Star Trek™: Hidden Evil

Running on Windows 10 with Nvidia graphics (also some Steam Deck notes below). Experienced a few minor bugs (detailed below) but overall I'm just pleased / amazed this is playable at all. A short game by modern standards, it took me 4 hours but that's not a complaint. The game is a direct sequel to the Insurrection film but to be honest I couldn't remember the film very well and it had zero impact on the game. Gameplay feels like a half way point between the earlier adventure games (25th Anniversary, Final Unity) and the later action games (Elite Force). The game uses keyboard controls only which takes a little bit to get used to (I've posted the controls in the forum). I got as far as installing the game and having it running on the Steam Deck but the character models would render with transparency errors. I didn't have this problem running on Windows with an Nvidia card. The game does crash sometimes at the end of levels. I couldn't find a fix for this, it is totally random and provided you save regularly can be dealt with. If the game crashes reload and try again, eventually it will progress.

Hidden Evil is a third-person adventure game. It uses fixed camera angles and tank controls. I bring up the controls at the start, because I believe they are the biggest point against the game itself. In order to get the most out of the game, I ended up customizing a control scheme on my controller, which I think helped me a great deal in enjoying the adventure itself. If you manage to "tame" the controls, you'll find a short, yet fun adventure. The plot manages to have enough intriguing elements to it, to feel like an episode from the show (fans will probably enjoy this aspect more than neophytes, but it's a solid story regardless). The combat is challenging, but not TOO hard (some of the encounters are a bit annoying, admittedly) and there are some genuininely smart puzzles you'll encounter along the way. The difficulty is also smoothed out by the ability to save everywhere. The visuals are a bit dated, but as is often the case with pre-rendered backgrounds, they still manage to convey a great mood without looking shabby, even after this long. The music/sounds also help the atmosphere, often given the various scenes that extra touch. The game does have some technical issues: the biggest one I encountered was a crash when transitioning from one level to the next. It didn't seem to happen all the time, however, and there are also cheats to skip levels (since the crash happened only during the transition, you wouldn't miss anything from the two levels by using the skip). The renderer isn't perfect, but I encountered only a couple of minor visual glitches. Hidden Evil is short (it took me 4 hours overall, and it probably would have taken a bit less without the technical issues I mentioned), but if you like games with fixed cameras, are a fan of sci-fi in general or Star Trek in particular, you could easily find something to enjoy in this one. I certainly had fun with it. Despite its flaws, the game has enough high points to make up for them, and I recommend it.

Oh yeah, I remember playing this back in the day. It wasn't bad and it wasn't great. While it was a clunky game, it had enough appeal as an adventure in the Star Trek universe, that you had to see it to the end. And while it felt rather "meh" overall, it had enough shiny moments that you would remember it as an ejoyable exprience.

Hidden Evil is like a cereal box game that you found when opening a box of pops from your local grocery store. Controls are strange and clunky; environments are actually pictures, like those of myst; and its short. As a trek fan, I can over look the controls and environments, but I really wanted more of this unique experience!

As title suggests, the sound in game doesn't work. Works fin the cutscenes...doesn't work for the gameplay (not for Windows 11). Disappointing, I love TNG and I've been wanting to play this game forever, but the problem seems pretty widespread and it's a shame to see it hasn't been fixed, or at least a workaround provided to allow people purchasing the game to actually play it.