Graphics

Sorry, honey, the Hilton is all booked

Audio

Actually, I was impressed with the voice acting. I was really expecting some corny voices (a la Earth 2150) but was pleased when I heard movie-like quality. Also, all the sound effects are on pay. Phasers, torpedos, my beautiful ship explosions – they all have a very polished sound to them. Another strong category.

Conclusion

If it wasn’t for the tedium of the battles and missions, I would have liked this game much more. It took me awhile to get into this title strictly because I hated sifting through that manual to discover what everything did and where everything was. Once I got through that, things became a little clearer but I still became easily disgusted with the way combat played out for me. For Star Trek fans or Space RTS fans, this is probably a must-have. For run-of-the-mill gamers who don’t want too much to worry about when waging interplanetary warfare (point-and-click) then maybe this ain’t for you.

Visuals: 4/5
Very nice. Beautiful ships, great special effects and overall very smooth animation.

Sound: 4.5/5
Great. I loved the voice acting, and every sound in the game seemed to be done at a very high quality.

Gameplay: 3/5
Repetitive. Tended to at times drag slower than a 300-pound whore on a dog leash.

Value:4.5/5
The original game had 50 missions, the Gold Edition has 30 more so you’re gettin’ some good bang for your buck.

theVerdict: 3.5/5
Not a bad game but it could have used a little more variety.