'Elite Force II' Previewed At E3

Activision's sequel to the well-received 'Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force' was featured at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles last week.

Ritualistic.com's 'badman' visited the Activision booth to try out the demo version of the 'Elite Force II,' and came away optimistic about the final product. "The game seems to have come a long way already from the screenshots released in PC Gamer only 6 weeks ago," he wrote. "With some 8 months of development time still left, we should be in for a very nice treat early next year."

Although set primarily in the Next Generation universe, the first part of 'Elite Force II' takes place during the Voyager finale, 'Endgame.' Players take the role of Hazard Team member Alex Munro, part of the squad onboard the Borg sphere during the final climactic moments of the episode. This sequence certainly impressed 'badman.'

"The Borg Sphere itself was as detailed as it gets. Moody lighting, extensive use of shaders and lots of other little things contributed greatly to the overall atmosphere and immersion. Making their way through the Sphere, the team blasted a considerable amount of drones as well as distribution nodes, while at the same time hacking force fields with the Tricorder and opening secret passages by blowing up conveniently placed plasma relays."

Activision also showed off another mission from later in the game. "The second environment was the huge outdoor map shown in some of the earlier screenshots," 'badman' said. "The level of detail and the sheer size of this map were breathtaking. The city itself was very reminiscent of Blade Runner, with constant rain and little details like smoke rising up from exhaust vents."

There will be two new alien races featured in 'Elite Force II,' one of which was described as a "nightmarish race of monsters," according to Gamespot.co.uk. In addition to these and the above-mentioned Borg, the game will also include the Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians.

One portion of the game currently under wraps is a level that takes place in zero-gravity. Although he remained tight-lipped about the sequence, level designer Benson Russell was confident it would be well-received. "Let's just say we think fans will be happy," he said.

'Elite Force II' is currently scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2003. Read Ritualistic.com's full preview here, while a second look at the game can be found at Gamespot.co.uk.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!