount's reference library. We have created a virtual Voyager.
Voice talent from the series' actors, portraying their character in the game.
Familiar voices adding to the realism and Voyager's world.
Level-of-Detail models.
Our in-game models use a high number of polygons when up close, but as they move away from you the models seamlessly change to lower polygon-count models. We mastered the technique, so you won't even notice there is a change of detail in the model. This means more enemies in the view at one time, creating the ultimate action experience!
The ICARUS scripting language, created solely for Elite Force.
The goal of the ICARUS scripting system is to meet and far exceed the amount of interactivity and control that recent games (such as Half-Life) have displayed. The system is flexible enough to interact and function in a dynamic environment. This means that players can affect the outcome of scripts as they are unfolding. If a script calls for a team member to be grabbed and carried away, it can fulfill that. However, if the player decides to shoot the attacker, the script can deal with that new event, and can allow the team member to get up and run back to your side. This has been lacking in recent games, where interaction was often limited to breaking the script. We're not interested in showing little scripted sequences behind locked doors, but to instead immerse the player in the script and allow them to change the outcome.
Powerful visual effects system.
Adding to the beauty of Quake III Arena(TM), Raven has implemented a powerful special effects system to enhance the action and visual splendor, reminiscent of classic Science Fiction movies.
Team-oriented missions, featuring a next-generation AI system.
Play the missions with intelligent Non Player Characters (NPCs), all with their own unique personalities.
Game play tailored to simulate the experiences of a Starfleet crewmember.
Take orders from Janeway and Tuvok. Go to sickbay and get healed by the Doctor. Help B'Elanna in Engineering and go on an away mission with Seven of Nine. Grab your gear, make your way into the Transporter room, and step on the pad to be beamed into action.
Superbly detailed characters, using realistic motion-captured animations.
Life like movements for characters we know and enjoy, with amazingly detailed likenesses, using the actual character photo-shoot reference pictures from Paramount.
Authentic Star Trek sound effects directly from Paramount's audio library.
If the detailed surroundings don't make you feel like you are in the Star Trek world, then the sounds to go with it definitely will.
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