Star Trek: Bridge Commander

The default view has you in the big chair. Everything is '80s-era beige, confirming that this is indeed the Next Generation. In front of you is the famous view screen. Your engineer, science officer, first officer, tactical officer, and navigator/communications officer are where you'd expect to find them. As events unfold, you can click on these officers and an orders menu opens up. This way you can quickly order your com officer to hail that ship, or the science officer to scan a nearby target. During combat you can order your tactical officer to target certain enemy subsystems (like the warp drive), or you can take control and do your own targeting and firing if you want. Your engineer can be ordered to prioritize repairs or boost power to the weapons. This lets you play like a real captain in that you're hearing reports, giving orders, and taking as much personal control as you like. You can even take a walk about the ship with the keyboard in the optional (and breathtaking) third-person view.

It's very clever how all this works and thankfully the artificial intelligence is more than up to the task. The story here is very deep and very Star Trek, and so are the music, sound effects, and voice acting. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner (Captain Picard and Commander Data, respectively) are even on hand to give advice during two different points in the story. The missions are very linear and you can only save between them, but there are plenty of branching points that let you handle things your way. Though the main plot doesn't encourage a replay once you finish it, you can extend your enjoyment of the game through full multiplayer options and a handy Instant Action simulator that lets you set up any battle you like.

The graphics are stunning, except when it comes to the people. The stiff character graphics look like something out of 1997's Jedi Knight, rather than real people, and the lip-synching is awful. But you won't be watching people talk nearly as much as you'll be watching Klingon vessels trading punches with massive Romulan warbirds, as the Cardassians and Ferengi skulk nearby and your crew looks to you for your orders. Never has an episode of Trek come to life quite this well. If you winced when Riker piloted the Enterprise with that pop-up Thrustmaster joystick in Star Trek: Insurrection, you love the smell of spark-spewing bridge consoles in the morning, and you've ever wanted to listen to a crewman's so-crazy-it-just-might-work suggestion and reply "Make it so," then this game is for you. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Perfectly re-creates Star Trek adventure and combat
• Unique control system works perfectly

• Bad lip-synching
• Can only save between missions

Your mission is to discover the cause of the devastating explosion and prevent it from happening again. During the race you will battle the Cardassians, ally with the Klingons, investigate the Romulans, and reveal a secret plot that threatens the Federation itself. Challenges grow as you and your crew race to find the cause through more than 30 different missions. These include many of Star Trek's fundamental elements: defense, combat, diplomacy, exploration, rescue, and scientific discovery. You will be able to command both Galaxy- and Sovereign-class ships much like the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Enterprise-E.

Suddenly, though, in late 1999, the acclaimed PC-game developer Larry Holland and his company `Totally Games' began a project that would ultimately result in not only the best Star Trek game ever, but also the best game period.

Since I have been following this game for nearly 3 years, you can bet I had extremely high expectations, but when I loaded up the game I was so impressed and awed that my next 8 hours were devoted solely to experiencing the magic that `Bridge Commander' is brimming with. With a 700-page storyline written by the famous writer Dorothy Fontana, awesome graphics, wonderful sounds and music, over 15 ships, 6 races, amazingly authentic bridges, a new race and hundreds of other fantastic features, `Bridge Commander' is the most immersing and dazzling game I have ever played. This piece of heaven went way beyond my expectations!

Words can't do justice what both Trekkies, and non-Trekkies feel like as they watch their ship, the USS Dauntless, glide smoothly out of drydock in the first mission! You have your own crew who you can talk to and get to even meet Picard and Data! Almost everything in `Bridge Commander' was taken out from the Paramount archives so you can bet that this game is as authentic as it will ever get! Voice control is optional, as is the ability to construct your very own ships from the SDK which will be released soon!

One sentiment that truly describes this masterpiece is: WOW! If you haven't bought `Bridge Commander' yet, download the demo to see if you like it and if you do, run down to your local pc-gaming store and purchase...ecstasy! I'm an avid gamer and have over 50 pc games: `Unreal', `Wolfenstein', `The Sims', `Medal of Honour: Allied Assault' and tons of others but `Bridge Commander' beats them all by a mile! I simply can't say enough about this game!


Based on the Full Version   March 4, 2002
Keyan
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Excellent game so far (I haven't hit the end of it yet, it's actually rather long)..the plot is developing nicely, with some interesting twists (and I still haven't managed to even venture a good guess as to some of the things that are going on, it's good at being mysterious.) The graphics engine is good enough to get the job done, the bridge/characters are it's weakest component, it does really well at rendering the ships during combat. You get some of those cinematic moments where you fire a shot from your rear tubs right into a hole in the hull of a cardaissian ship and watch it blow the ship apart. Speaking of which, the damage modeling is AMAZING, you can literally cut parts of a ship away (which is a rather effective method of destroying a large number of subsystems at once.)

Although everything is not 100% canon to the show, it is necessary to make the game balanced and fun. All in all, it's a fun game (which is what really counts, no?) and I highly recommend it to anyone who has always wanted to command a starship.


The best and only STARship simulation out today.   March 6, 2002
Black Cat de La Bear (those dark halls)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

To begin, this game rocks! As far as spaceship/fighter simulations, their a dime a dozen, but thier are very few STARship simulations where you take the captain's chair and bark orders to your crew(bark too loud and they'll be Mutiny on the Dauntless). The Graphics are spectatular at 1280x1024 and at 1600x1200, thier is only one glitch(I was aware of), and it's fixable if you change resolutions after saving your mission, your planet orbit and set course text will disappear, just change the resolution back again to what it was at start game.

I haven't tried the voice commands yet, I don't have the software, but if you don't mind being labled 'crazy' by your neighbors, it is something to try out and sounds like fun to me(I haven't figured out how to get it to work with SB rec/player)
The graphics are excellent, the acting is excellent(Patrick Stewert is your instructor!), but most important of all, the game play is the best of all! Their are a wide variaty of commands for each of your crew. "Disable ship's subsystems" would have been nice. The story(s) are also good, just like in "Judgement Rites".
If you like Star Trek, definitly get this game, if you don't like Star Trek but like taking command, get this game as a great starship simulator.


Engage!   March 1, 2002
14 out of 18 found this review helpful

This game rocks. Even the demo has sweet graphics- you can see each and every port on your ship. The real version will have about 16 playable ships, including the Federation(Akira, Ambassador, Galaxy, Nebula, and Sovereign,the Klingons(B'Rel and Vor'Cha), the Romulans(D'deredix), the Ferengi(Marauder), the Cardassians(Galor, Keldon), and a new race called the Kessok. In terms of weapons, settings, and how things work the game stays so close to the series it seems like you're in an episode. Also, it's voice activation technology is quit remarkable. Star Trek: Bridge Commander has 4 possible outcomes from total, complete sore defeat to conquering the known universe with a Sovereign-Class battleship.


Great Game!   March 3, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Star Trek Bridge Commander rocks! It has sweet graphics, 16 different playable ships ranging from the Romulan Warbird and the Sovereign-Class to a shuttle(Not powerful, but fun to mess around in). It has three different outcomes, voice activation technology(Not included), and a 700+ page script. Bridge Commander has one of the most flawless multiplayer setups I've ever seen. This game is GREAT! Buy it from a store as soon as you can; the shipping wait is torture.