E3 2002: Starfleet Command III impressions

Starfleet Command was the first Star Trek game to treat ship-to-ship combat on the scale seen in the TV shows and movies. The huge capital ships in Star Trek don't move or fight like fighters, but make up for their lack of maneuverability with suitable firepower and lots of combat options. In this third game, the series has switched publishers, and due to licensing, the move from Interplay to Activision has allowed the developers to move the setting to The Next Generation timeframe and add the ships from the most recent shows.

Star Trek technology changed quite a bit between the original series with Kirk and the more recent The Next Generation and Voyager shows, and as a result, the ships in the new game are much more powerful and capable. Players can control all the most popular ships from the series, like the Galaxy and Sovereign classes best known as Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E. In addition to the familiar Federation ships, a full fleet of Klingon and Romulan ships are in the game.

While the Starfleet Command games are probably best known for their multiplayer elements, the third game will have a stronger, story-based single-player campaign. There are still dynamic elements to the campaign, but the central elements are the 45 linear missions divided into three campaigns. The playable races are limited to the Federation, the Klingons, and the Romulans, but there are encounters with other races as well. The game takes place after the end of the Voyager show, which allows the developer, Taldren, greater freedom with the story. On the multiplayer side, the third version of the "dynaverse" aims to smooth out some of the problems seen in Starfleet Command II. The ambition of the dynaverse system is to allow players to join one of three sides in a persistent galaxy-wide conflict. Encounters are all resolved in the refined tactical combat system characteristic of the Starfleet Command series.

The heart of Starfleet Command has always been tactical action. The graphics engine has been visibly tweaked since the last game, and the graphics look noticeably crisper. However, the engine isn't as advanced as the one in Activision's recent Bridge Commander game by Totally Games, as ship damage is just shown with damage textures and isn't locational. There's one very significant addition to the combat system: in-system warp. As long as ships have enough energy, they can jump to warp to disengage from combat or race around the map.

Building on the established base of the previous games naturally gives Taldren a head start on Starfleet Command III. The developers are confident the game will be complete this fall.