Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Hidden Evil

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a Star Trek fan. I admit it. And I look forward to interactive games about Star Trek. However, most releases are not very good (Starfleet Command, Starship Creator to name a few) and it makes we wonder if we are finally going to get a great Star Trek game. Hidden Evil is a good attempt, but has many faults. There is no mouse or joystick support. The game is pretty easy and way too short. And for the best "cut scenes," you have to install the complete game on the hard drive. To say things in it's favor, the graphics are good (I only tested the 3DFx version,) the sound and music are well done, and the game approaches greatness several times, but falls flat. If you are a Star Trek fan and like to collect the software titles, I would recommend this, but don't expect too much. I give this title a "C."

This game is for Trek diehards only. Its incredibly easy. Even Forrest Gump could beat it in about six or eight hours. It does a great job of recreating the experience of a Trek episode with beautiful graphics, interesting storyline, and a nice soundtrack. However, the game control is clumsy and the puzzles are very simplistic. Again, good Trek experience, but a miserable game.

Hidden Evil is a great game plot in search of a real game. Activison did a very good job capturing the feel of the Star Trak genre. The graphics and sound quality are quite good. However, as a game Hidden Evil falls woefully short of the mark. The puzzles are not challenging. The overall enviroment is very two dimensional despite ustilizing true 3-D for generating the main characters. You can't fall off a bridge even if you try. But the worst part is the keyboard-only control. It is extremely cumbersome and remeniscent of the late 1980's, when PC adventure games were just crawling out of the "text-only" primordeal soup. In fact, much of the game's combat difficulty comes from the interface instead of the opponents.

It's a shame such a good concept was wasted by apparent laziness on the part of Activision.

In many ways, "Hidden Evil" hits all the right notes in a genre that has had precious little serious attention paid to it. In its Star Trek adventure debut, Activision comes close to reviving a disappointing genre. The storyline is strong--stronger perhaps than the movie on which it's based. The voice characterization is, no pun intended, engaging. And the puzzles, while perhaps easy for hard core adventure gamers, are hard enough to amuse those of us with busy lives.

Where the game fails, really, is in its graphical quality. The graphics are hardly better than designers obviously believed they were doing better work than that early entrant into the genre, because they keep forcing 'artful' camera angles on the player, whether she wants them or not. These constantly-switching camera angles don't quite make the game unplayable, but they are annoying enough to waste your time. Often, you'll lose track of where you are in a particular room because the cuts from the various camera angles are so severe, your location is in no way obvious. In a few rooms the problem is so acute that you have to move on faith.

Don't worry, though. The gamemakers have made it largely impossible for your accidental movements to get you into trouble. In one especially laughable scene, it's *impossible* for you to fall off a rail-less bridge, but entirely easy for you to get gobbled up by an unseen monster. This, of course, is a significant problem in a game which otherwise strives for plausibility.

WIth these somewhat glaring design faults hanging over the game, the inevitable Insurrection. It does wonderfully amplify that plot. You should also buy it if you need to keep abreast of the development of the Star Trek genre. This is an important stepping stone in that process. And if you're a young adventure gamer, still uncertain of whether you like adventure games, this one will help hone your adventure-playing skills while keeping you in a familiar environment.

But if what you really want is to be immersed in the Star Trek universe, be surrounded by known characters, and solve puzzles while galavanting around the galaxy, buy the much superior "Starfleet Academy" on DVD. It's often miscast as an action game, but in truth it's a grander adventure than this.

The last StarTrek role-playing game I had bought and played was the first STNG game: Final Unity. Things certainly have progressed since then. I rather liked NOT playing Capt Picard or Data, etc as this invloved you more in the story. I found keyboard control a little odd at first, missing the mouse, but soon got use to it. Graphics and locations are nice as are the design of the enemies. However, the game IS a little short, and very linear. I instantly grasped the idea of the puzzles (ie need gene sample) and only had to work out how to do it, ie where to find the sample...finishing the game in a few days. But still, I finished Final Unity quickly as well... so that's the nature of StarTrek role-play adventures I suppose. I missed the subtle control you might expect in a StarTrek universe, you can't for example, change the setting of your phaser, or use the tricoder on objects in your possession. Maybe a little more interaction with the envirnment would have been nice, the only interaction, ie security panels etc, is very goal specific, ie if you can interact with something, its very important....I few more unconnected things would have been nice, like turning lights off, or machinery or something. On the whole enjoyable, but short.

It was fun. It could have been better. It was rather short for the money I put down. The graphics were good, there was freedom to explore. I was a bit disapointed that I could only play the measley ensign, but that turned out to be okay.

