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New modes such as capture the flag help keep battles interesting. Borg can't assimilate Species 8472, so gameplay is balanced nicely. The powerful Battleship is one of the only units that's a match for the new Borg fusion cube, which is essentially a combination of eight regular cubes. There's no resource gathering, but it takes longer to build up a fleet. Organisms are birthed from a 'mother' and then evolved into ships and stations. Only Species 8472 offers a significantly different gameplay experience. In addition to the races included in the campaigns, you can also play as Species 8472, the Cardassians, and the Romulans. Multiplayer and skirmish modes have been beefed up significantly. Seeing the Borg stuck in the middle of space with the Federation on one side and Species 8472 on the other has its own appeal. Fortunately, all the locations are well populated (or maybe over-populated) with space dust, dilithium moons, planets, black holes, asteroid belts, wormholes, and exactly seven different kinds of nebulae. One obvious disadvantage to a space combat game that uses a real-time strategy model is that the game takes place in the blackness of open space.

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There are 45 new ship classes and 22 new special weapons, plus a plethora of new space stations and incidental space matter.

Still, the single-player mode does have its shares of strengths. Cheesy cutscenes that introduce some missions don't make up for the lack of variety during the campaigns. Battles take more time to develop, and even a new 'tactical' viewing angle that rotates around the action can't help hide the fact that there just isn't enough happening on screen other then lots of ships firing at each other. In other words, you'll spend more time performing routine functions and strategizing about unit movement than actually firing phasers and killing off your enemies. Changes to the basic gameplay mechanics include new resources to gather (metal and latinum), a new Y-axis similar to the one in Homeworld where ships can move up and down in space, and a new colonization requirement. Other missions keep you on your toes in ambushes and escort missions, but there's rarely the adrenalin rush of a more fast-paced space combat RTS. Instead, because it's the first mission, you can easily wipe them out in about 15 minutes. Why start the game with a mission against the impenetrable Borg, making one of the fiercest Federation enemies into hapless idiots? Usually, the Borg would deploy their gigantic Cubes and crush the Federation like ants. Somewhat of a letdown, the scripted sequences feel more like the design team was struggling for ideas. Armada II offers only three campaigns, including the Federation, Klingons, and Borg. Memorable sequences abounded, from the time you had to slither you're way through a nebula-infested blockade as Worf, or the ambush missions where stealth played a more important role than outright combat.

It's a strange twist that the single-player campaign is not nearly as interesting as the arcade-like gameplay of the original, released about two years ago. Besides that, you'll also resolve a new Federation crisis with those nasty Borg, power more ships and command two new races, and compete against other Trek fans in a highly improved multiplayer environment. In the skirmish mode you can even blow their cargo ships off the face of the universe.

Wham, see you in the next rerun, ya hairball!Īnd while this is not exactly the plot for the new Next Generation-era real-time strategy game, Star Trek: Armada II, you do encounter the annoying species occasionally. In fact, give me one day as a Federation Admiral and I'd photon torpedo them all back to their homeworld. Heck, I'd rather hob-knob with the Borg than associate with those furry excuses for a life form. Not only do they sound like nasally twelve-year old girls, but they look like rats on a bad hair day. Who needs 'em? Stinking bottom-dwellers of the universe.

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