Star Trek: Hidden Evil

Rating:
Summary: Hidden Evil is a fun follow-up to Insurrection.
Review: Although the puzzles are simplistic and easy to solve, graphics and sounds are out of this world. Furthermore, the actual story line is quite fascinating if you're a Star Trek afficionado. The role playing is superb, a style which I have not seen since the old King's Quest adventure series. Control is totally keyboard based, which, I feel, increases the level of enjoyment since you're not just clicking around. YOU control the game. It's great fun. I just wish you could increase the difficulty settings. Email me if you'd like to discuss this review, Star Trek, or computer games in general. [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A star trek maniac
Review: An alright game but it dosn't really follow the STAR TREK theme. Plus the graphics aren't that good and the controlls hard to use.

Rating:
Summary: Graphics are the only saving grace...
Review: Definitely not worthy of buying. The graphics and general design are the only thing that save this game from 1 star. It had a lot of potential but the story is poorly developed, the game play is waaaay to easy, and the ending is just the pits. Great idea, nice graphics, bad game.

Rating:
Summary: Star Trek: Hidden Evil - Rotten Graphics
Review: Hidden Evil is a great game plot in search of a real game. Activison did a very good job capturing the feel of the Star Trak genre. The graphics and sound quality are quite good. However, as a game Hidden Evil falls woefully short of the mark. The puzzles are not challenging. The overall enviroment is very two dimensional despite ustilizing true 3-D for generating the main characters. You can't fall off a bridge even if you try. But the worst part is the keyboard-only control. It is extremely cumbersome and remeniscent of the late 1980's, when PC adventure games were just crawling out of the "text-only" primordeal soup. In fact, much of the game's combat difficulty comes from the interface instead of the opponents.

It's a shame such a good concept was wasted by apparent laziness on the part of Activision.

Rating:
Summary: Good Star Trek - Poor Game
Review: Hidden Evil is a great game plot in search of a real game. Activison did a very good job capturing the feel of the Star Trak genre. The graphics and sound quality are quite good. However, as a game Hidden Evil falls woefully short of the mark. The puzzles are not challenging. The overall enviroment is very two dimensional despite ustilizing true 3-D for generating the main characters. You can't fall off a bridge even if you try. But the worst part is the keyboard-only control. It is extremely cumbersome and remeniscent of the late 1980's, when PC adventure games were just crawling out of the "text-only" primordeal soup. In fact, much of the game's combat difficulty comes from the interface instead of the opponents.

It's a shame such a good concept was wasted by apparent laziness on the part of Activision.

Rating:
Summary: Good try but falls short..
Review: I am a Star Trek fan. I admit it. And I look forward to interactive games about Star Trek. However, most releases are not very good (Starfleet Command, Starship Creator to name a few) and it makes we wonder if we are finally going to get a great Star Trek game. Hidden Evil is a good attempt, but has many faults. There is no mouse or joystick support. The game is pretty easy and way too short. And for the best "cut scenes," you have to install the complete game on the hard drive. To say things in it's favor, the graphics are good (I only tested the 3DFx version,) the sound and music are well done, and the game approaches greatness several times, but falls flat. If you are a Star Trek fan and like to collect the software titles, I would recommend this, but don't expect too much. I give this title a "C."

Rating:
Summary: a lower than ok game
Review: I didn't quite like it for the following reasons 1-when fighting, ai acts pretty dumb, and is way too easy to defeat. 2-game is waaaaaaaaaaay too short, i finished it in 2 1/2 hours, and i'm not even good with adventures... 3-the game would have been maybe a hit if they'd have put at least 3 and in bnest case 5 to 7 of those missions the game'd have been worth its money 4-you don't get the freedom of acting, in training on vulcan nerve pinch when trying to use phaser it doesn't work, same's when you try to use phaser or vulcan nerve pinch on picard or data or son'a while they're still not against you...

but on the plus side here's what most trekkies will find interesting about the game 1-you get to see corridors of enterprise and their main engineering. 2-you get to meet picard, data and beverly 3-you get to run around like a mad idiot with a phaser 4-you get to shoot son'a and another race, which i'm not gonna reveal, don't wanna spoil it gor you 5-you get to explore a sci-fi looking son'a colony 6-you get a chance to promote your ensign sovok to leitenant(i'm sorry if i spelled it wrong) 7-you get to use nerve pinch, but you don't get a chance very often, only 4 times in the game]

overall-trekkies might like it, but as an adventure, it stinks

Rating:
Summary: a lower than ok game
Review: I didn't quite like it for the following reasons 1-when fighting, ai acts pretty dumb, and is way too easy to defeat. 2-game is waaaaaaaaaaay too short, i finished it in 2 1/2 hours, and i'm not even good with adventures... 3-the game would have been maybe a hit if they'd have put at least 3 and in bnest case 5 to 7 of those missions the game'd have been worth its money 4-you don't get the freedom of acting, in training on vulcan nerve pinch when trying to use phaser it doesn't work, same's when you try to use phaser or vulcan nerve pinch on picard or data or son'a while they're still not against you...

