Star Trek: Invasion is a beautiful game. I remember being “wowed” by Colony Wars the first time I played it, and Invasion will draw the obvious comparisons to CW, both for looks and gameplay. The lighting and weapon effects are amazing, and the speed lines that indicate motion even simulate realistic physics. Explosions look great, and I loved the debris that spins off when a ship or object gets blown to smithereens by a well-placed phaser shot or torpedo. The in-game menus have a very cool, futuristic look and include the H.U.D. (Heads Up Display) shown from the cockpit of your fighters to track enemy trajectories and internal systems.

The music exposes another nice touch, and has an appropriately “big” sound to it with (thankfully) no Hard Rock. More like something symphonic, almost John Williams -- he did those little “Star Wars” flicks, you know... Once a mission starts, there isn’t much music; the humming engines, the pulse of a phaser, or the classic photon torpedo sounds take over. The crowning jewel in the sound department has to be voice acting, with none other than Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn sitting in as Jean-Luc Picard and Worf!

I generally hate drawing ties between games, but Star Trek: Invasion and Psygnosis’ Colony Wars could be fraternal twins. In fact, the real weakness of Star Trek: Invasion is exactly what raised the most criticism in Colony Wars, but more on that later. Both games are space operas, with elaborate stories played out through mission-based combat.

In Star Trek: Invasion, Starfleet and the Klingons form an alliance to combat an approaching Borg fleet. You play a fighter pilot under the command of Worf. The continuity of missions isn’t always as strong as I remember from Colony Wars, but the missions in Star Trek: Invasion are more interesting overall. Activision put time into scripting each mission, so they all feel complete and don’t get boring. The mission length is always about right, and completion is based on a series of objectives. It all basically boils down to a big dogfight with some non-violent objectives to make things interesting. Blowing up some enemies can release special objects you intercept with your ship, sometimes as simple as recharging your shield or as exciting as a secret weapon. Mission objectives lead you to use weapons selectively, finding a balance between charged phasers and torpedoes or non-lethal weapons. It’s a wild ride, but all the extra options in the world couldn’t take the place of well written dialog, good voice acting, and balanced missions. Luckily, Star Trek: Invasion has it all, as well as secret ships, levels, and weapons.

The main game is a one-player frenzy, but during the crusade to stop the Borg, you’re often required to complete missions with a wingman. For those who like to mix it up with a real person, Activision’s Two-Player Mode has some nice features. Two-Player can be accessed in the main game through special missions, and the Holodeck is always available for practicing zero-gravity space combat with a friend. Power-ups play a big role in Two-Player, along with a large menu of custom options like number of enemies, battle environment, and random objects.

Colony Wars comes up again here because the most irritating feature of CW and now Star Trek: Invasion is that they’re way too hard. Part of Colony Wars’ problem was not allowing you to save often enough, meaning you had to replay huge sections of the game. Star Trek: Invasion does a better job of pacing the various levels, allowing you to save often enough to keep momentum going. The real glitch in Star Trek: Invasion is a game that just isn’t accessible to lesser skilled gamers. There’s excellent gameplay here, but 40% of the people who would like it may get frustrated and give up. The objectives in each mission are clear, but getting to the end without blowing up often seems impossible. Also, there’s no room to take your time, because many missions time-out if you’re too long clearing one objective or a group of enemies. Boss ships have this insane arsenal, and because they come at the end of a level, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to select “Yes” on the “Restart Game?” dialog.

It’s not too much of a stretch to characterize Star Trek: Invasion as a fair to average space flight sim. Any PC gamers who tried the recently released Terminus know that working in a realistic physics model is quite hard. The idea is that there’s no friction in space, so there’s no power-slides or quick turns. Star Trek: Invasion follows, or at least gives a good impression of following, a more sophisticated flight-physics style. You’ll find that heavy thrust in one direction can take a long time to counter, and unless you stop the engines entirely, you’re always moving. Especially in a dogfight, this is disconcerting, and it’s hard to find enemies while you’re figuring out the controls. Luckily, a lock-on feature makes tracking enemies easier, and lets you focus on flight controls instead of targeting. Shoulder buttons let you roll and do evasive maneuvers, but the real money is on the weapons system. It’s easy to control because all the options show up in your H.U.D., and you’re left to just select a primary and secondary weapon; then fire and forget. Weapons are ranged, and most of the good ones have to be earned or discovered.

Weapons control leaves the flight sim world and jumps into space combat with both feet. The ship you start in is a fair performer, but it’s possible to augment it or pick up other ships as the story plays out. Special weapons are out there, but it’s tricky to get the weapons without blowing them up while avoiding incoming missiles and enemy fire. Analog and Dual Shock support complete the experience of being in the cockpit of a Starfleet fighter, and you’ll feel the shudder of a well-placed phaser hitting your shields before you even see the enemy fighter. Nice.

It’s too bad there isn’t better pacing or more balanced difficulty in Star Trek: Invasion. Everyone should be able to enjoy this game, but most of those who felt Colony Wars or G-Police was too hard will have exactly the same impression here. There’s a lot to love, but also a lot to learn. With practice and diligence, most seasoned gamers will get through Star Trek: Invasion. But the frustration of devilish A.I. dampened the fun for me. It’s hard to see a game this well designed, looking this pretty, and with controls this tight, get points knocked off, but the best games should be playable by almost everyone. In the case of Star Trek: Invasion, only Top Guns need apply...