Star Trek: Hidden Evil

Guiding Ensign Sovok from a third-person perspective, the player explores the planet, speaking with other Starfleet officers--including Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander Data (Brent Spiner)--and planet residents to advance the story line. Gameplay follows standard action-adventure conventions such as puzzle solving and dialogue sequences. Infrequent action segments feature phaser combat with Romulan guards.

Star Trek: Hidden Evil's easy-to-use interface closely resembles the movie's art design, which should please die-hard fans. Sovok must use a variety of Star Trek tricks and tools, including the communication badge, tricorder, phaser, and Vulcan neck pinch, in order to solve key situations and combat the Romulan enemies. Adventure fans will be pleased with Star Trek: Hidden Evil; the story line is solid and the puzzles are challenging. Serious action gamers, though, will find Hidden Evil's combat sequences lacking. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros:

• Includes likenesses and voices of Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner
• Interface and visuals capture the essence of Star Trek
• Adventure sequences offer challenging and interesting puzzles

• Doesn't offer many hours of gameplay
• Limited action sequences create uninteresting combat