Trollax Reviews: Elite Force II

[Trollax]

From all the things I’d heard about this game I’d been told it was hardly an improvement on the original and not worth the time and money. I’m glad to say they were totally and utterly wrong. Being a die-hard trek fan I decided to check out the sequel to the moderately successful Elite Force and am glad to say that unlike many computer sequels it actually leaves its predecessor in its wake.

Story:
In elite force you play the part of lieutenant Alexander Munro, leader of an elite team of security officers known as a ‘Hazard team’ (sadly there’s no gender option in this one.) Upon returning to earth from the delta quadrant the hazard team is disbanded and buried by federation bureaucracy. But after some time, a chance encounter with an influential member of Starfleet gives rise to a trial run of a hazard team on the USS Enterprise E.
The game itself is some three times bigger than the original, with an improved interface and a more-developed storyline; Incidental dialogue from background characters has several traceable stories, although the major drawback it seems is that the characters in elite force do not mesh very easily with the prevailing Star Trek attitude, indeed the character of Alex Munro seems far more suited to section 31 than Starfleet at times.
The major drawback with the story of the game is that, given its length it seems far more plausible to have two or three “episodes” either with a linking element or simply just new missions, as it stands the one story element is stretched quite far, with very little to break it up. At present (just over 7 hours of gameplay) the story has just been getting bigger and bigger, which is fine for the X-files, but even the X-files had things to break it up.
Further, while the story is greatly improved, it seems that the basic element of the first game: “lots of bad guys coming after you” Is still there in part, and the game itself seems to be missing just that element of something that makes it feel complete. Maybe it’s just the fact that everyone is in pixels rather than actors on a TV screen. If anything it is the lack of a real mystery and some of the more extensive dialogue that is lacking that makes it less of a Star Trek thing than it could be.
7/10

Gameplay:
The game has been much improved since Elite Force I. For starters the Tricorder actually has a use and your weapons don’t chew through your limited ammo supplies too quickly. The power of the hand phaser has also been improved, and in terms of difficulty there is an extra element of challenge, the level designers have gotten sneakier, the enemies a bit more balanced, and no more facing off against 40 little Havesters with no high ground and dwindling ammo supplies for the Tetryon Gattling gun. Also, your high-powered weapons such as the quantum burst and grenade launcher use a different power source to your other Starfleet weapons, making it a lot less-costly to break out the missile launcher when there’s a large group of angry Klingons rushing you.
7/10

Graphics:
This is one area where Elite Force II loses out. Just on the cusp of such wonderful visual delights as seen in the likes of UT 2003 and Unreal II, Elite Force II still has a vintage feel, the levels are so huge in some cases that it’s obvious designers have cut down on polygons for curved surfaces to save on memory. And on machines with older graphics cards you’re going to have to run it at a smaller resolution (a few of the open air levels in one part of the game are so large my machine would chunk down in some places. Perhaps if there is ever a mission pack the engine will be patched or altered (or just call it a whole other game, a-la Mech 4: Mercs, heh) But, until then you’ll just have to make do with some of the more outdated aspects of the engine.
4.5/10

Playability:
EF II is one of the games I would play again and again. It may not be a classic, but it is large enough to offer a challenge to your memory (i.e. you won’t be able to go right back to the start after finishing and know where everything is.) an interesting aspect of the game is a few of the minor decision trees: do you go get involved with your ex again or go after the scantily clad alien woman? The fun part is the interactive scenes with the Ferengi trader, ‘Omag,’ where Munro gets involved in a war of the rules of acquisition. This is one of those few moments in the game where the whole experience feels like a full-on Trek thing.
7/10

Overall:
Overall, once more, Elite Force II does have some failings that can take a bit of the punch out of the experience, but it does have an element of Trek that real-time strategies and squad-based games lack, the immersion of a first person experience. Half-life’s success was partly based on Gordon freeman’s total absence of character, and that is never going to happen here; Star Trek isn’t built for that element of theatre, so you have to get to know Munro and there are plenty of opportunities for that. But, if you don’t like the character you’re not going to like the game as much, which is a problem everywhere. The graphics were just pre the cusp of some major changes and the story still lacks certain elements of content that Trek itself has. But, don’t believe the anti-spin. It’s still a game that kicks some ass.
6.5/10

Total: 64% (It’s a wide niche market, but still a niche market)