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LGR - Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force
🕑 Added 2022-01-11 20:21:42 +0000 UTCSet phasers to frag, it's time for the first LGR retrospective/review thing of the year!
After playing a little bit of Elite Force in my recent Three Weird Mice episode and seeing the response from viewers about it, I was seriously in the mood to replay this one for a video. And well, the story mode might not quite hold up as anything particularly special, but the multiplayer "Holomatch" mode is still top notch. As one would expect, seeing as it's effectively a total conversion for Quake III – a fact that may or may not be as well-known as I assumed judging by all the confused and surprised comments I received it about in that mouse video. Seems this one flew under the radar of many back in the day!
Hope y'all enjoy this first draft! I've still a few minor things to tweak and modify in the final edit for Friday but it's like 98% there. I'm also unsure if I'll have a new video next week or not since my current plans involve me and my brother spending a few days outta town doing a thing. We'll see how it goes eh.
Comments
DeepestBlue
Amazing. I was hoping you'd do something like this after seeing it in another video. :)
Deckard Games
Back to reviews I approve. Never had the chance to play this one. Star Trek violence? Oh yes. Thank god it's not at William Shatner pace.
Jacob Nelson
This is honestly one of my favorite games. As a kid I spent countless hours playing the multiplayer, and the campaign for my five year old mind was just like an episode of the show. Elite Force and Zoo Tycoon really got me into computers and retro gaming, and seeing this game get the recognition I felt like it deserved as a kid is really quite heartwarming! Thank you LGR!
Corey Jones
As a teen, this game was my Doom/Quake. My brother and I spent hundreds of hours playing it. The modding really made it fun. We filled it with a ton of classic characters and let mayhem run wild.
Hernando Heilbron
Now I would like to see a review of the Jedi outcast series as a comparison, since the later games also made use of the Quake 3 engine
Jurassic_Jacob
Great video! As a kid I picked up Star Trek: TNG "A Final Unity" on clearance. No box just the disc and manual shrink wrapped together. Loved playing it but needed a walkthrough to get through it.
LGR
I've still never played Honor Guard! And yeah I keep putting off Deus Ex, it's a bit intimidating. Such a big game with a great legacy, and one of my all-time favorites, so I'd like to really do it justice.
Pablo Rodriguez
I never played this game. How do you feel about Klingon Honor Guard? I have some fond memories of that one, but it's been quite a while. Also, man, that disc also comes with a demo for Deus Ex. What a treat. Still waiting on you to talk about that one, since you've only discussed the Adam Jensen games.
LGR
I haven't watched that one yet but I've heard good things!
james fonda
well now i have to buy this. it sounds like all kinds of retro FPS fun
Bryan McIntosh
I loved Elite Force so, so much, and came across it in a similar way to you; I too was a teenager with a limited game budget who got a chance to play the demo first, and grabbed the full game after it had gone through a price cut. By that time the 1.2 patch was out with Jeri Ryan's voice actor, so it worked out very well for me! "No one joins Starfleet for the paperwork" immediately made me think "But Brad Boimler of Lower Decks LOVES paperwork!" If you're not already watching Lower Decks... you'd love the crap out of Lower Decks.
Mat Cooper
so many hours spent on this awesome game, just being about to walk around Voyager for me was enough to entertain me for hours <3
Kijikun
The tour part reminds me of the B5 'game'
Kijikun
All Neelix must die.
Alyxx the Rat
Half-Trek or Star Trek Arena? Why not both?! Dude I really want this game now, even with the underwhelming story.
LGR
It's still worth checking out if you're familiar with the setting and characters at all! The PS2 copy really, really sucks though so I'd avoid that like the plague. Thank goodness the GOG version is awesome.
LGR
Yes! I'm glad I can finally start showing some of the actual materials now that I have them :)
LGR
Go for it, it's filled with great sci-fi and gets kinda nuts!
Will Herrmann
The GOG.com page has a pinned comment from the writer of the game, Michael Chang Gummelt. He says that when they got the license, he pushed back on the game being a shooter-em-up game and instead said it should be a story-centric game. Apparently his passion for the project as a Star Trek fan won him support from the higher ups and he was able to turn it into what it is today. Might be interesting to add to the review as background info for how it became more story-driven à la Half-Life, rather than action-driven.
