It's a simple question, where would you rank STO in comparison to other Star Trek games you have played. As a gamer and a Star Trek fan for as long as i can remember (24 years old), i have played some pretty bad Star Trek games in my short time on this Earth, and I count STO as one of the good ones, but i am curious to see what other people think. Remember: only rate in relation to other Star Trek games.
1. Klingon Academy - I curse every day when i wake up that this game has not worked for me since we upgraded from windows 98. Please, someone, remake this game, don't touch anything major, just fix the bugs and update the graphics, a little bit of balancing, maybe give me a bridge and officers a la Bridge Commander. (I will hunt you down if don't use the original FMV)
2. Bridge Commander - best Storyline in a Star Trek Game I've played. solid ship to ship combat, giving orders to your Bridge officers is a lot of fun, plus listening to them bicker. minuses: your PC is stuck in his captains chair, Saffi Larson.
3. Star Trek Online. - I generally enjoy it, and most of what i would want the Devs to do to improve it seems to be on their to do list, and I'm willing to be patient.
4. Star Fleet Command (2 and 3) - could never really get into the campaign of either of these
5. Star Trek Armada 2 - I've played some decent mods for this one
6. Star Trek Legacy - probably the worst Star Trek Ship Sim i have played (DAC doesn't count)
7. Klingon Honor Guard - Okay, maybe i only played this one for 15 min at a friends house, but it still counts.
8. Star Trek D.A.C. - there really wasn't anything "Star Trek" about it but the art, plus no story which is a must for any Star Trek game IMHO
And that's that for the Star Trek games I've PLAYED. special mention should go to the Elite Force series and Stark Trek 25 Anniversary edition, both of which i have heard good things about, but i have not played.
Outside of the 25th Anniversary game...none of em were really Star Trek games IMO, they were usually flight/combat sims with a Star Trek skin. Mind you, some of em were quite fun, but that doesn't change anything, they still weren't Star Trek.
STO has the makings of something that will make me consider it the best Star Trek game, being both a nice mix of space and ground..once we get all the OTHER stuff that's part of the Star Trek legacy..exploration, diplomacy, non-combat missions.
Star Trek pinball. Both instances of them. Tops in my book.
Best were ST:25th and ST: Judgement Rights (both of which were made with the same engine). If you want some TOS nostalgia, these games are the way to go. Just be sure to have an older computer laying around, or to install DOSBox or some similar DOS emulator on your computer.
Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy were the next best, and varied greatly on which side of Trek you prefer... story or sim.
Starfleet Command series comes in next. In terms of overall gameplay, 3 was the best, while best and most extensive gameplay was held by 2. The career modes were fine, but multiplayer was where these games truly shined.
Video games:
1. STO is definitely the best.
2. DS9: The Fallen was a good shooter. I liked that there were 3 different characters that followed their own path for the same storyline.
3. Armada was fun. Not as good as StarCraft, so I didn't play it that much.
4. Star Trek: The Next Generation for the Game Boy. I actually played this a lot.
5. TNG: Future's Past for the SNES. Controls were difficult. It was alright.
6. Tactical Assault for the DS. Finished it way too quickly. No replay value.
7. Star Trek: Klingon. I need to learn the Klingon language to play a game? Are you kidding?
8. I think I spent more time downloading than actually playing D-A-C. Awful awful awful.
OP said nothing about restricting this to video games, so here are the rest (in no particular order):
- Star Fleet Battles
- Star Trek CCG by Decipher
- A different CCG by another company based only on TOS.
- A TNG board/trivia game whose official name I cannot remember.
- How To Host A Mystery TNG version. I've never actually played. I'm still waiting for a good group of ST fans. I'm sure it's outdated by now, but ah well. ST is never outdated for a true fan.
- Star Trek RPG (pen & paper) by Decipher
i'll keep it to my current top 3 since i've played most every trek game there is to play and i can't be arsed mini-reviewing them all.
1: 25th anniversary and Judgement Rites : For me these are what a star trek game should aspire to, set up as mini seasons with several episodes and an overarching plot, heavy on story and problem solving, light on mindless action. Lots of nice little touches like being able to choose whether or not to stun or kill bad guys.
2: STO : i put this down to the diversity of trek characters and stories i've come across even though the emphasis is currently more on blasting those characters and stories into spacedust. This may even rise to number 1 depending on how the federation diplomatic corps goes.
3: Birth of the Federation : Master of Orion 2 + Star Trek = Win. About the only thing it was missing from MOO2 was hotseat play.
Comments
STO has the makings of something that will make me consider it the best Star Trek game, being both a nice mix of space and ground..once we get all the OTHER stuff that's part of the Star Trek legacy..exploration, diplomacy, non-combat missions.
The only other Star Trek game I actually liked was Elite Force.
I know it was just an FPS, but it was a good one (IMHO).
I checked out some of the other games, but none of them seemed to grab my interest...
Best were ST:25th and ST: Judgement Rights (both of which were made with the same engine). If you want some TOS nostalgia, these games are the way to go. Just be sure to have an older computer laying around, or to install DOSBox or some similar DOS emulator on your computer.
Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy were the next best, and varied greatly on which side of Trek you prefer... story or sim.
Starfleet Command series comes in next. In terms of overall gameplay, 3 was the best, while best and most extensive gameplay was held by 2. The career modes were fine, but multiplayer was where these games truly shined.
1. STO is definitely the best.
2. DS9: The Fallen was a good shooter. I liked that there were 3 different characters that followed their own path for the same storyline.
3. Armada was fun. Not as good as StarCraft, so I didn't play it that much.
4. Star Trek: The Next Generation for the Game Boy. I actually played this a lot.
5. TNG: Future's Past for the SNES. Controls were difficult. It was alright.
6. Tactical Assault for the DS. Finished it way too quickly. No replay value.
7. Star Trek: Klingon. I need to learn the Klingon language to play a game? Are you kidding?
8. I think I spent more time downloading than actually playing D-A-C. Awful awful awful.
OP said nothing about restricting this to video games, so here are the rest (in no particular order):
- Star Fleet Battles
- Star Trek CCG by Decipher
- A different CCG by another company based only on TOS.
- A TNG board/trivia game whose official name I cannot remember.
- How To Host A Mystery TNG version. I've never actually played. I'm still waiting for a good group of ST fans. I'm sure it's outdated by now, but ah well. ST is never outdated for a true fan.
- Star Trek RPG (pen & paper) by Decipher
That list was a lot longer than I expected.
1: 25th anniversary and Judgement Rites : For me these are what a star trek game should aspire to, set up as mini seasons with several episodes and an overarching plot, heavy on story and problem solving, light on mindless action. Lots of nice little touches like being able to choose whether or not to stun or kill bad guys.
2: STO : i put this down to the diversity of trek characters and stories i've come across even though the emphasis is currently more on blasting those characters and stories into spacedust. This may even rise to number 1 depending on how the federation diplomatic corps goes.
3: Birth of the Federation : Master of Orion 2 + Star Trek = Win. About the only thing it was missing from MOO2 was hotseat play.