Starfleet Command 2 Download
While the most exciting addition to Starfleet Command Volume II has to be the online Metaverse - where you can lead your ships out into hostile territory that's populated by thousands of opponents - the game remains at its core a tactical starship simulation. I picked up Starfleet Command 2 when I purchased Klingon Academy. Originally, the game did not work for me. Turns out, it was shipped with faulty disks. Luckily after speaking with the game store manager, I was able to exchange this game for another copy and luckily, it worked! This is a more polished version of Star Trek Starfleet Command 1.
In the ever growing world of computer titles encompassing the Star Trek universe, Star Trek: Starfleet Command Volume II: Empires at War makes a nice counterpart to the ground based, multi-planet Star Trek: New Worlds, released just a few months previously. You can choose any one of eight races and direct up to three ships simultaneously. Although the game has some detracting features, piloting your own starship and building up your fleet does offer substantial gameplay.
At the beginning of each mission, you start with a standard vessel with basic features. Gaining prestige points allows you to purchase enhanced missiles and eventually acquire better ships. Though some ships are cheap and you can get a second one very quickly, it's wiser to beef up one single ship since enemies double in number once you expand your fleet, both in combat situations and tactical patrol missions.
On your initial mission, you're instructed to stay within the confines of your chosen race's territory. Once you go into alien space, missions become much more involved, such as the requirement to transport a diplomat to the surface of a planet or destroy the transporting ship if you're the Interstellar Concordium ( ISC). Whichever of the seven non-ISC factions you command, a conflict emerges between you and the ISC, since they've been employed by the Organians to purge the Alpha Quadrant of all unwanted galactic governments.
Every race offers at least 20 ships for purchase, although many cost a large amount of prestige points, and you have to work your way up to the better craft. Basic controls of the various ships don't differ much and your command limitations include firing all weapons or entering stealth mode. You can order new formations and switch to another ship for hands-on control but you can't control all three at the same time -- you can only direct the pilots of your other craft.
With the similarities of the missions, having a choice of eight different races at first seems exciting but is actually quite superficial. Although, you get a new look to the interface with each race, the controls remain the same and are located in the same place. The interface is very complex and the tutorial necessary to understand gameplay. Sulu himself instructs you at one point and helps you learn most of the important controls for shields, defensive tactics, photon torpedoes, phasers and laying mines.
The voices are different but use the same script (e.g., Red Alert!). Even when you reach the main conflict area that focuses on the Organians and the ISC, the conversation between you and the other ship is the same. Unfortunately, the only noticeable difference in playing with any specific race is the look and feel of their ships. Certain races do have slightly altered versions of weapons, such as plasma torpedoes vice photon torpedoes, but not enough to make a difference.
The game has a very brief and non-detailed storyline with no full motion video or on-going plot. You simply fly your ship on specified missions, usually convoy escorts, patrols and base defense maneuvers which all have one objective: kill the enemy.
While this sounds like an action game scenario, the pace is too slow to be exciting with methodical movement. Don't expect it to be another StarLancer or Star Wars space fighter.
Missions take a while since missiles can be taken out and destroying enemies using only phasers is a slow process. However, flight control is fun and the slow pace necessary in order to use all the features of your ship. Part of the control involves programming your boarding crews to take out weapons and defense systems on enemy ships when shields are partially destroyed. Electronic counter measures (ECM) are used to defend ships against missiles and prevent lock on and are a good alternative to the cloaking device used by Klingons and Romulans.
Overall, Star Trek: Starfleet Command Volume II: Empires at War is a fairly involved simulation that puts you in the cockpit of your own starship with full control. Some missions are complex and you strive to improve your fleet with better-equipped ships but, while complex, most of them center on destroying the enemy. Graphics, sounds and interface are well designed. However, the game is slow-paced with no detailed storyline to keep you hooked. Although controls are sleek, movement is sluggish. Lack of diversity in conversations and individual race missions is disappointing.
