Star Trek Star Fleet Command 2
January 21, 2002
Starfleet Command Volume II Empires at War is a new real-time space combat game from Interplay. Whether or not you like the game really comes down to what you are looking for. If you want a complex starship combat simulator, this is a good game for you. If you want a strategy game with a driving story, look elsewhere. Starfleet Command 2 has eight playable races, two of the races, the aggressively pacifistic ISC, and the missile happy Mirak, are new to the series. Each race has a different combat strategy, ship design, and some even have unique technologies. Starfleet Command 2 has two one-player modes, single battle skirmishes, and campaigns. The game also offers a free online gaming zone where either mode can be used for multi-player battles.
The greatest strength of Starfleet Command 2 is the very detailed combat system. The game has a 3-D look, but you fight on a 2-D battlefield. The combat system has lots of options, and when you first pick up the game this can be overwhelming, but once you get used to it, it makes for some really interesting combat that allows you to use creativity to win. The number of options you have to deal with different combat situations is amazing. For example, when you see a volley of missiles approaching your ship you can, send out your own missiles to intercept them, send out a dummy shuttlecraft to absorb them, use your tractor beam to hold them, drop a mine to destroy them, or if all else fails strengthen the shields that are about to be hit. Dealing with the multitude of options is made easier in the single player game by allowing you to pause and issue commands, in multi-player games you just have to be fast. You have the option to control up to three ships at once, which can make combat really chaotic. Luckily the AI is good enough that you can trust the computer to control your extra ships effectively when you are busy elsewhere.
The ships in this game look really good, each race has a distinctive ship design, and they are all beautifully drawn. During battles can watch your ship take realistic looking damage, and even leak plasma when things really start to go downhill.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much to the game beyond the cool combat system. In the campaign mode you start as a Lieutenant Commander in charge of a frigate, and can eventually work your way to an Admiral with a fleet of battleships. To advance, you travel from grid to grid on a battle map, doing missions that will earn you reputations points, which can then be traded in for better ships. While this sounds good in theory, the entire campaign feature feels like it was just tacked on for show. The main campaign map screen is unattractive, and awkward to use. There are twelve choices on the campaign list; you can be any of the eight races in the war with the ISC, and four different races in the war with the Mirak. The problem is that all of the campaigns are pretty much the same for every race, so you actually only have two different campaigns to choose between. The choices you make in the missions do influence your path through the campaigns, so they can at least be interesting more than once. The battle map constantly shifts as the different empires gain and lose territory, but it seems to act independently from what is happening in the campaign. During a campaign mission you may make peace with an empire, only to see that they are still expanding into your territory on the battle map.
A word of warning, if you plan on playing this game for long, make sure you have version 2.0.0.55. Playing on a computer that well exceeded the system requirements, version 2.0.0.2 quickly became unplayable in the campaign mode. Even simple commands like trying to scroll the map could take a few minutes. You can find out what version you have by looking at the lower right corner on the opening game screen, (the first screen you come to after pushing escape during the Paramount opening). You can find the upgrade patches at the Interplay website.
CVG Report CardStar Trek Star Fleet Command 2
Developer: Interplay
Publisher: Interplay
1+ Player Game
Genre: Strategy
Rating: B-
Platform: PC
E-Mail This Article 
Print This Article