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Req.: P2 300, 64MB RAM, 3D accel. Video Card with 16MB VRAM, 600mg hd + 100mg
for swap Reviewed On: P3 800, 256MB, TNT2 32MB, SB, Win ME | |||
Intro You’ve watched the episodes, you’ve sat in your la-z-boy, and you’ve whined and moaned on how you could have resolved the situation in no time. Well, now it’s your turn. Step up and sit down in the captain’s chair and prepare to take the role of a young captain who is thrown into his new position and now must go through a trial by fire. Gameplay: 7.5/10 Renown for their X-Wing and Tie Fighter titles for the Star Wars universe, Totally Games has decided to tackle the other sci-fi juggernaut, Star Trek. As Star Trek games are not known for their quality, it is with a sigh of relief that Bridge Commander was placed in such respected hands and while it falls short in some aspects, it certainly delivers in others. Getting to the captain’s chair isn’t a difficult task, but it does get the story in motion. While returning from a research mission, the captain’s shuttle is caught in the path of a star going supernova. Lucky you! You have been promoted from first officer to captain and it’s time to figure out just what happened. The story now kicks in and the result is a mixed blessing; on one hand, there’s not much of an epic backstory a la Wing Commander or Tie Fighter to wrap your brain around, but on the other hand, everything is told in a script-like fashion that makes the entire game feel like an episode. There’s betrayal, and various races to deal with, including Cardassians, Klingons, and Romulans, among others. Told in an extremely linear fashion, there isn’t much here to get stuck on or any situations where an option will lead to a dead-end as everything is laid out pretty clearly for you. This helps the game to move along briskly, but there isn’t much game. The campaign will last a few hours and the remnants are a perfectly good Star Trek engine just sitting there begging to be used some more. I’m getting ahead of myself though. Now then, fans should be pleased with the story, while the space-sim gamer might be a bit let down at its strict “point A to point B” approach. Without giving too much of the story away, the Klingons will soon join your side as the Cardassians sneak their way around and amass a large fleet and form alliances to bring the Federation down. To combat your various foes, you have been given a well-trained crew that functions like a finely tuned machine and one of the most obnoxious characters that I have ever encountered, the ship’s first officer. Yes, despite the fact that you are the captain, it seems as though she is more in command as she bellows out the various orders and even has to audacity to take an authoritative tone with the captain on occasion. Ignoring her fingernails-against-a-chalkboard presence, the rest of the crew is adept at fulfilling your orders. From the captain’s chair, you can command tactical to target specific spots on their particular targets. Do you want to disable their weapons to deal with a bigger threat, or would you prefer to disable their shields and let your comrades finish them off for you? If the enemy retaliates in kind, would you prefer engineering to up the shields with the reserves, or weaken life support and the reserves to up the power of the weapon system? Those are the fun decisions that really engross the player. It’s a shame there aren’t more situations that require such thought. Traveling is a simple affair as you’re told where to go and how to get there, and more importantly, there are no moral decisions. The aspect of the Star Trek series that I particularly enjoyed were the moral choices that the captain made; you knew Picard was going to get out of the situation, but you didn’t know with what cost and exactly how. Those were the types of choices I wanted to have, and some diplomacy wouldn’t have hurt either. Instead of taking a solid chunk out of the Star Trek universe, just a single aspect was focused on, but with so much potential and history to work with, it seems to be a bit of a shame that such an excellent engine wasn’t given the treatment it rightfully deserves. Being the captain isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either. Taking control of your ship during combat is fun at first, but the AI has far better accuracy and can target specific sections. Aside from negating what systems take priority, what needs to be repaired, where to go, and what ships to target, there really isn’t much to do. And while those may sound like a solid number of choices, they have been simplified to make the game easy to get into and quick to complete. It’s fun at first, but it gets a bit mundane after a while. Without the implementation of other aspects, like diplomacy, it’s only a matter of time before the process of going to a location, fighting, then going to another location, and then fighting some more gets tiresome. There were also odd faults: when shooting an enemy craft, a starbase was saying I was targeting them and my mission ended; the same thing happened with friendly craft, and other times the tactical officer would actually target and fire on the friendly craft or wait for no apparent reason – very annoying. While this might make Bridge Commander out to be a bad game, it really isn’t. Totally Games set out to make a gamer feel like the captain of a Federation starship and they have done just that. The atmosphere is there and you’re certainly given the feeling of command as you order a red alert – which is then echoed by your manly, yet strangely feminine first officer – and there are also appearances by Data and Jean-Luc Picard, complete with their voices. The story plays out exactly like an episode taken from any of the series and there is an overall feeling of polish. As I said, they took one aspect of being the captain and did it very well, but there just wasn’t enough to make an entire game out of it. The game is also short and multiplayer problems prevented me from actually logging on, but the skirmish modes were fun. While some potential has been lost, it should also be noted that, in the end, this is a solid title, and with a series having so many dogs being released with the franchise’s name tacked on, it’s refreshing to see an enjoyable title come out for it. Now, here’s hoping for an expansion pack with more exploration!
Graphics: 8/10 Not every detail is a plus, however, as the faces of the crew are photo mapped, and while they look strikingly similar to their real-life counterparts, their overall appearance suffers in the process. Character models have very rigid heads that connect at angels and their mouths seem to be nothing more than a slit cut out from their face. Similarly, the various ships look fantastic, but they also suffer from their own flaws. The detail seems to disappear into overblown pixels when up close, but this also keeps the title from becoming one that would run solely on high-end machines. Those looking for Descent: Freespace 2 style of advancement will be disappointed, but despite its flaws, Bridge Commander does an admirable job of conveying the Star Trek universe. Sound: 8.5/10
However, if you’re a hands-on gamer and go to combat the enemies by taking control of the ship yourself, you’ll have some difficulties hitting all the spots that the AI nails with far less problems. There’s also the issue of the ship’s saucer blocking the line of sight, and constant clicking with no real strategy; to get the more strategic aspects of combat, it’s best to just tell what ship to target, where to fire, and sit back as your crew does the rest. While it’s more of a gameplay issue, control is also affected as it’s mainly navigating menus and taking the time to learn them; as that would be common with most games, here, it’s excessive. Thrill seekers thinking it’ll be easy to take control of the ship for combat will be somewhat disappointed as it isn’t as exciting a prospect as it could have been with rigid movements and awkward firing paths. Overall:
8/10 [ top ] |
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