Platforms: | PC |
Publisher: | Activision Publishing |
Developer: | Mad Doc Software |
Genres: | Strategy / Real-Time Strategy |
Release Date: | November 16, 2001 |
Game Modes: | Singleplayer / Multiplayer |
The list of features included in Star Trek Armada 2 will read like a Trekker’s Christmas list. You get six playable races: the Federation, the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian Union, the Romulan Empire, the Borg Collective, and Species 8472. Each race has its own series of special weapons and super-special weapons. And the game’s now playable in true 3D, whereas the original had 3D units moving around a flat 2D plane.
Armada 2 gives you a lot of stuff to do. You’ll be colonizing planets, trading between space stations, and fighting with enemy fleets. But despite the diversity, the game never quite seemed as excited as other action-strategy heavyweights like StarCraft or Red Alert 2.
![Star Star](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126345182/398218381.jpg)
Star Trek: Armada II is a real time strategy where players can control Klingon, Federation, and Borg forces for thirty missions. Based on the original Star Trek: Armada, improvements have been made to add new levels of complexity. New views, empires, and even trading centers, all help change the dimension of the game and, while most of these.
Partly responsible for my disinterest is the often-muddled combat. You get 80 ship types — so many, in fact, that most players will have trouble remembering which ships is which. It gets more confusing if you’re fighting a race with vessels that look similar. Massive melees between hordes of Cardassian and Species 8472 ships can quickly deteriorate into a jumbled, confused mess. Granted, there’s a pop-up that appears after you hover over a selected unit, but it’s not feasible to use during the chaos of combat.
The people who will enjoy Armada 2 are diehard fans of the first game (which greatly out-performed Activision’s sales predictions) and Trek fans who revel at the chance to pit new starships against each other on the galactic battlefield. Some of the new gear ratchets up the destruction level to admittedly fabulous new heights: the Cardassian Dreadnought missile, for instance, is a projectile the size of a starship that can destroy space stations with a single hit.
![Armada Armada](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126345182/518633439.jpg)
The graphics, while not spectacular, do offer plenty of dazzle, especially the explosions that arc in a growing ring. The sound and music are all up to traditional Trek quality. Multiplay comes in seven different modes, including variations such as Planet Defend and Collect Latinum. While these options are refreshingly creative, and unleashing the more devastating superweapons on your buddy can be quite satisfying, the multiplay still suffers from the same problems haunting the single-player game — even more so if two people play as the same race.
It might be just the level of content getting thrown at you all at once that can cause some players to give up on the game, or it could be the chaotic combat or the formulaic RTS approach. For anyone else, and especially the thorough Star Trek fan, Armada 2 has enough feature creep to hold their attention.
System Requirements: Pentium II 400 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 900 MHz, Win95
- Buy Game
www.amazon.com - Download Demo
fileplanet.com - Vintage Website
gaming.startrek.com
Tags: Free Star Trek Armada 2 Download Full PC Game Review
Overview
Six months has passed since the Federation was successful in driving the Borg out of their space and snatching the Omega Particle from the Borg’s hands. Now, however, isn’t the time for victory parties, as the Federation is planning an attack on the Borg’s home in the Delta Quadrant. How they came to the Alpha Quadrant where Federation space is located still escapes their grasp, but it’s only a matter of time before they, too, will be able to pass freely from here to the Delta Quadrant. There is more to consider than just where the enemy is, unfortunately, as the first war caused many casualties and weakened the might of the Federation. Now by going on the offensive in a war far from home, they find themselves vulnerable to their more opportunistic neighbors, with the Klingons left ironically as the peace keepers. Unfortunately for the Borg, as they regroup in the Delta Quadrant, they find themselves besieged by a new and powerful enemy called Species 8472. This new enemy is extremely strong, consisting totally of living organisms and not interested in peace with the Borg or Federation. Now, with new fronts opening, it's anybody's war to win or lose.
Star Trek: Armada II is a real time strategy where players can control Klingon, Federation, and Borg forces for thirty missions. Based on the original Star Trek: Armada, improvements have been made to add new levels of complexity. New views, empires, and even trading centers, all help change the dimension of the game and, while most of these things were at least partially successful, others bring little to the table.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
Like most real time strategy games, the collection of resources is a high priority. This time, instead of only collecting dilithium from small masses floating in space, metal and latinum must also be obtained. Adding a bit of a twist, not all races require all three resources and often they collect them differently. The Federation, for instance, does require all three, but uses its freighters to collect the dilithium and latinum, mining metal from space using an orbital processing facility. The Borg, however, have no use for latinum and use its collectors to gather metal and dilithium from space while Species 8472 doesn’t use any of these, as they break down any matter they come across to create their bio-weapons.
