Picking up a copy of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is a no-brainer.

These are the voyages of the starship . . . whoops, wrong Star Trek. I got the voyages part sort of right, since this is the Star Trek Voyager and there is indeed a fine voyage to be had with this first-person shooter from Raven Software. You are part of the Elite Force - a crack team of security personnel who are called upon when the intergalactic going gets tough. And what could be tougher then your starship being attacked by an unknown alien force and ends up being transported to The Forge, a region of space that is filled with dead spaceships that had previously met the same fate as the Voyager. As Ensign Alexander (or Alexandria - you can select your gender) Munro, you're second in command and it's up to you to perform your duties to help get the Voyager out of this alien trap.

The storyline reads like a Star Trek episode and the real success here is that every other part of the game supports the effort in trying to recreate the feel of the series. Besides a good story, the voice acting is first-rate due to the fact that the original actors from the series provide their voices to the characters with the only exception being the absence of Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine). This really shows how important voice acting is to a given game, especially if the objective is to recreate an existing TV or movie franchise. It would be nice to see this continue as a trend since it brings the overall gaming experience to the next level.

While I am on the topic of sound, I have to say that the music is unbelievably good. Anytime I start a game, I'll give the music a chance but I usually just end up muting it, but not here. This sounds like an actual movie soundtrack and the individuals that were responsible for the music should be commended for their critical contribution in helping to bring this game so close to the feel of the Star Trek Voyager series.

The other area that brings the game closer to the series is the amount of detail that was provided to the Voyager ship. I think most Star Trek Voyager fans would be impressed by how accurately the Raven team has designed the interior of the ship itself. The ability to walk freely among these levels is also a lot of fun. Add to this the fact that you can interact and work with NPC team members to achieve your mission objectives and what you end up with is a game that pulls you into the story as well as Half-Life does. Its pacing might actually be better since it is a lot shorter in length but this is what also prevents it from being as good as Half-Life since it does lack some depth in its gameplay. You could almost consider it to be Half-Life Lite due to its lack of puzzles and in some levels, deficient enemy A.I. These are probably the only two areas that come across as being somewhat weak. The lack of puzzles is not a showstopper but it would have helped by adding some "smarts" to the game since the continuing mowing down of Borgs and other alien creatures does tend to get repetitive at times.

The other ding comes in the form of inconsistent enemy A.I. There are some instances when the enemies just seem to want to die, whether it be with their suicidal runs at you or when you take out one dude and his comrade just stands there without taking evasive action (notch another kill).

Now with all of this attention to being faithful to the series, the big question coming from non-Star Trek fans might be - Will I also enjoy it? The answer is... absolutely! Raven knows that a QIII Arena engine-driven game without some big-time action appeal would be like buying a Porsche that's got less than 200 horsepower under the hood.

So on to the appeal and more specifically, the weapons. The centerpiece of any FPS has to be the weapons and this is where Elite Force shines. These puppies practically produce their own lightshows in that they are all emit some type of laser stream or mini-pyrotechnics when fired. My personal favorites are the Arc Welder, the Compound Grenade Launcher and the Phaser Compression Rifle. The Arc Welder is just plain devastating with its awesome blast of energy rays. The Compound Grenade Launcher is a cross between Shogo's Aegis AT-S4 (bouncing grenades) and Jedi Knight's Rail Gun (alternate mode fires grenades that stick to anything).

This weapon is great for either clearing out a hallway or making for a hasty retreat. The Phaser Compression Rifle has to take this year's crown for the best visual and sound effects for any FPS weapon. Visual in what it does to opponents (vaporizes them) and with sound, the effect it produces when fired in secondary mode is most impressive (this sound effect alone helps to justify having that expensive sound card and speakers as part of your PC setup). I can go into a lot more detail on all of the weapons but you should experience them yourself to see what the excitement is all about.

Speaking of excitement - when you are done with the single gameplay, hop on over to the multiplayer, Holomatch for some straightforward, no-nonsense deathmatching. I haven't had this much fun since Unreal Tournament! The multiplayer levels will remind you of Unreal Tournament, which is good especially when you factor in Elite Force's unique weapons. Throw in the use of Elite Force's items such as the Portable Force Field and the Personal Transporter Device and you have some cool new strategies to add to your deathmatch play.

If you're looking for a first-person shooter that is simple but yet involving enough in its single player experience then picking up a copy of Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force is a no-brainer. The beauty of it is that once you are done with the single player game, you can go online and frag to your heart's content. This is what PC action gaming is all about.

Reviewed by James Diaz, PC Gameworld.