by John "Mjolnir" Reynolds

Good Star Trek games on the PC are about as plentiful as good, odd-numbered Trek movies. There just seems to be some invisible force at work hell-bent on preventing such a happenstance.

Fortunately for gamers and Trekkies alike, Interplay has finally broken this vile tradition, at least on the PC-side of things, with their excellent Starfleet Command. Though far from perfect, this RTT (real-time tactical) title puts gamers literally in the captain's chair, commanding space-faring vessels that can range from the lowliest frigate to the deadliest battlecruiser, ordering red alerts, raising shields, and firing photon torpedoes.

Though Star Trek's deceased creator, Gene Roddenberry, would probably disapprove of the Star Wars-like emphasis on battle and conflict, preferring instead more focus on exploration, diplomacy, and discovery, fans of The Wrath of Khan will find themselves gleefully at home.

Interface

Following an excellent introduction sequence that's accompanied by a resounding musical score, players will be greeted by the game's interface, and immediately notice at this point that there's something just a little more than different about SFC. While most games offer several modes of play they are, more often than not, merely cosmetic enhancements to the title's staple gameplay. And though one could argue the same is true for SFC, I don't quite believe this to be the case.

So how does SFC differ from most other PC games? It offers up a grand total of six different playable races (Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Gorn, Lyran, and Hydran), with each race possessing its own interface, music score, campaign (for the most part), and ships. After viewing the game's intro, you choose which race you wish to play as and then select playing in campaign, skirmish, or multiplayer mode.

While the core gameplay is essentially the same-destroying your enemies and hearing the lamentation of their women-the variety in the title's feel and even appearance is hands-down superior to that of most other games, and has certainly helped in keeping this gamer coming back for more and more.

Level of Difficulty

So with this rather large plethora of races and their fleets of crafts, is SFC a difficult game to learn? Well, yes, it is. And while there's no way of sugar-coating the fact that it's a rich, yet complex, title, what developer Quicksilver Software has done to bridge this learning gap is to include a fairly thorough suite of training missions.

These scenarios are divided into two groupings, tutorial and technical. Each empire has its own set of tutorial missions, with the Federation ones receiving the welcome surprise of Sulu's George Takei as your instructor. The technical missions are more demanding, offering both a technical and combat challenge to be completed successfully. These latter scenarios also offer your campaign character a chance at earning medals, if he or she scores well enough.

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Lyran Home World

And if these training missions don't sound like quite enough, how about a 170-page, spiral-bound manual? And a thickly-laminated quick reference card. And a fold-out poster that lists the statistics for all six races' ships and complete weapon damage tables. Game publishers, take note! Don't hold back on documentation like Sally Struthers with a warehouse full of food.

You might assume that between the training missions and the ample documentation, you'd be ready to hop right into that captain's chair. Think again.

The skirmish missions are excellent ground upon which to cut your command teeth. Most skirmishes are customizable, allowing players to select the map type (large, open space, asteroid base, planets, etc.), starting position, race, hull size, skirmish era (later eras make available larger hulls and more powerful weapons), and number of units.

With these options, the game allows you to create just about any conceivable scenario, from a small group of Klingon Birds of Prey swooping down upon a lone Federation cruiser, to a full-scale encounter between multiple dreadnoughts or battleships. Perhaps better yet, the developers have included a number of custom skirmishes, such as the legendary Kobayashi Maru, or the clash between certain Federation cruisers in the Mutara Nebulae, titled The Wrath of Khan.

Recruit Selection

Even after hours spent with the game, I still haven't been able to take out more than one Klingon ship in the Kobayashi, nor have I managed to prove myself as possessing the superior intellect against the Reliant's captain. But probably my favorite custom skirmish is the Romulan Empire's Balance of Terror, a mission that allows players to relive the classic episode from the enemy's perspective; and you just know that when Kirk and his Enterprise inevitably come a-callin', an epic struggle will ensue.

Go to Part II