Graphics: The graphics make you feel as if you're in a space environment. Explosions are impressive missiles and torpedoes are easily discernible on each ship. Unfortunately, you can't move the screen or change to a first person perspective. Each race, though, is designed with extremely individualistic characteristics.
Sound: Familiar Star Trek music accompanies the action and each race has specific voicing, although the content is directly associated with actions you take. Regardless of the race, the script is the same. The sounds of the weapons and ships being hit are realistic.
Enjoyment: Once you know the controls, gameplay can be fun, but a learning curve is necessary via the tutorials or the manual. The major downside is the repetitive nature of the smaller missions. It's a far cry from a shoot-'em-up because of the slow pace but the missions can be absorbing for a short time.
Replay Value: Even though eight races are available, outcome and gameplay is only slightly different with each, although there is some diversity in missions played from the perspective of different races, especially from the ISC viewpoint.
People who downloaded Star Trek: Starfleet Command 2 - Empires at War have also downloaded:
Star Trek: Starfleet Command 2 - Orion Pirates, Star Trek: Starfleet Command 3, Star Trek: Starfleet Command, Star Trek: Bridge Commander, Star Trek: Armada 2, Star Trek: Armada, Star Trek: Klingon Academy, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars
Overview
Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates is an expansion pack for Star Trek: Starfleet Command 2 where instead of only being able to play the original empires like the Klingons and Romulans, now a new faction has been thrown in: the Orion Pirates. Contrary to their implied name, the Orion Pirates are actually eight different factions and have nothing to do with the Orions themselves. Although many find this hard to believe, each faction is totally independent from the others and the Orions, having unique philosophies and aspirations. Get ready to jump into the Star Trek universe yet again, selecting any of the eight new pirate factions as they fight for profit and survival, or choose an established power where resources are much less limited and expansion is a higher priority.
Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates is a real-time tactical simulator where you control a fleet of up to three starships in a 3D environment. You’ll feel the limitations like turning radius and recharge rate of ships this size, but also the raw power and advanced technology they can generate. If you enjoyed the first two installments of Starfleet Command, this is more of the same -- adding new weapons, ships, factions and over 40 new missions to conquer.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
When starting a single player game, there are three options to choose: tutorial, skirmish, or campaign. If you are new to the Starfleet Command series, the tutorial should be your first choice. Starfleet Command has an extremely complex interface and it can take over two hours just to understand how it works. The tutorial, however, does an excellent job of introducing this difficult interface and explaining how to use it effectively. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself getting pummeled the first few battles, as that’s generally expected. Believe it or not, once you become comfortable the gameplay is extremely balanced and that complex interface that drove you nuts the first few days now becomes a useful tool, adding great depth and a larger ability to use strategy.
Just what makes this interface so complex? Mainly it’s the amount of functionality crowded into the sidebar on the left side of the screen. There are so many functions crammed in that you can forget the ones not regularly used. For example, when you want to fire your weapons there are various options available. You can select to fire all your weapons, select specific weapons, group some together, overload certain weapons, and look at the firing arcs (most weapons can only fire forward, backward, etc.). There are more ways to cause damage to your opponent, however, as you can also drop mines, fire probes as weapons, target specific systems on an enemies ship, send marines over to capture or sabotage, and even use your tractor beam to ram an enemy into an asteroid. As you can see, there are many different features and abilities available, but do you need to know every minute function? The answer is definitely no. Just having a few easily executable techniques will be sufficient and new ones can always be added as you become more comfortable.
Now that you’ve been through the tutorial and have some concept of the interface, you’re ready to try the skirmish or campaign. The skirmish is one area that will keep your attention as it creates battles -- some famous, like Kirk vs. Khan, some from old televisions episodes, and some new. Each empire, including the pirate cartels, has a number of skirmishes presented. These battles are defaulted with certain parameters like the type of ships and preexisting damage that can often be changed to make the fight more interesting. Since this can be done quickly without playing multiple battles, it turns into a great option when you become tired of the campaign or just want a quick fight.
