Academy Dropout
A Review of Starfleet Academy
Edmond Meinfelder
Roddenberry's futurist vision with daring adventure and often-good science fiction captured the imaginations of generations. So strong is Star Trek's grip, the show is cultural signpost, well known as Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse and John Wayne. Every child, grown or not, knows Captain Kirk and wants his job, if only for a day.
Interplay offers a taste of star ship command, allowing us to
follow Cadet Forester's adventures as he trains to be a Star
Fleet captain. In a way, this makes excellent sense -- if you
repeat the mission, again and again, the game's fiction is not
broken, you are just re-doing the simulator's program until you
receive a passing grade. However, I envisioned saving the
galaxy, not my grades, when I dreamt of being a Star Fleet
captain. Further, I did not want to repeat failed missions until I
passed. The benefit of the Academy setting is dubious.
Star Fleet Academy borrows from Wing Commander III. Bad acting, passable writing and conversational choices arrive on deck via the Commander series. Like Wing Commander III (or IV), I held Academy's movies in contempt. The decisions you make, as in Wing Commander III, are predictable and shallow. Anyway, Cadet Forester has too many wrinkles to appear as a convincing and the other cadets could benefit from acting classes. I wish Interplay's borrowing stopped at the movies, rather than spilling into the game-play as well.
My Constitution Class star ship handles like a sluggish Wing Commander fighter or, for Star Wars fans, an Imperial Gunboat. For the science-fictionally challenged, imagine a Dodge Dart with lasers. Yes, Star Trek fans, Interplay chose once again to emulate fighter combat, just as in the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgement Rites. In the equivalent of a battleship, you try to turn on a dime, shooting nimble attack ships, because some clown mounted all your weapons facing forward. I felt letdown; I wanted a great tactical battle simulator with excellent graphics, rather than a poor cousin to TIE Fighter.
For me, Academy is awkward. I never appreciated to the radar. The radar is a simple circle showing relative position with a raised or a lowered line, denoting targets above or below your ship. If you are like me, you will spend a lot of time spinning about, looking for targets. You always have to turn the shields on; more than once I pulled up next to a Klingon cruiser with my pants downs. Most missions have time limits for successful completion. Timers infuriate when playing cat-n-mouse with cloaked ship -- every second waiting for a ship to de-cloak is a frustrating eternity.
Academy's interface, thankfully, is straightforward. Hot keys
cover the needed functions and, if the keyboard setup is not to
your liking, re-map it. Like any complex flight simulation, you
must strive for the Zen-state. Fail to become one with Star Fleet
Academy controls and you die. Klingon and Romulan cruisers
will not wait for you to walk over to the weapons control station,
to boost phaser power, so memorize the hot-keys. Unfortunately,
there's a lot you can do with your Star Ship, but during battle --
and most of the game is battle -- you will be busy pawing your
joystick and hot-keys as you slug it out. There is little, or no, time
to plot devious intercept courses or channel power from all non-essential
systems to ship's weapons.
You never get the full story on any mission. As you progress, you learn the value of improvisation. Forcing you to think, during the missions is both wonderful and horrid. With the unfolding of new mission objectives, the missions feel true to Star Trek shows. Unfortunately, finding the correct innovation required is tedious trial-and-error for me. Often, I repeated missions until my patience was lost and I could play no longer. Each mission is a puzzle. Once you discover the solution, solving each mission is a cakewalk, cloaked ships aside, that is. I found no strategy other than waiting for cloaked ships to de-cloak.
The graphics on my P150 with unaccelerated 2d video, were marvelous. Academy's graphic engine freely gives cinematic spectacles. I never tired of seeing my ship head into warp as the angle and position of the external camera varied, making each view fresh and exhilarating. The ships look fantastic and, when you hear the music and the distinctive Star Trek sound effects, you get a great feeling of stepping on the bridge of the Enterprise. Interplay capitalizes on the recognition of the sights and sounds of Star Trek successfully; I felt transported. Few games deliver an experience, but Star Fleet Academy, for all it faults, delivers Star Trek atmosphere in spades.
In the end, I base a game's rating on the quality and amount of entertainment served and not the quality of the multimedia. I did not enjoy Star Fleet Academy's tedious missions. The missions were not hard, but what I needed to do was not always clear. Granted, this is part of the game, but games should simulate reality for entertainment not tedium. I do not want to eat in my role-playing game, nor do I wish to get lost in my adventure. I do not want to read 150 page manuals to fly my F-16 and I do not want to repeat missions repeatedly for passing grades.
The younger crowd might like this game. Hand a popular Disney
movie to a 6 year-old and marvel as the child watches the movie
until the tape wears out. The older we get, the less repetition we
can bear. Older gamers, like me, tend not to tolerate repetition.
Star Fleet Academy shoots for star ship combat, but becomes a
thinking man's Wing Commander. Caught between high-action
and complex simulation, Academy falls apart.
Consider MechWarrior II, with its successful marriage of action and simulation. On the game-design surface, little difference exists between Star Fleet Academy and MechWarrior, movies aside. However, I actively disliked Academy, yet loved MechWarrior. I fear my expectations of what Star Ship combat should be were too strong for me to enjoy Interplay's interpretation. Conversely, I had no expectations of what piloting an 80-ton 'Mech was like, leaving me open to the experience.
Academy is a visual spectacle. Moreover, for the player with few expectations, Academy may prove an enjoyable game. For me, however, Star Fleet Academy was disappointment and frustration packaged in lavish graphics, great movies and great sound. I give Star Fleet Academy a failing grade.
Gamer's Zone Scorecard
| Product: |
Starfleet Academy |
| Company: |
Interplay
|
| Cost: |
$49.99 |
System Requirements:
Pentium-90/80 Mhz PowerPC, 16 MB RAM,
Windows '95/System 7.5 (or later),
4X CD-ROM, mouse, joystick, DirectX 3.0a (or greater),
180 MB of hard drive space.
Breakdown:
Fun Factor 2
Graphics 5
Sound 5
Interface 4
Replayability 1
Overall Score:
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