Star Trek Bridge Commander Review

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Star Trek Bridge Commander

Review by Mike PhillipsMarch 2002

“Captain’s personal log. Stardate 54303.1: Our new first officer is working out nicely, quite capable though mildly lacking in experience. The commander will gain that with time. My ship has been assigned to the Vesuvi system to investigate the unusual solar activity hampering colonization in the Maelstrom. I hope to learn more at the Vesuvi Four terraforming, the sole Federation outpost in this region of space. We are also on alert for any Cardassian activity. Despite Starfleet’s claims, I doubt we’ve seen the last of them here …”

If that prologue raises an eyebrow, you may have just found a game as valuable as gold pressed latinum. Billed as a space sim/adventure, STBC is the first game that actually gives you a true feeling of being the captain of a starship.

Mr. Holland’s Opus

Lawrence Holland may not be a household name to adventure gamers, but the gentleman does have a few miles on his tires or, more appropriate, a few light years under his belt. Among his notable credits, he happened to design the X-Wing series of games for LucasArts.  Should that arouse any interest for an adventure gamer? Of course not; however, in STBC a certain DC Fontana is responsible for the dialog. Surely that name is familiar—Dorothy has penned, as well as directed, a few episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Point being, this game was designed by a professional, written by a professional, nothing could possibly go wrong … right?

He’s Dead, Jim

If you happen to be squeamish over the absence of a save-anywhere feature, be aware that STBC unfortunately doesn’t have one.  The game auto-saves between missions. Unless your surname is Kirk, Janeway, or Picard, expect to repeat several sequences countless times until you perform the correct actions. At times the game is rigidly linear, and to make matters worse you can’t skip the cutscenes after a failed effort. Pumping the backspace key gets you through one line of dialog at a time, but that becomes annoying as Tribbles upon your fifth attempt at a mission.

Set Phasers to Kill

Yet another complaint—your first officer Saffi Larson is a, well, let’s just say she’s annoying. Imagine that creep in your office who likes to take note of every smoke or bathroom break that you take, can recall every personal call or email that you make or receive, and knows if you arrive a minute late or leave a nanosecond early. Saffi is far worse. One wrong move on your part and Commander Larson has already hailed Starfleet reporting your negligence. She wants your command, plain and simple. Too bad there isn’t an option to load her into the captain’s yacht for a trip to the nearest sun.  I’ve already seen gamers replacing her head with the most unholy of images that your worst nightmares couldn’t conjure up.

That Is Most Illogical, Captain

The graphics are puzzling, to say the least. At times they are nothing short of amazing; a few seconds later, they can be as horrid-looking as a Klingon entrée. The bridges of the two ships in STBC are both in a serious need of a visit from Martha Stewart; it’s obvious the artists didn’t spend much time with that aspect. The character models are spot-on—you literally feel like Jean-Luc Picard is sitting next to you early on in the game. Then his mouth moves … Lip-synch has the look of old Cyberflix games such as Dust or Titanic. Yet in battle scenes, one couldn’t ask for anything better. A bit strange, but I imagine the designers had a few budgetary decisions to make. So be it.

Another concern: unpatched, the game leaks memory. Let me correct that—it eats memory! A few reboots can cure that, but it is a problem if you want to play for hours on end.

More Is Good … All Is Better

That about covers the somewhat minor gripes. Now for what the game does well. I may bring the FFC server to its knees describing all these aspects.

The voice acting, which includes that of Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner, is top-shelf, naturally, as in most Trek games. It’s wonderful to see actors taking games seriously, as it adds so much to the end product. The music is also up to Trek standards, fully orchestrated and on a grand scale.

STBC absorbs one in the Trek universe unlike any game in its lineage. You are the captain; the options are nearly infinite in the game. Want to play it as an adventure game? The option is there. Bridge Mode is the default viewpoint, which happens to be of the first-person flavor. It works quite well; it gives you the feeling that you are indeed part of the game. Simple touches like camera movements do wonders here; as you walk onto the bridge and descend the stairs, the camera replicates these steps very effectively.

Your character is a faceless, nameless entity, further supplementing the “you are there” feeling. The mouse is all that’s needed in this incarnation—simply delegate authority to your officers on the bridge and bark out orders. Decide which alert status you should be under, how much power to expend on weapons, shields, engines, or sensors, the usual decisions seen made by those who boldly go where no one has gone before. Should you fire on that Romulan ship or trust their offer of peace and drop your shields? This is where the game is the antithesis of linearity—some of your actions affect what happens later in the game. Check your twitch-reflexes in the transporter room, as they aren’t needed. The combat is more tactical in nature, as it should be. A starship is more akin to a battleship than a type of fighter; unlike in many past Trek games, these lumbering vessels move somewhat slowly, giving you time to plan your attack.

Or you can forego Bridge Mode and just go crazy with the game.  Ever had an ambition to be a weapons officer? The option is there—you can manually target specific systems on an enemy ship and figure out the quickest way to disable or destroy them. Should you fire phasers, and on what spread? Should you opt for the photon torpedoes in lieu of those limited yet deadly quantum torps? Don’t forget about those experimental phased torps!

How about “driving” the ship—want to be the navigator?  You can do that as well. Are your port shields weak? Then naturally you want to make an attack run with your starboard side exposed to the enemy. Is your hull damage severe enough to turn tail and run away?

You control as much or as little as you desire, with three difficulty settings, First Officer, Captain, and Admiral. Personally, I believe the Admiral setting is there for gamers who have suicidal tendencies.

She Canna Take Much More, Cap’n

If you tire of the somewhat short single player game, there’s more.  Quick Battle Mode is there if you just want to sharpen your skills or play a quick game. It’s fully customizable; it’s your choice as to how many foes you wish to face, or how much support you desire, and of what variety for either.

Want more? Multiplayer, perhaps? There are a few variations of Deathmatch and Defend the Starbase (capture the flag) that work great out of the box if that happens to be your thing.

Why not throw in voice-command technology to sweeten the deal?  Totally Games did just that! This aspect may not interest the average adventure gamer yet, but—face reality—it won’t be long before point-and-click will be replaced by saying “go forward,” “turn right,” etc.

Is the Vessel Cloaked?

I’d surmise at this point everyone is screaming, “Is this an adventure game or not?” My answer is, “Who shot JFK?  Is the artist formerly known as Prince male or female? Did Gilligan ever know Maryann in the biblical sense?” More of life’s mysteries, perhaps. With genre lines thoroughly blurred of late, this game really can’t be pigeonholed into a specific category. At times it is an adventure game, then it’s a flight simulation, at another turn a space shooter. Whatever it is, it’s a great game that any Trek fan can’t pass by. Gamers from all genres should give it a go; it offers something for everyone and rarely disappoints.

Make it So, Number One

A grade, and I hate this part: for me personally I’d go for a and a feather rather than a full .  It comes close, but that status has to be reserved for the knock-your-socks-off winners. This title didn’t quite hit it out of the park. The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Totally Games Publisher: Activision Release Date: February 2002

Available for: Windows

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Screenshots

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System Requirements

3D hardware accelerator with 16 MB VRAM (100% DirectX compliant 3D video card is required) Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP Pentium II 300 MHz processor (Pentium II 450 MHz processor recommended) or Athlon processor 64 MB RAM 650 MB of uncompressed hard disk space for game files; plus an additional 100 MB for Windows swap file DirectX 8.0a or higher (included) DirectX compatible 16 MB video card DirectX 8.0a or higher compatible sound card 4X CD-ROM drive Microsoft-compatible mouse, keyboard

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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