Someone has actually made a damn good Star Trek game.

Well, they've finally done it. Someone has actually made a damn good Star Trek game. On top of the fact that it's a good Trek game it's actually a board game conversion that keeps most of the pen and paper rules intact. Yes, right about now you should look out your window to spy the pigs flying across the sky. Star Trek: Starfleet Command is the game every Trekkie has dreamed about since the first text based Trek games decades ago.

Starfleet Command is a computer conversion of the classic board game Star Fleet Battles. If you're unfamiliar with Star Fleet Battles it is a number heavy tactical wargame of starship combat in the Trek universe. The number of rule supplements gives Advanced Squad Leader a run for the money, and with the tremendous amount of bookkeeping involved only a select few, such as CPAs and people who do trig for fun, could really get the most enjoyment out of the game. In other words it was the perfect game to translate from paper to silicon and Interplay has done a tremendous job in doing so. Sure, there are a few flies in the ointment, but not enough to dampen your love for this game.

Forget the wimpy politically correct universe of the Next Generation, with its lame Borgs who fly around in a giant Rubik's Cube and Klingons who belong to the Federation. Starfleet Command is set in the classic Trek universe, with war hungry Klingons, crafty Romulans, and the Orion Pirate Cartel. You'll find a total of six playable races (though this is somewhat of a misnomer since the Federation is made up of several races): the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, the Hydrans, the Lyrans, and the Gorns. The Orion Pirates are non-playable and will freely fight any of the six groups.

Each race has four general starship classes, of which different variants are created from. All together there are close to 300 vessels in the game, about 50 to each race, with an odd mixture for the Orions who don't follow normal trends in starship design. Starfleet Command is divided up into three realms of play: single scenarios, many of which can have several variables changed, a campaign mode, and finally a multiplayer mode. Additionally there are some basic tutorial missions to ease the learning curve. A scenario creator is noticeably absent, which is a shame because Starfleet Command screams for one with more power than simply changing the map or size of vessels fighting as found in the single scenario variables.

While the box copy states that Starfleet Command is a real time game (which it is) the method it approaches real time is very different from a resource gathering real time game. Because it is based on a turn based system actions take a variable amount of real world time to do, representing the passage of turns in the board game. This can be sped up or slowed down depending on how comfortable you are with commanding your ship, but the amount of time passed is always proportional to the game speed. An easy way to grasp the real time system is to think of it as one of those real time RPGs where your characters only get to attack after a certain amount of time has passed.

Unlike other real time games where the player commands dozens of units, in Starfleet Command you always only control one unit, although there can be more vessels in your force. The other vessels are controlled using an order scheme similar to ordering wingmen in a flight sim, allowing you to have friendly vessels destroy a certain target or protect your vessel. You can also jump between friendly vessels if you'd like. The command scheme works rather well with only one minor problem. When you order a vessel to do something specific to a target it will only commit to the target you have highlighted. So if you want your teammates to attack a vessel other than the one you're attacking you'll have to change targets. Not a big deal, but it could have been handled better.

Running your vessel is fairly easy though there's a lot of information to digest. Movement changes are handled by a simple click in the game world. The entire game can almost be played with nothing but your mouse, but you will find a combination of hot keys and mouse works the best. The vessels are detailed in almost every area you can think of: shield energy management, two types of probes, the ability to teleport troops and bombs…the list could go on. It's sufficient to say that this is one game where you're not left wanting more detail. Even the combat system is overwhelming, covering everything from overloading photons, to various types of plasma weapons, to hit and run raids on enemy ship systems using marines.

The graphics show as much love as the attention to detail throughout the rest of the game does. The main playing field is gorgeous with a movable camera and several default angles for viewing the action. Like the board game the action takes place on a flat grid, ignoring the Z axis, which might cause some people to moan, but you'll be having too much fun to really be that annoyed with it. Vessels are colorful and highly detailed, weapons look straight out of a movie, and explosions are very sweet. Scale is also nicely done, but still off. For example, a planet is much bigger than the starships but still not big enough though it doesn't hurt the visual appeal. Speaking of movies the game saves your battles allowing you to sit back and watch the fireworks, analyzing your moves. There is one glitch with the graphics and that's the fact that sometimes parts of vessels become transparent. Hopefully this can be fixed with a patch.

The AI is fairly good, knowing the proper use of a race's special abilities (like how to use cloaking effectively). Battles are relatively short, so this is a good game for a quick fix of action when you don't have a lot of time on your hands. The campaign mode is also fairly good, though it could have been better. Interplay calls it the "Dynaverse" supposedly because it is a dynamic universe. Well, in reality, it's only sort of a dynamic universe. While general set up conditions vary, as do most of the battles, there are still scripted scenarios in the campaign. There's still plenty of bang for your buck with six different campaigns, and even with the scripted affairs there's enough randomness to keep you coming back for more.

If you believe that details really make a game, then this is the game for you. There's so much to love in this game if you're a fan of Star Fleet Battles or just love wargames (albeit a non-historical wargame) that this review can only scratch the surface of Starfleet Command. There's also plenty of value here, something missing from quite a few games that only last a few weeks on your system.

Reviewed by Scott R Krol, PC Gameworld.