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Okay, but disappointed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: January 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is a decent enough battle simulator, and I have to give it that much. My problem with this was actually with my expectations of it, and I guess I should take part of the blame for that for not reading more reviews. However, from looking at the box, and reading the marketing descriptions, it seemed to me that this game was going to be what I had been waiting for: a non-mission-based fly-around-and-do-what-you-want space game. Unfortunately, as has been stated before in the reviews, it is entirely mission based, there is no warp drive, and you pretty much just show up where you're supposed to be, do what you're supposed to do, and exit the game when you're done. I find this boring. I'm still waiting for a good solid free-choice type of space game, where you can jet around and get yourself into trouble on your own, without the hinderances of specified missions. As I said, I should've checked more reviews before buying this, because I didn't realize it was just a battle simulator, but from what I and my friends had determined, we thought we would have a lot more free choice as to our actions, the battles we wanted to fight, and the places we wanted to go. Unfortunately, this is not so. This is probably a good game for what it is, I just wish the marketing had more explicitly revealed the game's objectives.

A fresh look to an old genre

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

While this game has it's problems, I'd have to say it was hands down the best game of 1999 that I purchased. It captures all the best elements of both the old Starfleet Battles board game and a real time strategy computer game, while wrapping it up with excellent graphics, sounds and a fresh, new look that should please old fans of both.

Unlike the old Starfleet Battles, the ships have been redesigned to have a more current look, rather like those seen in the movies. The weapon effects are well done, and the damage algorithim stays true to the board game...though, for some insane reason the torpedoes for the Federation only hit about half the time.

While the interface can be overwhelming due to the amount of control you have, the designers put in a pause feature that lets you issue orders and set up for combat in relative peace. This comes in handy.

The biggest gripes I have with the game are the poor mission breifings and the mindless wingman A.I. The breifings are next to useless, and will leave you feeling frustrated and confused. The wingmen you can have are worse than useless. Not only will the not follow your instructions, many times they will shoot up targets and destroy them after you've expressly ordered them not to, loosing the mission for you.

Despite it's flaws, I still think this was a great game, and look forward to a new, improved "gold edition."

Make it so!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Did you ever want to buy a Star Trek game that offered excellent tutorial functions, a realistic on-screen display and 3D rendering gameplay that allowed you sit in captain's chair? Well, it's here so you better click Buy Now! because this is the game you've been waiting for. Play one of 5 races: Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Gorn, Lyran, or Hydran. All races have their own unique ships and game play which looks pretty close to what you see on the box...which is very unusual for any pc games. The opening movies are the best I've seen compared to games of its time and the bugs that are in this game are minimal. (Having a decent video card is a must - 4 mb video ram is minimal but I say at least 16 mb). This game will run on an old Pentium computer that has a good video card. It allows you to adjust options and tweak it a bit to fit your machine. It has a number of options, ships, crew selection, missions, and so forth that you choose from. I have been playing this game for a year and it is most fun I have had with any real time strategy game. This game gets my highest regard so it is highly recommended - you will not be disappointed!!!

Just does not deliver where it needs to

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: August 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The problem with Star Trek games is that they try to be too much like Star Trek. Sound confusing? It is. To break the mold, Star Trek producers are going to have to lean on other designs because the way they make their games now just isn't getting it done. I mean, how can one series of games, with all the countless titles, all be so mind-numbingly below average games?

The problem with Starfleet Command is ambition. The game boasts true 3-D combat. This isn't true in the slightest. If you want 3-D space combat, go buy Homeworld. Starfleet command is on two axi, the X and Y. No mention whatsoever of the Z axis. Everything is played on a flat plane. Now, I'm no expert of space travel, but this just isn't accurate, nor does it make for an enjoyable experience.

Don't expect to use your torpedoes with this game either. They miss almost every time you launch them. And it isn't because of anything you're doing wrong: they just miss. The game is also very hard to figure out in its ship setup stage. If you want to load certain shuttles on your ship, you actually have to tell the game to NOT load them to get them to be there. It is backwards thinking, and I cannot believe that they shipped the game with errors in the interface like this.

Overall, it isn't terribly bad, but is not very good either. It is better than 2 stars but not quite at 3 stars either. I'd rate it 50%. It has some nice features, such as being able to command a starship and be in charge of every feature of that ship, but you soon find that, with the absense of hotkeys for most parts of the ship, this game turns into a micromanagement simulation when you don't have time to micromanage because you're being shot at. The AI is generally dumb in the game when they are isolated, but some missions can be near impossible, and combine that with the fact that your "wingmen" do not do anything helpful, it can be very frustrating when trying to destroy over 30 Orion Pirate ships in one certain Federation mission. That's just it: some missions are impossible to beat, and the strategy guide does not help in the slightest.

