~Star Trek - A Final Unity

Reviewed by Martin Keen


Spectrum Holobyte don't seem to have much of a sense of timing. The
Next Generation series finished last winter and the Generations film
was screened months ago. Now as the new Star Trek series Voyager has 
been released on video the Microprose division have decided to finally
release A Final Unity. Great timing lads! All that doesn't seem to 
matter to the PC games buying public though. At the time of writing 
the game is sitting on top of the charts.

Because this product contains the words "Star Trek" is was guaranteed
to shift some units thanks to those sad Trekkies. At this point it is
important to add I am definetly NOT a Trekkie so this will be an
imparcial review. Yes I have seen a couple of episodes but I'm no more
likely to cover my face in white paint and pretend to be Data than I'd
be to put on a Big Bird outfit after watching a bit too much of Sesame 
Street.

On the whole Spectrum Holobyte had done a very good job indeed. The
sound effects, music, voiceovers, and even graphics (apart from the 
bridge) are acurate enough to really capture the feel of the series.
And the dialogue is similar to the original full of unneccesary
jargon and stupid planet names.

The intro sequence is great. All the characters have been rendered in
65,000 colours in SVGA. Unfortunately that just adds to the 
disapointment when the playable section of the game starts up and the
characters on the bridge have the animation qualities of a Captain
Pugwash cartoon.

A Final Unity is really just a glorified graphic adventure. There
isn't really that much to do on the Enterprise so most of the time is
spent on away missions. Pick which characters you want to send
then its time to beam down to another alien world. These sections 
consist of familair pointing and clicking. As an adventure game this
section is pretty good. There are loads of things to talk to and use,
and each planet has quite a few screen of graphics. 

Although the puzzles are fairly logical this is where the game falls 
down. It is impossible to be stuck on a puzzle. If you want to know
what to do next use the speech icon on any one of the away team 
members and they will "suggest" an action. This suggestion normally 
solves the puzzle for you. As if that wasn't bad enough if you don't
move the mouse for a couple of minutes one of the crew will blurt out
the solution to a puzzle whether you wanted it or not. 

Even worse are the long periods of non-interaction. All too often a
crew member will take the initative and start doing something that
you have no control over. For instance Picard is talking to a trader 
who has been dealing in illegal goods. The trader offers information
about the Romulans in exchange for his freedom. Should you accept this
bribe or let the trader receive the punishment he deserves? As it 
turns out you don't get a choice, Picard decides for you. 

But don't let this put you off. On the whole Star Trek: A Final Unity
is a superb game that really captures the spirit of the series. If
you've never seen The Next Generation then this game might be quite
a struggle to comprehend but the 90% of the population who have
a basic knowledge of the characters are in for a treat.