Star Trek: Bridge Commander Demo

Despite the fact that it came out almost fifty years ago, Star Trek is still one of the most beloved TV shows out there, with countless conventions, spinoffs and fan fiction books in its honor. A great variety of video games based on the universe have also been released, although not all of them are worthy of attention.

Star Trek: Bridge Commander is a space sim that allows you to be a part of the fascinating Star Trek universe and be in complete control of your own space ship, as you scour the universe for danger and knowledge. Unlike what you would expect, however, you do not actually get to simply steer the ship using the directional arrows on your keyboard, because things are far more complicated than that and way more interesting.

As far as the plot is concerned, you play the role of a young commander that receives the USS Dauntless in his care, after it was severely damaged by a supernova explosion somewhere around an alien planet, killing the previous commander in the process. Your main mission is to investigate this explosion, as well as resupply a colony that orbits around the now defunct star.

As it was the case in the TV series as well, the commander is not actually manning the controls himself, but rather shouts the orders to his officers, who then execute them by steering the ship or employing various other functions. Hence, this is exactly your role in the game as well, although you also have to keep an eye on all of these systems yourself and spot any problems.

Whenever things get heated and a confrontation is about to happen, the game allows you to switch to an external camera view, which makes it easier to analyze the battlefield and observe the enemy movements. A wide range of tactical options are put at your disposal, which should enable you to approach each confrontation however you see fit and take advantage of the spaceship's power.

While Star Trek: Bridge Commander might show its age a bit when it comes to the graphics engine, it still manages to remain relevant even today, thanks to the extensive amount of tactical options and its loyalty to the original franchise. You really get to feel like a commander, especially since all you do is give out orders and take important decisions.