Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

The gamer plays as David Forrester, a third-year cadet embarking on Command School training. Cadet Forrester is assigned as "captain" of a bridge crew including (predictably) a Vulcan science officer, among others.

As I recall, this game was highly touted as it came out, but many were disappointed in the ultimate result. As a fan of Kirk and Co. and player of the previous Interplay product "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary" (complete with the voices of the original cast!) I purchased this game with high expectations.

The opening sequence did nothing to tamp down my expectations, as it featured William Shatner and George Takei reprising their roles as Captains Kirk and Sulu, not to mention some lovely shots of the Enterprise-A. (See for yourself, it's on YouTube.)

It seems, however, that the opening sequence was just about the high point of the game. Which isn't to say that the actual game play wasn't at least semi-interesting, but to me it just didn't accurately simulate the kind of space battles that one saw in the filmed versions of Star Trek. The battles felt more like space dogfights than anything akin to naval conflicts.

The parts of the game that seemed more faithful to television/movie Star Trek were the verbal encounters that you had with other ship captains, in which you had to determine the proper response (Star Trek showdowns--at least prior to the later seasons of DS9--always seemed to consist mainly of talking anyway!).

The most interesting aspects of the game to me were between scenarios. Some were simply "cut" scenes that showed Mr. Forrester's encounters with Cdr. Chekov (again, Walter Koenig reprising his role). However, many of these scenes required the gamer to interact with the bridge team. The performance of the various team members went up or down depending on what the gamer did to resolve conflicts. Some of the off-duty arguments between bridge team members were pretty interesting.

The cast performed relatively well (as well as can be expected for a video game, I suppose). Peter Kluge stood out as Cadet Forrester (although he seemed too old to be playing a cadet).

In my opinion, if they had made a movie (even a TV or direct to video movie) of this, it would have been pretty awesome, but as a game, it wasn't great.

My opinion of Starfleet Academy, which takes into consideration the same points as the only other comment, is that the game is well designed and challenging. These are two very good attributes when selecting a decent game.

Who want to play a game where it is too easy or predictable? No one. The storyline is intricate, the gameplay is amazing, the gameplay is as close to "real" as it could get, and they have special guest voices from time to time.

In the other comment, the game is discredited for using only two different weapons (phasers/disruptors and torpedoes). Is that not the way it always went on the show? Regardless, that's how it is in every other Star Trek game out there. So, why complain? It's just being "real". They also commented that they were stuck on disk 2 out of 5. Well, good. Everyone needs a good challenge. Obviously there is something they had not thought of to get through it. Be creative, use your heads, use your friends' heads. Think like a starship Captain.

This game is really very decent, and I hope anyone reading this can see it the way I do. After all, that one comment is the only complaint about this game I have ever seen/heard.

Okay, I'm a trekkie, but I did find this game very atmospheric (especially if you're a fan of the original series). Good use of music adds to the tension and the dual plot lines work well together. You should be able to get this game for very little now (Oct 2007), but take the risk! I load this up to play every 12 months or so - still can't finish the final(?) mission though! There is also an expansion pack with Chekov taking a more prominent role. George Takei, (Mr Sulu) and Bill Shatner (Kirk) are also in the first game. The video effects are looking a little data now, but the shot of the Enterprise coming out of space dock is special.

This game was so cool. You get to command a starship and fight exciting space battles and explore new worlds. It would have been better if it was set in the 24th century and had ships like the Enterprise-E and the Defiant. But still, the graphics are great and it is fun to play.

Great game about Star Trek. Great graphics, but the game would be more exciting if set in the 24th century, with ships like Defiant or Voyager. But it's still great. There are great movies and missions. The actors looks really like on TV. It's incredible. Highly recommended!