Star Trek Armada II

DEVELOPER : Activision
PUBLISHER : Activision
RELEASE DATE : Q4 2001

No matter what is said about the history of Stark Trek games, one thing is for sure. Few franchises have made the transition to PC games with such multiformity. In no particular order of quality, there have been Trek graphic adventures, full motion video adventures, text based simulations, space shooters, a ground based real-time strategy game, and even a computer simulation of a board game simulation of Star Trek combat-say that three times fast. This diversity has perhaps been a double-edged sword. In some instances the designers have been so concerned with bringing Trek to every new genre that they forgot to include the fun. Not so with Star Trek Armada. They included plenty of fun, but they buried it behind bugs and poor AI. Face it--the game was initially as stable as my bowel after eating Pizza Hut (as my unlucky friends in the same room will attest). Also, the AI in skirmish mode (a huge factor in any RTS) was poor-leading many modders to focus solely on improving this aspect of the game. Despite all these potential game killing conundrums, the game met with decent reviews and was a relative commercial success. Rightfully so-the game had a variety of unique features that elevated it from the mundane once you got it up and running. Minor patches appeared along the way, but one truly significant patch-late by at least a year-improved the game immensely-enough so that I actually reinstalled it to finally beat the game and continue playing skirmish mode. The game was finally stable and the AI was challenging. But alas, only the hardcore fans paid any attention.

Basically, the first Armada took the ground-based real-time strategy formula of collect, build, destroy, and implemented it into the Next Generation universe. Armada focused exclusively on ship combat, but instead of taking the Homeworld approach and making a true 3D space to fight in, Armada plopped players on a flat plane. They achieved a "3D" look by adding in some multidimensional nebulas, asteroid fields and backgrounds. Similarly, ships could move over or under each other, but would then return to the same plane. You could also move the camera down into the gameplay to observe from the ships' point of view-this made the game much more visually appealing, but served no purpose other than adding eye candy. Despite the sameness of the core gameplay, Armada spiced itself up by implementing features that were very Trek oriented. Each ship contained a crew that could be killed in battle (and the ship would be stranded until more people were transported on), ships had a variety of Trek inspired special weapons-the coolest being the assimilation ability of the Borg--and the game was absolutely brimming with atmosphere.

Enter Star Trek Armada II. I can't tell you how excited I was to receive the shiny beta disc and start it up. Being a Star Trek geek, I reveled in the thought of once again commanding the Enterprise and destroying the Borg. Not to mention you get to play as the Cardassians, Klingons, Romulans, and Species 8472, introduced in Voyager (to the uninitiated this all must sound a bit frightening). But anyway, after playing a bit of the campaign and quite a few skirmish games, I can safely say that this is one fun game-more fun than its predecessor and one of the most enjoyable real-time strategy titles released in a while.

First I want to address the stability issue. I would usually hold off on mentioning it at all being that this is a beta and much of the code will most certainly change dramatically. Because it was such an issue for the first one, however, I think there is due cause. So far the game has run silky smooth, but only in 800 X 600 (16 bit color mode). If I try to change the resolution or color mode the game runs up until I have to access the main menu to save my game or exit- then it simply freezes. I feel this is purely a beta issue, as the actual gameplay in higher resolutions runs flawlessly. It could also be a specific problem with my video card--who knows? The point is that other than this single issue I have had no problems running the game, which is a very good sign.

