Star Trek: The Rebel Universe (2025)

StarTrek: The Rebel Universe

There are so many good things about this game that it's impossible notto wish the developers had carried their ideas a bit further. Theattempt to capture the feel of the original Star Trek series and the morerecent Star Trek movies isadmirable, and the game's player interface is truly noteworthy.
Despite these excellences, though, Star Trek: The Rebel Universesuffers in the end from an unexpected tediousness of play, and arealization that one of the popular series' most attractive attributeshas not been included.
Too bad, because in many ways Star Trek: The Rebel Universe ismore than superb.
The game casts the crew of the Enterprise into asealed-off section of space called the Quarantine Zone. Within thatzone, a host of Federation starships have turned traitor, owing ofcourse to a Klingon plot, and Kirk and the folks must find a way tostop the rebellion from spreading. This demands visiting star systemafter star system, trying to keep the Enterprise alive while searchingfor the solution to the problem.
The game screen includes one large primary display,with seven surrounding secondary displays. In fact, there are more thaneight screens, since many of the individual displays have subdisplays,but only eight are shown at one time. Accessing any display meanssimply pointing at it and clicking with the mouse.
Seven of the screens show familiar Star Trek characters (the graphicshere are very good), and each character has a specific function orfunctions. The Kirk screen, for instance, shows the time (the Captain'sLog), and allows access to the Transporter Room and to the Stores (thestuff you've brought on board from your adventures). Click on Spock, asever the Science Officer, and you find out the Enterprise's condition,as well as details about star systems and their allegiances (friend orfoe). When you reach a solar system, it's Spock who tells you whattypes of planets are there. Uhura's screen shows incoming messages,Scotty's displays the energy and dilithium crystal levels, Chekov'sallows weapons selection, McCoy's shows the health of each officer, andSulu's gives access to navigation.

Sulu's screen, in fact, is the most commonly used.His secondary displays include a map of the Quarantine Zone and, asthey become applicable, maps of the solar systems the Enterpriseenters. To select a system to travel to, you click on the appropriatesystem shown on Sulu's large, rotating starmap. Fire up the Warpdrives, and, in a few seconds, depending on the distance, you're there.
Once inside a solar system, clicking on individualplanets reveals their type. There are a wealth of planet types in thegame, ranging from Archive Complexes (which give clues to solving thegame), to Contamination Zones, Dilithium Mining Complexes, EnergyRefineries, Leeching Piles, Life-Supporting planets, Mesonic Rings,Orbital Discontinua, Siren Devices, Psionic Cores, and even PlanetarySuperminds. The manual explains each thoroughly, and each has a uniqueeffect on the progress of Kirk's mission. The primary goal is to findLifeSupporting planets, because on these you find weapons, items, andartifacts.
Naturally, the Enterprise will frequently be underattack. When the Klingons strike, clicking on Chekov's screen lets youselect your response: either phasers or photon torpedoes. A secondarydisplay allows you to lock onto a target and fire the weapons. Phasersdeplete quickly, and since you have only 50 torpedoes, choosing weaponsand waiting for good targets is essential. You can replenish weapons ata Federation-owned Weapons Dump planet.
Sound effects play an important part in the game.Accompanying the opening screen is Kirk's voice, digitized from theseries, invoking, "Space, the Final Frontier," while throughout thegame you hear Chekov's digitized voice shouting, "Got him!" and Sulu'sproclaiming, "Now in standard orbit, sir." If you fail, Spock's faceappears; he raises an eyebrow and exclaims, "I never will understandhumans." And in various places Scotty will utter one of severalwarnings.
Other sounds used to good effect include thetransporter, the message display, and the red alert, all audiblyfaithful to the original series.
The game is extremely easy to play. Clicking on theproper screen is the major requirement, while keeping track of whereyou've been is important as well. Beyond that, though, all that'sneeded is to keep the mission goal in mind, visit many, many starsystems, and stay alive.
And here is one of two major problems. There aremany systems to visit, and many enemies to fight, but, after awhile,exploring and fighting grows tedious. Before long you find yourself notwanting to bother with a nearby solar system, while fighting battlesquickly loses its initial interest. Even though there's a lot to do,much of it is repetitious.
The second problem is more serious. What made theStar Trek series, and all but the first movie, so fascinating was notthe travelling, the combat, and the discovery of devices and weapons,but rather the interaction of the Enterprise crew with alien cultures.In the series, Kirk and the others beamed down to a planet to exploreit, to find and examine cultures, and to solve morally-charged problems.
During The RebelUniverse, though, beaming down becomes an almost incidental partof the game. There are no alien cultures to find. In other words, theEnterprise's five-year mission-to explore new worlds, to seek out newcivilizations-has been largely ignored.
Star Trek: TheRebel Universe is a good game. It has a clever interface,attractive graphics, and, to those familiar with Star Trek, aninstantly familiar feel. If the game carried the sense of explorationfurther, though, it would be much more memorable. Despite its flaws,however, I recommend it as a solid, playable, well-constructed game.The great Star Trek simulation, however, is still to be done.
- Neil Randall