Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force | |
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Single-player, multiplayer |
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force is a
The game is set in the Star Trek universe, specifically relating to the fourth Star Trek television series, Star Trek: Voyager. The dates in the game place Elite Force's plot late in Voyager's sixth season. The player assumes the role of Ensign Alex Munro, a member of the Hazard Team, a new elite security section created to deal with particularly dangerous and hostile away missions. The game's plot focuses on the USS Voyager being trapped in a starship graveyard, heavily damaged and under attack from a variety of hostile factions. The Hazard Team is tasked with protecting Voyager as repairs are made, and investigating the cause of their entrapment.
Elite Force was one of several Star Trek games announced after Activision secured the license to Star Trek video games from
Gameplay
An example of the
Elite Force includes an arsenal of Star Trek–themed weapons, such as phasers and disruptors. The weapons vary in power, ammunition consumption and effectiveness in given situations. Usually, the player is equipped with a hand phaser, a low-damage weapon that automatically recharges ammunition, and a phaser compression rifle, a more powerful weapon with an optional sniper mode for long distance kills. Other weapons, acquired as the game progresses, include grenade launchers, stasis weaponry and pulse energy weapons. The player can restock on ammunition by using wall-mounted terminals that dispense weapon energy, or by picking up certain items in the game environment.[3]
Single-player
The game's single-player campaign consists of around 30 linear levels, divided up into eight distinct missions. Missions have different objectives, from retrieving a particular item and accessing computer systems, escorting a friendly character through hostile territory, or destroying vital ship and station components. Enemies come in multiple forms in the game, often as Star Trek species such as the
The player is usually accompanied by one or more friendly non-player characters, who will follow the player and provide assistance in combat against enemies. As they are often key to the story, friendly characters must not be killed in combat except during scripted events. In between combat missions, the player can move around the USS Voyager and interact with other members of its crew, often performing non-combat tasks to progress the story.[4]
Multiplayer
Elite Force was originally released with a 32-player
The Elite Force expansion pack added an additional five-game types. In an "assimilation" match, one team plays as Borg and must attempt to assimilate the other team; if a player is assimilated, they join the Borg team, gradually reducing the number of players on the other team. The "action hero" mode gives one player more weapons, health, and overall power than every other player, but when an opposing player kills this player they take these advantages. A further game type known as "elimination" is a deathmatch game except that players can't respawn. As player characters are killed, they sit out the remainder of the round until only one player is left alive. The "disintegration" mode gives every player a slow firing semi-automatic phaser rifle that will kill and vaporize an opposing player in one shot, thus requiring shots to be carefully aimed to ensure they hit. The final game mode, called "specialties," adds a class-based mode for team deathmatch and capture the flag modes, giving players the option to choose from one of six combat roles, such as a sniper, medic or infiltrator, each with different weapons, speeds and abilities.[5][6][7]
Synopsis
Setting
Elite Force is based on the fourth Star Trek television series, Star Trek: Voyager. The series follows the adventures of the
Characters
Elite Force incorporates a large cast of characters, both original characters created for the game and characters from the television series. All nine of the core Voyager characters in the sixth season appear, such as
Plot
The game opens with the Hazard Team conducting a holodeck training exercise set on a Borg ship; however, the team fails the exercise as most get captured by the Borg, and Munro accidentally destroys the ship while trying to rescue them. Following the termination of the exercise, Voyager is attacked by an unidentified ship. Voyager manages to destroy the ship, but takes heavy damage in the battle. The hostile ship explodes, emitting a shockwave that teleports the now–crippled Voyager to an unknown location, surrounded by derelict ships. As the Voyager crew attempts repairs, the ship is boarded by scavengers, who steal some of Voyager's cargo supplies before being driven off. In an effort to establish where Voyager is, the Hazard Team is sent to a derelict ship where power is still functioning to download the derelict's database. The mission goes awry when aliens begin transporting in and attacking the team; however, the aliens, identifying themselves as Etherians, eventually manage to communicate with the team, and the ordeal is waved off as a misunderstanding, allowing the Hazard Team to access the Etherian database.
Through the Etherians, Voyager learns of an energy field being projected by a gigantic space station, the Forge, which is draining power and preventing repairs from being completed. To counteract the effects of the field, chief engineer
As Voyager installs the Isodesium, a ship is sent from the Forge to tear Voyager apart for resources. Tuvok leads the Hazard Team to a nearby derelict
Development
Publisher
In a June 2000 interview, Raven Software co-founder Brian Raffel stated that one of the objectives of the game was to make the player feel "like [they're] part of a Voyager episode".
