Star Trek: Armada II
Encyclopedia
Star Trek: Armada II is a real time strategy computer game published by Activision
in 2001, based upon the Star Trek
universe. The game was developed by Mad Doc Software
. It is the sequel to Star Trek: Armada
. Star Trek: Armada II was released by Activision a year after they acquired the full rights to all the franchise holding of the PC Game's franchise from Viacom
. It was the first of the three major Star Trek PC game sequel titles that were released by Activision from 2001 until their departure from the franchise in 2003.
Like its predecessor, Armada II is set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation
universe. The game showcases events in the Alpha Quadrant between the United Federation of Planets
, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, Species 8472
, and the Borg
.
discovers a new type of nebula - a tachyon
nebula. Intrigued, Picard discovers a new type of transwarp gate called a Transwarp Portal, capable of sending fleets of starships from one quadrant to another almost instantly, thus giving reason as to how the Borg managed to get so deep into the Alpha Quadrant undetected. Starfleet Command
then orders Picard to seize control of it and launch a counteroffensive into the heart of Borg space in the Delta Quadrant, into the Borg staging grounds. Though successful, some of the Federation forces, Picard included, are left stranded when the Transwarp Portal collapses due to a destabilization of the inter-spatial transwarp manifolds.
Meanwhile, the Cardassians use the sudden absence of Federation forces to begin their own offensive. The Cardassians proceed to destroy the Federation's reserve fleet. Klingon Chancellor Martok
discovers that Gul Kentar, leader of the Cardassian "revolution", is in league with the Romulans. Kentar is developing the "Quantum Singularity" that allows the Cardassians to summon Species 8472 ships at will. Martok leads an attempt to thwart Kentar's grab for power and destroy the project. The Klingons stop the Cardassian invasion and occupy their homeworld, Cardassia Prime. In the final battle, Martok tracks down and kills Gul Kentar, taking out the Quantum Singularity Project along the way.
The Borg Queen, stranded in the Alpha Quadrant by the same twist of fate that trapped Picard on her side of the galaxy, discovers that Species 8472 has found a way into the Alpha Quadrant. She attempts to mass an armada to suppress this threat by assimilating native species planets, ships and technologies, but its growth is stunted by the constant attacks from the Federation. She then realizes that only by working with the Federation they can defeat Species 8472. The Federation and the Borg Collective create an alliance and venture into Species 8472's fluidic space to destroy their staging grounds by destroying the Rift Maker, thus ending the threat to the Alpha Quadrant by closing all the rifts.
The game ends with the two sides parting ways, the Klingons asserting control over the Cardassians and order, somewhat, returning to the galaxy.
Two new resources are also added: latinum and metal. Metal is mined from planets and balances out the dilithium costs in the first game. Latinum can be traded at trading stations for metal and dilithium, and is essential to research structures. The Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians rely heavily on latinum, while the Federation has very little use for it. The Borg eschew latinum completely; they do not trade with other species, they assimilate them. To compensate for the lack of a trading station, the Borg have a structure which can convert metal into dilithium and vice versa. Species 8472 converts all three types of resources into an all-purpose "bio-matter" resource, and likewise cannot trade with other species.
The races available in campaign mode are The United Federation of Planets, The Klingon Empire, and The Borg Collective. In other methods of play, such as Multiplayer and Instant Action (Skirmish), the Cardassian Union, Romulan Star Empire, and Species 8472 are added as playable factions. There are also third-party mods
for download that will add extra races.
While most races' gameplay is essentially the same, Species 8472 are different because of their biotechnology. The crew resource is not used by them; they instead use one officer per ship and have a much smaller officer limit. Since Species 8472 have no crew on board their ships, they are unable to take over enemy ships or be taken over themselves.
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
in 2001, based upon the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
universe. The game was developed by Mad Doc Software
Mad Doc Software
Rockstar New England, formerly Mad Doc Software, is a computer game development company founded in 1999 by Dr. Ian Lane Davis. The company is based in New England in Andover, Massachusetts, just north of Boston.-Overview:...
. It is the sequel to Star Trek: Armada
Star Trek: Armada
Star Trek: Armada is a real-time strategy game published in 2000 by Activision. The game's look and feel is based primarily on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and features a few of its main characters and ships. Playable factions include the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the...
. Star Trek: Armada II was released by Activision a year after they acquired the full rights to all the franchise holding of the PC Game's franchise from Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
. It was the first of the three major Star Trek PC game sequel titles that were released by Activision from 2001 until their departure from the franchise in 2003.
