Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars

Billed as a real-time strategy game, Dominion Wars lets you point and click a fleet of up to six hand-chosen captains and vessels through 10 missions and plenty of multiplayer action. You don't have direct control of ship weapons like you do in Interplay's excellent Starfleet Command series; in this game, your captains fire however they see fit. But you do control some ships' systems (scanners, transporters, shields, etc.,), and you have pinpoint control over the camera, which showcases the game's greatest strength: graphics.

The exact visuals don't sell the game, the presentation does. It's undeniably exciting to watch a fleet of Federation ships, flanked by sleek Klingon Birds of Prey, all firing photon (or quantum) torpedoes and phasers into the sides of swift-moving Dominion ships and fishlike Cardassian warships--all with the Bajoran wormhole and the titular space station as a backdrop. The strategy has you using command points you've earned to draft fleets, captains, and special weapons. Additionally, the game ships with the full version of Starship Creator: Warp II. You can build your own ships and captains and import them into the game.

Sadly, this game was let out of dry dock a little early, and is saddled with numerous bugs and problems. Be sure to beam up the latest patch from ww4.simonsays.com/dominionwars_site/Support.htm. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Great graphics and camera system
• Thrilling combat and a decent story line

• Some severe bugs and stability problems

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dominion Wars, you'll command up to six ships simultaneously. Select from more than 20 different starship classes, including several original, never-before-seen ship designs. Choose a captain for each ship. Groom your captains as they move through progressive missions. Establish the crew for each mission--including engineering, security, and bridge personnel. Fully control each ship. Execute sensor sweeps and space scans, allocate power to shields and engines, identify threats, and deploy weapons. Transport crew members for boarding and conquering enemy ships.

Join in multiplayer online gameplay for up to eight players. Play as any one of the four races in such scenarios as Open Space Deathmatch, Deathmatch with Asteroids, Planets, Nebulae, and Starbase Attack/Defend. You can also import ships from Star Trek: Starship Creator Warp 2, included in the box. Design Defiant-class, Galaxy-class, Akira-class, and Klingon B'Rel-class Birds of Prey, then fly them in multiplayer Dominion Wars battles.