but on the plus side here's what most trekkies will find interesting about the game 1-you get to see corridors of enterprise and their main engineering. 2-you get to meet picard, data and beverly 3-you get to run around like a mad idiot with a phaser 4-you get to shoot son'a and another race, which i'm not gonna reveal, don't wanna spoil it gor you 5-you get to explore a sci-fi looking son'a colony 6-you get a chance to promote your ensign sovok to leitenant(i'm sorry if i spelled it wrong) 7-you get to use nerve pinch, but you don't get a chance very often, only 4 times in the game]

overall-trekkies might like it, but as an adventure, it stinks

Rating:
Summary: Graphics are the "Enemy" Here
Review: In many ways, "Hidden Evil" hits all the right notes in a genre that has had precious little serious attention paid to it. In its Star Trek adventure debut, Activision comes close to reviving a disappointing genre. The storyline is strong--stronger perhaps than the movie on which it's based. The voice characterization is, no pun intended, engaging. And the puzzles, while perhaps easy for hard core adventure gamers, are hard enough to amuse those of us with busy lives.

Where the game fails, really, is in its graphical quality. The graphics are hardly better than designers obviously believed they were doing better work than that early entrant into the genre, because they keep forcing 'artful' camera angles on the player, whether she wants them or not. These constantly-switching camera angles don't quite make the game unplayable, but they are annoying enough to waste your time. Often, you'll lose track of where you are in a particular room because the cuts from the various camera angles are so severe, your location is in no way obvious. In a few rooms the problem is so acute that you have to move on faith.

Don't worry, though. The gamemakers have made it largely impossible for your accidental movements to get you into trouble. In one especially laughable scene, it's *impossible* for you to fall off a rail-less bridge, but entirely easy for you to get gobbled up by an unseen monster. This, of course, is a significant problem in a game which otherwise strives for plausibility.

WIth these somewhat glaring design faults hanging over the game, the inevitable Insurrection. It does wonderfully amplify that plot. You should also buy it if you need to keep abreast of the development of the Star Trek genre. This is an important stepping stone in that process. And if you're a young adventure gamer, still uncertain of whether you like adventure games, this one will help hone your adventure-playing skills while keeping you in a familiar environment.

But if what you really want is to be immersed in the Star Trek universe, be surrounded by known characters, and solve puzzles while galavanting around the galaxy, buy the much superior "Starfleet Academy" on DVD. It's often miscast as an action game, but in truth it's a grander adventure than this.

Rating:
Summary: Graphics are the "Enemy" Here
Review: In many ways, "Hidden Evil" hits all the right notes in a genre that has had precious little serious attention paid to it. In its Star Trek adventure debut, Activision comes close to reviving a disappointing genre. The storyline is strong--stronger perhaps than the movie on which it's based. The voice characterization is, no pun intended, engaging. And the puzzles, while perhaps easy for hard core adventure gamers, are hard enough to amuse those of us with busy lives.

Where the game fails, really, is in its graphical quality. The graphics are hardly better than designers obviously believed they were doing better work than that early entrant into the genre, because they keep forcing 'artful' camera angles on the player, whether she wants them or not. These constantly-switching camera angles don't quite make the game unplayable, but they are annoying enough to waste your time. Often, you'll lose track of where you are in a particular room because the cuts from the various camera angles are so severe, your location is in no way obvious. In a few rooms the problem is so acute that you have to move on faith.

Don't worry, though. The gamemakers have made it largely impossible for your accidental movements to get you into trouble. In one especially laughable scene, it's *impossible* for you to fall off a rail-less bridge, but entirely easy for you to get gobbled up by an unseen monster. This, of course, is a significant problem in a game which otherwise strives for plausibility.

WIth these somewhat glaring design faults hanging over the game, the inevitable Insurrection. It does wonderfully amplify that plot. You should also buy it if you need to keep abreast of the development of the Star Trek genre. This is an important stepping stone in that process. And if you're a young adventure gamer, still uncertain of whether you like adventure games, this one will help hone your adventure-playing skills while keeping you in a familiar environment.

But if what you really want is to be immersed in the Star Trek universe, be surrounded by known characters, and solve puzzles while galavanting around the galaxy, buy the much superior "Starfleet Academy" on DVD. It's often miscast as an action game, but in truth it's a grander adventure than this.