Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Starfleet Command III

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I've played SFC1 and 2 for many years... SFB for almost 15, SFC 3 is a total let down in what was becoming a somewhat prestigious legacy.
I'll try to provide direct gameplay examples in mentioning what is good and bad.
Strategy...
"Slide and Shoot"- there's your strategy. Slide a slider here and shoot your weapons there. Anything more complicated is likely to bore you to death before you actually destroy your opponent.
Turn rates, firing times? forget them. Indistinct and made irrelavent by poor performance.
On the aesthetic side- This interface is scarcely better than an amatuer window-blinds skin, adding to that arcade feeling.
Manual, where are weapons and ship stats, numbers, details... the important math info not some description about "whatsa'voorcha?"
You can't implement as deep a level of control over energy management as SFC1-2. This alone weakens it's strategy element. If I want to take down life support or whatever for that extra bit of energy even for a minute to achieve a goal then let me. Not here in this game.
Explosions, graphics stuff- I have a geforce4... it's not my card, these graphics are worse than some sfc MODS I've seen by "amatuers". Explosions are undetailed and splotchy.
New Ships- okay that's a little better, but like I said there are MODS out there that are better than what Taldren did.
Weak gameplay AI... no kidding. Shields down and flinging my phasers at warbirds, you think even one would fire on me? Yea, after 3 dozen shots I get a pastyt little pfffzzz back from one of them. A few more later... have yet to see one luanch a shuttle.

I don't think the developement team attached to this game really had any clear idea of what this task entailed. They dumbed down the controls and capabilities. Compare the manuals for SFC1 and 2 to SFC3... SFC3 is scarcely as in depth or informational. Case made.
Plus side? If you liked armada for its RTS factor and are a diehard TNG fan then you will feel compelled to own SFC 3.
If you played SFC 1 or 2 or SFB for its "make me think like a commander on a starship" level of detail, then look elsewhere, this is not hte place.
Arcade gameplay
Arcade strategy
Arcade appearance
Arcade Garbage.

Rated
2 stars for the idea but nothing else.

Being both a Star Trek fan and a Star Fleet Battles veteran(the old boardgame and the computer based SF Command), having SFC updated for the Next Generation ships was unresistable. First the good points... The graphics are good, new weapons, excellent game stablility in single player campaign, excellent voice overs, and an engaging storyline (more so than the earlier SFC games). The number of ship's shields have been reduced from 6 to 4, making it easier to crash an opponents shield as well as making shield reinforcement easier to manage as well. Here's the bad... only 4 races, a game speed option that only works if you set it before you enter the campaigns (hopefully a patch will remedy that shortly), no record of what you've done or your next objective is if you load a saved game (luckily you're moved to your next mission if you don't get there on your own), no weapon overloads, no ECM/ECCM, no drones, no transporter mines (you can still drop them out the back), no data on the new weapons (e.g. damage potential or effective range)... you begin to get the picture. The game has been simplified immensely. It's a good game if you're new to the SFB/SFC arena, no cut-scenes or anything like the top RTS games, but was engaging enough to keep me in the game for hours. If you've ever wanted to introduce friends to SFB/SFC and the SFC games were too complex, this would be a great way to do it. Once they get the hang of it, they can 'graduate' and go back into time to the SFC2 setting. Veteran SFB/SFC players would give this game 3 stars, but ST fans looking for a more tactical game may give it a 3.5 to 4.

Star Trek Starfleet Command 3. Could there ever be a better game? After you play this game, you will answer that question the smae way I did. No. In SFC3, you can play as Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Borg. From the sleek Soverign class vessel (U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-E) to the massive Borg Cube. Fire a variety of weapons, including Quantum Torpedoes, Phasers, Disruptors, and Gavemetiric Torpedoes. Beam you troops over on hit-and-run raids to disable enemy systems, or to attempt the impossible: take over the entire vessel.
Create fleets of up to five vessels, and gang up on small vessels. Invade enemy territory in missions ranging from Planetary Scan, Assulting defensless stardocks, or taking a suicidal run on an enemy starbase.
Launch Probes, cloak, use an anti-cloaking scan, launch specialized shuttles, an perform eratic manuvers. Manage your sheilds to prevent enemy boarding parties from completeing their mission. Name your ship, and create ships from the shows like the U.S.S. Defiant, and visit noted locations such as Sector 00,01 (Earth), Romulus, Remus, The Borg Homeworld, and the legendary home of th klingons, Q'ronos.
Engage in 4 epic campagins, icluding for all major star empires, The United Federation of Planets, The Kligon Defense Fleet, The Romulan Star Empire, and the Borg Collective. Or, you can just ignore polotics, and go on to conquer the galaxy.
Anyway, you can count on SFC3 being the best STAR TREK game ever. It is not worth the $90.00 it's being sold for, though, so buy it at a computer game store. Good Luck Conquering the galaxy. You can e-mail me if you have any questions about the game at comderbashir@yahoo.com Jolan Tru

I've played SFC1, Dominion War and Armada. If I were to rank these games in order of which I enjoyed the most I would say: 1. DW, 2. SFC3, 3. SFC1, 4. Armada

SFC3 is, as the other reviewers pointed out, a great simplification of SFC1. I don't have much patience for all the detail in SFC1 any more so I find the simplification in SFC3 welcome. This and the excellent tutorials will make it very easy to get into the game. I especially like the fact that FINALLY I can command the Next Gen ships, and that during the mission your crew has a voice. This increases the sense that you are commanding a ship.

