ItΓÇÖs said, and donΓÇÖt ask by whom, that all the even- numbered Star Trek films are great and all the odd- numbered ones are... well, less so. Look at the evidence... The original film is conservative and pedestrian with stupid outfits, whereas The Wrath Of Khan is a rip-roaring intergalactic epic. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock is a plotless, witless pile of tosh, while the fourth film, The Voyage Home (the one with the whales in), isnΓÇÖt half-bad. Five, the dreadful Final Frontier, is another celluloid yawn-o-rama, while the sixth instalment, The Undiscovered Country, is a special-effects-crammed goodie. As for number seven? Star Trek: Generations would have been infinitely better if Shatner and co. had just left the Next Generation crew to get on with things. Witness the triumphant success of the Borg-bashing First Contact.
But while Star Trek: Generations the film wasnΓÇÖt exactly a resounding cinematic triumph, Star Trek: Generations the game is an entirely different kettle of Tribbles. Like MicroProseΓÇÖs previous Trekky effort, A Final Unity, Generations is another brilliant extension of the Next Generation universe, a game that plunges you deeper into Star Trek lore than ever before. Now the strange new worlds can be explored in atmospheric, Doom-like 3D. You can take control of Riker, Worf, Crusher and even Kirk, beaming aboard disabled warships, wandering around deserted alien cities and infiltrating Klingon strongholds. All the familiar sound effects have been faithfully recreated, while the cast have again lent their voice-over talents to the game, making it sound and feel like an extended series episode.
As with the movie, the plot of Star Trek: Generations revolves around a mad scientist, Tolian Soran (played by Malcolm MacDowell), who is trying to return to a paradise-like dimension called the Nexus. The gateway to this blissful realm is a violently destructive energy ribbon that is passing through the Star Trek galaxy. To divert this phenomenon for his own ends Soran has developed a star-killer weapon, which he uses to destroy suns and planets. The destruction of a star causes the gravitational pull exerted on the ribbon to change, altering its path through space. ItΓÇÖs up to you and your Next Gen crew to chase the white-haired loony across space and stop him from gathering the rare element Trilithium, which he needs to make his sun-destroying bombs. ItΓÇÖs an intriguing story with catch-up gameplay, where Soran is always one step ahead of you until the final, exciting denouement. But, of course, unlike the film, where Soran is defeated and the universe is saved, in Generations there is the all too-real possibility of failure.
