Star Trek: Elite Force II
Encyclopedia
Star Trek: Elite Force II is a first-person shooter
computer game developed
by Ritual Entertainment
and published
by Activision
. It was released on June 20, 2003 for Microsoft Windows
. Elite Force II is a sequel to 2000's Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
. Whereas the original game was powered by the first version of id Software
's Quake III Arena engine, Elite Force II is based on a heavily modified version of the Quake III: Team Arena engine with Ritual's ÜberTools GDK, allowing for expansive outdoor environments and higher quality facial animations
.
stationed in the Alpha Quadrant. The game's storyline is a semi-sequel to the movie Star Trek Nemesis, and the end of Star Trek: Voyager
series. Many of the members from the original Hazard Team reappear. However only a few of the primary cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation
did voice acting
for the game, among them Patrick Stewart
as Jean-Luc Picard
and Dwight Schultz
as Reginald Barclay
. Tim Russ
returned to do voice work as Tuvok
. Several actors from Star Trek series provided additional voice acting: Jeffrey Combs
(Weyoun
from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
and Commander Shran from Star Trek: Enterprise
) as one of the main villains; Tony Todd
(Kurn from Star Trek: The Next Generation
) as Krindo; J. G. Hertzler
(Martok
from Deep Space Nine, plus roles in Voyager and Enterprise) as Lurok; and Vaughn Armstrong
(Admiral Forrest in Enterprise) who contributed several character voices.
In the game, the player reprises the role of Alexander Munro, a Starfleet
lieutenant (there is no option to play as a female). During the first few levels Lieutenant Munro returns to the Alpha Quadrant with the rest of the Voyager's crew and is assigned to a teaching position at Starfleet Academy
. Eventually he is transferred to the position of a newly formed Hazard Team's leader on Enterprise-E under the command of Captain Picard. There are also limited opportunities for exploring the ship between missions, reminiscent of the "Virtual Voyager" feature found in the first game's
expansion pack.
traveling through a Borg transwarp conduit
(as seen in the Voyager series finale, "Endgame") when a Borg sphere captures the ship. The Hazard Team, led by Lieutenant Munro, is dispatched to destroy the sphere's dampening field
. Voyager then breaks free from the Borg Sphere and returns to the Alpha Quadrant.
Considered to be redundant, the Hazard team is split up; Munro is assigned to teach small unit tactics
at Starfleet Academy
. Two years later, Captain Picard witnesses his performance and requests that Munro re-establish the Hazard Team for service on board the USS Enterprise
. Shortly after the reinstatement, the Enterprise receives a distress call from the USS Dallas, where Telsia Murphy, a former member of the Hazard Team, has been assigned as a security officer.
Once aboard, the Hazard Team encounters a race of aliens (later dubbed Exomorphs) who have commandeered the ship. After saving the remaining crew, Munro is reunited with Telsia, who joins the team. A nearby Attrexian station which the Dallas had sought to aid is still besieged by the Exomorphs. When the defense systems are reactivated the remaining invaders abandon the station, leaving ion trails which the Enterprise follows to the planet Idryll.
There the Hazard Team locates archaeological
post manufacturing the Exomorphs under control of Krindo, his father, and Kleeya (an optional love interest of the main character). The Idryll explain that the creatures turned hostile
because of a malfunction. Kleeya later decides to stay on board the Enterprise, which upsets Krindo. His forces invade
Enterprise in proximity of another Exomorph-infested colony, Taravar 7.
The Enterprise fends off the attackers and the Hazard team is beamed to Taravar 7, where it aids the inhabitants. In a nearby factory, Krindo's crashed ship is discovered. Munro is captured, but is set free when Krindo witnesses his father's death
at the hands of the Exomorphs he created, which no longer obey him. Munro then persuades him to help stop the Exomorphs and the two escape together.
On the Enterprise, Krindo confesses he made money by selling Idryll artifacts
to a Ferengi
named Omag. He surmises that Omag decoded the location of Master Control Facility, a place with the ability to override all other centers controlling Exomorphs. With Krindo's help, Omag is tracked to a nearby mercenary
base and captured.
During his interrogation, Omag reveals that the coordinates
to the facility were sold to a secret Romulan
group called the Empty Crown. Munro infiltrates the base in a Romulan disguise and with the help of a spy retrieves the location of the Master Control Facility. However, when the informant declares her true allegiance to the Empty Crown, a fight ensues. Gonzalez, one of the Hazard Team members, subsequently sacrifices himself so that Munro can be transported to safety.
