I know this game is over a decade old but I love it so much that I feel compelled to do a Star Trek Armada 2 review. Many of you will be thinking "why on Earth is someone reviewing a game from ten years ago?", well believe it or not this game has a huge following and there seems to be a resurgence in those trying the game out. So without further a due here is my review.
Star Trek Armada 2 was launched in 2001. As I write this, that makes this game 12 years old! It is a golden oldie though, a real classic. It is a real time strategy game based in the Star Trek universe. In campaign mode the Borg Collective have invaded the Alpha Quadrant and want to assimilate all species who they deem to have technology that they desire. You play as the United Federation of Planets, The Klingon Empire and the Borg Collective. In Instant Action mode you can also play as The Cardassian Union, The Romulan Star Empire and Species 8472!
When playing the Federation Campaign you are concerned with vanquishing the Borg from the Alpha Quadrant. As the Klingon Empire you have to deal with a Cardassian Resurgence and as the Borg Collective you have to deal with Species 8472.
In all cases you generally have to do the same thing, get resources and destroy your enemy. For a game launched in 2001 the graphics are somewhat lacking in today's standards but there are graphics upgrades that can be downloaded for free and even entire mods that are still being developed for this game right now. So do not let the graphic element put you off.
When playing in Instant Action mode you can decide who you want to play as, who you are playing against and what map you wish to play on. You can use this to train yourself on how to play against the computer, learn the tactics and evolve upon them. The AI is somewhat lacking also. Again new mods are much more deadly.
There are 5 basic resources you need to obtain in this game and those are:
There are exceptions for the Borg Collective and Species 8472. Dilithium and Latinum can be mined by building a mining station. The mining freighters only return to your Starbase though when collecting Latinum so keep them defended.
An unofficial Star Trek Armada 2 Guide is currently being worked on for newbies. Although this game is 12 years old it can be updated to compete with the most modern of games. If played with a default installation I give the game 6/10. If played using Fleet Operations Mod I give it 9/10. A game no Star Trek fan should ever go a day without playing!
