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
Amazing. I was hoping you'd do something like this after seeing it in another video. :)
DeepestBlue
2022-01-21 05:43:53 +0000 UTCBack 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.
Deckard Games
2022-01-14 14:22:53 +0000 UTCThis 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!
Jacob Nelson
2022-01-13 08:48:03 +0000 UTCAs 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.
Corey Jones
2022-01-13 05:25:35 +0000 UTCNow 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
Hernando Heilbron
2022-01-13 05:09:29 +0000 UTCGreat 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.
Jurassic_Jacob
2022-01-12 21:16:48 +0000 UTCI'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.
LGR
2022-01-12 20:26:49 +0000 UTCI 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.
Pablo Rodriguez
2022-01-12 17:38:28 +0000 UTCI haven't watched that one yet but I've heard good things!
LGR
2022-01-12 17:19:56 +0000 UTCwell now i have to buy this. it sounds like all kinds of retro FPS fun
james fonda
2022-01-12 16:37:07 +0000 UTCI 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.
Bryan McIntosh
2022-01-12 15:24:10 +0000 UTCso many hours spent on this awesome game, just being about to walk around Voyager for me was enough to entertain me for hours <3
Mat Cooper
2022-01-12 10:45:41 +0000 UTCThe tour part reminds me of the B5 'game'
Kijikun
2022-01-12 08:00:49 +0000 UTCAll Neelix must die.
Kijikun
2022-01-12 08:00:10 +0000 UTCHalf-Trek or Star Trek Arena? Why not both?! Dude I really want this game now, even with the underwhelming story.
Alyxx the Rat
2022-01-12 05:26:32 +0000 UTCIt'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
2022-01-12 03:23:34 +0000 UTCYes! I'm glad I can finally start showing some of the actual materials now that I have them :)
LGR
2022-01-12 03:22:29 +0000 UTCGo for it, it's filled with great sci-fi and gets kinda nuts!
LGR
2022-01-12 03:21:57 +0000 UTCThe 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.
Will Herrmann
2022-01-12 03:13:48 +0000 UTCYeah 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
LGR
2022-01-12 03:05:57 +0000 UTCI'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?
The 8-Bit Guy
2022-01-12 03:01:31 +0000 UTCYeeeeah 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
2022-01-12 03:00:12 +0000 UTCIt's still criminal that NOLF has never been rereleased and remains in IP limbo
LGR
2022-01-12 02:56:40 +0000 UTCHeh, that it was. I've only ever played that demo but it sure left an impression
LGR
2022-01-12 02:55:53 +0000 UTCGood 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
LGR
2022-01-12 02:55:21 +0000 UTCElite 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
Evan B
2022-01-12 00:43:24 +0000 UTCGosh I need to get around to watching Star Trek someday, this looks fun
DFawlt Uzr
2022-01-12 00:13:38 +0000 UTCI 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!
Will Herrmann
2022-01-12 00:04:55 +0000 UTCYay! 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!
Dukefazon
2022-01-11 22:46:58 +0000 UTCYaay I love the magazine and demo disc tie in!
Dan Milner
2022-01-11 22:32:23 +0000 UTCThe 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
Kris Asick
2022-01-11 22:13:11 +0000 UTCKiss Psycho Circus was something
Jared
2022-01-11 21:46:47 +0000 UTCElite 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.
nada
2022-01-11 21:28:31 +0000 UTCThis 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?)
Frederic St-Georges
2022-01-11 21:14:21 +0000 UTCI 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!
Scott Kuker
2022-01-11 21:07:19 +0000 UTCIsn't that a quote from Gandalf?
LGR
2022-01-11 20:49:33 +0000 UTCAccording 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!
LGR
2022-01-11 20:48:33 +0000 UTCMay the Elite Force be with you
Perifractic's Retro Recipes
2022-01-11 20:47:02 +0000 UTCElite 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.
Jim Leonard
2022-01-11 20:37:48 +0000 UTC