Like its predecessor, Armada II is set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
universe. The game showcases events in the Alpha Quadrant between the United Federation of Planets
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Cardassian Union, Species 8472
Species 8472
Species 8472 is a fictional extraterrestrial race in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. They inhabit another dimension called fluidic space. These beings are rendered by animation from Foundation Imaging, Inc...
, and the Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
.
Plot
Set just six months after the events of Star Trek: Armada, the Borg once again threaten the Alpha Quadrant. They have created a new ship capable of assimilating entire worlds in just a few seconds. After routing the attempted foothold, Captain PicardJean-Luc Picard
Captain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
discovers a new type of nebula - a tachyon
Tachyon
A tachyon is a hypothetical subatomic particle that always moves faster than light. In the language of special relativity, a tachyon would be a particle with space-like four-momentum and imaginary proper time. A tachyon would be constrained to the space-like portion of the energy-momentum graph...
nebula. Intrigued, Picard discovers a new type of transwarp gate called a Transwarp Portal, capable of sending fleets of starships from one quadrant to another almost instantly, thus giving reason as to how the Borg managed to get so deep into the Alpha Quadrant undetected. Starfleet Command
Starfleet Command
Starfleet Command may refer to:*Starfleet Command, headquarters/command center of Starfleet in Star Trek.*Star Trek: Starfleet Command, a space battle simulation game set in the Star Trek universe....
then orders Picard to seize control of it and launch a counteroffensive into the heart of Borg space in the Delta Quadrant, into the Borg staging grounds. Though successful, some of the Federation forces, Picard included, are left stranded when the Transwarp Portal collapses due to a destabilization of the inter-spatial transwarp manifolds.
Meanwhile, the Cardassians use the sudden absence of Federation forces to begin their own offensive. The Cardassians proceed to destroy the Federation's reserve fleet. Klingon Chancellor Martok
Martok
Martok is a recurring character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played by actor J. G. Hertzler.-Overview:Little backstory is given regarding the early life of Martok, except for a brief history sketched by himself in the Deep Space Nine episode "Once More Unto the Breach"...
discovers that Gul Kentar, leader of the Cardassian "revolution", is in league with the Romulans. Kentar is developing the "Quantum Singularity" that allows the Cardassians to summon Species 8472 ships at will. Martok leads an attempt to thwart Kentar's grab for power and destroy the project. The Klingons stop the Cardassian invasion and occupy their homeworld, Cardassia Prime. In the final battle, Martok tracks down and kills Gul Kentar, taking out the Quantum Singularity Project along the way.
The Borg Queen, stranded in the Alpha Quadrant by the same twist of fate that trapped Picard on her side of the galaxy, discovers that Species 8472 has found a way into the Alpha Quadrant. She attempts to mass an armada to suppress this threat by assimilating native species planets, ships and technologies, but its growth is stunted by the constant attacks from the Federation. She then realizes that only by working with the Federation they can defeat Species 8472. The Federation and the Borg Collective create an alliance and venture into Species 8472's fluidic space to destroy their staging grounds by destroying the Rift Maker, thus ending the threat to the Alpha Quadrant by closing all the rifts.
The game ends with the two sides parting ways, the Klingons asserting control over the Cardassians and order, somewhat, returning to the galaxy.
Gameplay
Star Trek: Armada II employs many of the same features of its predecessor, though with a few improvements. The crew resource can now be gathered by creating planet-based colonies in addition to Starbases, as opposed to the bonus given for placing Starbases near planets in the first game. Depending on the type of planet, establishing a colony can produce crew at a far higher rate for a much lower cost, though colonies sacrifice defense for efficiency.Two new resources are also added: latinum and metal. Metal is mined from planets and balances out the dilithium costs in the first game. Latinum can be traded at trading stations for metal and dilithium, and is essential to research structures. The Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians rely heavily on latinum, while the Federation has very little use for it. The Borg eschew latinum completely; they do not trade with other species, they assimilate them. To compensate for the lack of a trading station, the Borg have a structure which can convert metal into dilithium and vice versa. Species 8472 converts all three types of resources into an all-purpose "bio-matter" resource, and likewise cannot trade with other species.
The races available in campaign mode are The United Federation of Planets, The Klingon Empire, and The Borg Collective. In other methods of play, such as Multiplayer and Instant Action (Skirmish), the Cardassian Union, Romulan Star Empire, and Species 8472 are added as playable factions. There are also third-party mods
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
for download that will add extra races.
While most races' gameplay is essentially the same, Species 8472 are different because of their biotechnology. The crew resource is not used by them; they instead use one officer per ship and have a much smaller officer limit. Since Species 8472 have no crew on board their ships, they are unable to take over enemy ships or be taken over themselves.