Raven Software did the unthinkable two years prior to the release of Star Trek Elite Force II. If expanding the franchise into video gaming space wasn’t enough, they went one up by developing a first-person shooter title set in the universe of Star Trek: Voyager. The game was Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. The shocking part about all of this is that it worked... surprisingly well. Video games set in the Star Trek universe prior to Elite Force were mostly about ship combat, adventuring or strategy-based squad command. The phrase ‘FPS’, I’m sure, wasn’t even running through the minds of the guys who were developing Trek-related game content. The success of Half-Life a few years earlier and the resurgence of First-person shooters probably gave the dudes at Raven an idea or two, and I’m glad it worked out for them and us, the gamers.
For Elite Force II, Ritual Entertainment took the helm from Raven. With the first game being criticised for its short length (8-9 hours those days was considered short), loopy story and unimaginative gameplay, Ritual set out with the aim of making Elite Force II better in every conceivable way. Looking back now, I think it’s fair to say that they succeeded admirably. Both developers need a lot of credit for just attempting to make shooters set in the Star Trek universe, in which the philosophy is ‘diplomacy first’. Of course, this didn’t stop Kirk from blowing up dozens of Klingon and Romulan ships in the series and movies.
Fans of the Star Trek: Voyager television series are still probably wondering how Voyager managed to emerge from the centre of the Borg sphere in the series’ final episode. I’m willing to bet that all these people haven’t played Elite Force II, because the reveal is actually in the video game! You still play as Alex Munro, and you’re inside the Borg sphere with Hazard Team, tasked with destroying the power generators that control the tractor beam. This serves more as a tutorial for the game’s controls than an actual mission because the Borg couldn’t be bothered to attack you. After the accomplishment of said mission and Voyager’s safe return home, Hazard Team is broken up, and all it’s members are assigned to other duties across the galaxy. Your character, Alex Munro is teaching at Starfleet Academy, when Captain Jean-Luc Picard takes notice of his/her (you can choose to play as a female character) special skills and abilities. Munro is then assigned to the Enterprise subsequently, to traverse the far reaches of space and appropriately zap evil and malicious species. Missions will see you dealing with a variety of threats, varying from arch nemeses, the Klingons and Romulans to the game’s main threat, a bizarre insect-like sentient species that wishes death upon the other species of the universe (evil and malicious enough for ya?).
To facilitate said carnage of bad guys... er... bugs, Elite Force II offers up a preposterously large arsenal of weaponry. The number of weapons is so large that there are three of them assigned to one particular numeric key! You’ve got phasers, pulse cannons, sniper rifles and more. You will also have the ubiquitous Tricorder at your disposal to deal with the game’s numerous environmental puzzles. These include bypassing circuits, a brilliant frequency-matching puzzle requiring use of the tricorder, identifying structural weaknesses in places and spot-welding them using the phaser and using various other tricorder features such as bio-scanner and trace gas-scanner. All very Star Trek, I must say. These puzzles are beautifully placed, offering a great respite from the game’s frantic action.
In-between missions, Munro is free to roam the Enterprise and visit various iconic sections of the ship including the Holodeck, Library computer, sick-bay, shuttle-bay, stellar cartography and turbo lifts. You can also eavesdrop on conversations of the various members of Hazard team and even woo one of two women. All of this doesn’t have an
impact on the story or gameplay, but it’s an excellent way to relax in between missions.
Powered by the Quake III Arena Engine, Elite Force II looked surprisingly good for the time
(remember Q3A came out in 1999, a full four years before EF2). Combining heavy doses of Star Trek aesthetics with Star Trek-influenced weapon, location and creature design, Ritual succeeded in making a game that looked incredibly Star Trek, which is precisely what they were gunning for. The game won’t hold up to anything today, but it was on par with some of the best games at the time. With an all-star voice cast including Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Dwight Schultz (Reginald Barclay), Tim Russ (Tuvok) and various others from DS9 and Voyager, the game sounds very authentic and the presence of original cast-members greatly adds to the immersion.
Verdict
Elite Force II is a must-play for fans of the sci-fi series Star Trek in particular and shooters in general. It greatly combines elements of action, puzzling and Star Trek-isms.
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