The final battle takes place in the Romulan Neutral Zone. Munro enters the facility where the remnants of Empty Crown forces reside under the leadership of Commander Suldok. While the Enterprise is threatened by the Romulan Warbirds for violating the Neutral zone, the final confrontation
commences on the surface. In culminates with Munro defeating Suldok and confronting the overmind of Exomorphs, a creature called Archeopendra.
After the battle, Munro returns to the Enterprise, where Picard hands over the evidence
regarding the Empty Crown and peacefully leaves the Neutral zone. He is also extremely pleased with the Hazard Team's performance and recommends the incorporation of similar units within Starfleet. In the last scene Alexander Munro is seen kiss
ing either Telsia Murphy or Kleeya, depending on whose invitation he chose during the exploration of the ship.
makes his way through linear and strictly defined levels, encountering various kinds of hostile creatures along the way. He is often accompanied by members of the Hazard Team who cooperate with him. These characters often help Munro enter areas or disable devices crucial for plot to evolve.
There are total of 15 weapons (including the tricorder
) at player's disposal. All of them facilitate two modes of operation. The primary fire commonly releases a steady stream of shots (or energy bursts) inflicting low damage at a low ammo cost, while the secondary fire expends a larger amount of ammo to fire a much slower and more powerful blast. All energy-based weapons
can be recharged using terminals while projectile-based weapons
need to be supplied with appropriate ammo. Health is replenished by activating nanites
in player's suit using health stations.
Although Elite Force II is a first-person shooter
, solving puzzle
s is also required. During the waveform
modulation the player is presented with random sine wave
attributes of which must be exactly reproduced by using the tricorder
. There are three options - amplitude
, frequency
and offset
modulation - that accordingly alter the initial curve. On higher difficulty levels a factor of time
is to be taken into account; if the protagonist doesn't complete the puzzle within the time limit, the waveform is generated again with different proportions. To help player a composite visualization is present.
Power routing
is needed when certain devices too difficult for the tricorder to modulate must be turned on. The objective is to connect two nodes on the opposite sides of the grid by manipulating the pipes
. There are two types of pipes to be found within the array:
On higher difficulty levels, the number of nodes to be connected rises and a time limit is introduced. If player fails to solve the puzzle within the time frame, the pipes are reset to their original positions.
In scripted situations, the main character may also choose a response from a predefined set which has an effect on the outcome of the discussion
and possible repercussions. For instance if Munro offers a prisoner chance to escape, he ends up in prison
himself. A preference regarding a love interest is also determined from the choice of dialogue options - the player can accept invitations from one of two female non-player character
s.
Throughout the course of game, the player is given a possibility to collect golden starships (miniature models of USS Excelsior NCC-2000) to unlock additional content in a form of six additional playable levels. There are a total of 81 starships, 70 of which are required to unlock the six secret maps accessible via the main menu.
. Like Elite Force, Elite Force II was developed on the id Tech 3 game engine, one of the last games to do so. Most of the core Hazard Team characters return in Elite Force II, this time set on the USS Enterprise-E
following the events of the tenth film, Star Trek Nemesis.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
computer game developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Ritual Entertainment
Ritual Entertainment
Ritual Entertainment was a computer game software developer established in 1996 by Robert Atkins, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Richard 'Levelord' Gray, Michael Hadwin, Harry Miller and Tom Mustaine...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Activision
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...
. It was released on June 20, 2003 for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Elite Force II is a sequel to 2000's Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. The game was initially released on September 20, 2000 for Windows and Mac OS personal computers. Aspyr Media was responsible for porting the game to the Mac OS platform...
. Whereas the original game was powered by the first version of id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
's Quake III Arena engine, Elite Force II is based on a heavily modified version of the Quake III: Team Arena engine with Ritual's ÜberTools GDK, allowing for expansive outdoor environments and higher quality facial animations
Computer facial animation
Computer facial animation is primarily an area of computer graphics that encapsulates models and techniques for generating and animating images of the human head and face. Due to its subject and output type, it is also related to many other scientific and artistic fields from psychology to...
.
