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> Results: Star Trek: Tactical Assault
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What GamerDad says about the ESRB Content Descriptors:
Mild Fantasy Violence: GamerDad watched an ambassador's get blasted out of the sky right in front of us. Mild Language: GamerDad found that dammit, captain, the shields couldn't take much more! There have been many games based on the various Star Trek TV shows and films, with similarly varying quality levels. One of the better games was the strategy title Starfleet Command, and there is much about Star Trek: Tactical Assault that makes it feel like a spiritual successor ﾖ and that is a very good thing! The game is a real-time strategy game based in the time of the original Star Trek TV series ﾖ it even has William Shatner doing the opening "Space ... the final frontier" line. There is plenty of depth in terms of scenarios and tactical decision-making; the player chooses diplomacy or attack, offensive or defensive posture. There is considerable breadth of unit upgrades to support your tactical approach, and the controls for real-time battles work very well ﾖ tap the shield control and touch ﾑshield recharge' and your reserve power will be diverted into repairing the shields. The lengthy single-player game features both Federation and Klingon campaigns, and it is a tribute to the solid and consistent design that many players argue over which was harder than the other. Those looking for fast-paced dogfight-style action should look elsewhere ﾖ flying in button mashing and guns blazing will simply get you destroyed. Perhaps my biggest criticism is that while there are several approaches to complete each mission, there is often only one route that will rate you as ﾑexcellent', which leads you to replay missions not for learning but to get that extra skill point. If you are a Star Trek fan, or are just looking for some solid tactical action on your DS or PSP, it is definitely worth a trip to your local Starbase to check this one out!  
There is no content that is objectionable for anyone old enough to read the text on the screen and control the DS ﾖ what skews this game a bit are the difficulty and strategic requirements. This game is about ship-to-ship strategic encounters ﾖ not every battle needs to be fought with weapons. How you approach a problem will often make the difference between victory and defeat, between an excellent and good mission rating.
There is more than one way to make a hard game ﾖ some games are basically broken and make you regret picking them up, others taunt you by flaunting their difficulty, still others cheat their way through, but there are some games that are genuinely challenging in a positive and rewarding way. Star Trek: Tactical Assault is one of those games. You will often find yourself replaying missions because your tactics failed; you will probably restart the whole game at least once because your choices of upgrades have left you too vulnerable on either offense or defense. But you will learn along the way, and the game rewards your excellence in completing missions. Which version to buy? DS: Reviewed above ﾖ marginally the better version. PSP: same core game, and while the PSP version looks better; the load times and controls favor the DS version. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Star Trek: Tactical Assault |
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