Posted:
15:55:08 on February 01 2002
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: Gaming
Gamespot posted an early review of Activision's highly-anticipated next Star Trek title, 'Bridge Commander', the game that lets you take control of the bridge of a Star Trek capital starship. The review is moderately extensive and concludes that the game's developer -- Totally Games -- has a proven track record with games like 'X-Wing' and that the final product should swim along nicely. Here are some excerpts:
"As you leave space dock and begin your first mission, Picard's presence works like an interactive tutorial as he offers advice and explanations. What's striking about this is how smoothly it's integrated into the early missions and how natural if feels. Instead of some dry, abstract PowerPoint-style tutorial like you find in some games, Bridge Commander offers lessons that keep you fully immersed in the fiction of being on the bridge and interacting with real people."
[...]
"When you're ready for combat, you'll select your tactical officer and see a listing of the various ships, stations, and other objects that your scanners have picked up in the vicinity. Each is color-coded according to whether it's friendly, hostile, neutral, or of unknown status. Should an object be hostile, you can order your tactical officer to target it using the same options you've seen in the TV shows. You can either obliterate it outright or merely disable it. You can pinpoint individual subsystems, too, like the shield generators, sensor array, or power plant."
[...]
"Of course, while Bridge Commander will feature a lot of dramatic ship-to-ship combat, there's more to commanding a vessel than just shooting anything that moves. Navigation, communication, exploration, analysis--all will require your attention at different times. Your first officer will act as your right hand and manage some of the most important general duties. She'll set the ship's alert levels, moving from green, to yellow, to red alert status, with shields and/or weapons powering up accordingly. Your first officer will also offer gentle reminders if you forget about your mission objectives. She'll hail Starfleet Command when you need to consult with the brass and even remind you of Starfleet regulations if you start breaking the rules."
For the full review, check out this page.
