Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I've been interested in the Star Trek genre computer games for some time, but it seems that, with the exception of STV: Elite Force, they all stink. Every review I've ever read has rated just about every ST game in the cellar, to the detriment of my enjoyment. I was hoping for a quality sim, and it's here. BotF is a gem, with a few minor problems. First off, understand that I picked this up at a Best Buy for $2.99. (No, that's not a typo.) I hadn't read anything about it, and figured if it was as bad as its predecessors, for $2.99 I wouldn't be out a lot. What a deal I got. The game is worth ten times the price I paid for it, maybe more. If you want a turn-based, stratiegic empire-building game with Star Trek as the background, this is for you, period. The game allows you to choose between five races: Klingon, Federation, Ferengi, Romulan, and Cardassian. You can choose the level of technology that each empire begins with, in effect choosing a difficulty level. Choose the size of the universe, the number of minor races (which is always enjoyable to have many of), and a few other things, and off you go. You start at your own corner of the universe, and you find yourself frantically trying to expand while increasing your technologies for the unavoidable contact you'll be making with minor races (unless you choose to not have any at the game's set up) and the other major powers. Eventually, the colonization/assimilation will end, and you'll be swept into a wave of diplomacy, military strikes, upkeep, and espionage to help continue to carve out your niche in the universe. One of the shining examples of this game is how it makes you stick to the doctrine of your chosen race by rewarding you for playing "in role" and greatly penalizing you for not. For example, if you choose the Feds you are gifted with great diplomatic powers and are expected to use such at all times. Making contact with a minor race or a major power should result in diplomacy. If, however, you choose to be a warmonger, you will find the minor race populations very annoying and the other powers banding together to destroy you. So, you are rewarded with increased diplomacy and are expected to go that route, as the Federation would. If you are the Klingons, you are gifted with a strong (and eager!) military, and entering into diplomatic agreements are seen as a sign of weakness. The other major powers fall somewhere in the middle of all that: the Ferengi are excellent traders, the Cardassians are good at controlling populations, and the Romulans are good at spying and internal security. Use your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. Combat is incredible. You issue orders to your ships, then sit back and watch the action as if you were in a movie. You can move your view all around the screen and zoom in and out to get the best views possible. Then the turn ends, and you can change orders if you wish. Even the Borg are in this game. They will appear as a random event, and if they do...well, reset the game if you're not at the pinnacle of your technologies. I played as the Klingons in a small universe, and went rampaging across the galaxy. Within a hundred turns, a Borg cube appeared in orbit around one of my conquests and proceeded to dissect it. My huge Klingon fleet went to fight the cube (about 12 ships in all), and in one turn they were shredded like yesterday's newspaper. Oops. Reset! Okay, so now to the niggling little points. For one, the entire game is in the Star Trek: TNG format. So, even though you choose to start as the Federation and only have Earth, you don't start with the older ships. You have weaker versions of something you'd expect to see on ST:TNG. You start, in the lowest tech setting, with three ship types - colony, transport, and destroyer. They are all TNG-style ships. I would have liked to see the older Constitution-class heavy cruisers (the original Enterprise from the 60's series), then be able to upgrade as the series did, ultimately to the Galaxy-class ships. It's a minor detail, but one that would have made this game even more enjoyable. Otherwise, if you are a turn-based strategy/Star Trek fan, pick this up. You shouldn't regret it!
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Star Trek: The Next Generation, Birth of the FederationStar Trek: The Next Generation, Birth of the Federation is the first PC CD-ROM strategy game based on the rich Star Trek, universe! Forged from the cultures, time lines, events, and technologies of the hit TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation, this turn-based epic emphasizes resource management, combat, and diplomacy. Control one of five major alliances: Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Ferengi, or Cardassian, each with its own set of abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Encounter over 30 exotic races. And beware, there lurks the potential for a Borg invasion--threatening all players!
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