Buy Starfleet Command 2
The main part of this game isn’t the skirmish, however; it’s the campaign. When you select campaign, you’ll be asked to pick a military power to represent. There are eight choices in addition to the ones available in Starfleet Command 2, as now the Orion pirate cartels can also be selected. Each power has a different interface, specific technology and unique insignia differentiating itself from the others. Although some of the campaigns are similar, they’re all worth playing as different technology has different strengths and weaknesses that keep the game interesting.
Once an empire has been selected, you’ll be shown a few screens describing that group while the game loads. The first thing you’ll see is the hexagon map; by selecting one of the hexagons adjacent to yours, you should be able to accept the first mission. There are some welcome new changes here that help keep the game flowing. For instance, in Starfleet Command 2 there were times when you’d move seven or eight times before being able to select a mission, dramatically slowing down gameplay. Now, however, every time you move you’ll have the opportunity to select at least one mission. In addition, there are many more non-plot missions to play where before there were only a handful of missions that quickly became tiresome.
Another relevant improvement happens when you’re waiting to gain experience points for buying larger ships. Instead of sitting on the small ship you started with (since your opponents were always equally yoked with the same ship), now the opponents you come up against can get tougher, requiring you to upgrade earlier than anticipated. New ships and weapons are also available across the board, that can change the balance and the way certain enemies are approached.
Unfortunately, there are some issues that either weren’t fixed or improved from the original. One major issue that seems to have gotten worse is load times. There are two specific areas where this causes problems. One is when you’re attempting to load a saved game and the other is when you move on the hexagon map. The first is an interesting issue, as it gets worse as the campaign gets the farther along. For some reason as the game progresses, loading a game can increase from a few seconds to over a minute. This is unacceptable as some missions may take a few tries to complete and the load time really bogs down the gameplay. The other problem didn’t exist in the previous version but is a real issue now. When moving around the map, it can take thirty to forty seconds to move to an adjacent hexagon. Why it takes this long is a mystery. While we’re talking about new problems, you can no longer change the screen dimensions from 800x600. The menu gives the ability, but when a different screen dimension is selected, nothing happens and you’re right back with 800x600.
Multiplayer
After Starfleet Command 2’s most advertised feature failed to work, they finally got it right and released a working version of Dynaverse II. Dynaverse II is a tool that allows you to battle online as you gain experience points used to buy bigger and better starships. In addition, it creates missions and generates a smooth and solid interface with the net. It actually functions well and if you like online gaming, this should have lasting appeal.
Starfleet Command 2 Empires At War Download
Graphics
Visually, Orion Pirates is impressive. With numerous camera angles and the ability to zoom in and out, it takes full advantage of the 3D environment giving great detail and accuracy. It gives a sense of size and power as these huge ships maneuver around each other and prepare for battle. In addition, ships show damage, leave debris trails when hit and have exceptional detail. Overall, not much is missing as the graphics help create and immerse you in the Star Trek universe.
Audio
Orion Pirates has accurate audio, with photon torpedoes and phaser fire sounding authentic. The soundtracks also add to the game as they are Star Trek-based and help by not being overbearing or obnoxious. Each empire and pirate cartel even has its own voices that help give it personality. Generally, the sound is solid, adding dimension to the game.
System Requirements
Pentium II 350, DirectX 7.0, 64 MB RAM, Direct3D-compatible video card w/ 4 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, and 550 MB free HD space.
Bottom Line
Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates fills the role of expansion pack nicely. It has basically the same graphics engine and gameplay as the original, with some welcome additions like pirate cartels, new ships, and missions that fit requirements of most expansion packs. Unfortunately, it also has long load times and a few bugs that can make it difficult to play. Even with these issues, if you’re a fan of the Starfleet Command series you should enjoy this one too.