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Platform Filters:   All Platforms  Xbox   GameCube   PlayStation 2   PC   Game Boy Advance   Site Sections:   Updates  News   Games   Publishers   Developers   Reviews   Previews   Release Dates   Editorials   Glossary   Contact Us		Review:       18th May 2004: Star Trek: Shattered Universe  Will this new space-combat title from TDK shatter the disappointment of all the Trek games that have gone before? Posted by John Grothier - Xbox,PlayStation 2 - UK and Europe Star Trek, the original series was one of my favourite television programmes growing up. After 79 episodes and a few great films (evens are good, odds are bad), Captain Kirk and his crew handed over the Enterprise to the Next Generation. It surprises me that very few Star Trek games have been made over the last few years, even though Trek is still being made, and worse still - none have really lived up to the series. Now Star Trek: Shattered Universe has made its way onto the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but can it shatter the disappointment of the Trek games that have gone before? Star Trek: Shattered Universe is based on the alternate universe first seen in the original series episode 'Mirror, Mirror'. In this universe good becomes bad and visa versa, so basically the Federation have become the baddies in the game. The story in Shattered Universe takes place just after the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, where the USS Excelsior, under the command of Captain Sulu has become stranded in the mirror universe, and their mission is to boldly find a way back - fast. Players take command of small fighters in the game, which is an immediate disappointment. Think you can take the helm of the USS Excelsior - think again. Most of the time you have to protect her from enemies that are so relentless, it becomes boring after a very short time. Because of the mirror effect all the shuttle pods in the Excelsior's shuttle bay have turned into never before seen fighters, which to be honest are very similar to each other - in the respect of poor handling and weak firepower. Sometimes you will be up against a huge Starship, with just some feeble phasers and photon torpedoes to help take out their shields. All this would not be too bad except the control of the fighters is extremely poor, and there is no sense of speed or distance travelled. It really does feel like you are flying a brick at times. Before each mission you are given a rather long briefing from Captain Sulu, who appears to have forgotten how to act, or he choose not to take this voice acting job too seriously. Most missions will see you take out a large number of enemies while protecting the Excelsior, and as such the missions are repetitive and tedious. At times it's unclear what you should be shooting at, as the missions always seem to change halfway through, and the targeting system used in the game is very poor. Shattered Universe features 19 missions, but unless you are an anorak who collects Star Trek dolls, you will loose interest in the game very quickly. The worst thing about Star Trek: Shattered Universe is that it could have been good game, if just more time was spent on the mission structure, gameplay and controls. I've always thought that the PlayStation 2 and Xbox could really use a good online space combat game, and a Star Trek one would work well, especially if players could use larger ships - but maybe that day will come, sadly though no online play, poor or otherwise, is supported with Shattered Universe. The graphics is Shattered Universe are at best adequate, all the ships in the game are recognisable, but the textures are very poor, especially on the Xbox version of the game. Space looks like, well space - with basic renditions of nebulae and asteroids, but nothing about the graphics really stand out, even the weapon effects are lacklustre. The Xbox PAL conversion also has a problem with displaying the FMV sequences at the beginning of each mission, with the picture disappearing off to the left hand side of the screen. The music in Shattered Universe is on par with most other space combat titles, and fans will recognise signatures in the score. Sound effects are fairly well done, with all the right noises for phasers and photon torpedoes. As I mentioned before, the voice acting is quite poor and classic Trek actors George Takei and Walter Koenig seem uninterested in providing decent voice talent for the game. Overall Star Trek: Shattered Universe is a poor game that showed a lot of promise when the game was first announced. It does nothing for the genre, and absolutely nothing for Star Trek, especially if you are a huge fan of the series and movies. John Grothier             Latest Images:		Review Scores:    Graphics:   Sound:   Gameplay:   Length:   Overall: Click here for our Review Score Guidelines.  Review Summary:  Take control of 6 playable never-seen-before fighters in 19 repetitive space combat missions. Poor graphics, controls and gameplay make this yet another poor outing for the long-suffering Star Trek series of video games. Although the concept of the 'Mirror Universe' is an interesting one, we hope that the never-before seen fighters are never seen again.  Related Games:  Star Trek: Shattered Universe for Xbox  9  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information. Star Trek: Shattered Universe for PlayStation 2  8  Screenshots  1  Review Click here for All Game Information.
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