Star Trek: Deep Space 9 - Crossroads of Time

Stardate 46870.7: Commander Benjamin Sisko reporting. A Cardassian has requested docking privileges for shore leave. I don't like the idea of so many Cardassians being aboard, but I have no reason to deny their request. However. I have a bad feeling about this.

FIRST IMPRESSION

Deep Space Nine is full of awesome characters. Run into villains, such as the Borg and the Bajoran Redemptionists. The game allows you to play as different characters and has you guiding a ship through a wormhole.

BEST FEATURE

The characters move smoothly as they jump and climb. Also, it was good to be able to play as several of the show's characters, instead of just one.

WHATS MISSING

The game isn't lacking a lot. It has you racing against the clock in many of the levels. Sometimes this gets annoying. But if you like a challenge, then I recommend it.

WILL YOU LIKE IT?

For all of you Trekkies out there, this game is pretty cool. In addition to the multiple characters you can play as, you also get to face enemies like the Cardassians and the Borg. If you have wanted to see if you could make it as a captain. give this game a try.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine attempts to inject some action into the RPG feel of previous Trek adventures, but the uneven mishmash that results will test your patience. Despite DS9's remarkable graphics and authentic Trekkie atmosphere, its simple repetitive action will attract only puzzle fiends and devotees of the TV show.

Shallow Space

As Commander Benjamin Sisko, your hands are full as soon as the game begins. Bajoran terrorists have planted grenades around the station, and a shipload of Cardassians is brewing trouble.

In RPG-like fashion, you wander through the station and talk to its denizens. The entire cast from the show appears, so you're wheedling info from the likes of Quark, the Ferengi barkeep, to uncover your next move. The plot that arises from all these conversations wraps the action with the suspense and intrigue of one of the TV episodes, which should delight serious Trekkies.

Deep Six

Unfortunately, once you discover your mission and head out, you'll chew off your finger- nails when faced with the redundancy of laborious tasks like decoding the locks in the Bajor Temple. Merely crouching and shooting wins every fight, and steering the runabout through the asteroid belt is less interesting than Asteroids on the Atari 2600.

Even worse, each time you die, you must wade through conversations you've already had before you can tackle the mission again. That's not game-play, that's torture!

Beam Me Elsewhere

The graphics rescue game from pure mediocrity. Each character is represented by a huge sprite that's drawn with exceptional, realistic detail; even the physiological differences between the various species are crisp and evident.

The lively, vivid backgrounds establish a distinctively Trekkie atmosphere, but the droning music and tepid sound effects will send you racing for the headphones. And with too many functions and too few buttons, the controls further add to the frustration.

Puzzle fans may enjoy noodling out the time-consuming solutions to DS9's missions, but action junkies will prefer time behind bars. Rent this one before you beam onboard.

Here's one of those rare games that actually mimic the TV show that it's based on! You, too, can be Sisko on yet another boring episode of DS9. Will he save the station? Will he rescue the injured crewman? Will he arrest Quark? Will this be fun? I doubt it.

Here's one of those rare games that actually mimic the TV show that it's based on! You, too, can be Sisko on yet another boring episode of DS9. Will he save the station? Will he rescue the injured crew-man? Will he arrest Quark? Will this be fun? I doubt it

Here's one of those rare games that actually mimic the TV show that it's based on! You, too, can be Sisko on yet another boring episode of DS9. Will he save the station? Will he rescue the injured crewman? Will he arrest Quark? Will this be fun? I doubt it.

Here's one of those rare games that actually mimic the TV show that it's based on! You, too, can be Sisko on yet another boring episode of DS9. Will he save the station? Will he rescue the injured crewman? Will he arrest Quark? Will this be fun? I doubt it.

Although action abounds in Deep Space Nine, at its core this game runneth over with a series of mazelike puzzles that demand patience and concentration.

Bajor Headache

Deep Space Nine is a giant space station orbiting near the planet Bajor. Led by Commander Benjamin Sisko, DS9 serves as an outer-space waystation catering to numerous inter- galactic races. As Sisko, you face eight intensive missions, scouring DS9 and other locales for hidden items. You even pilot a Federation cruiser through a meteor storm and wormhole.

Although the gameplay principally entails winding your way through each level, you'll engage in a good deal of fisticuffs with outer-space thugs (until you find the Phasers). The simple fighting is faithful to the Star Trek motto against violence for the sake of violence.

DS9 shows a great effort to be faithful to its source with large, sharply rendered character sprites. Unfortunately, the gameplay, controls, and sound don't match the graphical effort.

The controls are somewhat clunky, especially in situations requiring split-second timing, and the sound effects are plain. An annoying techno-electronic soundtrack demands to be turned down and tuned out.

Cardassians, Quark And Borgs...Oh,My!

Gameplay soon becomes repetitive with Sisko running through similar-looking levels again and again. True adventure gamers may want to beam elsewhere for this type of action, but Deep Space Nine fans will warp onto this game for its authentic flair.