Elite Force was a unique trek game and showcases a change both in Trek and in game design. It's one of the earliest titles using the Quake 3 engine - which shows. Both the geometry and especially the character models seem pretty rough now. The characters especially tend to look and act a bit like puppets from team america - also not only in their looks. In terms of design, elite force dropped the old maze-like levels shooters used to have in the 90s and replaced it with the narratively driven tunnel. You're basically progressing through a given plot, running along through a very beautifully designed tunnel. At certain points you will have an encounter with X enemies beaming in. Then, a cutscene, then another tunnel, another encounter, another cutscene and so on. The great use of voyager itself makes this game stand out. Between missions you will run around on the ship, meet up with some crew members and trigger some dialogues. The addon improves even more on this by giving you a voyager exploration mode to track down some fan goodies and holodeck programmes. The singleplayer plot is set well and ends up like a typical action movie of the era. It's a bit schlocky. Your success or failure can have at least some impact on the game, though not always in a logical way. In my playthrough a very dead team member was suddenly very much alive again because the game's plot demanded that he'd get his dramatic death in that particular mission. The missions itself are pretty cool and try to mix up the scenarios as much as possible. The game is obviously mostly about shooting stuff and there's almost no puzzles involved. Something that I think is mirrored in that time's ST too, actually. The shows became more focused on action, less on mysteries. All in all, Elite Force is a solid FPS experience which felt very fresh at the time.
Descent 3 is a unique entry in the series, attempting with much effort to shake up the old game formula by introducing new twists to each level in order to turn the third installment of the series into something more than just a maze with keys to be found and enemy bots to be shot to pieces. There's a bit of a story going on in an attempt of tying together the different labyrinths. Graphics, though impressive at the time, are kind of nice to look at, but, as to be expected, considerably less impressive now. The places this game is taking place in are wonderful: From sewers to more sewers and caves to city streets, subway train systems, mines, space stations and even a very large spaceship. I especially like the addition of large-ish outdoor areas. The twists they tried to apply to each level is unfortunately what makes this game feel increasingly tedious. It feels like there's always one extra loop for you to jump (fly) through and I feel it doesn't do the game much good. I'd often find myself wandering around the ever same areas FOR HOURS, looking for a clue on how to progress. That's because it's often not entirely clear what the designers had in mind for you to do in order to progress. And that is the big downside of this game, in my opinion. Descent 3 is still a game that is nice to look at imo. It has a great atmosphere and beautiful environments which are nicely varied. They really did try to offer the player more than just flying through mineshafts this - and it shows. Unfortunately the puzzles are not always implemented all that well, which is getting tedious and frustrating. I haven't even yet started playing the addon, but the feeling I had with the main game is that it somewhat overstays its welcome. You will get A LOT of descent 3 for your money. And it's probably a lot of fun in coop or DM multiplayer, if you can find someone. Personally, I'd recommend D1 or D2 - or even Overload instead. This one's more or less for nostalgia's sake only.
First off: I've never really played the original speedball 2. My impression of this remake is that it's a fun and quick game which is easy to pick up and fun to play in short bursts. Graphics are cute and it's nice to have the additional stadiums to unlock and to look at, as well as the alternative player sprites. That being said, the biggest downside is probably the balancing. Team pairings seem to be selected very much randomly, which means that you can have a hard time, especially in the beginning, should the game decide to put the toughest teams against you right from the get-go. Then again, the cups in between the league divisions are very hard because most teams on there are top tier ones. If you're constantly levelling up they can be beaten with some effort after league division 2 though. And after that the game becomes increasingly easy. Chances are you will absolutely dominate any league division from here on out and eventually even the cups, though those might occasionally still offer a bit of a challenge. I noticed that the game seems to sometimes randomly either drop one player from my team and exchange it with another player (suddenly Robin was gone from the roster but I got Nigel instead?). Though you can pick pretty much any team you want, I think it would have been great to be able to pick some colours on your own or choose the team appearance. For some reason the game will also let you endlessly upgrade your players' skills without seeming to actually improve them once you've maxed out. All in all, I still think that this game is rather decent. It certainly is fun for at least three seasons. Imo it gets a bit too easy a bit too quickly - which will likely drive off players looking for a challenge. It'll start getting a bit boring. Same old, same old - you know! Three stars is pretty much where it's at. It's a fun game, but it tends to be a bit random and will start getting a bit boring as you progress.
