Star Trek Away Team Preview

By Stephen Poole, GameSpotPosted Feb 1, 2001 5:55 pm PT

We take a look at the latest build of Activision's upcoming Star Trek real-time tactical game.

Given the mission of the USS Enterprise in the original Star Trek, it's only fitting that the computer games inspired by TV shows and movies have boldly gone where no franchise has gone before. Over the past 15 years, we've seen Trek-based games cover just about every genre imaginable: text-based and graphical adventures, turn-based empire building, real-time strategy, space-combat simulations, first- and third-person shooters, interactive movies and encyclopedias--name a way of translating the hugely popular world of Star Trek into a compelling interactive experience, and it's probably been tried at some point.

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But with Star Trek: Away Team, Activision has found a new creative avenue for its Star Trek license: squad-based tactical missions. Of course, it can be argued that Activision's highly acclaimed Elite Force involves squad-based action since you're accompanied by various crewmembers on each mission; however, you have no real control over them. For instance, you might have to provide cover fire while one of the crewmembers performs an important task. Mainly, the crewmembers are there to provide firepower and add Trek ambience to the first-person action. And though 1995's A Final Unit frequently puts you in control of away teams, the emphasis is on problem-solving and exploration rather than combat and stealth. In short, there's never been a Star Trek game quite like Away Team.

To create Away Team, Activision turned to Reflexive Entertainment, whose only completed game to date is a 2D space shooter called Swarm. An odd choice? Not really, says Eric Dallaire, Activision's producer for Away Team. He points out that while the company is relatively young, all of its employees are talented veterans of the games industry. He also points out that Reflexive was already developing a game engine that would work well for Away Team. "Reflexive was creating a title called Zax, and it used a very sleek 2D isometric engine with powerful level-editing tools," says Dallaire. "Activision and Reflexive both saw a lot of potential in the engine and decided that it would be perfect for the squad-based Star Trek game we wanted to create."

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One of the primary challenges that faces any developer creating a title based on Star Trek is bringing something new to the experience while remaining true to the Star Trek universe. For Away Team, Reflexive and Activision have not only added new weapons and technologies (all approved by Paramount, of course) but have also altered the basic approach that the Federation takes when it deals with alien races. For Star Trek fans who feel the Federation all too often takes the "let's please everyone" approach when it deals with volatile situations, Away Team will be satisfyingly different: You can't ignore the objectives in the game, but let's just say that you can get away with quite a bit of mischief--provided you aren't caught in the process.

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1 Comments

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jakeboudville
Posted Sep 14, 2006 4:14 am PT

looks good
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