June 2022
Star Trek: Bridge Commander
June 30, 2022 Filed in: Video Games
I've played a number of Star Trek games through the years. Some were decent while others were quite excellent. I had never played one of the best-rated ones, however. That game was Star Trek: Bridge Commander. It is somewhat of an adventure game but really a space combat simulator at its core. Set in the timeline of the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, you play a starship captain. You were the first officer aboard the USS Dauntless (NCC-71879), a Galaxy Class Starship. After the death of the ship's captain, you are promoted and assume command. As you would expect based on the game's title, the action takes place almost exclusively on the bridge. There are various manned bridge stations: helm, tactical, first officer, science, and engineering. You control the action by issuing orders to your bridge crew. That is the way I played the game. Alternately, there is a tactical mode where you have direct control and steer the ship and fire weapons using an external view.
After a star explodes in the Maelstrom region of space, the Dauntless is dispatched to investigate. There are eight episodes with several missions each. A few episodes in, you and your crew are reassigned to the USS Sovereign (NCC-73811). Along the way, you encounter Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, and plenty of Cardassians. You spend a fair amount of time at Starbase 12 but almost every mission has a combat element to it. The fun is running as efficiently as possible under the stress of battle. You need to juggle overall tactics and weapon selection (phasers and torpedoes) along with power distribution between weapons, engines, sensors, and shields. The developers captured the feel of Star Trek combat on the bridge of a starship very well. For a game released twenty years ago (2002), I give it a "thumbs up."
After a star explodes in the Maelstrom region of space, the Dauntless is dispatched to investigate. There are eight episodes with several missions each. A few episodes in, you and your crew are reassigned to the USS Sovereign (NCC-73811). Along the way, you encounter Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, and plenty of Cardassians. You spend a fair amount of time at Starbase 12 but almost every mission has a combat element to it. The fun is running as efficiently as possible under the stress of battle. You need to juggle overall tactics and weapon selection (phasers and torpedoes) along with power distribution between weapons, engines, sensors, and shields. The developers captured the feel of Star Trek combat on the bridge of a starship very well. For a game released twenty years ago (2002), I give it a "thumbs up."
Mass Effect 3
June 09, 2022 Filed in: Video Games
The saga is over. I completed Mass Effect 3, thereby finishing the Mass Effect trilogy. I'm glad that I waited for the Legendary Edition to play this series. It included all three games, plenty of extra content, and updated graphics. The biggest advantage was not having to wait years between releases. I experienced the entire trilogy in one shot.
Using my imported character, the story continued the events from Mass Effect 2. It is 2186 and the galaxy faces a threat from a race known as the Reapers. Once again, Commander John Shepard is the key figure who stands in the way of this galactic menace. As with Mass Effect 2, ME 3 made several gameplay tweaks to combat, weapons, inventory management, and planetary scans. In general, most changes were made to streamline things and cut down on trivial tasks. Overall, I enjoyed every Mass Effect game and some changes along the way kept things fresh. Some people considered ME 3 the weakest entry and the ending in particular was controversial. Therefore, I was braced for disappointment. It wasn't that bad but definitely bittersweet. Multiple options are presented. Your choice determines the outcome in some pretty big ways. They aren't simple good vs evil paths. As BioWare likes to do, things are shaded gray and there are moral and ethical nuances affecting your decision.
The crew of the Normandy SR-2 at a party at Shepard's apartment
Using my imported character, the story continued the events from Mass Effect 2. It is 2186 and the galaxy faces a threat from a race known as the Reapers. Once again, Commander John Shepard is the key figure who stands in the way of this galactic menace. As with Mass Effect 2, ME 3 made several gameplay tweaks to combat, weapons, inventory management, and planetary scans. In general, most changes were made to streamline things and cut down on trivial tasks. Overall, I enjoyed every Mass Effect game and some changes along the way kept things fresh. Some people considered ME 3 the weakest entry and the ending in particular was controversial. Therefore, I was braced for disappointment. It wasn't that bad but definitely bittersweet. Multiple options are presented. Your choice determines the outcome in some pretty big ways. They aren't simple good vs evil paths. As BioWare likes to do, things are shaded gray and there are moral and ethical nuances affecting your decision.
The crew of the Normandy SR-2 at a party at Shepard's apartment