Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Pros • Decent simulation, the closest thing to playing a Star Trek episode in a long time.	Cons • Important features not included.
Bottom Line Not the masterpiece we hoped it would be, but not the disaster some have been saying it is. I've checked out a few reviews of Starfleet Academy in other magazines, and have been surprised to see some real backlash against the game. Okay, let's get it straight. It is not the greatest thing since the CD ROM, but it ain't no five out of ten, either. Here's what I think, feel free to flame me for it. The last major attempt to create the feel of a starship fell a teensy bit short of the mark (Battlecruiser 3000 AD). Starfleet Academy, by no means 100% successful, is still a hell of a lot better than that. And for me, the most important thing: there has been no other game in recent memory that successfully made me feel that I was calling the shots in an episode of Star Trek. Star Trek Generations and Star Trek Borg sure didn't, and there are even mixed reactions to A Final Unity with some gamers. As a starship simulation, yes, there are shortcomings. Space combat may feel a little too much like a Wing Commander clone, only slower, for some. There are a few design problems. Probably the most outstanding one is that there is no display which shows you your shield status, something that is really important. But I like the implementation of a lot of the Trek ideas in this game. Using original series characters, plot devices and writers gives the Trek franchise more life and energy than the TV series has seen in years. And the combat simulations manage to be fairly dynamic, throwing you a curve here and there in the plot. Combat may not be as exciting as a good Wing Commander or X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter furball, but at the very least it is decent. And with the other elements, mainly the story and some on the fly negotiating, I for one feel that it balances out in the end. Others may disagree, fair enough. For me, I feel like I'm in Star Trek when I play Academy. I haven't felt that into Trek in a long time.

Audio/Video:

Can't fault this. Polygonal ships are textured to look just like their movie/TV show equivalents. Phasers disperse across shields, or light up metallic faces of the ship if they manage to penetrate. Most of the sounds and sights of Star Trek have been successfully ported over, with a few exceptions. The phasers don't sound like the phasers of the movies, and that's a bit of a let down. The full motion video sequences are top-notch (we'll discuss the acting in a minute). Nice animation, and full use of Trek props. That's never really been a problem in Star Trek games--even the abysmal Star Trek Klingon and Borg at least looked good.

Storyline:

Your missions all have their own backstory, even though they're simulations. Later in the game, you'll uncover a conspiracy at the Academy that you must blow the lid on. Not really original, but it is executed in good ol' fashioned Trek-style. As for performances, some of the new-comers are a little less convincing. A lot of their dialogue comes off a little too stilted, and at times it sounds as if somebody's holding up cue cards in the background. The veteran players like William Shatner have no trouble slipping into the roles they've played for millennia. Even the less than famous people do a good job. Your regular "non-superstar" instructor had a bit part in one of the Star Trek movies, but proves he can play a grizzled veteran with the best of them.

Strategy and Tips:

Cloaked ships are a big headache to young cadets. Fortunately, the Weapons station allows you to target specific ship functions. Your first move should be to select the cloaking device as a target, then fire like mad once you get the ship in your crosshairs. Cloaked ships can lead you on a merry chase, so keep the speed high, and the ship moving erratically. Pummel that ship, and get rid of that cloaking device. Once you've done that, no problem.

For combat in general, I found success with an old Klingon tactic (at least, it's a Klingon tactic according to an old FASA RPG Star Trek manual). Make a high speed pass by the ship, firing all the way, then just keep right on moving once you go by. Turn around and come back for another pass. This means putting a lot of distance between you and your opponent between passes and can be time consuming, but I found it worth the trouble.

NEVER get surrounded. You'll last about five seconds.

Playability:

One complaint some have made is that starship combat is too fast, and smooth, more like fighter combat, rather than cruiser combat. You can hook up a joystick and line up enemy ships in the crosshairs, so I can see where this impression came from. I didn't find that the ship to be as responsive as a fighter, but certainly not as big or bulky as a cruiser. Kind of in between, really, and that hurts the game, fatally for some.

Combat isn't always so straightforward as blast-the-enemy ships. Missions sometimes have FMV sequences where you talk to other ships or planets. In addition, there are FMV scenes between missions. You will be presented with dialogue choices at key moments that may help your crew member's morale and performance, and bring it right down. Not everyone's getting along on your bridge, unfortunately. Those clips during missions are what helped bring home that Trek feeling. Perhaps at times Starfleet Academy tries to do a little too much and therefore doesn't succeed at everything, but I felt there was enough there to make me "live" a TV episode.

During combat, you are required to do a lot of switching between stations, and this can be awkward. It would have been very useful to include more shortcut keys, particularly ones you could configure yourself. At this writing, Interplay is working on a patch, so let's hope that's one of the things they cover.

Nice Touches:

I like the missions that emulate the TV series best. There's a multiplayer mission in a nebula (from the climax of Star Trek II), a mission patterned after the classic Trek episode "Balance of Terror," and the Kobayashi Maru, the "unwinnable" simulation (Star Trek II again). Multiplayer games allow you to take control of a variety of different ships, both old and new ones created specifically for the game. Tip: pick the Excelsior.

Not-So-Nice Touches:

The biggest problem is a lack of some key features. Number one, you have no idea what your shield status is unless you're looking at the Engineering station. This is something you need to know constantly. The engineer yells out damage, including shield status, but in the heat of battle you're not going to hear him all the time.

The absence of configurable hotkeys is another thing that holds SFA back. You can do a lot of switching between stations, and manipulating a lot of power levels. Something that would have allowed you to jump from one-quarter, half, three-quarter, and full power to shields, phasers, and so on would really cut down on the travelling time.

System Requirements:

P90, 16 MB RAM
2X CD ROM
180 MB free disk space
Direct X 3.0a or higher
Win95 Native

Info & Screenshots