However while I enjoyed playing SFC3 initially I can definitely see this game getting tedious pretty fast- and a lot of it is due to its over simplification. The battles are much much more drawn out than the other games I've played- and they are not drawn out in interesting ways. It's like watching 2 exhausted fighters weakly slapping each other in the face hoping that one of their slaps will eventually knock their opponent unconscious. A campaign that would have lasted 10 minutes in SFC1 lasted over half an hour while I circled 3 enemy freighters trying to align my phaser arcs with openings in their shields. Eventually it was my shuttle crafts that destroyed all 3 of the freighters- sad!

Still, after not having played SFC1 for 3 years I did enjoy SFC3 despite its tedium.

I will probably try and play this with my Microsoft voicepad controller to see if using voice commands make it more fun. Maybe I can set the self destruct command as: "From hell's heart I stab at thee!"

Ahhh yes, finely, the long awaited Starfleet Command 3 has arrived. For those of you unfamiliar with it's previous incarnations the Starfleet Command series is based loosely on a board game known as Starfleet Battles. The first game was, to be frank, a clunky transition straight from the bored, grid and all. It was great! The next incarnation improved on the actual play but mad the System more complicated. This version has combined the two giving it a simple interface and good game play.

The game play is excellent, allowing you to target individual systems. Turns and camera angles are excellent. The main problem with the previous games, the long destines between targets has been cut down via the tactical warp(also allowing you to do the Picard maneuver). However there are still a few boring missions that could easily have been cut down. Despite this the good out ways the bad, making this one of the most fun Starfleet Commands yet.

The first part of the game that is likely to concern you if you were to buy it would be the game play. If you start the game from the tutorials (which you should unless you have played the game before) the first sound you'll here is captain Picard's rich baritone voice. The sound will probably be the sound of red alert. However this is no indication of the rich soundtrack that will continue.

The excellent models of starships for ach race are excellently destroyed, with nacelles falling off and hull being scorched. Each starship has a range of motions, dipping side to side when you make sharp turns. Tractor beams, phasers and torpedoes all emit light, which plays over the hulls of starships. When a ship is destroyed it explodes in classic Starfleet style.

The interface for this version of Starfleet Command has been simplified. The systems for both passive scanning and shield reinforcement have been simplified to point and click, instead of being hidden beneath layers of useless crap. Talking of useless crap this version of Starfleet Command has gotten rid of "Electronic Counter Measures" and their counterpart "Electronic Counter Counter Measures." The systems for hit and run and boarding parties have also been simplified and are now right there on the main screen. Also the map and missions screen now has an addition, the refit button, allowing you to customizing your ship. All these features add up to a easier game to play. Their are still some systems that are just too far away, so you had better memorize the hot keys.

The storyline gets a +1 right off the bat for including the Romulons, (something Star Trek Armada noticeably left out from it's story line,) but dos not relay on just that. The story involves Unity One, a star base created by the joint work of the Federation and the Klingon Empire, its constructed on the border between Federation and Klingon Space and Romulon Space which is why one of its main features is that it can detect cloaked ships, something that, as you can imagine, the Romulons are not at all pleased with. The story line continues through three races, the Klingons, the Romulons and the Federation (you can play the Borg only in multi-player).

The multi-player system (which actually works in this incarnation), known as the Dynaverse, is a never ending war between the 4 races. Each battle played by you or anyone of your race, either gains or losses a territory. As you battle you increase in prestige getting you better ships, (and even possibly a star base) and better officers. Once one group gains a large majority of territory your prestige, ship, officers and map reset itself. The progress and gameplay is excellent. It could be more fun then what amounts to an interstellar deathmatch but is still excellent.

In conclusion this is an excellent game with only a few errors that hopefully will be corrected with a patch. It also has a large learning curve for those not familiar with the game series, so you had better take the tutorials if this is the first SFC game you've played.

This has got to be one of the best Star Trek games ever. The single player campaign is the most in-depth on out of all the Starfleet Command games. The storyline flows very well. The storyline is affected by the outcome of the missions. I your ship is destroyed the campaign will end. The ships look great. the camera angles do not rotate around the ships though, they stay fixed in one area. The weapons look real color wise, the weapons in the other games were purple ,red, and other colors. Your officers report to you in-depth. The is the best Starfleet Command game.

If you played and loved any of the earlier games, you might consider staying away from this one. Its too dumbed down. If you're new to the Starfleet Command series, give it a try.

The graphics are nice, and the combat is fun, but the game is buggy, and the combat rapidly begins to take on a "sameness" that will have you shelving the game within a month of hard playing.

Its an interesting diversion for a while, but not a keeper.

Tactical depth and diversity:
Starfleet Command III - 3
Strfleet Command II - 5
Dominion War - 2
Klingon Academy - 3

A wonderful edition to the Starfleet Command, but Starfleet II is better because there are several races to choose from. If you like story driven games then this is perfect. The stages of the game are designed to be played in a sequence, but if you want, you can jump farther along the sequence by selecting a race that would be introduced later in the game story. There are four races to choose from: Federation, Klingon Romulan and the Borg (in that order).

Interplay's SFC series arrives in the TNG era. All of the major ships from the TNG era are represented. The "scripted" campaign involves the Klingon's, Romulan's, and the Federation. In conquer mode, (I think), you can also play as the borg and go assimilating. I found this to be a fun game with realistic Trek weapons and decent graphics. Some missions are very easy, but once you get into playing and customizing your ship, you can play this game for hours and not want to stop.

This game is great! The single player story line is emersive and interesting, and to play campaigns from 3 different races is fantastic. You get to play as the bad guys, the good guys and the trigger happy allies to the good guys.

The multiplayer is great as well. It uses dynaverse 3 with is like a Starship RPG (Well sort of.) It also has a skirmish setting for immediate firefights.

The only problem with this game is the lack of a patch, which means the multiplayer crashes a about 30-45% of the time. Not very good. Otherwise this game is excelent with many ships of varying design and streangths. I.E. A Warbird has different weapons and systems than a Sovereign.