Issue 4 PDF - Downloads at abime.net

apov 4
24
reviews
set the Enterprise's course, you need to use a
map. The planets and stars on the map are
not labelled. If you choose the wrong destination
on your journey you will have to fight with
a fleet of space pirates (or, as they prefer to
be called, Klingons). Lose and it's game over.
Win and you can proceed further, albeit with
difficulty. I must admit that it is a quite original
form of anti-piracy protection.
Star Trek requires an A1200 with a hard
drive, and the graphics are accordingly
colourful. A little too garish, in fact: it took me
“You can really feel the speed of
the ships and the whoosh of
missiles passing by.”
a while to get used to the comic book style.
There are also some graphical glitches (such
as excess dithering or illogical colours on
some objects) but you can live with these.
Characters can be distinguished by the
colour of their uniform. Don't pay attention to
their long, comical faces because they all look
� Red guy takes one for the team, again.
much the same. This is a shame, as this
graphical element is important: the player
should be able to recognise characters and
identify with them. In contrast, the graphics in
space combat sections are perfectly realised.
Ships look really great and are well animated.
You can really feel the speed of the ships and
the whoosh of missiles passing by.
The music, composed by Allister Brimble,
bears some resemblance to that of the TV
series but is nothing remarkable. The sound
effects, alas, are miserable. My advice is to
� Ha. That'll show those... oh. That was one of ours? I, um, ah.
turn them off
at the very
beginning of
the game.
Unless you are
a particular fan
of squeaks,
beeps and other
peculiar noises,
that is.
I should point out that I am
not a die-hard fan of Star Trek.
In fact I've only watched a few
episodes (and I only did that
because there was nothing
better to do at the time). That
said, the game did a good job
of capturing my interest. What I
like most is the evocation of
situations that can be seen on
the TV show. I couldn't tell you
if any particular section is inspired by any
particular TV episode but the narrative is
nonetheless interesting and conveys the Star
Trek atmosphere well. The game as a whole
works quite successfully: the simulation part
is praiseworthy as are the riddles in the
adventure section (and it's certainly fortunate
that Interplay did not spoil the conversion by
releasing a substandard platformer or shoot-
'em-up). The user interface and sound effects
could be improved, and a
more intelligent hint mode
during the adventure part
would come in handy as
though the puzzles are quite
rating
74% Enjoyable
� Behold the power of El-Vis.
� Okay, wait til he's just
out of sight then leg it.
� An extraterrestrial S&M
party. Now I've seen it all.
simple and logical you are not always certain
what is going on and what you need to do to
achieve your goal.
My conclusion is simple: Star Trek: The
25th Anniversary is aimed
squarely at fans, and if
you like the original
TV series and/or
movies, you'll
most likely enjoy
this. People who
are not especially keen on
the whole Trekkie thing,
however, might want to
look elsewhere.
Summary
but a little uneven,
Star Trek captures the flavour
of the TV series but can prove
frustrating.