Star Trek Elite Force II Screenshots The Final Say! Gameplay 9.5 Graphics 9.5 Sound 9.5 Value 9.5 Star Trek Elite Force II - reviewed by Andrew B Review Date: June 28 2003 Review Score: 9.5/10 Distributed by Activision

Elite Force II is the sequel to the highly popular first person shooter called Star Trek Elite Force that took the Star Trek universe to a whole new level. Unlike its predecessor, Elite Force II pushes the prime directive to one side and is more of a combination of Aliens II meets the Star Trek Enterprise... not that there is anything wrong with that mind you. The game starts onboard the Voyager as they are finally returning from the Delta quadrant via a Borg warp hole. Unfortunately for the crew of the Voyager, their vessel has been captured by the Borg and it is slowly assimilating the crew. Your mission is simple, rescue any crew members who are trapped aboard the Borg vessel and free the Voyager from the stasis field in order for it to return home to Earth. You can either start the game via the tutorial or jump straight into the game, although I recommend all players to finish the tutorial so they can master the control system. Once you have finished the training level that is run by none another than Voyager's security commander, Tuvok, you must then rescue the Voyager from the Borg. Your role in Elite Force II is that of a Federation Hazard team commander who must use whatever means necessary to complete the mission. Fortunately for you and your crew, you have access to the latest Federation weaponry and even alien technology at your disposal to finish the job. Although you must follow the prime directives, your captain is lenient and if the crew of the Voyager can be saved, then you must ensure that they do. Once you have completed the first few missions of Elite Force II, the Voyager finally returns home and the Hazard team is disbanded as it is not in the spirit of the Federation to cater for such a special forces elite team. Although the team is disbanded, a certain famous captain called Picard takes interest in the Hazard team and calls you aboard the Enterprise for routine space patrol. The Enterprise soon finds itself in trouble and calls upon the Hazard team to once again save the innocent lives of a federation star vessel. The storyline behind Elite Force II is brilliant and nicely integrates the Hazard team from the Voyager to the USS Enterprise. The story is moved along nicely with cut scenes that are both informative and graphically impressive, although it does use the in-game engine. Although I will probably get shut down by Star Trek fans but if the television series had this much action then there would probably be a greater following to the series.

The basic premise behind Elite Force II is an extremely enjoyable first person shooter that is solely based in the Star Trek universe. Although the majority of weapons are Star Trek based, there are some new additions to the sequel that appear to be taken straight out of a Hollywood action movie such as laser shotguns and grenades. Unlike the first game, the tricorder is now an integral part of the game and can be used for a variety of things such as repairing circuitry to scanning alien species. The game itself is a pure action game and you will never find yourself getting bored as the gameplay is varied and the locales that you are visit are all different. The control system of Elite Force II uses the standard first person shooter controls but can be modified to your liking and uses a combination of keyboard and mouse.

Graphically Elite Force II is perfect and uses a modified version of the Quake III engine that has upgraded graphics and gameplay. The gaming environment of Elite Force II looks amazing and really makes you feel like you are part of the Star Trek universe. There are also some great outdoor levels like the Federation academy that has a really amazing draw distance. The Federation starships actually look like you are travelling down a corridor or jefferys tube. The character models, although using the Quake III engine look a little square, feature some great texture details for some amazing facial expressions, detailed uniforms and some scary alien looking creatures. Although the majority of characters in the game are humans, there are also some Klingons, Romulans and Vulcans that look extremely realistic. It should also be noted that characters such as Captain Picard and Commander Tuvok actually look like their real TV counterparts. There are also some amazing lighting effects and some great weaponry effects that really makes this game graphically perfect.

So can this game get any better? The answer is yes as Star Trek Elite Force II features an amazing musical score that has been taken straight from the Star Trek series with some impressive new musical scores that add to the excitement of this game. The voice acting of the game has also been professionally done and the characters such as Picard and Tuvok sounded exactly the same as the actors. All the sound effects in the game are perfect and the game even features the familiar female voice from the television show who plays the computer. Elite Force II also has an assorted of great sounding explosions and weapon sounds.

In conclusion, Star Trek Elite Force II is a brilliant game and I would recommend this to all fans of the FPS genre. Don't be alarmed that it is set in the Star Trek universe as this game is Star Trek meets aliens. Hardcore Star Trek fans may be offended with the amount of violence and deadly force in the game but this is what first person shooters are all about, pure action pumping adrenaline fun. The game also supports some great multiplayer levels to ensure the longevity of the game and multiple story paths during the main game so you can be assured that you will be playing this title a few times over. Highly Recommended!

- Andrew B

P.S. The game also comes with a cool Star Trek Elite Force II bag!