|
| By Brad Cook Stardate 48315.6: The United Federation of Planets starship U.S.S. Voyager is mysteriously transported to the Delta Quadrant. Cut off from communication with the Federation, it must find its way back to Earth alone. |
|
 |
| Made for Mac OS X The Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Expansion Pack, available from Aspyr, patches the original game to run in Mac OS X. |
Stardate 53840.1: Ensign Munro becomes a member of a special Voyager hazard team, under the leadership of Lt. Tuvok.
Stardate 53854.7: Voyager is attacked by an alien probe and transported to a spaceship graveyard, where alien scavengers overwhelm and damage the ship. Ensign Munro will lead a team into a derelict spaceship in hope of helping the Voyager avoid a similar fate.
You are Ensign Munro.
Based on the popular TV show, Aspyr’s Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is a tale of mystery and intrigue. The action-packed storyline plays like an episode of the TV show, complete with the voices of actual cast members and environments that are based on the sets.
Scanning the bridge.
And when you load the Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force Expansion Pack on your
Mac, you’ll discover new features in the game, including Mac OS X compatibility. Take a virtual tour of the Voyager, play new single-player missions, and frag your friends in new multi-player games.
According to Aspyr president Michael Rogers, “performance is fantastic” when you play the game in Mac OS X. “I’ve played the game with Mail open, iTunes running and other programs sleeping without a hitch,” he says. “The power of Mac OS X makes it easy to jump into a game like Elite Force and play for a while, and then jump right back to work.”
Spider robots! Luckily, you have two Voyager
crewmembers with you.
crewmembers with you.
Places to Go, People to See
You see the action in the game through a first-person 3D view, which allows you to step into Ensign Munro’s boots and look through his (or her — you can play the character as a female) eyes. By the time you’re done with the 40 missions in the single-player game, you will have infiltrated a Borg cube, dealt with renegade Klingons, and tried to figure out how to free the Voyager from the starship graveyard.
There are 14 alien enemies in the game, including a never-before-seen group of scavenger aliens. Many of the characters from the TV show also make appearances, including Lt. Tuvok, the Vulcan security officer who guides you through your missions, Captain Janeway, and the part-Borg crew member Seven of Nine.
Says Rogers: “Elite Force has all the elements you’d expect from a high-quality title — intense moments with some surprises, and characters and a plot that keep you wanting to play just a little longer.”
The bridge of a Klingon warship.
Don’t disturb the sleeping commander.
Don’t disturb the sleeping commander.
Plenty of Missions
Some missions you’ll have to tackle alone, but Lt. Tuvok will send other members of the hazard team with you on other missions. There are nine weapons you can pick up and use during the game — including the Infinity Modulator, a weapon designed by Seven of Nine to disrupt a Borg’s shields and destroy it — but Elite Force isn’t just about shooting the bad guys. Along the way you’ll find computer terminals and other characters who will give you vital information.
(And if you’re still stumped, take a look at our cheat codes for some help with getting out of tricky situations.)
“After throwing you into a good fight,” says Rogers, “the game will require you to explore and use your brain to figure things out. It’s a good combination that only a rare game gets right.”
There are plenty of multiplayer arenas in the
Elite Force Expansion Pack.
Elite Force Expansion Pack.
With the Expansion Pack loaded on your Mac, you can play two new single-player missions as well. In one, you must infiltrate the stronghold of a Klingon mercenary lord and defeat him. In the other, you must rescue Constance Goodheart from the evil Dr. Chaotica.
Multi-player Fun
And what would any good first-person shooter be without plenty of multi-player options? The regular game comes with 16 multi-player arenas and the expansion pack adds another 21, as well as new characters (such as Captain Janeway as a Borg) and new equipment (a tricorder and a proton pistol). You can play against your friends over a local area network (LAN) or over the Internet with either the free, Mac-only service GameRanger or the multi-player option in the game itself.
“There’s no excuse not to play online,” says Rogers. “One of the most underrated things about Elite Force is that multiplayer gaming is incredibly simple. Two clicks and you’re in a game.”
So how can you beam up for some action in the final frontier? You’ll find Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force at the Apple Store online, an Apple retail store near you, or an Apple authorized reseller. If you have your tricorder aimed on the expansion pack, explore an Apple store in your quadrant or the Aspyr web site to find a copy.
Take a look at these great cheats — from invincibility to the ability to access any level in the game. 
 
|