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| Deep Space 9: The Fallen | // article |
| Historically, Star Trek game licences have left a lot to be desired (as have Star wars game licences for some reason), even though the series themselves have continued to grow and just plain get better. Out of the original Star Trek grew Star Trek: The Next Generation, with two more spinoffs following, Star Trek: Deep Space 9 and Star Trek: Voyager. The game that has been making the most waves and generating the most interest in recent months has been Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, a first person game based on the Quake 3 Engine. Deep Space 9: The Fallen by contrast is a third person game utilising the Unreal Tournament engine to deliver a game very similar in style to Deus Ex, with much more of an adventure feel to it that Elite Force. And unlike the Voyager title, in The Fallen, you play not one secondary character but three of the main characters driving the Deep Space 9 storyline: Commander Sisko, Major Kira or Lieutenant Commander Worf, providing a unique triple view of the stroyline. As this is an officially sanctioned title (well, it would have to be, wouldn't it?) the experience is enhanced by the inclusion of voice acting from the cast members themselves, as well as a custom designed inverse kinematics system allowing fluid movements within the game, as well as a facial animation system allowing lip-synching in realtime, dramatically adding to the immersiveness of the game. The game itself is based around the lost Orbs of the Pah-wraiths, said to bestow to the holder the power to destroy the universe. Going up against the Cardassians, the Bajorans, the Dominion as well as a brand new alien race, the Grigari, in your quest to discover the Orbs before the other races you'll need to enlist the help of some very familiar characters from Deep Space 9, including Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax, Dr Julian Basheer, Chief O'Brien and even Odo. A lot of work has been done to ensure the Unreal Torunament engine has the legs to be able to deal with this game, especially in the unacustomed third-person viewpoint. The camera is controlled by using the mouse, essentially acting as a viewpoint camera fixed behind the characters head. In areas where the rear camera is obstructed by walls or other objects, it moves closer to the character you are controlling, and if the view becomes blocked, your player character will fade out so that you are never unable to see where you're going. The Fallen also includes a number of useable items alongside the more common weapons (although common is probably a poor term, with more than 10 new weapons - not all federation issue - and all with multiple firing modes) including that ubiquitous device, the Tricorder. Using the Tricorder within the game allows you to scan the terrain ahead for dangers, even to a certain extent being able to scan through solid objects. This is a very handy tool to use, allowing you to make judgements about how to proceed, which path to take, even whether or not to go in a certain direction. I will be very interested to see how successful this game is, as well as the depth of story embodied within it. I have seen a number of preview movies that include extensive gameplay footage, and having played the demo recently I was very impressed with the amount of work that has gone into creating the levels and the character interaction, as well as the obvious amount of work gone into the control system. I found switching between non-offensive items (such as the Tricorder) and offensive weapons (I rather liked the grenade launcher) to be simple and intuitive once I'd set up my favoured control system. There have been a number of non-obvious changes made to the game engine, including the ability to climb and hang from ledges, allowing much more fluidity and imagination in the level design, along with a need for a little more thought into how to solve some puzzles. As a standard piece of equipment, you can use the Sims Beacon to light the area around you should you find yourself in need, and you can collect various items along the way, such as hyposprays that you can use as and when you need and additional ammunition for your weapons. It will be interesting to see how this game fares alongside other action/adeventure games like Deus Ex (which coincidentally uses the same basic engine, but in a different way) and whether or not those Star Trek fans who buy Elite Force will also buy this one. Despite it already being available in the US, we Brits will have to wait until at least November, so expect a review of the game towards the end of October. | |
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