A pretty good strategy game using the Star Trek license.
User Rating: 7.3 | Star Trek: Armada 2 PC
As much as I love Star Trek the thought of a Star Trek based video game sends a chill down my spine – mainly due to a slew of mediocre titles released over the years. Once in a while we are surprised such as with the fantastic Star Trek Voyager Elite Force. Luckily, Star Trek Armada II is not a bad game at all – it is pretty fun and enjoyable for the most part. Star Trek Armada II’s setting is in The Next Generation universe (in many missions you get to control the Enterprise herself) in the Borg are an imminent threat. Most missions require you to set up base, build it up with a “streamlined” economy, research, defence and a powerful fleet. The economy is easy to set up as there are only metals, dilithium, and latinum – this paves the way for the player to focus more on fleet building. In regards to the fleet, you must colonise planets to get a higher crew pool. Ships each have a special weapon and AI can be instructed on how often it uses these. There are a good number of formations for your fleet and with the hotkeys they’re easy to navigate during battle. After you’ve finished with the Federation campaign, you can then move on to the Klingon and Borg campaigns. One of the biggest changes since the first instalment was the addition of 3D space; however, this seems to also be the weakest point of the game. I found that this feature was almost superfluous in terms of gameplay. In the instant battles and multiplayer there are a variety of maps to play with. You can choose to be the Federation, the Klingons, the Cardassians, the Romulans, The Borg, and even Species 8472. Each species plays differently enough and it’s interesting enough just testing out each of them and playing with their respective fleets. The graphics are good enough for an RTS and the sound is impressive. The soundtrack is simple and does not take away from the game. It is also important to note that the game runs pretty smooth. Many games that use official licenses (especially the Star Trek license) tend to rely more on their “brand appeal” than their quality of the product. Fortunately, Star Trek Armada II is a decent RTS game that is definitely worth playing if you like RTS gaming and are a Star Trek fan. Since it’s a relatively old game it should be quite cheap to pick up so check the bargain bin.