LGR
Yeah the Virtual Voyager mode is great! You even get little mini objectives along the way, it's a nice laid back experience. Requirements were modest: Pentium II, 64MB RAM, 8MB 3D accelerator
The 8-Bit Guy
I'm glad you made this. I've always been curious about the game. I never really knew about it when it first came out. But I've always been a big Star Trek fan. So now I can see what the game is like. I think what I'd like best is that part where you get to wander the ship with a tricorder. By the way, what are the system requirements for the original game?
LGR
Yeeeeah it's not great. The actors from the show really help elevate it and lend it a little credibility, but it does feel fan fiction-y Still a nice bonus to have a story at all though I guess, being that Quake III didn't even have one!
LGR
It's still criminal that NOLF has never been rereleased and remains in IP limbo
LGR
Heh, that it was. I've only ever played that demo but it sure left an impression
LGR
Good question, I've no idea who owns the game license anymore! Elite Force II was the last one from Activision and the license has been used a number of times by other companies since then
Evan B
Elite Force II was amazeballs .. I played the story mode multiple times.. heck - this makes me want to go back over it again .. I did play the original Elite Force demo back in the day, and was intrigued, but it wasnt until i played Elite Force II that I got an appreciation for what they did.. never bothered with the multiplayer.. meh, if I wanted multiplayer actual Quake II/III/Counterstrike was where it was at back in the day
DFawlt Uzr
Gosh I need to get around to watching Star Trek someday, this looks fun
Will Herrmann
I always thought it was hilarious when you finish the level of flying amoeba aliens and find out that they were good guys. Monroe apologizes to them for killing so many of them and they respond saying something like “Oh, that’s alright, whenever we get critically injured, our ship just beams them away into stasis pods!” Wow, isn’t that a lucky break to prevent our trigger-happy crew from being labeled mass murderers!
Dukefazon
Yay! I only played the demo on a similar demo disk. I was familiar with Quake 3 by the time but I was still intrigued by it. We had Voyager and Deep Space 9 parallel on a channel at the time when I got the demo, never watched them avidly but when they were on I kinda liked them both. So it was a neat feeling to be familiar with the cast and having a game next to it. Never played the full game thought even though I got it a PS2 copy of it. I really want to now!
Dan Milner
Yaay I love the magazine and demo disc tie in!
Kris Asick
The last time I played through Elite Force I paid a bit more attention to the story than I had in the past and noticed that the writing was... a bit more on-par with fan fiction than an actual episode of the show. It's not terrible but the loopholes are big enough to drive a starship through. Also, the laser puzzle 2/3 through the game is the most annoying thing ever. But yeah, it's still fun despite all of that! :B
Jared
Kiss Psycho Circus was something
nada
Elite Force was one of the first 'go to' games I had back then because being a poor teenager coincides with a small game library. NOLF was as well, but I preferred its sequel. I still miss cover demo disks.
Frederic St-Georges
This is by far the best Star Trek game I've ever played. It didn't try to reinvent the wheel, it offered us a way to travel to that universe and see it in first person. I wonder who currently owns the license for ST video games (is it still Activision?)
Scott Kuker
I haven't gotten a chance to watch yet but I love this game. EF had a great community back in the early 2000's multiplayer servers were packed every night. I made some great friends playing this game and learned to code writing mods for it. The team at Raven did amazing work and really supported the community. There are still maps and mods being released today. Can't wait to watch the video hopefully it helps bring some people back to the servers!
LGR
Isn't that a quote from Gandalf?
LGR
According to the in-game captain's log of 53854.7, Elite Force takes place within the season six timeline of Voyager between the episodes “Live Fast and Proper” and “Muse.” The point stands though, it's a treat for series fans while still being its own standalone story with many new characters. I still have yet to play much of Elite Force II beyond that first level shown in the video!
Perifractic's Retro Recipes
May the Elite Force be with you
Jim Leonard
Elite Force is worth playing If you're a Star Trek Voyager fan, as Elite Force takes place between seasons 5 and 6. And then you need to play the first mission of Elite Force II, as that fills in a deliberately omitted segment from the series finale part 2 episode.
