TrekWeb's Rating:

Written by Stanley Lin, edited by Steve Krutzler

With increasing news that the NEXT GENERATION franchise will not be returning to film, it seems equally poignant that what appears to be the last STAR TREK game title for a while stars 'Captain Picard' and the Enterprise-E. Although we may be able to look forward to a future of STAR TREK games bearing the ENTERPRISE license, ELITE FORCE II does a fine job in sending off both VOYAGER and ST:TNG.

The story begins nearly where VOYAGER left off in the series finale “Endgame,” with the title ship trapped inside a Borg sphere heading for the Alpha quadrant. Though the sequence only lasts a few minutes on screen, ELITE FORCE II stretches out the adventure and gives the Hazard Team from the first installment a chance to free VOYAGER from the clutches of the Borg. Upon return to Earth, however, the Hazard Team runs into the bureaucratic challenges of Starfleet, who while appreciative of their contribution to VOYAGER sees no place for such an elite squad in Federation space.

Captain Picard eventually steps in to carry the Hazard Team off on an adventure of his own, and from here we are thrust into a deeply woven plot involving new alien races, old enemies, and your usual first-person shooter (FPS) rampaging insectoids. Minus all the shooting and exploding alien guts, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine this story as a STAR TREK episode, in part thanks to the voice talents of Patrick Stewart, Tim Russ ('Tuvok') and Dwight Schultz ('Barclay'). While there isn’t much in ELITE FORCE II to distinguish itself from other FPS titles aside from the STAR TREK license, it does take the standard qualities in many FPS games and utilizes them to the fullest potential. EF2 provides a good balance of firefights with intermittent puzzle solving (with the help of the newly designed tricorder, which some may remember as virtually useless in the original ELITE FORCE). Aside from that, the original was complete in so many ways that it’s difficult for EF2 stand above its predecessor. Thankfully, the sequel provides an excellent gaming experience to satisfy both fans of STAR TREK and the shooter genre.

EF2 utilizes a modified QUAKE 3 engine, which will likely be one of its last outings. While the engine is clearly showing it’s age in the face of the next generation of shooters, EF2 is hands down the best looking game employing it. The one downside is that using the Q3 engine can lead to annoying loading times between missions, but the detail of the maps when finally loaded are astounding. Environments are built accurately to represent the look of the series, and the character modelers are to be commended for the excellent job they did in bringing to life all the different species of the STAR TREK series, including those from the current ENTERPRISE. The facial animations leave something to be desired, but the Q3 engine was never really known for that aspect anyways. Instead, EF2 excels in sprawling jungle environments and haunted derelict ships to provide the gamer with a satisfying feeling of Trek immersion. Of course you’ll want to stop yourself every once in a while to eavesdrop on a conversation between characters involving anything from carnivorous Andorian plants to illegal tribble smuggling. I especially enjoyed the moment I first stepped out into the Starfleet Academy garden and peered into the sky to see a shuttlecraft whiz by the Golden Gate Bridge. Based on the amount of detail found in the design of the maps I wouldn’t be surprised if there were several STAR TREK fans working at Ritual. And though none of the levels quite excites the trekkies as much as the adventure through the mirror Enterprise from the original game, there is a mission here reminiscent of STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT that this reviewer wishes lasted a little longer.

In terms of gameplay the missions are fairly linear but the developers at Ritual did their best at keeping things exciting. As said earlier the tricorder provides a nice distraction from the melees, and the in-between missions back on the Enterprise-E, while “action-less,” add to the storyline as well as the relationship decisions you get to make to slightly determine the outcome of the game. The weapon selection is quite varied, though aside from the I-Mod none of them serves any real story purpose, leaving the choice of which way to vaporize your enemy completely up to the player. You can even hack away with the bat’leth, a weapon that would’ve come in handy during the Borg levels. The AI is fairly simplistic and doesn’t break any new ground, but the action is so fast paced that most people won’t notice any flaw in the enemy AI. However, the mediocre teammate AI can result in your teammates occasionally running in front of your phaser to get a better shot at the enemies. One unpleasant error I noticed was after I irradiated (yes, that’s “irradiated”) one of the aliens, my computerized teammate ran up close to the alien and eventually took damage from the cloud of radiation hanging over his body. Subsequently he blamed me for his injuries and vaporized me. But aside from that my experience was bug-free.

In the sound and music department EF2 really excels. Background sounds add to the immersive feel of the STAR TREK universe, and the voiceovers by both the television series and videogame actors give the game a very personal feel. (Be sure to listen for DS9 veterans J.G. Hertzler ('Martok') and Jeffrey Combs ('Weyoun') as well). The music is always dead on, reflecting the pacing and mood of the gameplay by fading in and out. Together with the graphics, Ritual was able to make the cut scenes directly from the game engine. As promised in the previews, they have a cinematic feel to them, from the twisted perspective flying through Borg corridors to the space battles between the Enterprise-E and the alien threat. Ritual made sure to squeeze every last ounce of mileage out of the Q3 engine, and ended up with a very polished product.

How long will this game last you? It will probably depend on your own preferences. The single player mission itself will take anywhere between 10-15 hours, which is a good amount longer than the last game. There are however plenty of secrets (in the form of miniature golden ships) dotting each level that allow you to unlock secret playable missions. While these secret missions are entertaining in their own right, having to run back through the single player mode to find the golden ships may sometimes end up being a chore rather than an enjoyable treasure hunt. But if you decide to skip out on the golden ships, make sure to at least find the playable Easter Eggs hidden by the development team, who you’ll happily find the didn’t take itself too seriously. There is also the non-linear storyline involving interpersonal relationships with your character that adds to the game’s replay value, but not by much.

Like any good game developer, Ritual saw to it to make sure there was an equally polished multiplayer component to the game. Using the proven Q3 networking code the multiplayer is easy to get into and provides an even more frenetic action experience than the single player mode. If you’re a fan of CTF then you’ll appreciate the simple yet effective level design provided here. And with plenty of non-standard game modes such as “Action Hero”, “Control Points”, and “One Flag”, there is a definite life awaiting EF2 online. One map even breaks the mold by shrinking down the level to the size of an Enterprise scale model, complete with a giant Captain Picard peering in through the windows. But if you are looking for a slower paced more squad-based multiplayer experience you may want to look elsewhere. Just as with any other game, the multiplayer experience depends heavily on the gaming community, so with the eventually inclusion of mods you can expect an online following that will keep the game going for at least a year or so. There are still mods being made for the first game, so while EF2 may not have the popularity of COUNTERSTRIKE or BATTLEFIELD 1942, it will certainly have its strong fan base. As a side note to any aspiring mod developers out there, Ritual has announced it will be releasing its editing toolset UberRadiant within a few weeks.

Overall, there is little negative to be said about ELITE FORCE II, though I did wish at first that the main alien baddies were more than just the run-off-the-mill giant bugs. Fortunately the story more than made up for that by providing a TNG style plot with its own set of twists. The game had some pretty big shoes to fill following up what was often called the best STAR TREK game ever, and ended up being a worthy successor. While it doesn’t break any new ground as far as shooters go, it takes the best of what shooting games have been doing for the last several years and throws it into the STAR TREK universe to deliver a solid product. Gamers and STAR TREK fans alike will definitely find something to enjoy here.

© 2003 TrekWeb.com. All rights reserved.