"Some good elements, but needs some tips from Klingon Academy"

Graphics 7/10

Most ships in Bridge Commander (BC)are well detailed, others(mostly Federation ships) are mediocre and the 2 ships you "command," the Dauntless and the Sovereign, are severely lacking in detail. Mods have corrected this issue along with the issue of lack of different types of ships. Elements of space were also mediocre. Nebulas were few, far between and bland. Planets and suns had textures lines and all looked the same. No black holes, gas giants.Not one planet had rings around it! BC developers should have looked at the variety of Klingon Academy (KA). Another failure is in how ships take damage. The hulls of starships melt a away and disappear than explode and blow off. A good example is you can melt away half of warp nacelle and that nacelle will still function instead of going offline and leaking plasma.

Sound 9/10

The music in BC is dynamic and outstanding. It has a Star Trek feel that should make all the fans feel right at home. Weapon and ship sound effects were pretty good as well, somewhat canon. Some say the "enter warp" effect is the weaker sound the Star Trek Voyager. Mods have also corrected this.

Game play 7/10

One of the features that was suppose to define BC was the felling that you are in command of a star ship. However, with everyone knowing what to do and a highly overbearing first officer, you only job is to give a few key commands. You do not have to actively control the ship during combat as in KA but you will for the fun of it. It gets a little repetitive with just phasers and photons torpedoes(quantum's torpedoes are limited in single player). It makes you miss the KA days of advanced weapons(such as the assault phaser). Another problem is that weapons move very slowly. It is obvious that phasers and disruptor's move slower than the speed of light. Phasers unrealistically have unlimited range and pulse energy weapons move like slow missile's. Torpedoes also move slowly and are somewhat easy to dodge. Weapons fire was also something KA did much better.

Story 9/10

The story was well done and I was always ready to see what happens next. It will take into the era the UFP after the Dominion War. You will explore a sector of space called the Maelstrom, encounter a new race, and fight renegade Cardassians. It is what the 4th Star Trek TV series should have been.

Overall 7/10

With mods, BC becomes an 8 because weapons fire and damage effects cannot be improved. Do NOT buy this game. Rent or borrow. Wait for Star Trek Legacy to be released in late 2006. Hopefully it will take the best from BC and KA to the best space combat sim ever.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/31/06