Star Trek: Away Team
A squad-based Star Trek tactics game with stealth and combat.
Star Trek: Away Team is an isometric real-time tactics video game developed by Reflexive Entertainment and published by Activision. Released in March 2001 for Microsoft Windows, it is set in the Star Trek universe after the Dominion War and features voice appearances by Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn. The game received mixed reviews, with criticism directed at its graphics, gameplay elements, and length.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Reflexive Entertainment
- Publisher
- Activision
- Director
- John Price
- Designer
- Ion Hardie; Zach Young
- Producer
- Lars Brubaker
- Artist
- Chad Max
- Writer
- Eric Dallaire; Ion Hardie
- Composer
- Danny Pelfrey
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Star Trek: Away Team is a squad-based real-time tactics game presented in a three-quarters isometric view, similar to Baldur's Gate. Maps lack a fog of war, letting the player see all enemy positions at once, and the interface shows how far enemies can see or hear. The player controls four to six characters from a pool of seventeen, each with unique abilities such as the Vulcan mind meld or specialized equipment beyond a basic phaser. Teams are assembled before each mission based on the level's requirements. Characters have specializations like science, security, command, medical, or engineering, which define their roles: security personnel excel in combat, science crew can use cloaking fields, and engineers repair equipment. If any character dies, the mission must be restarted. Stealth abilities include decoys and holographic projectors, and missions offer multiple completion paths using force or stealth. Some missions have primary and secondary objectives; completing secondary objectives unlocks equipment upgrades or new items. There is no experience system, and characters do not change over time. The interface shows character portraits on the left, item and ability icons on the bottom right, and action buttons on the bottom left. Left-click selects items, right-click opens a command menu, and hotkeys handle actions like using hyposprays or selecting phaser rifles. Multiplayer supports up to six players cooperatively over a local area network.
Synopsis
Set two years after the Dominion War, the game follows a Starfleet special operations team aboard the USS Incursion, a ship equipped with a holographic device that can disguise it as any other vessel. Over eighteen missions, the team faces Klingons, Borg, Romulans, and the Federation. Locations include the Klingon homeworld, a Borg cube, Starfleet Academy, and a Starfleet starship. Michael Dorn voices Ambassador Worf, and Brent Spiner voices Lieutenant Commander Data, who serves as a technical advisor. Other voice actors include Alexander Enberg and Kim Rhodes.
Development
Activision tapped Reflexive Entertainment, known for the 2D space game Swarm, to develop the title. Reflexive repurposed the engine from Zax: The Alien Hunter, which they saw as reusable. The developers called it "sort of the Commandos/S.W.A.T. team of the Federation," equipped with prototype tech for extreme missions. To protect its intellectual property, Paramount Studios required approval for any new Star Trek weapons and technologies, as well as the script. Activision showed Away Team at E3 in May 2000 alongside Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force and Bridge Commander.
Reception
Star Trek: Away Team received mixed reviews according to Metacritic. The Independent praised it, saying it would have gamers and Trekkies 'champing at the bit.' The Birmingham Mail called it 'satisfyingly challenging and engaging.' Daily Radar described it as 'respectable' and noted the voice acting as 'first class,' but found the gameplay and plot 'fun and familiar but hardly new or daring.' NextGen's John Lee said comparison to Commandos was inevitable and called it a 'terrific, enjoyable challenge.' Critics also highlighted flaws: IGN compared it unfavorably to X-COM, citing a lack of customization and pre-made characters with no impact on the storyline, and noted that even Panzer General offered more role-playing. Computer Games Strategy Plus pointed to the lack of artificial intelligence, requiring constant pausing to issue commands. GameSpot called that lack a 'giant step back from the real-time combat in X-COM: Apocalypse.' The Washington Post found characterization lacking compared to Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force. Graphics were criticized for a locked aspect ratio causing pixelization when zooming, and IGN noted characters were so small on the map that they could only be easily selected via portraits. GameSpot, however, called graphics and sound the game's best features.
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