Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force 

Expansion Pack

 Order Link no longer available.

A Techtite Review

Mission packs are a good idea that often, oddly enough, aren't as good as they could be. Too few additions, and it isn't worth the price. Add too much, and the game designers will probably just make it into an alleged "sequel," sold at regular pricing. Sadly, the much-anticipated Voyager: Elite Force expansion pack is a similar disappointment. After all, the most intriguing addition is downloadable for free. As for the rest, well, read on and see for yourself.

First of all, let's go over some of the more cooler "add-on packs" to games in the past. Perhaps the best of the best would have to be the expansion pack to Star Wars: Dark Forces 2, which had the cool name Mysteries of the Sith. As many have said, that mission pack was almost like getting a whole new game, with a whole new storyline and even the chance to play as the cult favorite character of the Star Wars novels, Mara Jade. The best part, however, was the size of the missions, including a whole rebellion stronghold to protect, and an Imperial asteroid base to infiltrate. I get the impulse to re-install the game just thinking about it.

Which brings us to Voyager Elite's expansion pack. Well, at least they didn't call it a mission pack; that would be a misnomer, since there are no new missions. Quite frankly, the biggest change is a "Virtual Voyager" option, that allows you to move freely through the ship. This would have been a cool enhancement, indeed, if you could do so within the original game's storyline. No such luck; this is an option in the main menu, totally separate from all other game choices. What's worse; "Virtual Voyager" is so added-on at the last minute, you're given merely one save game. Don't worry, though; that's all you'll truly need.

Let's look at the bright side; at least you get to explore the majority of Voyager at will! This includes all major decks, including engineering, the mess hall, the bridge, and even Seven of Nine's "Astrometrics" lab. There are even some mini-tasks you can perform, including launching a shuttle in the shuttle bay, and tapping into the computer systems, so you have authorization to explore the private quarters of all the show's characters. Each character also has a personal log, which you can skim through if you like. Personally, I would have liked more thorough personal logs, related to moments of the actual series, though I suppose personal logs involving the "Elite Force" original single-player storyline is good enough.

Is that all there is to the expansion pack? Well, not really. There are 4 holodeck programs you can tinker with, including Tom Paris' infamous "Captain Proton," presented totally in black & white. This is obviously the game element the level editors worked on the most, since it is the largest "mission" added within the whole expansion. However, the holodeck mission quits as soon as you defeat the evil Chaotica; you aren't even given the meager pleasure of hearing the lovely Miss Goodheart sigh, "My hero," before the whole mission quits abruptly back to boring ol' "Virtual Voyager" mode. Other new holodeck additions include invading a Klingon base, and a teeny, tiny mini-mission, where the only suspense is that "the holodeck safety parameters are offline." Big whoop; you'll be done with all missions, in half an hour, safety parameters or not. 

As for the rest of the ship, well, exploration is the key, though even this can slowly get dull. Explore wisely enough, and you'll even reach the mysterious "deck 15," where a single, bored crewman (who has no idea what his job is on deck 15), is working on a 3D arcade game of his own, called "Borg Slayer." It's a cute game-within-a-game, though still, you're yearning for more. You can also search the whole ship for hidden items, though these items aren't that hidden, so this too shouldn't take too long.

Yes, there are some multiplayer enhancements, which include, if anyone's counting, roughly 7 holomatch maps, 9 Capture the flag maps, 5 fan-created maps, and 5 new game modes. There are also additional characters to play as in multiplayer mode, including the ability to play as some of the senior officers as "Borg." However, most of the best traits of multiplayer remain as-is, and do not truly increase the desire to buy the expansion pack. There are some intriguing new multiplayer game styles here --particularly "Assimilation," where a team of borg fight against a team of Starfleet's finest-- though again, little reason for the price of the expansion.

Of course, the best addition is Jeri Ryan, who reprises her role as Seven of Nine. Given how excellently modeled (ahem) she is in the game, it is a major addition for fans of her character. I suppose the only problem is that her "voice pack" is offered for free as a patch online for the original game. Given that this is the most intriguing addition of this expansion pack, making it available as a patch was a very humble move by Activision/Raven...and perhaps a bit costly, when there's less reason for the whole pack. Yes, Virtual Voyager even allows you to see her go to her alcove and regenerate, if you're into that sort of thing. However, that's about it for Seven's Virtual Voyager role, and it's barely worth it.

Some may ask me as I give this expansion a marginal-thumbs-down; What did I expect to be offered? Well, much like Thief Gold, all I really wanted was as little as three new single player missions. BIG missions; you know, like that cool Thief Gold mission that involved a whole, majestic, 5-story Opera House. Perhaps I could save the crew from an invasion force. Maybe I could simply help prevent a warp core meltdown. At the extreme least, could I have an intelligent conversation --if only just a sound byte-- from the show's main characters, that is more intellectual than, "Sorry; can't talk now, I'm busy"...? Essentially, I feel the same way towards this expansion pack; sorry, can't talk now, I'm busy replaying the missions from the original game...complete with Jeri Ryan's own voice as Seven of Nine. However, again, that voice pack is downloadable for free online. I may be fussy, though for the price of an Expansion Pack, I'd expect more expanded than this.

 Click on picture to Order this game (PC version)