Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force Preview

Majesco has picked up the rights to distribute the PS2 port of Raven Software's Quake III Arena-powered, Star Trek: Voyager-themed PC first-person shooter. Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force is a highly acclaimed first-person shooter on the PC, and Majesco plans on bringing every aspect of the game to the PS2. And while Majesco has made no official announcements regarding the actual mechanics of the port, we can only assume that the game will contain the same meat and bones as its PC counterpart.

Like the TV show it's modeled after, Elite Force initially takes place aboard the Federation Starship Voyager as it continues its journey back to Earth from the Delta Quadrant. Upon receiving a distress call from a derelict alien probe, the Voyager finds itself under attack - the victim of a trap; and it is forced to return fire. Voyager manages to destroy the alien ship, but the resulting shock wave from the explosion causes a rift in the space-time continuum, sending Voyager into a mysterious starship graveyard with no way to escape. It's revealed later on in the game that an alien species known as the Reavers constructed a massive space station called the Forge, which creates a dampening field that prevents escape from the graveyard. Any race advanced enough to defeat the derelict probes are sent to the graveyard, and their technology is then assimilated into the Reavers' own, much like the way the feared Borg operate. But even the Borg can't seem to adapt to the Reavers' technology, as they too took the bait and now find themselves trapped within the confines of the graveyard.

Voyager's Captain Janeway puts into place a series of plans to get her ship back into operational status and find a way to break the clutches of the graveyard. One of the key elements of Janeway's plans is the Hazard Team, an away team that comprises the ship's most elite Federation officers, who have been handpicked by Tuvok, Voyager's head of security. You assume the role of ensign Alex Munroe, the levelheaded second-in-command of Hazard Team. As you jump from ship to ship, you rally the aliens that have also fallen victim to the graveyard against the Reavers and the Forge. Most of the missions are played as part of a squad, and while you won't be able to control your team members, the other Hazard Team officers are competent enough to not accidentally shoot you in the back or to keep themselves from getting stuck behind walls. During some of the later missions, you'll even be joined by some of the Voyager crew - such as Seven of Nine and Tuvok - from the TV show.

Elite Force is split up into roughly 30-plus single-player levels, and it's clear that the developers at Raven took cues from Half-Life in its design. Limited supplies of ammunition and health are dispensed by wall-mounted stations, which are found throughout the game's alien ships (while you're aboard Voyager, the holographic doctor administers medical aid to you). Level transitions also occur in a manner reminiscent of Half-Life in that you don't realize that you're about to enter a new area until the "now loading" text appears across your screen. To preserve suspension of disbelief, the progress meter of the level load time is displayed as a transporter icon going through the motions of locking onto your position and energizing.