Name: Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force - Collector's Edition
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Raven Software
Media: 2 CDs
HD Installation: 564 megs
Dirt Cheap Price: $2.99

STV: EF was played on a Pentium M, 1.6Ghz machine under Windows XP MCE 2005 with a 64 meg ATI Radeon Mobility X300(PCI-E) card and 1.25 gigs of ram. It was running with all options turned to their highest settings and at a screen resolution of 1024X768. The game was played through on the "Normal" difficulty level.
Patches?
Yes, one.		 Just for kicks, let me present the recommended system requirements:

Retail v1.2 patch - Size: 19.7 megs(includes the Jeri Ryan voice pack)

This patch, along with the Bonus Holomatch Pack and all other files, can be downloaded at 3D Gamers.

 Windows 95/98/NT SP5/Win2K OS system, Pentium II 233(performance equivalent) CPU or higher(Pentium III recommended), 8MB 3D hardware accelerated video card with full OpenGL support(16MB+ recommended) with DirectX 7.0a compatible drivers, 64MB RAM, 650 MB uncompressed hard drive disk space, plus 64 MB available space for Windows swap file, DirectX 7.0a or above, DirectX 7.0a compatible sound card, Internet connection with TCP/IP protocol for Multiplay over the internet.
During part of Voyager's long-ass ride home they are hailed down, and attacked by an unknown spaceship. Barely surviving the attack, they manage to destroy the ship are sucked into some sort of portal that warps them into what appears to be a ship graveyard. Trapped by an apparent "dampening" field that disables the ship's engines, the crew is forced to explore the area for a way out. Tuvok's newly created "Hazard Team" is assigned to carry out this mission...

 What's it all about?
It's a FPS based in the ST:V universe. Playing as a member of the Hazard Team you'll work with your teammates as you explore alien ships, defend the Voyager and find a way out of the graveyard. Your character wears a "hazard" suit that, like Gordon's suit in Half-Life, handles your health and armor levels. There are a number of energy terminals in any given environment that both can be refilled at. Weaponry is made up of signature ST hardware and some interesting, new stuff as well. Everything you do in the game is mission-based, from just walking around the Voyager, to being deep in the Borg cube; orders are given to you, you find a way carry them out. A lot of the time, you'll be escorted by NPCs that will actively help you in your missions, as well as fighting off the enemy.
The game isn't super-action oriented, and there are sections where you'll actually have to sneak around undetected. Past that, the action that is there is broken up between levels as you actually move your way around the Voyager ship, repairing it, attending mission briefings, talking to the crew, etc. Occasionally you'll come up against a boss of some sort, find some way around its AI patterns and then kill it very quickly.

Graphics - A real mix of good and mediocre. It's weird, the character model texturing for your character and the other Voyager crew is just fucking disgraceful. Really low-res stuff, and on blocky-looking models to boot...I haven’t seen anything this bad in a long time; it'll literally make you cringe. Now, on the other hand, enemy models look great(especially the Borg) and have some solid texture work going for them. The crowning achievement, though, has to be the environments(especially the alien ships). They are filled with loads of wild textures and special effects that just make you go "Wow!".
Sound - The soundtrack is fairly ambient and just all around moody, which fits with the dark mood of the game. It's very well orchestrated and produces a very rich sound. Sound effects are just plain excellent, and include a lot of signature ST audio bits. The rest of the sound is comprised of the voice acting done by the various players, and is very well done. There's a lot of in-game talking, NPCs that are with you will talk constantly throughout the levels. This really helps lighten the mood, and is actually pretty funny sometimes. All of the original cast lend their voice to the their characters which really kicks everything up a notch in terms of making you feel like you're really there.
Control - I really should just find a bit of text I can copy and paste for this section. Like any other FPS, the mouse and keyboard config do well, giving you the options and reconfiguration you need to almost completely customize the control to your liking. About my only complaint is how odd things can get when you try to get the game to accept your fourth and fifth mouse buttons. Other than that, like pretty much every other FPS game out there on the PC, it's great.
AI - Fair. The enemy AI can get kinda tough at times, but usually only when they gang up on you. One on one encounters will always yield you a victory, generally due to the fact that they don't run bullshit AI scripts that have the enemies jumping all over the place and constantly making impossible shots. NPC AI is actually alright, they do manage to get stuck behind things and just generally get themselves into weird positions, but they always catch up with you. In terms of fighting, they do an ok job with lower end enemies; this is due to the fact that they only use the standard rifle...if they’d just use a better weapon they could really end up kicking some ass.
Replay value - Moderate to high, depending on fan level. The game is good, no doubt, and that'll have a lot of FPS fans running back simply for that reason(plus, you could always try to go through the game with the male or female character, depending on which one you originally chose). The game also caters to the hardcore Trek fans out there, with a lot of stuff to do, and people to talk to on Voyager, not to mention the various other things you can mess around with on the levels. Taking that even further(if you wanted to), the expansion pack is *nothing* but fan service, and features non-stop exploration of the Voyager ship and heaps of conversation with the crew. Finally, there's also the "Holomatch", which is essentially just the game's multiplayer mode. I didn't get too much into it, but with the game using the Quake III engine, I'd imagine it's alright.

