Star Trek: Hidden Evil

Guiding Ensign Sovok from a third-person perspective, the player explores the planet, speaking with other Starfleet officers--including Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander Data (Brent Spiner)--and planet residents to advance the story line. Gameplay follows standard action-adventure conventions such as puzzle solving and dialogue sequences. Infrequent action segments feature phaser combat with Romulan guards.

Star Trek: Hidden Evil's easy-to-use interface closely resembles the movie's art design, which should please die-hard fans. Sovok must use a variety of Star Trek tricks and tools, including the communication badge, tricorder, phaser, and Vulcan neck pinch, in order to solve key situations and combat the Romulan enemies. Adventure fans will be pleased with Star Trek: Hidden Evil; the story line is solid and the puzzles are challenging. Serious action gamers, though, will find Hidden Evil's combat sequences lacking. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros:

• Includes likenesses and voices of Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner
• Interface and visuals capture the essence of Star Trek
• Adventure sequences offer challenging and interesting puzzles

• Doesn't offer many hours of gameplay
• Limited action sequences create uninteresting combat

2. The graphics were very easy on the eyes, though not as remarkable as those in Presto's previous game: "Journeyman Project: Legacy of Time." The cut-scenes in Hidden Evil were extremely well done. It's obvious that great care was taken to maintain the authenticity of the Star Trek Universe: Trek detail was as good as it gets.

3. I felt I had plenty of interaction with Picard, although Data dropped out of the game pretty quickly. The character of Ensign Sovok was well developed and engaging. The game did a very professional job of making me feel that, through believable twists of fate, the future of the galaxy rested on my shoulders. I found myself wondering how my favorite Trek characters, when facing similar challenges, always manage to stay alive and make the right split-second decision every time. I felt drawn into the Star Trek world to a degree I have never experienced before.

CONS --- 1. This was my first true action game. Although I primarily enjoy Myst-style games, I had always wondered if I was missing out on something by not playing action adventures. I managed to get about halfway through this game before I admitted defeat and used a cheat code that gave me invulnerability. I thought that this code would eliminate the combat, but instead my character just kept getting shot over and over, while grunting and spewing bits of impact debris all over the place. And I still needed to shoot other characters in order to progress. Although using the cheat code helped me get through the game, I found that it did not increase my enjoyment. I guess I just don't like killing things, not even virtual things (not even Evil virtual things).

2. I thought that the keyboard interface was by far the most difficult aspect of the game. Although I've used the keyboard in other, more traditional adventure games, no other game I've tried demanded anything even close to the coordination and speed necessary here. Sometimes you are running, firing a weapon, and trying to access inventory all at the same time -- you really need three hands. And it's a good thing I couldn't fall off cliffs into the abyss -- I would have spent so much time restoring my game that I probably would have quit outright. Maybe the designers should have come up with a crawl mode for people like me. By the time I reached the "stealth" level late in the game, I still wasn't good enough with the keyboard to be able to complete the level. If I hadn't finally resorted to using one of my son's saved games, I probably would have been stuck there forever.

BOTTOM LINE --- Hidden Evil is more oriented to the action gamer than to the traditional adventure gamer. If you are not experienced in using the keyboard as an input device, expect to face a stiff learning curve. However, if you are a Trek fan, and enjoy arcade/action challenges, this game is well worth your time and money.