Star Trek: Away Team

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Star Trek: Away Team
Composer(s)
Danny Pelfrey
SeriesStar Trek
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • NA: March 20, 2001[1]
  • EU: March 30, 2001
Genre(s)Real-time tactics
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Star Trek: Away Team is an isometric real-time tactics video game developed by Reflexive Entertainment and published by Activision. The game was initially released in March 2001 for personal computers using Microsoft Windows in North America. The game is set in the Star Trek universe, after the end of the Dominion War seen in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It features a range of new characters, set on board the USS Incursion with voice appearances by Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Commander Data and Ambassador Worf, respectively. The game received mixed reviews, with criticism directed at the graphics, elements of the gameplay including the lack of any artificial intelligence, and the limited length of the game.

In 2023, the game was one of eight Star Trek titles re-released on GOG.com in celebration of the franchise's 57th anniversary.[2]

Gameplay

Star Trek: Away Team is a squad-based

phaser, and the player can assemble a team prior to each mission to take account of the requirements of that level.[4] Each character has a specialisation as seen in the Star Trek franchise, such as science, security, command, medical or engineering.[5][8] This broadly defines the abilities of the characters, with security personnel being better in combat, while science crew can use cloaking fields and engineers can repair equipment.[6] The death of any characters requires the mission to be restarted,[9] something that was not originally included in the game.[10]

The game involves several stealth related abilities, such as decoys, and holographic projectors. The aim was for the missions to have multiple means of completing them, with the player able to use either force or stealth and abilities to complete a mission.

hot keys for a variety of actions, such as the use of hyposprays or to select phaser rifles.[6] The multi-player mode is based on co-operative play for up to six players on a local area network.[5][10]

Synopsis

Setting

The game is set in the

Federation amongst others.[12][13] Missions are set on the Klingon homeworld, a Borg cube, Starfleet Academy and a Starfleet starship.[11]

Characters

Vorik in that series.[15]

Development

Activision approached

S.W.A.T. team of the Federation. They have been specially trained with prototype weapons and technologies to undergo the most extreme missions."[10]

E3 convention in May 2000, alongside Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force and Bridge Commander.[3]

Reception

Star Trek: Away Team received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17] Some reviews such as The Independent were positive, saying that "Away Team will have gamers and Trekkies champing at the bit."[27] The Birmingham Mail described the game as "satisfyingly challenging and engaging".[28] Daily Radar called the game "respectable",[29] and thought that both the gameplay and plot were "fun and familiar but hardly new or daring".[29] The review called the voice acting "first class",[29] and said overall that it was a "solid and fun experience".[29] John Lee of NextGen said of the game, "Comparison to Commandos is inevitable, and even though this dirty dozen carries phasers, it's a terrific, enjoyable challenge."[25]

However, others were less positive. There was criticism of the linear storyline, with

X-COM franchise saying that Away Team didn't allow for any customisation and the pre-made characters had no impact on the storyline. Because of this, the review also criticised the role-playing experience of the game, saying that "Even a game like Panzer General provides more role-playing than Away Team."[4] Computer Games Strategy Plus also compared the game to X-COM, with elements of Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines added. It said that the lack of artificial intelligence meant that the need to pause the game repeatedly to give commands resulted in order to allow the characters to fight back against attacks.[9] GameSpot called that lack of artificial intelligence a "giant step back from the real-time combat in X-COM: Apocalypse".[7] The Washington Post found that the characterisation was lacking compared to Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force.[13]

The graphics were also criticised, due to the locked aspect ratio of the maps and the pixelization this caused when the player zoomed in, which was described as "unpleasent" by IGN.[4] It also had the effect on game play that the individual characters could only be easily selected by clicking on the portraits as they were "so small as to be nearly indistinguishable from one another" on the map according to IGN.[4] GameSpot also raised similar points, but still called the graphics and sound as the best features of the game.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Star Trek Away Team goes gold". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  2. ^ "EIGHT CLASSIC STAR TREK GAMES NOW AVAILABLE ON THE GOG". GOG.com. CD Projekt. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  3. ^ a b IGN staff (May 8, 2000). "So Many Activision Game Screens They Won't Fit On One Page". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Kozlowski, David (March 28, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Greenhill, Richard (February 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team – Preview". Games Domain. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d IGN staff (January 31, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team (Preview)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e Geryk, Bruce (March 21, 2001). "Star Trek Away Team Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Poole, Stephen (February 1, 2001). "Star Trek Away Team Preview [date mislabeled as 'March 21, 2001']". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on April 5, 2001. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Bub, Andrew S. (April 10, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team". Computer Games Strategy Plus. theGlobe.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c Preston, Jim (August 18, 2000). "Star Trek: Away Team (Preview 2)". Daily Radar. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on March 3, 2001. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". Star Trek: Away Team. Archived from the original on February 7, 2004. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  12. ^ a b Davenport, Caillan (April 7, 2001). "'Star Trek: Away Team'". TrekToday. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  13. ^
    Nash Holdings. April 13, 2001. Archived from the original
    on March 12, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2013.(subscription required)
  14. ^ "Star Trek: Voyager Series 6 – 18. Ashes to Ashes". Radio Times. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  15. ^ "Sci-Fi Blast From The Past – Alexander Enberg (Star Trek: The Next Generation & Star Trek: Voyager)". SciFiAndTVTalk. July 27, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  16. ^ Daily Radar staff (May 11, 2000). "Star Trek: Away Team (Preview 1)". Daily Radar. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on March 3, 2001. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
  17. ^ a b "Star Trek Away Team". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 22, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  18. All Media Network. Archived from the original
    on November 14, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  19. ^ Handy, Alex (June 2001). "Simply Red (Star Trek: Away Team Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 203. Ziff Davis. p. 89. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  20. ^ MacIsaac, Jason (April 4, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team". The Electric Playground. Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on March 8, 2003. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "Star Trek: Away Team". Game Informer. No. 98. FuncoLand. June 2001.
  22. CraveOnline. Archived
    from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  23. ^ Cuciz, David (April 18, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 6, 2005. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  24. ^ Lupos (April 3, 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  25. ^ a b Lee, John (June 2001). "Star Trek Away Team". NextGen. No. 78. Imagine Media. p. 91. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  26. ^ Osborn, Chuck (June 2001). "Star Trek: Away Team". PC Gamer. Vol. 8, no. 6. Imagine Media. p. 69. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
  27. ^ Gordon, David (May 5, 2001). "Staying In: Video Games". The Independent.
  28. ^ "The Life Mag: Games Zone – Can you face the mission?". Birmingham Mail (HighBeam Research). Reach plc. May 15, 2001. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2013.(subscription required)
  29. ^ a b c d Preston, Jim (2001). "Star Trek: Away Team Review". Daily Radar. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
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