Star Trek games have a less than exemplary track record, especially on console systems. So, when Bethesda announced it was throwing its hat into the much maligned ring of Trek, even the most ardent fan probably tried not to get too hopeful. Star Trek Tactical Assault is the result, and thankfully, it’s an entertaining starship combat game that takes place in the era of Kirk.

Engage!

Tactical Assault offers up an appealing trekkie fix. Although it tries too hard to be an all things to all genres—mixing strategy and tactical gaming with arcade style action—the game gets enough right to be an interesting voyage through the early Trek universe. Putting you in the shoes of a fresh out of the academy captain, the story focuses on the Federation-Klingon conflict.

There is a Federation and Klingon single-player campaign, and the game also includes a skirmish mode and multiplayer action.  The skirmish mode lets you check out other species like the Romulans, Gorns, and Orions. Multiplayer skirmishes are included, but only support two players. Unfortunately, the game also doesn’t support internet play and requires each player to have a copy of the game.

Boldly Go Where No Red Shirt has Gone Before

You are given a diverse crew who gain experience through promotions. You start in a basic ship with bare recruits, but as you improve, you’ll develop a hardened crew and earn more powerful ships. You assign promotions to the crew between missions, and promotions of specific officers equate to ship enhancements. For instance, science officers can improve shield and weapon efficiency, while weapons officers can make your armaments more powerful.

Despite being a portable game, there are lots of nice Trek touches that enhance the overall gameplay. You’ll be able to open hailing frequencies, which lets you talk to nearby enemy and ally ships, bases, and planets. You can taunt, or even negotiate with alien vessels, or call in nearby allies for assistance. In combat, you can redirect the ships power to increase weapons power and other systems, choose alert levels, and engage warp speeds when things get too hot to handle.

It sure ain’t Wing Commander….

The actual ship controls leave something to be desired. You generally see the action from a behind the ship perspective and the physics try hard to offer some level of “realism”. This mostly amounts to a rather sluggish feeling of control. Since these are huge ships, this seems somewhat suiting, but the controls still feel clumsy. Another oddity is that despite the 3D graphics, the action takes place on a 2D plane—you can’t change elevation, so the battles tend to devolve into a circle strafing affair.

Since weapons need time to charge between each burst, combat is also rather slow-paced—particularly before your officers reach higher ranks. Overall, the action feels too slow for an action game, yet too arcade-like for a real tactical experience.

Gorgeous and Spacey

Star Trek looks gorgeous. The game’s graphics would be impressive on a PS2, making them even more so on the PSP’s screen. William Shatner leads the voice cast, although the use of text-only in-game communications and mission briefings just feels a little cheap.

Star Trek Tactical Assault is a commendable take on the classic universe. Despite issues with the feel of the ship controls and combat, there’s enough depth and gameplay modes to make it worth a look. The game looks fantastic, and with so many ships, battles, and options to play with, there’s more good than bad here.

Article by: Jason D'Aprile
Video produced by: Sean Jennings