Star Trek: The Next Generation - "A Final Unity"

The Good
As with most games of this kind, the story has to shine for it to succeed and shine it does. Without giving anything away, let's just suffice it to say that the story is any trekkie's dream. The graphics are beautiful, if a little cartoony. You'll recognize the gameplay is as simple and fun as the Indiana Jones series and the previous Star Trek adventure games by Interplay.(to clear up any misconceptions, the Indiana Jones games were made by Lucasarts.) The locations you go to are beautiful and you will encounter many races and characters. Also, you get to choose the power setting on your phaser, from 1 (light stun) to 14 (heavy disruption). The voiceovers are done by the original actors and the music is excellent.

The Bad
First, the combat was very poor. Using confusing controls to move and fire, etc. You will just allocate combat to Worf every time. Same with Engineering. It's to difficult to waste time doing on your own and Worf and Geordi are much better doing tactical and engineering respectively than any person could. Navigation is another big hassle. You are given this ENORMOUS cube within cube within cube with which to navigate the galaxy.(the game would be unplayable without the fact that usually you have an "automatic click on the name of place to go there shortcut. Using the phaser is a big disappointment. On the off-chance you bring it with you on your away-mission, all you do with it is the "melt the grate to get through vent" kind of thing. The largest problem which seems to affect nearly every game like this (the pick-up stuff to solve this kind) is the paradox of the impossible puzzle. You know, the kind where you use cheese and pencil lead to make a bomb to destroy the door. Two of these kinds of puzzles stand out in my mind now and if you get this game, be prepared to get online to get help with it. Another problem is that you cannot get killed except in the Enterprise. You can get blasted by the alien phaser turrets a zillion times and get back up 5 min. later. The game is too linear. you may be given "choices" in the game, but these just end up giving you same result as the other one. E.G. alien probe escaped from ship where away-team is, do we follow it or stay on the ship?? If you follow it, you will get this ridiculous "cutscene" where you chase 2 sec. and then it disappears. Then you go back where you came from. The game is riddled with bugs. Aside from the crashes and lock ups, this has the distinction of when you walk towards certain areas of the game will cause your character(s) to shrink(??) into nothingness and disappear.(???) Last, but not least, the game is slow. Your characters will stroll across enormous environments and don't think you won't back track through areas again and again.

The Bottom Line
If you like Star Trek games or you like star trek, you should check this out. Otherwise, it's just another average adventure game.

The Good
Star Trek: The Next Generation - "A Final Unity" is probably one of the best video game adaption of the Star Trek franchise.

Most of the game uses the adventure gaming format, perfected by the likes of Guybrush Threepwood, with a couple of action based battle sequences involving the enterprise.

The game features excellent graphics, music and sound effects. Some of the early CGI special effects may seem goofy today, but they were cutting edge in the early 1990s.

If you know how to play Monkey Island, then the you should have little trouble interacting with characters, exploring the planets and solving inventory-based puzzles.

As an added bonus, most of the stars of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV show did the voice work for characters in this game.

It would not be too much to say that, when this computer game was released, Star Trek fans throughout the world were in a state of pure joy, almost.

The Bad
Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" attempts to continue the Star Trekian tradition of a mixing in serious social commentary and sophisticated philosophy into the science fiction action and adventure. Notice, I said “attempts”.

The main storyline involves the Next Generation crew getting in the middle of an “internal” dispute on another planet.

The alien race of beings on this planet follow a strict class hierarchy, which does not really suit the folks trapped in the lower class, or some of the liberal members of what I am guessing is suppose to be an educated, middle class.

Eventually, Captain Picard comes to the conclusion that the best way to settle the matter is to locate the civilization's missing law givers, who -- hopefully -- will preach a more egalitarian gospel, although that is taking a pretty big gamble.

After all, no one knows much about these missing wise men -- or what forgotten laws they would be more then happy to impose on a civilization that they long since abandoned.

But, seeing how the Enterprise has nothing better to do, it might as well try to solve a civilization's complex and deeply-rooted, backwards class hierarchy by putting all its space eggs in the "lets-hope-the-missing-lawgivers-are-not-crazy" basket.

OK, I appreciate the effort of the game's developers to try and add serious social commentary and sophisticated philosophy into a graphic adventure game.

Adventure games are no stranger to such story elements and the Star Trek franchise has often dealt with issues of discrimination, oppression, fairness and justice.

I just think that the writing in this game is not good enough to push the player to care -- much -- about the outcome of the well meaning, social justice storyline.

For the most part it is not bad writing -- although the gender commentary surrounding the planet where men are second class citizens is pretty bad -- it just never seems to reach for the stars.

Likewise, while the developers clearly were familiar with the ST:TNG characters, their is little in the way of character development.

The Enterprise crew members that you control on the different planets do tend to act like they would in the TV series, but they also tend to stay pretty much the same from the start of the game to the ending.

The result is that while, most, of the serious social commentary and sophisticated philosophy is indeed interesting and certainly pro-Trekkie, it could have been developed and told in a much better way.

Lastly, something should be said about the technical challenges in getting this game to run. If you have a working computer, as it was in 1993, and are good at DOS, then this game should not be too difficult to successfully install and run.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" was developed and published before it came commonplace for computer games to be designed to run under Windows.

This may date me somewhat, but throughout the 1980s - late 1990s, it was common for computer games to only run in DOS or have have some "issues" running in any version of Windows.

Heck, I can recall how the fact that having a computer game designed to run on Windows 95 or Windows 98 was a big deal and often highlighted in the advertising for game.

What does this all mean? Well, the short answer is that it may take some technical skills, even Vulcan mind tricks, to get a copy of "A Final Unity" to run on a modern computer.

The Bottom Line
Star Trek: The Next Generation - "A Final Unity" offers superior graphics, music, sound effects and even many of the voice talents from the TV Series.

The point and click, adventure gaming format works well for the Star Trek franchise, as this game demonstrated. Sometimes the writing and story development is bit too average. However, if you can get the game to run on your computer, you will be glad that you did. Live Long and Prosper!

The Good
When i got this game, I played it constantly!, The storyline was very good and in depth, There were lots of puzzles, lots of talking,The music and sound was very good, The game was also gripping, I found it hard to get of my computer and take a rest!, You start at the bridge of the Enterprise-D, With a view looking at Picard, Riker, Data , Worf , Troi.

There are 2 different types of gameplay in the game, (1). Real time strategy, With your away team, Figuring out different puzzles, Using Phasers, Tricorders, And other gadgets.,There is also loads of nice little features like, Taking the helm and a Library full of facts and history, Tactical, Holodeck,Transporter room (2) Action 3rd perspective , This is were you have control over the enterprise itself and its systems when they are damaged(phasers,shields,Life support), And were you battle, Chodak, Romulans and other species!, This game is very rewarding when you finish it!

The Bad
The one thing i did not like about this game was spending a long long long time walking around the landscapes trying to solve puzzles, After about 3 days of playing it, i figured out when you hold down the L-Shift button and click the mouse button where you want to go and they run really quick!, So there is a little hint for you when playing the game....

And some of the puzzles in the game a very hard! Nearly impossible even, There will be a few parts in the game were you just might give up and get very annoyed, But let these l put you of! keep playing, Do not give up! And finish it!

The Bottom Line
Very playable and Fun, despite how old the game is! A definite buy, Should only cost you a few bills!..