"Fuel For Gamers!"
Developed and published by Activision
In My Humble Opinion
by Michael Askounes
Out of all the major movie/TV franchises in existence, none have fared as poorly in the computer game industry as game titles as Star Trek. A couple of the early adventure games were pretty good, but ever since then all us gamers have received is a stream of mediocre attempts to take advantage of the most recognizable science–fiction license in existence. Just when I’ve pretty much given up on the idea of ever playing an enjoyable Star Trek game, along comes Activision’s Star Trek: Armada which ruins all of my pessimism. Armada — plainly said — is the best Star Trek licensed game to be published since Judgement Rites and makes for some very tasty Starcraft–styled game play.
What sets this RTS apart from most of the competition is the incredibly interesting and well–written plot. As a matter of fact, the plot is so interesting that you’ll be able to look past the fact that, graphically, the cutscenes look like they belong in Wing Commander II (I’m glad they didn’t give Picard blue hair!). The 16 missions should really be called "episodes", as they all start with the title of the mission appearing in the upper corner of the screen — just like the TV show. You really feel as though you’re playing a television episode, and that’s a great compliment to bestow upon a Star Trek game.
As far as game play goes, you’ll have your chance to control a HUGE number of different Star Trek ships — from a Borg Sphere to a Ferengi Marauder to a Romulan Warbird. Activision did a nice job of giving each ship interesting special weapons, which you gain through research and resource collection. The movement and combat of the game will remind you of Starcraft, and even though you have a lot more camera control in Armada than you did in Blizzard’s classic, you’ll wind up playing most of the game in the familiar, top–down perspective. Activision couldn’t totally avoid some of the RTS’s genre’s basic problems, such as tedious base–building and "tank rushes", but good mission design averted these problems more often than not.
So, does Star Trek: Armada mark a new era in RTS gaming? No, Blizzard will be doing that with the upcoming Warcraft III, in my opinion. A better question would be; did we finally get a thoroughly entertaining game based on the Star Trek license? The answer to that question is ABSOLUTELY! If you like both Star Trek and Starcraft, you can’t go wrong with Armada; let’s hope this game is a harbinger for the direction of future Star Trek–based titles.
Overall Rating: B+