To make a long story short, I played this game for about 10 days, then uninstalled it on my hard drive and sold it in an online auction. The game just does not deliver what it should for what a starship combat simulation should.

StarFleet Battles comes to video gaming

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: December 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Having read the previous reviews, I've come to one conclusion: none of these people ever played star fleet battles, the board game from the late 70s and early 80s. Starfleet command is not only based on Star Fleet Battles, it's nearly exact to the board game, but it takes minutes instead of hours to play. And anyone who played SFB knows this: playing against a living person is better than playing against an automated opponent. This game is meant to be played online against a human opponent, not in an ongoing campaign against the computer. I almost pity the folks who've played SFC without having first played SFB, they are at a serious disadvantage as to the nuances and bazillions strategic possibilities. Things happen too fast in the video game for the SFC-only-gamer to be successful. That's their loss, but when the complain about the game being bad, it's not the game's fault, it's their inability to command a starship and inability to understand how to approach the enemy. For example: never let a Hydran get close, no matter how much punch your ship has. You'll get your tail handed to you. You've got to be a matador. Romulans? Pound their ship before they disengage their cloak and get the heck out of there...keep up your speed to outrun the plasma torps. Klingons? Attack their rear shields hard, keep up your speed and don't let them circle you. Federation? All ships are well-rounded, just don't let them zero-in with overloaded photons. Lyrans? Separate the fighters from the carrier and blow them up before they zero in. Gorns? Take out their front shields and take out the torpedo launchers first. They can take quite a pounding and the longer you let their heavy weapons stay in play, the more your shields get whittled away.

The kids who've never played SFB have no idea how to employ these tactics and against whom. Not my problem, and if I duel them online, they are in over their heads.

Welcome to the bridge, captain!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have tried a lot of games, and this one is one of the best! It takes you onto the bridge of your favorite deep space vessels, like the Miranda-Class USS Reliant, The Constitution-Class USS Enterprise A, and the Excelsior-Class USS Enterprise B. It lets you take command of up to 3 ships at a time, as an officer from any one of 6 different races, where you are in complete control. This is definately one of my absolute favorites!

Good idea, Bad execution

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: November 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

The idea behind this game is spectacular. Get a fleet of ships or even a single ship, control it, kill stuff, whatever. A true Capitol Ship Combat game. This is not. Maybe its supposed to be. The controls are hard to figure, the instructions read like something from a TechEngineer, and it has more bugs than an ant hill. Example: going into combat, no damage, red alert, etc. MY WEAPONS WON'T FIRE! Or better yet, I take a hit reported to be only sheild damage, no hull damage, then I try to make a high-speed turn so I can fire back, AND ALL SYSTEMS FAIL! Not to mention, I still can't tell the other ships what to do except "attack at will" or "run away". Even after following the instructions, letter by letter! Good idea for a game, but almost a waste of money. But the graphics are spectacular! Try again Interplay! But next time, try a game that doesn't need 6 fix d/l's 3 weeks after release.

I liked it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 29, 1999
Author: Amazon User

For me it works fine, i was expecting something else but it delivers. However i do have to agree on three defects on it, The Torps only hit once every 10 shots, The graphics are sometimes poor, for example you can see the deflector from the top of the saucer of a Federation ship. And the lack of Warp capability. We need warp, what's a ST sim without warp ? But the game has it's good points, the music is nice, the sounds are awesome the interface is kinda cool and the 3d effects are nice. I would recommend to try it before you buy it.

One of the BEST combat sims for the PC ...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 28, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you are into Star Trek buy this game! Out of the box it is entertaining, but search the net for new ship mods and it can become a full fledged hobby. (You can edit the entire game - ships, missions, textures of the weapons...) This is the predecessor of Star Fleet Command 2, but it is basically the same game. Doesn't need a lot of ram to run well and is played with the mouse + keyboard so you don't have to mess around with a joystick. A MUST for diehard Star Trek fans...

One of the better S.T. games (more like 3 1/2 stars, though)

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is the best Star Trek simulation I've played (and I've been looking for a good one since the early 1980s). Many ship designs (and the ability to customize them), several races to play, good graphics, and well-done music and sound effects. Nothing like catching an enemy in a tractor beam and slugging it out while transporting marines onto his ship. The tutorials are also very informative. There are some problems with the game, though. In one of the federation scenarios, I couldn't win without sacrificing a ship (though I should have been able to use a tractored enemy ship as the sacrifice). The game is a first-class flight simulator, but not much else. You don't really get a sense that moving about the galaxy changes the game in any meaningful way. Also, even though you have crew members who have names, they are nothing more than statistical probabilities that can help or hinder game play, not communicative crew members. After finishing all of the scenarios (which I have not), I imagine this game does not have much replay value beyond customized skirmishes that you can create. Altogether, the price of this game makes it a good value, and probably one of the better games in the Starfleet Command series.

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