Background
Unlike the first game, Elite Force II is largely set onboard the USS Enterprise-EUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
The USS Enterprise is a Sovereign-class starship in the Star Trek franchise. It serves as the primary setting of the films Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
stationed in the Alpha Quadrant. The game's storyline is a semi-sequel to the movie Star Trek Nemesis, and the end of Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
series. Many of the members from the original Hazard Team reappear. However only a few of the primary cast of 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...
did voice acting
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
for the game, among them Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
as Jean-Luc Picard
Jean-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...
and Dwight Schultz
Dwight Schultz
William Dwight Schultz is an American stage, television, film actor, and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action show The A-Team, and as Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the film Star Trek: First...
as Reginald Barclay
Reginald Barclay
Lieutenant Reginald Endicott "Broccoli" Barclay III, played by Dwight Schultz, is a recurring character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation...
. Tim Russ
Tim Russ
Timothy Darrell "Tim" Russ is an American actor, film director, screenwriter and musician. He is known for his roles on Star Trek: Voyager, as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Samantha Who?, as Frank, and on the Nickelodeon live-action teen sitcom iCarly, as Principal Franklin, a recurring...
returned to do voice work as Tuvok
Tuvok
Tuvok is one of the main characters on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Tuvok is a Vulcan who serves as the ship's chief of security and its chief tactical officer. Tim Russ portrayed Tuvok throughout the show's run, from 1995 to 2001....
. Several actors from Star Trek series provided additional voice acting: Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
(Weyoun
Weyoun
Weyoun is a fictional character from the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which he is portrayed by Jeffrey Combs. In the series, Weyoun is a diplomat and advisor of the Vorta species who is a member of the ruthless and militaristic Gamma quadrant state the Dominion.Combs, who also...
from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
and Commander Shran from Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
) as one of the main villains; Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
(Kurn from 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...
) as Krindo; J. G. Hertzler
J. G. Hertzler
John Garman "J. G." Hertzler is an American actor, well known in the Star Trek community for his role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Klingon General Martok.-Film and television:...
(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"...
from Deep Space Nine, plus roles in Voyager and Enterprise) as Lurok; and Vaughn Armstrong
Vaughn Armstrong
Vaughn Dale Armstrong is an American actor.-Prior to acting:Armstrong served in the United States military and saw action in the Vietnam War.-Star Trek:...
(Admiral Forrest in Enterprise) who contributed several character voices.
In the game, the player reprises the role of Alexander Munro, a Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
lieutenant (there is no option to play as a female). During the first few levels Lieutenant Munro returns to the Alpha Quadrant with the rest of the Voyager's crew and is assigned to a teaching position at Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
. Eventually he is transferred to the position of a newly formed Hazard Team's leader on Enterprise-E under the command of Captain Picard. There are also limited opportunities for exploring the ship between missions, reminiscent of the "Virtual Voyager" feature found in the first game's
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force
Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force is a first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. The game was initially released on September 20, 2000 for Windows and Mac OS personal computers. Aspyr Media was responsible for porting the game to the Mac OS platform...
expansion pack.
Plot
The game begins with VoyagerUSS Voyager (Star Trek)
The fictional Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager is the primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway....
traveling through a Borg transwarp conduit
Warp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
(as seen in the Voyager series finale, "Endgame") when a Borg sphere captures the ship. The Hazard Team, led by Lieutenant Munro, is dispatched to destroy the sphere's dampening field
Field (physics)
In physics, a field is a physical quantity associated with each point of spacetime. A field can be classified as a scalar field, a vector field, a spinor field, or a tensor field according to whether the value of the field at each point is a scalar, a vector, a spinor or, more generally, a tensor,...
. Voyager then breaks free from the Borg Sphere and returns to the Alpha Quadrant.
Small unit tactics
Small unit tactics is the application of military doctrine for the combat deployment of platoons and smaller units in a particular strategic and logistic environment.-Squad Structure:...
at Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet Academy is where the future's recruits to Starfleet will be trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded...
. Two years later, Captain Picard witnesses his performance and requests that Munro re-establish the Hazard Team for service on board the USS Enterprise
Starship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
. Shortly after the reinstatement, the Enterprise receives a distress call from the USS Dallas, where Telsia Murphy, a former member of the Hazard Team, has been assigned as a security officer.
Once aboard, the Hazard Team encounters a race of aliens (later dubbed Exomorphs) who have commandeered the ship. After saving the remaining crew, Munro is reunited with Telsia, who joins the team. A nearby Attrexian station which the Dallas had sought to aid is still besieged by the Exomorphs. When the defense systems are reactivated the remaining invaders abandon the station, leaving ion trails which the Enterprise follows to the planet Idryll.