In addition to new resources, other features were either added or upgraded. Two new races were introduced as the war expanded through the Delta Quadrant. Species 8472 is a race discovered in fluid space by the Borg in an attempt to assimilate their bio-technology. Unfortunately for the Borg, their attempt was unsuccessful and opened a new front in their battle with the Federation. The Federation didn’t benefit from the Borg’s new war either, as Species 8472 was also hostile to them, further thinning the Federation forces. The Cardassian Union, the other race added, became the focal point during the Dominion War. Although the war is over, they still play a factor in the ongoing events with the Borg and impact various decisions.
As time has passed since Star Trek: Armada, new technology has also been developed, as one would expect during war time. The Borg have developed a new and more powerful cube capable of creating a fusion cube by joining eight cubes into one. They also have the ability to assimilate their enemy’s weapons and incorporate them into their fleet. In addition, all races can colonize planets creating more available crew, but the planets can be attacked and the colonies wiped out.
Also improved is the interface. It’s still possible to perform all necessary controlling with the mouse, but many new options have been added. It still has the same basic structure, with a cinematic window on the bottom left of the screen to show battles taking place or progress of a facility and the map is in the other lower corner. The top is also much the same, showing the resources collected, number of crew available, and number of officers available. There are changes made to the command menu, however, and when the ships or facilities are selected, you’ll see the bulk of them. Now when a fleet is selected, there is a formation menu allowing different attack patterns to be selected. Anything from directing the fleet to form a wall of ships to forming a single column can be selected and attack patterns such as darting back and forth or a clover leaf are also available. Another addition to the command menu is the AI menu. When forces are selected, commands can be given to engage the enemies that pass by, follow until units are destroyed or decide if special weapons can be used. This allows the player to focus in on other parts of the game and takes away a level of micromanagement.
Another significant factor to most RTS games is having races or different groups that are balanced with each other. This can be a critical issue as an unbalanced game will create frustrating results. Here each race has strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited and knowing what they are will make the difference between winning and being annihilated. Improved from its predecessor, the balance has been enhanced with the addition of Species 8472 to offset the Borg’s powerful drones. Now, playing the Borg doesn’t ensure an easy victory and because of that, other weaker races have an easier time attacking both, as their enemies forces are often spread thinner.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer game has been significantly improved and is more balanced than before. With the addition of Species 8472, a more even battle can be had. Often the Borg were extremely dominant and difficult to defeat. Otherwise, not much has changed so if you enjoyed Star Trek: Armada before, you should enjoy this too.
Graphics
The graphics, although acceptable, aren’t going to blow you away. The detail can be best described as moderate and the cut-scenes could definitely have been improved. A tactical view was also added, giving a different perspective, but rarely is it usable during battle. Mostly it can only be used while you’re building something, just to pass time. Otherwise, it’s similar to the first installment with only minor modifications that are noticeable.
Audio
Loyal to the Star Trek series, most of the sounds fall in line with the actual audio used in the movies and TV series. Patrick Stewart returns, adding his voice for Picard, and J. G. Hertzler gives his voice to Martok, helping to bring the game alive. Other sounds like phaser fire and photon torpedo launches are identical to the Star Trek series and the rest of the audio sounds won’t distract from the game.
System Requirements
Minimum Requirements: Pentium or Athlon processor 300 Mhz, 64 MB RAM, 1.3 GB uncompressed free hard drive space plus 100 MB for Windows swap file.
Multiplayer Requirements: Pentium or Athlon processor 450 Mhz, 128 MB RAM, 1.3 GB uncompressed free hard drive space plus 100 MB for Windows swap file.
Bottom Line
Some sequels are released with minimal improvements and can be huge disappointments. _ Star Trek: Armada II_, however, has a number of new features and additions to gameplay that create a new experience. It is still a conventional RTS game and has issues with longevity as it can become boring and repetitive, but with the thirty missions and with multiplayer capabilities, you should get your money's worth. Although, the graphics could have been better, Star Trek fans will enjoy this addition to the Star Trek universe, while others may not appreciate it as much.
Overall rating: 8