icroprose's Klingon Honor Guard is about--as the name would imply--the empire run by those bony-headed folks from Star Trek. In the game, players assume the role of a member of the 'avwl' bath, otherwise known as the Klingon Honor Guard. Sworn to protect the High Council, the honor guard is the elite of the elite.
To this end the 'avwl' bath must train, normally in the Klingon version of a holodeck, and it is in the midst of one such session that the story opens. Stories being what they are, they need conflict to survive, and Honor Guard's discord comes in the form of an explosion in the High Council's chambers. Chancellor Gowron is wounded, and players are ordered to track down the would-be assassins and bring their honorless hides to justice.
Like Quake II and Unreal, Klingon Honor Guard is a shoot-'em-up action fest, and the aforementioned justice is dispensed through the barrel of a Disrupter Rifle, Sith Har Blaster, Trilithium Rocket Launcher, or, well, a lot of different weapons. Those used to playing any of the first-person shooters currently dominating the gaming market will have no problem adapting to Klingon Honor Guard. The game supports the usual array of joystick, mouse and keyboard commands, and virtually any action can be slaved to any controller function.
The slaving lasts through 25 levels as players flip switches, search for secret passages, hunt keys and kill a variety of Klingons, Andorians and other assorted beasts. There are plenty of locales, ranging from the sewers of a Klingon outpost to the inner buildings of the Klingon capital city. The combat is fast-paced, and the computer-controlled guys (and girls) run the typical gamut from unbelievably nimble to sluggishly inactive. The game also includes multiplayer deathmatch options. Gamers may choose to play via LAN or TCP/IP Internet connection.
A beautifully average shooter
Klingon Honor Guard is a disappointment. From the 45 minutes it takes just to get it to run (on two separate computers, nonetheless) to the inaccurate and misleading user manual (why is there no mention of the different characters that gamers can supposedly play?), the game reeks of "Gee, we have to get this game out in time for the Christmas rush." At best, Klingon is an average shooter.
It is, however, a beautifully average shooter. Utilizing the gorgeous Unreal gaming engine, the programmers at Microprose have created some of the best-looking characters, monsters, weapon animations and levels on the market. Unfortunately, the levels--from the frozen prison asteroid of Rure Penthe to the passageways of starships--have a sameness about them that's hard to finger (the ice isn't at all slippery, for one thing).
Whether treading the halls of a building or the passageways of an enemy starship, it all has a kind of a "been here, done that" feel. One stunningly rendered Klingon looks pretty much like the next, and it's easy to poke holes in the thin plot by the second level. On the other hand, the hunting, creeping and shooting is genuinely fun, if nothing spectacular.
Cloned levels, twin brother enemies, and Swiss cheese plot aside, the game's major failing lies in the multiplayer segment. Yes, the Unreal engine is attractive, but it is also a system hog, frequently turning online deathmatches into little more than slide shows. Many gamers were hoping that Microprose had remedied the engine's faults, but alas, such is not the case. Honor Guard does multiplayer poorly on anything less than high-end computers with fast Internet connections. The user manual recommends four-player limits on Internet death matches. Compared with Quake II levels that are frequently contested by as many as 20 combatants, it doesn't pass muster.
This is one game best left in the shrink-wrap. Although Star Trek fans may find enough to make them happy, all other action fans would be better off sticking with their Quake II battles and hoarding their money until Sierra's much-anticipated HalfLife is released.