All the fan service most will need...
Getting it to run - Real easy, just your basic install stuff. Run it, patch it, play it. Oh, you do need to have the CD in the drive for it to play, but other than that. One cool thing about the install is that you're guided through it by the ship's computer, and that pleasant voice of hers...


Yo ass belong to me, Mr. Borgy!
 Tips for better gaming experiences: 
When fighting the Hirogen Hunter, just hide under the railing he’s running around on...he can’t hit you *at all*. Wait for him to stop shooting, pop out and blast him, repeat. Once you beat him, he'll give you the his weapon: The Tetryon Pulse Disrupter. If you ever run into anyone who tells you that that thing doesn’t just absolutely whip ass, kick them in the nuts as hard as you can(for me)!

Though it's amusing to shoot fellow shipmates on the Voyager, not to mention mow down the guards who will teleport in immediately after you do it, it always leads to you dying or being locked up.

In the abandoned ship, destroy the spawners to disable the moth-like things from regenerating. Watch out for areas with the “fireflies” though, they will repair them.

Still Supported?:
Yes. Support can be found in the ultra-shitty Activision "Support" forums. Good luck, you will need it.
My rating: 89(out of 100) - Excellent story, creative enemies, wild environments, excellent soundtrack and solid gameplay: Everything you could want in a sci-fi FPS. If you're looking for a quality ST game look no further, for you have found it.
 
Seven's non-futile opinion: The constant escapades of just walking around and talking on the ship really dragged the game down quite a bit(this Borg wants pure action!), but other than that it's great.
Stupid bats...
Dude, I've got a Tetryon Pulse Disrupter...I'd just turn around if I were you.

The bots don't seem to care much for the Arc Welder.
The Borg get really mad when you break out the Infinity Modulator.
Fun Stuff on the CDs:
The actual game disc contains the following:
An old version of GameSpy Arcade(yay).
A STV "Screen Themes" demo(includes some wallpapers, a screensaver and a few sounds to go with the theme).
A really cheesy video for some STV - EF contest that's long gone.

The Collector's Edition, secondary disc contains:
A RtCW Preview, and it is one of the worst previews I have ever seen(it's only *five* images).
Demos for ST: Armada, Conquest Online, Hidden Evil and Klingon Academy.
An extensive art collection that includes pieces of the crew, aliens, ships, weapons, poster art, story boards and marketing from the game. Most of these images can be extracted off the CD and used for wallpaper.
The game's complete soundtrack(15 pieces).
The Photon Burst really fucks'em up.

I will collect your brain!
Bringing the "Collector" back to Collector's Edition:
STV: EF - CE has quite a bit over its regular edition. It includes a 96 page, hardcover graphic novel that consists of two Voyager stories, a Voyager lapel pin and a bonus CD that has the game's soundtrack, artwork and other cool stuff on it. Sadly, when I bought the game, it was discs and case only...no pin or graphic novel for me. I suppose these are the breaks when you shop the EB Games Clearance section.