This game has some great graphics and a good story to it. But the controls in the game are very hard. And the story is WAY too short. (2-5 hours for most people to complete it). This game also has almost no replay value in it.

So basically, if you are a diehard trekkie, and you are willing to fork over $30 for 10 hours max of playing time, then this game is for you. However, if you are a gamer to any degree, you'll probably find this game a boring experience.

Although the puzzles are simplistic and easy to solve, graphics and sounds are out of this world. Furthermore, the actual story line is quite fascinating if you're a Star Trek afficionado. The role playing is superb, a style which I have not seen since the old King's Quest adventure series. Control is totally keyboard based, which, I feel, increases the level of enjoyment since you're not just clicking around. YOU control the game. It's great fun. I just wish you could increase the difficulty settings. Email me if you'd like to discuss this review, Star Trek, or computer games in general. Masterific@aol.com

I didn't quite like it for the following reasons 1-when fighting, ai acts pretty dumb, and is way too easy to defeat. 2-game is waaaaaaaaaaay too short, i finished it in 2 1/2 hours, and i'm not even good with adventures... 3-the game would have been maybe a hit if they'd have put at least 3 and in bnest case 5 to 7 of those missions the game'd have been worth its money 4-you don't get the freedom of acting, in training on vulcan nerve pinch when trying to use phaser it doesn't work, same's when you try to use phaser or vulcan nerve pinch on picard or data or son'a while they're still not against you...

but on the plus side here's what most trekkies will find interesting about the game 1-you get to see corridors of enterprise and their main engineering. 2-you get to meet picard, data and beverly 3-you get to run around like a mad idiot with a phaser 4-you get to shoot son'a and another race, which i'm not gonna reveal, don't wanna spoil it gor you 5-you get to explore a sci-fi looking son'a colony 6-you get a chance to promote your ensign sovok to leitenant(i'm sorry if i spelled it wrong) 7-you get to use nerve pinch, but you don't get a chance very often, only 4 times in the game]

overall-trekkies might like it, but as an adventure, it stinks

PROS --- 1. Hidden Evil has a great story line, bringing hints from the television episodes to culmination in the mysterious "Briar Patch" from the recent Star Trek movie. I wish the game had contained even more of these interwoven story elements.

2. The graphics were very easy on the eyes, though not as remarkable as those in Presto's previous game: "Journeyman Project: Legacy of Time." The cut-scenes in Hidden Evil were extremely well done. It's obvious that great care was taken to maintain the authenticity of the Star Trek Universe: Trek detail was as good as it gets.

3. I felt I had plenty of interaction with Picard, although Data dropped out of the game pretty quickly. The character of Ensign Sovok was well developed and engaging. The game did a very professional job of making me feel that, through believable twists of fate, the future of the galaxy rested on my shoulders. I found myself wondering how my favorite Trek characters, when facing similar challenges, always manage to stay alive and make the right split-second decision every time. I felt drawn into the Star Trek world to a degree I have never experienced before.

CONS --- 1. This was my first true action game. Although I primarily enjoy Myst-style games, I had always wondered if I was missing out on something by not playing action adventures. I managed to get about halfway through this game before I admitted defeat and used a cheat code that gave me invulnerability. I thought that this code would eliminate the combat, but instead my character just kept getting shot over and over, while grunting and spewing bits of impact debris all over the place. And I still needed to shoot other characters in order to progress. Although using the cheat code helped me get through the game, I found that it did not increase my enjoyment. I guess I just don't like killing things, not even virtual things (not even Evil virtual things).

2. I thought that the keyboard interface was by far the most difficult aspect of the game. Although I've used the keyboard in other, more traditional adventure games, no other game I've tried demanded anything even close to the coordination and speed necessary here. Sometimes you are running, firing a weapon, and trying to access inventory all at the same time -- you really need three hands. And it's a good thing I couldn't fall off cliffs into the abyss -- I would have spent so much time restoring my game that I probably would have quit outright. Maybe the designers should have come up with a crawl mode for people like me. By the time I reached the "stealth" level late in the game, I still wasn't good enough with the keyboard to be able to complete the level. If I hadn't finally resorted to using one of my son's saved games, I probably would have been stuck there forever.

BOTTOM LINE --- Hidden Evil is more oriented to the action gamer than to the traditional adventure gamer. If you are not experienced in using the keyboard as an input device, expect to face a stiff learning curve. However, if you are a Trek fan, and enjoy arcade/action challenges, this game is well worth your time and money.