There the Hazard Team locates archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
post manufacturing the Exomorphs under control of Krindo, his father, and Kleeya (an optional love interest of the main character). The Idryll explain that the creatures turned hostile
Hostility
Hostility is a form of angry internal rejection or denial in psychology. It is a part of personal construct psychology, developed by George Kelly...
because of a malfunction. Kleeya later decides to stay on board the Enterprise, which upsets Krindo. His forces invade
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
Enterprise in proximity of another Exomorph-infested colony, Taravar 7.
The Enterprise fends off the attackers and the Hazard team is beamed to Taravar 7, where it aids the inhabitants. In a nearby factory, Krindo's crashed ship is discovered. Munro is captured, but is set free when Krindo witnesses his father's death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
at the hands of the Exomorphs he created, which no longer obey him. Munro then persuades him to help stop the Exomorphs and the two escape together.
On the Enterprise, Krindo confesses he made money by selling Idryll artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
to a Ferengi
Ferengi
The Ferengi are a fictitious extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu,...
named Omag. He surmises that Omag decoded the location of Master Control Facility, a place with the ability to override all other centers controlling Exomorphs. With Krindo's help, Omag is tracked to a nearby mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
base and captured.
During his interrogation, Omag reveals that the coordinates
Geographic coordinate system
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on the Earth to be specified by a set of numbers. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represent vertical position, and two or three of the numbers represent horizontal position...
to the facility were sold to a secret Romulan
Romulan
The Romulans are a fictional alien race in the Star Trek universe. First appearing in the original Star Trek series in the 1966 episode "Balance of Terror", they have since made appearances in all the main later Star Trek series: The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager...
group called the Empty Crown. Munro infiltrates the base in a Romulan disguise and with the help of a spy retrieves the location of the Master Control Facility. However, when the informant declares her true allegiance to the Empty Crown, a fight ensues. Gonzalez, one of the Hazard Team members, subsequently sacrifices himself so that Munro can be transported to safety.
The final battle takes place in the Romulan Neutral Zone. Munro enters the facility where the remnants of Empty Crown forces reside under the leadership of Commander Suldok. While the Enterprise is threatened by the Romulan Warbirds for violating the Neutral zone, the final confrontation
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
commences on the surface. In culminates with Munro defeating Suldok and confronting the overmind of Exomorphs, a creature called Archeopendra.
After the battle, Munro returns to the Enterprise, where Picard hands over the evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
regarding the Empty Crown and peacefully leaves the Neutral zone. He is also extremely pleased with the Hazard Team's performance and recommends the incorporation of similar units within Starfleet. In the last scene Alexander Munro is seen kiss
Kiss
A kiss is the act of pressing one's lips against the lips or other body parts of another person or of an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, and good...
ing either Telsia Murphy or Kleeya, depending on whose invitation he chose during the exploration of the ship.
Gameplay
In Elite Force II, the main protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
makes his way through linear and strictly defined levels, encountering various kinds of hostile creatures along the way. He is often accompanied by members of the Hazard Team who cooperate with him. These characters often help Munro enter areas or disable devices crucial for plot to evolve.
Tricorder
In the fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a multifunction handheld device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data.Three primary variants of the tricorder are issued in Star Trek's Starfleet...
) at player's disposal. All of them facilitate two modes of operation. The primary fire commonly releases a steady stream of shots (or energy bursts) inflicting low damage at a low ammo cost, while the secondary fire expends a larger amount of ammo to fire a much slower and more powerful blast. All energy-based weapons
Directed-energy weapon
A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
can be recharged using terminals while projectile-based weapons
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
need to be supplied with appropriate ammo. Health is replenished by activating nanites
Nanorobotics
Nanorobotics is the emerging technology field of creating machines or robots whose components are at or close to the scale of a nanometer . More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots, with devices ranging in size from...
in player's suit using health stations.
Although Elite Force II is a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
, solving puzzle
Puzzle
A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...
s is also required. During the waveform
Waveform
Waveform means the shape and form of a signal such as a wave moving in a physical medium or an abstract representation.In many cases the medium in which the wave is being propagated does not permit a direct visual image of the form. In these cases, the term 'waveform' refers to the shape of a graph...
modulation the player is presented with random sine wave
Sine wave
The sine wave or sinusoid is a mathematical function that describes a smooth repetitive oscillation. It occurs often in pure mathematics, as well as physics, signal processing, electrical engineering and many other fields...
attributes of which must be exactly reproduced by using the tricorder
Tricorder
In the fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a multifunction handheld device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data.Three primary variants of the tricorder are issued in Star Trek's Starfleet...