Versions and sequels
Graphic novel
Prior to the release of Elite Force,
PlayStation 2 port
The development of a
Expansion Pack for PC
An
Freeware release
The multiplayer Holomatch component was released as freeware in August 2020 for the game's twentieth anniversary, and was packaged with the
Reception
Sales
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force sold below forecasts.[46][47] According to PC Data, which tracked computer game sales in the United States, the game sold 64,725 copies and earned $2,933,204 (~$4.93 million in 2023) in gross revenue by the end of 2000.[48] It ultimately drew revenues of $15 million and sold roughly 300,000 units worldwide by 2003.[47] In 2018, project lead Brian Pelletier said that he "was expecting better sales than what we got".[46] According to author Erik Bethke, Activision had anticipated sales between 700,000 and 1 million units in the game's first 12 months.[47] Despite its underperformance, James Hoyle of Den of Geek summarized Elite Force's sales as "good".[46]
Critical reviews
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | 86%[49] (PC) 54%[50] (PS2) |
Metacritic | 86%[51] (PC) 52%[52] (PS2) |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Eurogamer | 8/10[53] (PC) |
GamePro | [54] (PC) |
GameRevolution | B+[55] (PC) D+[56] (PS2) |
GameSpot | 8.6/10[2] (PC) 6.2/10[57] (PS2) |
GameSpy | 91%[4] (PC) |
IGN | 8.6/10[3] (PC) 6/10[58] (PS2) |
Next Generation | [59] |
PC Gamer (UK) | 93%[60] (PC) |
Elite Force was a critical success, scoring 86 percent on the review aggregator sites Metacritic and GameRankings.[49][51] Praise was bestowed on the game's story, level design, gameplay and graphics, although criticisms focused on the perceived short length of the game's single-player campaign. In addition, Elite Force was recipient to several Editor's Choice commendations from individual publications.[61] During the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Elite Force in the "PC Action/Adventure" category.[62]
A number of reviews praised Elite Force's gameplay and level design. The battles were described by GameSpot as "particularly intense", enhanced by friendly non-player characters being "surprisingly responsive" in combat, giving the player the sense that they are "not doing all the fighting by [themselves]".[2] While GameSpy voiced the view that Elite Force does not deviate radically from other games in the genre, it stated that "what it does do, it does extremely well". Admiring the game's pacing, GameSpy noted that the use of periods with character interaction rather than combat helped prevent the game becoming a "continuous onslaught" and allowed the story to flow smoothly,[4] a point echoed by GameSpot.[2] However, both GameSpot and GameSpy were critical of the game's artificial intelligence in some circumstances, leading friendly characters to get in the way of the player during firefights.[2][4] IGN was impressed with the variety of gameplay, from finding solutions to problems in coordination with other characters, engaging in stealth missions and pursuing a wide selection of objectives within the individual missions.[3] Several reviewers were complimentary towards the design of the weapons in the game, commenting that they were powerful and fun to use as well as fitting for the Star Trek theme.[2][3]
The game's graphics were thought to be very good, using the id Tech 3 engine effectively. Describing the graphics as superb,
Elite Force's attention to immersing the player within the Star Trek universe was praised as one of the stronger points of the game; GamePro suggested that even people who were not fans of the franchise "will marvel at the amount of detail in the ships and characters", further praising the game's "faithful" recreation of key sets of the USS Voyager in the TV series.[54] Many reviewers were positive towards the game's story, GameSpy suggesting that the plot "really draws you in",[4] while IGN praised the story as one in stark contrast to many of the poorly produced storylines used in the TV series.[3] However, many reviewers felt that the game's single-player campaign was too short,[3][55] while others felt the game's closing levels were disappointing.[4]
Due to shared technology and similar gameplay conventions, critics often compared Elite Force's multiplayer to that in
There was a consensus amongst reviewers that Elite Force was the first truly successful Star Trek game, standing out from past titles deemed to be mediocre in quality and design. Game Revolution stated that Elite Force managed to "fight off the curse which until now has plagued most Star Trek action games",
Although the original PC version of Elite Force gained critical acclaim, the 2001 PlayStation 2 port received a more negative reception. Majesco's port of the game garnered mediocre reviews, holding scores of 54 percent and 52 percent on Game Rankings and Metacritic respectively.[50][52] While the level design, story and atmosphere were praised, critics were negative towards what was seen to be a poorly performed port, with complaints focused on difficult controls, graphical problems and frame rate issues.[56][57][58] In addition, the artificial intelligence was deemed to be significantly worse than the earlier PC incarnation of the game.[56] Several reviews suggested that Majesco had simply not put effort into the port,[64] resulting in a level of quality behind that which was expected of PlayStation 2 games at the time.[65]
Since its release, Elite Force has often featured in retrospective lists comparing it with other Star Trek games. A 2009 Kotaku list put Elite Force as one of the top three Star Trek games,[66] Den of Geek ranked Elite Force as one of the top four Star Trek games in 2016,[67] while Tom's Guide ranked it among the top ten Star Trek games in 2016,[68] and PC Gamer noted Elite Force among the best Star Trek games in 2017.[69] In 2020, Screen Rant ranked it the third best Star Trek game.[70]
Sequel
Towards the end of March 2002, rumors were reported that a sequel to Elite Force was in development.[71] Activision confirmed these rumors at the beginning of April,[72] announcing Star Trek: Elite Force II on April 4, 2002.[73] The game was the last Star Trek title to be developed under Activision's supervision, following a dispute with Star Trek licensing holder Viacom,[74] and was produced by Ritual Entertainment.[75] Like Elite Force, Elite Force II was developed on the id Tech 3 game engine, one of the last games to do so.[73] Most of the core Hazard Team characters return in Elite Force II, this time set on the USS Enterprise-E following the events of the tenth film, Star Trek: Nemesis.[75] Elite Force II was released in June 2003 to favorable reviews from critics, although with ratings of 80 percent and 78 percent on the review aggregator sites GameRankings and Metacritic, it was not as successful as its predecessor.[76][77]
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External links
- Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force at MobyGames
- Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force at Wikiaproject
- Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force at IMDb