Star Trek: Starfleet Command 2 - Empires at War Review

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(More customer reviews)First, a warning: there is already a patch for the game to fix several problems known with the game at the time it shipped...
But, hey, it's an Interplay game; I've come to expect high quality from them -- but high quality that occasionally needs a strip of duct tape.
SFC II adds two new races: first, the Mirak, based on the Kzinti from Larry Niven's novels and stories and later adapted in the Star Trek cartoon -- explaining how they got into the Star Fleet Battles boardgame that SFC is based on; it's all a rich tapestry. ;)
Second, the Interstellar Concordium (ISC). These guys were my favourite race in the boardgame, and they don't disappoint in SFC II. Their ships are larger than comparable ships of the same class from other races, and they have unique weapons, like rear-firing torpedoes and their Plasmatic Pulsar Device. The PPD is a very accurate, long-range weapon that does damage to multiple shields in multiple bursts.
Every race now gets fighters and/or fast patrol ships (small gunboats, smaller than frigates but bigger than fighters). Now the Hydrans don't get all the fun. The wide assortment of ships (more than 1,000 of them) is astounding, and no two fleets ever need to be the same.
Game balance has been improved; no longer are missile boats the game-killers they were in the pre-patch SFC -- however, the Mirak specialize in missiles, and are certainly the exception to this rule. Run away from them.
Perhaps the most exciting improvement to the game is Dynaverse II, the new campaign system. While offering a fun single-player experience, where it really shines is in the online semi-persistent world, where hundreds or thousands of players can potentially build up their fleets to conquer their enemies. While the game has only been available for a few days as of this writing, I've had some experience playing online and it's a lot of fun. Once the player base grows (and it will -- SFC II went gold before release) I expect the online game to be the only way to go. And, of course, SFC II supports standard multiplayer one-off games, if you don't have the inclination to play a campaign.
The graphics are even better than the first in the series, with space effects, nebulas and planets displayed in eye-popping detail. Weapon effects are glorious, and the sound is first-rate.
The training missions aren't as frustrating as in the first game, and help to ease the massive learning curve for this extremely deep game.
If there's any weakness to the game it is that the ships themselves still look artificial compared to the concept art, and this prevents me from giving SFC II a 5/5 score.

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Star Trek fans and strategy gamers loved the mighty starship combat in the original Starfleet Command. Interplay listened to gamers' cries for a sequel and made the all-new Starfleet Command II: Empires at War look better, play better, and overall even more impressive than the original. The single-player campaign is now called Metaverse, which comes from the term metagame, meaning game within a game. Each campaign has about 60 individual missions that feature greater context, flexibility, and impact on the fate of your empire. Metaverse is available for online play. There are two new races in addition to the original six: the savage Mirak Star League and the Interstellar Concordium, which aims to enforce peace at any cost. New ships are available, including escort vessels, patrol craft, and fighters, bringing the total variants to more than 1,000. A hex-based quadrant system now regulates movement, increasing the map resolution and the number of sectors. A new fleet interface makes for easy target monitoring and allows fleets to operate as a single unit or for individual ships to move autonomously.

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