Star Trek Bridge Commander
Monday, September 08, 2003
Incoming Transmission from The Temple Of Thoughts 2
Star Trek Bridge Commander Review
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Repalyablity: 6/10
Opinion: 7/10
Overall: 7.8/10 (Good)
If you're a fan of Star Trek, you'll be disappointed.
Gameplay: 8
You play as a captain of a few ships, all which are property of Star Command, your so called boss in the whole game, and the story starts after the Supernova in a Velsuvi system, destroying many human colonies there. The game is set after the humans has expanded to the far reaches of space, so no there is no Romulan 1st commander or science officer. :(
The game isn't what you called simple, there is a few tatics you need to learn from Captain Pichard, captain of the Starship Enterprise. The tutorial is simple but you can't skip it if you want to play the story again. As a Captain, you don't control the ship or weapons but to issue commands to the ensign incharge of the ships subsystem, like the funny lady on the left is to set a course for intercept or to warp the ship to another system. The command interface is rather simple to learn even though there are alot of buttons toss at you.
It is thrilling to go into heated battles, with phaser fire and torpedoes launching in all direction. Engineering will inform you of the damages during combat, thhough you know you are in big trouble if the bridge is on fire.
You might think there is alot of ships in this game, but there is a bunch of Starships and 7 different alien ships. 12 ships is not exactly what you see in Star Trek. But the story mode cover it up with fun & challenging objectives like to disable a station but not to destroy it. The game is rather balanced, the USS Sorverign can be a mighty ship, but dead when outnumbered 3 to 1.
AI is good, but not smart enough. Enemy ships sometimes flee into an asteriod belt to escape your sensors or to lead you into crashing into one of those big and dangerous rocks. Collision is not advisable when your shields are down.
The game has a few flaws though. The lack of interesting ships, the skrimish mode won't allow you to warp to different location to hide from the enemy and there is some instablity problems in the story mode. Like now I'm stuck as I used up my only pod to scan the wrong planet. I want my pod back :'(
Graphics: 9
The graphics ain't spactaular like today, ( this game is quite old, released around 2001 ) but can rival a few games like Jedi Outcast II and Hitman 1, both which uses dynamic lighting for the glow effect. All the ships are rendered very well and damages can appear on the ship during battle.
The bridge is also modelled well with wood railings and flashy lights from the computers, but there are only 2 bridges to choose from...
The people in the game aren't as detailed like NOLF2. ( refer to No one lives forever 2 review to see how they look like ) The people in Bridge Commander have photos pasted on them, so they look like human, but it is too artifical looking.
Sound: 9
Nice music to suit the space theme. Even nicer music in battle. The music though seems repeative, is excellent for this game. The voice overs are good but some are strange and echoing, and rather loud which cover up important transmissions. ( And that's why I launch a pod to the wrong planet! )
Replayablity: 6
Skrimish mode is like simulation. You set the ships and the place for battle, but to battle 12 ships won't last long enough. Story mode is fun, with allies by your side. Playing it in increasing difficulty can bring out some fun, but the story is linear and scripted, so no changing storyline.
Reviewer's Opinion: 7
A very fun game, and a thrilling but disapointing game for Star Trek fans. It is fun to be captain, doing all the hard work and using tatics. But 12 ships bites the score, instablity in story blast the score and multiplayer can lag.
"I can't change the laws of Physic! Captain!"--Brex, Chief Engineer
Star Trek Bridge Commander Review
Gameplay: 8/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Repalyablity: 6/10
Opinion: 7/10
Overall: 7.8/10 (Good)
If you're a fan of Star Trek, you'll be disappointed.
Gameplay: 8
You play as a captain of a few ships, all which are property of Star Command, your so called boss in the whole game, and the story starts after the Supernova in a Velsuvi system, destroying many human colonies there. The game is set after the humans has expanded to the far reaches of space, so no there is no Romulan 1st commander or science officer. :(
The game isn't what you called simple, there is a few tatics you need to learn from Captain Pichard, captain of the Starship Enterprise. The tutorial is simple but you can't skip it if you want to play the story again. As a Captain, you don't control the ship or weapons but to issue commands to the ensign incharge of the ships subsystem, like the funny lady on the left is to set a course for intercept or to warp the ship to another system. The command interface is rather simple to learn even though there are alot of buttons toss at you.
It is thrilling to go into heated battles, with phaser fire and torpedoes launching in all direction. Engineering will inform you of the damages during combat, thhough you know you are in big trouble if the bridge is on fire.
You might think there is alot of ships in this game, but there is a bunch of Starships and 7 different alien ships. 12 ships is not exactly what you see in Star Trek. But the story mode cover it up with fun & challenging objectives like to disable a station but not to destroy it. The game is rather balanced, the USS Sorverign can be a mighty ship, but dead when outnumbered 3 to 1.
AI is good, but not smart enough. Enemy ships sometimes flee into an asteriod belt to escape your sensors or to lead you into crashing into one of those big and dangerous rocks. Collision is not advisable when your shields are down.
The game has a few flaws though. The lack of interesting ships, the skrimish mode won't allow you to warp to different location to hide from the enemy and there is some instablity problems in the story mode. Like now I'm stuck as I used up my only pod to scan the wrong planet. I want my pod back :'(
Graphics: 9
The graphics ain't spactaular like today, ( this game is quite old, released around 2001 ) but can rival a few games like Jedi Outcast II and Hitman 1, both which uses dynamic lighting for the glow effect. All the ships are rendered very well and damages can appear on the ship during battle.
The bridge is also modelled well with wood railings and flashy lights from the computers, but there are only 2 bridges to choose from...
The people in the game aren't as detailed like NOLF2. ( refer to No one lives forever 2 review to see how they look like ) The people in Bridge Commander have photos pasted on them, so they look like human, but it is too artifical looking.
Sound: 9
Nice music to suit the space theme. Even nicer music in battle. The music though seems repeative, is excellent for this game. The voice overs are good but some are strange and echoing, and rather loud which cover up important transmissions. ( And that's why I launch a pod to the wrong planet! )
Replayablity: 6
Skrimish mode is like simulation. You set the ships and the place for battle, but to battle 12 ships won't last long enough. Story mode is fun, with allies by your side. Playing it in increasing difficulty can bring out some fun, but the story is linear and scripted, so no changing storyline.
Reviewer's Opinion: 7
A very fun game, and a thrilling but disapointing game for Star Trek fans. It is fun to be captain, doing all the hard work and using tatics. But 12 ships bites the score, instablity in story blast the score and multiplayer can lag.
"I can't change the laws of Physic! Captain!"--Brex, Chief Engineer
