On your first away mission you let Lt. Foster get captured and assimilated by the Borg and wind up getting promoted to lead the newly created Hazard Team. Now the fun begins as you lead the teams through a series of more than nine missions to retrieve the Isodeium, repair the ship, and get the hell out of Dodge.

Making it through the Holodeck Borg mission in the beginning will help you to better deal with the other away missions. Don’t worry about not doing well, because Tuvok will chew you out no matter what you do. When are we finally going to get a Vulcan with a sense of humor? Munro can be pretty bullheaded in his/her own way, and that’s usually the problem as you try and get the job done anyway you can (usually just by blasting first and talking later).

The difficulty levels run from a CakeWalk, up to, way too many Borg in your face! You will also meet up with some new races that you must deal with — some friendly like the Etherians, and some not, like the Scavengers, which were mostly made up from the Hirogen, Klingon, Malon, and some outcast Humans. The Harvesters are the worst, as even the Borg are afraid of them, which makes them bad–asses (and they are!).

The updated Quake III engine that runs this game, as well as the great graphics make for a totally enjoyable, but too short, experience. Hopefully there will be an expansion pack, or an add–on, coming soon to help fill out the game a little more.

The single-play teamwork in the game works better then most I’ve seen, but they sometimes get in the way in the middle of a firefight. All the weapons have been updated with a dual firing mode as well as a scope sight, so you can see the green of their eyes (or whatever), as you blow them to atoms. An I–Mod assault weapon is your first and only choice to take down the Borg, the others only work once and then are totally useless (might as well be throwing rocks at ’em). If you play through the game using the other difficulty levels you should start seeing some changes in the story line. Single-play mode is the best as you wade into the fray blazing away at anything that moves. Don’t try blasting your team members or you’ll wind up in the brig talking to some shrink about why you hate your dog. Even though there is plenty of down time wasted in the lounge or crew quarters, the action from the away missions more then makes up for that bit of slowdown.

In the final level, be sure and look for a different looking health/ammo power–up station and then max them out to 999 or else your atomic structure will get a quick rearrangement by the Vorsoth Boss. Defeat him and be the hero of the Galaxy. Lose and be shunned by all — but by all means stop the Vorsoth Seedpod before it launches. The Etherians just might lend a hand in the final battle!

In Multiplayer Holomatch mode there are plenty of choices to make in either Solo or Multimatch. There are more than 50 characters to play as (even a Borg), plus 12 Holosets to roam through. In Solo, set the Holoplayer levels from one up to a total kamikaze wave. For Multimatch you can search for, create your own, or specify a server. The max number of live players in a game can go up to 64, which seems a bit much in limited space, such as an Arena. The game would be over rather quickly in an all out brawl. For a more stealthy challenge, I like a nice cozy 10–12 foes in my Arenas, anymore and you just trip over each other. Also, if you want to play in big groups make sure to have a really good system and 3D card. Try the smaller matches and you’ll have a better time. Always keep track of your stats in Multiplayer as a way to see how you advance from one challenge to another. I always ended up getting the Bravery award, because of my running around corners, blazing away without first taking a peek. Ace is the place to be at the end!

All things considered, this is the best Star Trek shooter I’ve seen, and a pleasure to explore in the ever expanding Star Trek Universe. That being the case, the friendly folks at Raven should really try to outdo themselves in the next installment with a bigger and better adventure. Can’t wait to see where they take us next. An expansion pack would be a nice surprise!

Word of Warning: don’t try and use a cheat in the first Holodek sequence! It won’t work and you might mess up the rest of the game program. Wait until you pass that level and begin on the real missions. Then if you really, really need to use a cheat, they will work. Just don’t go overboard, because certain cheats will overload and freeze the game just about every time you try to use them. Use stealth and cunning instead of cheating. Whether you’re a Trekkie or a Trekker I’m sure you’ll enjoy this game. Now where did I put that damn Isodesium Crystal?

Enjoy!