Posted on: July 29, 2022

shamu_is_dead

Games: 265 Reviews: 2

Some Fan Service, Less Soul than EF1

The first game is honestly one of my top 5 games of all time. I tried really hard to like this sequel, especially with Patrick Stewart's voice talent, a longer campaign, and the Enterprise-E. I've replayed it at least 4 times since its release but just couldn't learn to appreciate it like EF1. What I came to remember about each game was the sum of its parts. Neither had anything particular going for it, and each had its flaws, but when considering all the factors, this sequel left me disappointed overall. Whereas EF1 1 had tight gunplay and very responsive controls as I'd expect from an Quake 3 engine game, EF 2's weapons felt a bit "loose" when firing them; Small things like in EF1 when the phaser fired immediately on a mouse click, then quickly change to a low-power mode when it's empty are gone. Modifying settings and cfg files didn't change this; it's part of the design. Other guns in EF2 also felt like fanfiction (even when considering the Photon launcher). I was thrilled to see the bat'leth Klingon weapon, but it's underutilized and janky to use. Some other design decisions like eliminating the one-shot vaporize mode on the compression rifle and removing zoom as a general hud capability weren't fun. EF1 had amazing background/atmospheric music that felt appropriate for the setting, with suspense and tone that felt comparable to the TV series. EF2's background music sounds generic and cheap by comparison. Not all the voice actors came back from EF1 unfortunately, and at least 1 returning major character (Chell, who was voiced by the original Voyager actor) had a very different sounding voice actor. EF1's campaign was short by expectations back then and today too, but I thought it was memorable and well crafted, like a high-quality Voyager episode. EF2's campaign for me was entirely forgettable. Again, I tried really hard to like this one for many years, but the sum of its parts make it unenjoyable compared to replaying the EF1 campaign and mods.

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Posted on: March 28, 2022

Hanglyman

Verified owner

Games: 444 Reviews: 141

Passable, But Inferior In Most Ways

Elite Force 2 is a step down from the first game in almost every way. The celebrity voice cast is gone, leaving only Tuvok, who rarely shows up, and Picard, who is given mostly very dull, generic lines that don't make full use of his established character. A few of the Hazard Team from the original game are back, but it almost doesn't matter- the feeling of working as part of a team is gone, because in almost every mission Munro's companions are either injured and beamed away within seconds or he becomes almost instantly and repeatedly separated from them. There pretty much is no Hazard Team, it's just Munro against the world. It's also disappointing that Munro MUST be male now, after being able to play as a woman in the first game. The plot is all right but lacks the intrigue and impressive level designs of the first game- it all feels a bit simplistic and childish, and you'll be running through very similar-looking ancient alien facilities over and over, fighting the same four or five monster bugs, with only a few humanoids for variety. There are a couple parts that are slightly interesting, on a Klingon space station and undercover as a Romulan, but they don't hold a candle to the scavenger base in the first game. The combat is tedious, with massive amounts of hit points substituted for strategy and weapons that feel bland and lackluster. The graphics are definitely improved, with expressive faces and more detail, but in my opinion the newer style uniforms are ugly, the Enterprise E lacks the charm of Voyager, and the game's obsession with obnoxiously obscure and unrewarding secrets does nothing for me. It feels less like an episode of Star Trek and more like the dumbed-down action movie version of Star Trek seen in the later Next Generation sequels. It might be worth playing once, but if you chose not to, you wouldn't be missing all that much.

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Posted on: March 5, 2022

NimRodelle

Verified owner

Games: 168 Reviews: 5

Weak sequel to EF1

Visually, this game is a significant upgrade over EF1, despite also being based on the Q3 engine. 3 years apparently made a pretty significant difference. Narratively, this game is a significant downgrade over EF1. Removing the option to play as female Munro really kills it for me. The dialog is so bad it's almost funny. The overarching story is also just not as engaging as the story in EF1. I know I'm poking holes in a game that came out almost 20 years ago, but I don't think it is fair to pretend that EF2 is a 5-star game, when it really isn't. It's worth a play if you really like Star Trek.

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Posted on: September 11, 2021

Blaatski

Verified owner

Games: 133 Reviews: 1

a real classic but beware

Its a real classic game for its time, but beware it has some issues. I could not get past the initial intro movies. tried the solutions supplied to no avail. used the no-intro mod and it worked. https://www.moddb.com/games/star-trek-elite-force-ii/downloads/skip-intro-movies

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Posted on: June 26, 2023

Shnapennhausen

Verified owner

Games: 375 Reviews: 5

Fun for fans, atrocious design

I was excited to start this game. As a huge fan of Star Trek, I did enjoy the first title even if it was a very clunky shooter, not reinventing anything but with a strong ST vibe and the lovely Voyager crew. After an intro mission, this second entry in the series brings you on Enterprise and among Picard's crew, which felt like an amazing followup. The story also seemed like a good ST drama, with two alien species both claiming their descendants owned planets and cultural artifacts in the sector. Some strong points: using the tricorder with multiple modes to find gas leaks, traps or secrets is very interesting and participates in giving the game world a multi-dimensional feel. I'm not a secret hunter, but I was happy to find at least a couple of them. Level design is also interesting, letting you dive in a well-crafted Star Trek universe. Starfleet HQ, ancient ruins, the Enterprise, all levels convey the universe pretty well. Then the bad: first, encounters are repetitive and cheap, enemies spawning in your back or jumping at you when you open doors.. almost like the designers didn't know how to create good challenge apart from cheating on their own rules. And there's the bikini doctor... really, guys? Next, some level design is outright atrocious. About two thirds into the game, there's a horrible, horrible level taking place on the Enterprise hull. First part is vaguely disgusting, but the true horror comes when you control a turret and shoot at enemy ships. Your turret only moves from left to right, no up-down movement, and enemies/torpedoes fly over and above your range! You need to destroy 3 sub-systems on a capital ship (not destroy it!) with this useless turret while they bombard you to pieces in less than a minute. I've rarely seen such a bad design, and I've played almost a thousand games! Wasting time on extreme challenge brought by deeply flawed design is not fun and if you don't care about Star Trek, you will probably hate this game.

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