Speaking of resolutions, the game is absolutely stunning in 1024 X 768 and above. All of the wonderful little details from the first game are back, such as tiny blinking lights on all the ships and the excellent shield and weapon effects. One of the coolest features of Armada was the fact that ships did not simply explode and disappear when destroyed-you could see tiny explosions rippling through the ship, culminating in a satisfying explosion with chunks of hull flying everywhere. Armada II ups the ante by further diversifying these effects. The other additions, however, are far from mere eye candy. The most significant is the move to a true 3D space. By holding down the shift button and moving the mouse forward and back, ships can be moved up and down, respectively. This is not, however, a case of form over function. Ships now have multiple hard points that can be damaged depending on where the attack is coming from. For instance, a few hits to the front of the ship can knock out the weapons system. Or you can command your fleet to attack from underneath the enemy, hitting their underbellies to disable their engines. In the midst of a battle that can involve dozens and dozens of ships, however, I found there to be little time to implement complex tactics that utilize this new feature. This is resolved by formations. Now players can put their fleets into formations such as a wall (which looks quite intimidating), or have fleets orbit their targets to hit all parts of the ship. Also, when building your base you can position your structures and defenses at different "altitudes", creating new obstacles for attackers. Putting fleets into formations, however, is not the only way the designers at Mad Doc Software have increased player control over fleets. Armada II integrates more complex control over friendly AI. Simply select a fleet and you can access a menu that allows you to set the AI autonomy in regards to movement and use of special weapons. Another cool addition is the ability of ships to go into warp. Once their engines are sufficiently charged, they can rapidly warp to a specified part of the map-great for scouting missions and quick hit and run attacks. Of course, this addition is accompanied by the cool ship-stretching effect fans know so well.

In terms of the actual gameplay mechanics, several additions serve to spice up the gameplay. There are now four resources to collect. In addition to dilithium, players now have to gather metal. Researching new special weapons and building certain ships now requires latinum, the Trek equivalent of gold. Crew still increases steadily, but not at a very efficient rate. Shipyards, however, can now build colony ships in order to--what else--colonize planets. It definitely adds to the atmosphere to see the colony ship slowly orbit planets and launch colony pods. There are a variety of planet types, some better for colonization and some better for metal. The coolest addition, however, is how players acquire latinum. You can collect it from latinum rich nebulas or you can build a trading station through which you can sell some of your dilithium or metal for the resource. Periodically, Ferengi trading vessels will enter the station to supply you with latinum as well. Both the planets and the trading station go a long way towards making you feel like you are commanding your ships within a living universe. Species 8472 (with its organic ships) is the only race that requires the resource Bio-matter, which it acquires by converting dilithium or metal into the substance.

Armada II once again contains four campaigns, but one is only a tutorial (which nicely cover the basics of gameplay plus all of the additions). The three main campaigns chronicle the Federation, Klingons, and Borg. Romulans, Cardassians, and Species 8472 all play a role in the campaign, and although there is no individual campaign for these races, they are fully playable from the highly customizable skirmish and multiplayer modes. All the races sport a dizzying array of ships and weapons. Some of the most impressive are the Federation Galaxy-class ships that can separate its saucer section (with most of the crew) and send the other half of the ship, the star drive, into battle. The Borg can now combine eight Cubes to form the Fusion Cube-an absolute monstrosity that has the ability to assimilate any two special weapons. Species 8472 grows organisms that morph into their ships, the largest being the Behemoth. This ship can actually fire into a nebula and detonate it. All ships caught in the explosion are instantly consumed. Cardassians, being the most militaristic race, can use their Janissary-class ships to send marines onto enemy vessels that have been stripped of their shields. Players will be extremely pleased with the wide variety of strategies the special weapons and new ships provide.

Multiplayer (over Gamespy) and skirmish mode allow you to select from an impressive amount of game options. There is a nice selection of maps, and players can turn off features such as warping and special weapons. Also, in addition to selecting the difficulty for AI opponents (easy, medium and hard), players can adjust the build rate and build cost of AI opponents to increase or decrease the difficulty. Unfortunately, some of the AI problems of the first title are rearing their ugly heads. The AI builds up nice base defenses, but rarely makes any type of coordinated attack--even in hard. Again, this is the beta so the AI could be significantly improved in the final version. All in all the AI is much better than the one that shipped with the original, but not as good as the AI implemented in the most recent patch I had mentioned.

Armada II improves nearly every aspect of the original. It is more tactically challenging, includes more ships and special weapons for old races, plus includes two additional races. Armada fans will simply eat it up, and newcomers are sure to enjoy its more sophisticated and fleshed out gameplay. The game is extremely close to being released, so look for it soon.

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Previewed by Anthony Micari