tardate 2367: The Starfleet Armada challenges an invading Borg cube ship at Wolf 359 with disastrous results. The Federation loses 39 ships in the battle, among them the U.S.S. Righteous with a certain Lt. Furlong at the helm. Ten years later the omnipotent god-being Q offers the Lieutenant's son, Cadet Kaylan Furlong, a chance to save his father. Q takes the cadet back in time and puts him into the body of the Righteous's security officer, a mere four hours before the ship was vaporized. Now it's up to Kaylan to make sure the events are not repeated.
As with the other Simon & Schuster Trek titles, everything in this game is genuine. The sets, costumes, music, sounds and effects are taken straight from the Star Trek television shows. It's shot with a roving, first person viewpoint to show what the cadet sees and does aboard the Righteous (all full screen). Often the other characters turn to the camera and speak right to "you."
Game play is relatively straightforward. As the plot progresses players reach "decision points" where they must choose a course of action, such as firing on a Borg or running away. Navigating these decision points determines the outcome of the game. At any time players can freeze the action and click on-screen objects for more information about them, which is delivered via a special tricorder provided by Q. Q's data is, of course, laced with wry commentary. Through vigilant study of the environment, players will learn almost everything they need to save Dad.
The good, the bad and the Borg
This game suffers from a Jekyll and Hyde complex, for it is rife with both good and evil. Everything on the filming side -- shots, pacing, sets -- is right on, looking and sounding terrific. The dialog is natural and mercifully free of technobabble. All the acting is sincere and engaging, and John de Lancie goes to town as the sarcastic and meddling Q, always around to kibitz and annoy. He makes this game.
But the game's programmers were unable to match the talent and enthusiasm of the film crew. The fact that the CDs are mislabeled -- disks 2 and 3 are swapped -- is a bad start. Sometimes the game itself refuses to respond to clicks at decision points, resulting in death and destruction for all. Some of the click zones are minuscule (not just the hand, the center of the hand). It's also impossible to load a saved game during play; players must quit and restart. The puzzles range from obvious to challenging to arbitrary, but even the lame ones wouldn't be too bad if the interface weren't so twitchy.
There are some nice touches as well, such as the weird and creepy Borg-O-Vision that fills the screen should players become assimilated. It's also possible to run the game like a movie from the beginning up to any saved point, allowing players to re-experience the story without pauses. Perhaps because it looks so good Borg creates high expectations for play. The story and engine are top notch, but aggravating game play keeps this CD-ROM from being a blow-you-away experience.
