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> Results: Star Trek: Elite Force II
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Star Trek isnﾒt the first thing you think of when someone mentions ﾓfirst-person shooters," especially if you've played Klingon Honor Guard (ugh). Nontheless, here comes Elite Force II (from Ritual Entertainment), the sequel to the hit and miss Voyager based FPS from Raven.  EF2 ups the Trek combat ante with all kinds of weapons and gadgets you only glimpse on TV. Now youﾒre on the Enterprise, with Picard and crew, and facing off against an alien invasion. Other changes are the fact that you can only play a male, and fraternization is encouraged because this game lets you release your inner Kirk and hit on the ladies. Thereﾒs a lot of story between missions and, for the most part, it works. It doesnﾒt hold a candle to actual Trek, but some players might invest themselves in it. But the star of any first-person shooter is the action. Thereﾒs lots of it here and most of it is good, if repetitive. The game features lots of places to hide and encourages you to crouch behind obstacles to return fire. There are a couple problems with the action. For one thing the enemy doesnﾒt show much feedback when youﾒre hitting them. And they can take a ludicrous amount of damage before they fall (or vaporize). For another, the AI and pathfinding of your companions is pretty awful. They get stuck constantly and usually arenﾒt very helpful. This goes for the enemies too. You never feel youﾒre fighting against real foes.  The graphics are based on the Quake III engine, which is getting pretty old now. But things still look good and theyﾒve recreated the Enterprise faithfully enough to make it a thrill to simply explore. One innovation is the Tricorder, which is used occasionally for a mini-game moments where you have to reroute power and you can use different viewing modes to find hidden things. The game also offers multiplayer, but doesnﾒt really add anything new. Deathmatch and capture-the-flag, thatﾒs about it. If youﾒve got a craving for Trek, and first-person shooters, itﾒs worth a look, but donﾒt expect anything new or different out there in the Final Frontier.  Ages: 12+ ESRB: T-Teen Developer: Ritual Publisher: Activision Note: Since Activision is suing Viacom, this is likely the last Star Trek game we'll see for a while. There are other licensees (I believe Simon & Schuster still have options on Deep Space Nine, and nobody has picked up the license to Enterprise, to my knowledge). 
Unlike most FPS games, this one isn't so bloody and violent. But also unlike most FPS games, this one lets you hit on the ladies and flirt with four-eyed go-go dancers. This component is juvenile, but harmless. But it is juvenile enough to make you think about avoiding the game if this sort of thing offends you.
Kid Factor by Andrew Bub
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