. There are three options - amplitude
Amplitude-shift keying
Amplitude-shift keying is a form of modulation that represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave.Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data. ASK uses a finite number of amplitudes, each assigned a unique pattern of...
, frequency
Frequency-shift keying
Frequency-shift keying is a frequency modulation scheme in which digital information is transmitted through discrete frequency changes of a carrier wave. The simplest FSK is binary FSK . BFSK uses a pair of discrete frequencies to transmit binary information. With this scheme, the "1" is called...
and offset
Displacement (vector)
A displacement is the shortest distance from the initial to the final position of a point P. Thus, it is the length of an imaginary straight path, typically distinct from the path actually travelled by P...
modulation - that accordingly alter the initial curve. On higher difficulty levels a factor of time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
is to be taken into account; if the protagonist doesn't complete the puzzle within the time limit, the waveform is generated again with different proportions. To help player a composite visualization is present.
Routing
Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic. Routing is performed for many kinds of networks, including the telephone network , electronic data networks , and transportation networks...
is needed when certain devices too difficult for the tricorder to modulate must be turned on. The objective is to connect two nodes on the opposite sides of the grid by manipulating the pipes
Pipe (material)
A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
. There are two types of pipes to be found within the array:
- Red-crossed parts that cannot be manipulated. When the pipe is appended to a node, it causes a short circuitShort circuitA short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....
of the matrix and the player must restart from the beginning. - White units can be rotated around the axisRotation around a fixed axisRotation around a fixed axis is a special case of rotational motion. The fixed axis hypothesis exclude the possibility of a moving axis, and cannot describe such phenomena as wobbling or precession. According to Euler's rotation theorem, simultaneous rotation around more than one axis at the same...
within their cells. When the white pipe is powered up, it changes its colorColorColor or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
to that of the node connected to. Similar gray pipes can connect to nodes but cannot be rotated.
On higher difficulty levels, the number of nodes to be connected rises and a time limit is introduced. If player fails to solve the puzzle within the time frame, the pipes are reset to their original positions.
In scripted situations, the main character may also choose a response from a predefined set which has an effect on the outcome of the discussion
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
and possible repercussions. For instance if Munro offers a prisoner chance to escape, he ends up in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
himself. A preference regarding a love interest is also determined from the choice of dialogue options - the player can accept invitations from one of two female non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s.
Throughout the course of game, the player is given a possibility to collect golden starships (miniature models of USS Excelsior NCC-2000) to unlock additional content in a form of six additional playable levels. There are a total of 81 starships, 70 of which are required to unlock the six secret maps accessible via the main menu.
Development
Towards the end of March 2002, rumors were reported that a sequel to Elite Force was in development. Activision confirmed these rumors at the beginning of April, officially announcing Star Trek: Elite Force II on April 4, 2002. The game was the last Star Trek title to be developed under Activision's supervision, following a dispute with Star Trek licensing holder Viacom, and was produced by Ritual EntertainmentRitual Entertainment
Ritual Entertainment was a computer game software developer established in 1996 by Robert Atkins, Mark Dochtermann, Jim Dosé, Richard 'Levelord' Gray, Michael Hadwin, Harry Miller and Tom Mustaine...
. Like Elite Force, Elite Force II was developed on the id Tech 3 game engine, one of the last games to do so. Most of the core Hazard Team characters return in Elite Force II, this time set on the USS Enterprise-E
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
The USS Enterprise is a Sovereign-class starship in the Star Trek franchise. It serves as the primary setting of the films Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
following the events of the tenth film, Star Trek Nemesis.
Reception
The game was generally well received by fans and critics, and was given 8.4 out of 10 at IGN. Although with ratings of 80 percent and 78 percent on the review aggregator sites GameRankings and Metacritic, it was not as successful as its predecessor.External links
- Official homepage
- Elite Force II at Memory AlphaMemory AlphaMemory Alpha is a wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe. Conceived by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson in September 2003 and officially launched on December 5 of that year, it uses the wiki model and is hosted by Wikia, Inc. on the MediaWiki...
, a Star TrekStar TrekStar 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...
wikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...