➤ Star Trek: Fleet Command, the review 🎮

For several years Star Trek has not been able to find a correct videogame interpretation and to tell the truth it seems to have always encountered difficulties in the enterprise, with the exception of a few rare examples, such as the old Interplay adventures. It is not surprising, therefore, that the same situation has also reappeared on mobile, where the Star Trek titles have so far been rather rare and neglected by most, but something could change with the arrival of Star Trek: Fleet Command, because it is evident that the Scopely team has undertaken this mission with a particular zeal, trying to deeply respect the series rather than simply exploit it for its appeal, as we see in this review. It must be said that it is a rather demanding title: despite being a game inspired by the new narrative arc of Star Trek, with the characters that reproduce in a rather faithful way the actors of the new movies, here we are not talking about a tie-in as much as a broader title.

Star Trek: Fleet Command is in fact a strategic one with management elements, which sees us engaged in the construction of a base from which to launch into the exploration of space, expanding our power and our influence in a universe torn apart by the continuous clashes between the Federation, Romulans and Klingon. It could be called one strategic 4X of mobile derivation, which however presents a system of micro-transactions (being a free-to-play, of course) that is particularly fair and unobtrusive. In addition, it combines this more strictly strategic structure with some RPG-style elements connected to the presence of the historical characters of the series, which can be recruited and applied to the ships in our possession in order to focus on their various skills and specializations. It is not a simple game: contrary to what often happens with mobile titles, here you have to get into the mechanics well before reaching a certain mastery and perhaps, paradoxically, it is less enjoyable on a mobile device than on a PC, but this depth is also its greatest strength.

Space, last frontier

The game takes place on a vast star map, from which it is possible to access various systems, with the extension of the explorable space that increases as our vehicles progress. There are, in essence, two directives along which the action develops: on the one hand la construction and management of the base, which proceeds in the classic manner of strategic management, with the need to collect resources and invest them for expansion, with the construction of new structures and their constant evolution. Here the classic expectations of free-to-play games come into play, but the positive thing is that we are subjected to so many possible actions to take that it is difficult to run into moments of forced inactivity, which can therefore lead to micro-transactions. The other main direction is that of space exploration and of the actions driving the spaceships: These can be sent to various places to carry out different missions, which include combat against enemies, defense missions, aid, transport and so on.

It is also particularly interesting the possibility of influencing the balance by making some decisions during the "quests", which determine our diplomatic address. Based on how we behave in the course of some focal missions we can tend to alliance with the Federation, with the Klingons or with the Romulans, thus choosing our path among the different forces that compete for control of the known space without a predetermined path. to follow necessarily. As you progress through the game, new ones are unlocked characters which have different and more or less influential abilities according to their level of rarity and these can be used on ships in order to exploit their characteristics. Clearly, it is a question of strategically employing these vessels based on the abilities associated with the commander, which determines an additional tactical characteristic to the game structure. Ships, planets, characters and map are represented with excellent polygonal graphics that are particularly detailed and faithful to the original design of the subjects. The problem is perhaps the scale used to stage everything, which on the screens of some smartphones can make the elements to be followed very small and confusing. Excellent thing, however, the texts completely translated into Spanish.

Comment

Tested version Android 0.543.6475, iPad 1.7.2 Digital Delivery App Store, Google Play Price Free Resources4Gaming.com

8.2

Readers (6)

8.9

Your vote

Star Trek: Fleet Command is an excellent mobile strategy, which is enriched by the famous license on which it is based without necessarily depending on it to find meaning. This means that it can be appreciated by anyone interested in the genre and in particular in the 4X-style declination, not only by trekkie eagerly awaiting after years of shortage of dedicated titles. Paradoxically, its strengths, i.e. its structural depth and complexity, also determine what can be considered its weaknesses: the amount of elements and information on the screen, both in terms of the map and the interface, would probably require a PC-style use more than a smartphone gaming session.