'Star Trek: Borg Assimilator'

While the first news of a new game set in the Star Trek universe came to light on March 4, Activision waited until yesterday to officially unveil plans for 'Star Trek: Borg Assimilator'. And the best part? You get to play the bad guys.

The game, set for release in the winter of this year (fourth quarter for those of you not in the Northern hemisphere), will be produced by Cyberlore Studios under the Activision licence. Cyberlore Studios, as you may be aware, have brought forth 'Majesty', the Warcraft II mission pack 'Beyond the Dark Portal' and 'Heroes of Might and Magic: The Price of Loyalty'.

According to the press release, the game itself will comprise of 12 level campaign mode – the ultimate goal being to assimilate the Alpha Quadrant – and a random scenario generator. However, in a recent interview with gaming site, the Daily Radar, Bart Simon, the design lead and creative director for the project, provided some more details on what to expect.

Originally described as a mix of 'The Settlers' and 'Sim City', Bart calls it "a simulation at heart" – but adds that it's certainly not 'Sim City'. It will combine elements of real-time strategy with a mission-based combat system, city building and "software toys", which allow the gamer to create the exact scenario they wish to play. "You get to run a bustling hive of Borg drones," he told the interviewer, Jason Samuel, "Is resistance really 'futile'? It's up to you, and how well you run your colony."

One may suggest that this sounds like a clone of recent highly successful strategy games such as 'Star Craft' or 'Age of Empires', but Bart begs to differ. "'Borg Assimilator's' emphasis on assimilation is very unique," he said, "In the game, 'individuals' typically constitute the most important resource – and individuals are a much different resource than gold in AoE or stone in Pharaoh. I mean – you can count on gold not to run away or fight back, right?" Another difference that hopes to set 'Assimilator' apart from the crowd is the way these borg drones are actually employed - "each borg drone you create actually does something, whether it be transporting resources, fighting hazards, or laboring in structures" rather than just remaining a more or less abstract component of the simulation.

Interestingly enough, they player won’t actually be controlling the Borg Queen, as one might expect in a game of this nature. Rather, the Queen will actually be a resource for you to use in your battle against those irritating but misguided sentients that resist your attempts to bring them closer to perfection and those stubborn 'Fleeters, not to mention Species 8472, who will definatly be putting in an appearance or two, as might a couple of well-know Trek faces.

More information on the game can be obtained by reading the Activision press release or by dropping by the official Star Trek site. For the interview with Bart Simon, on the other hand, you can follow this link to the Daily Radar, while a second interview, this time with Cyberlore's marketing manager, Jay Adan, can be found at Gamespy. Also, the Adrenaline Vault has posted three screenshots from the game.

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