How good is it? Well, according to the female staff of Gameplanet any game that starts off with the sexy voice of Jean Luke Picard has to be a good game. If this were a measure of a game then this would be quids in with an excellent opening movie with a voice over from the man himself.

The game is based around the construction of a new starbase by the Klingon and Federation alliance. This new starbase has the ability to detect cloaked vessels and standing in the way of the construction is the Romulans. In addition to an excellent tutorial you have the choice of playing all three races in a varied and interesting campaign. Missions consist of patrols, pirate hunts, and all out assaults.

You have a choice of three difficulty settings from Commander, Captain and Admiral. You start of commanding a basic ship and as you gain experience and points you can purchase upgrades and new ships. You have the full gambit of ships under each race from the frigates (Saber class, Bird of Prey, Talon Class) right through to the heavy battleships (Sovereign Class, Negh'var,and Warbird). On top of this the Borg also make an appearance (we are Gameplanet you will be assimilated). Rumour has it on the boards that there is also a ship called USS New Zealand.

You are not alone in running your ship. Along with the happy crew of no-names (casualties) you have a team of officers consisting of Tactical, Helm, Security, Operations, Engineering, and Medical. The Helmsman will happily fly the ship for you with a minimum of commands (follow, circle, steady as she goes) however more often than not you will find yourself flying the ship yourself and using the weapons. As you progress crew members gain in experience which in turn opens the way for additional manoeuvres and so on.

You have a wide range of weapons available to you from the light beam weapons to some amazingly devastating torpedoes. You also get to spread mines in your wake along with utilising a cloaking device (which is a neat effect graphically and a great way to hold a surprise party with a bunch of Romulan pirates).

Game play is on a large hexagonal map each hex being a quadrant of space. Here in lies one of the problems with the game. When playing a mission you are restricted to a squared of portion of 'flat' space that is quite small and difficult to manoeuvre about in. If you fly outside of the square the mission is over with you considered to have fled the field of battle ("you bring dishonour on the Klingon Brotherhood"). This artificial portion of space presents some difficult challenges as your opposition can move to the corner of the field, pump all its shields to the front and not worry about the flanks. Any manoeuvres by you close in can result in you fleeing the field. In our books the playing field should have been a circle.

Ship to ship combat can be quite a drawn out affair. It is a case of trying to wear down the oppositions shields sufficiently to get at their hull and soft points. You often find yourself engaged in tight turns trying to get behind the opposition and often you are so close and the turns so tight neither can get an arc of fire. This can be a frustrating business as you watch the enemies shield slowly regenerate as you try to get another bead on him. As the game is played on a flat plain, there is no vertical movement at all and this gives you little option but the circle of frustration.

The graphics themselves are very good and functional. With so many sub menus needed to be open to fly and battle with your actual play view is limited. This is partly offset with differing camera views - however coupled with the tight square play area the effect is quite restricting. By the time you see the dreaded red line of retreat it is often too late to stop or turn. Same goes for planets, by the time you get the collision alert it's too late. The compensation though is that the explosion of impact is quite cool. The menus themselves have a real trekkie feel to them and are quite well laid out.

Sound is very much in the vein of the Star Trek series with good weapon and engine effects. You get the klaxon warning when you go to red alert and the shields powering up, weapon fire etc all have great sounds.

The game also has a fully featured free online multiplayer game where you team up with others to undertake missions similar to the campaign. This opens a whole new aspect to the game, as not only do you meet like minded Star Trek fans but you also get the feel of playing with an interactive empire.