Boldly going into better things

STAR Trek would appear to be the perfect template for a video game. All that exploring strange new worlds stuff, Klingons on the starboard bow and a rich cast of characters that need no introduction.

Which makes it all the more mysterious that most Star Trek games up until now have been a bit...well, pants really.

Ironically, the game that's going to change all that is based on the least successful Star Trek series of all: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Dominion War shadows the show's final two seasons closely which had the Federation teaming up with the Klingons to wage war on the Kardassians and the Dominion Alliance for ultimate control of the Alpha Quadrant.

At this point it would have been easy for the game developers behind Dominion Wars to make their title a shoot 'em up. Something like a Wing Commander game only set in a Star Trek universe.

Thankfully, the guys at Gizmo Games - the team behind this new Star Trek title - had loftier aspirations.

To my mind, Gary Wagner, Gizmo's president, successfully put his finger on what makes Star Trek so appealing when he said: "Big space ships and ladies in green tinfoil". And a game about ladies in green tinfoil wasn't on the cards.

So Dominion Wars is a real time strategy game of space combat. You recruit your captains, assign them to a ship (choose from 24 different models) and send 'em out to blast the bad guys to atoms.

As you progress, your fleet can be upgraded with additional weapons (extended range phasers, better photon torpedoes etc) and greater defensive capabilities. There's even a nifty virus which, when deployed, gives your guys temporary control of enemy ships.

You have six ships at your disposal and there's a real incentive to keep them alive. A battle scarred cruiser is far more effective than a rookie fighter.

I was no fan of Deep Space Nine but I've watch enough episodes to realise the painstaking attention to detail lavished on this game's graphics. Everything is impressively modelled and the frame rate holds up well, even when there's a lot happening on screen.

The strategic element is challenging and you'll need several attempts to beat the game's later levels but the action, when it happens, is remarkably similar to the show itself. As a player, you can move a ship left and right as well as forwards and backwards. The game itself controls up and down movement.

The first time your fighter goes into battle with a cruiser and flies right over the top, raining down phaser fire, I guarantee you'll just stop and stare. This is one title that puts the "special" in effects.

So is this the perfect Star Trek game? Well there are some niggles. The strategy can be frustrating for anyone looking to jump straight into combat, and the battles themselves can be very drawn out.

Overall, though, fans of Deep Space Nine can feel well satisfied by Dominion War.

Alone In The Dark 4: The New Nightmare. Format: DC/PC CD-ROM. (£29.99 approx).

OWNERS of the Dreamcast have suffered some pretty heavy blows in recent days.

First Sega decided not to add on-line features to key titles like Daytona, then Black & White lost its publishing deal and other eagerly-anticipated games were canned.

Thankfully, Infogrames has decided to stick with Sega's much under-rated box of tricks by releasing Alone In The Dark 4.

That means DC owners can enjoy the chills and thrills that have impressed PlayStation users in the past few weeks. The story and gameplay are much the same, but the visuals have been given an extra polish. The result is sumptuous survival horror title that's the perfect riposte to PS2-owning mates who reckon their deck has the best graphics.

PC owners can also sample the French fear-fest this month. Alone In The Dark 4 looks positively gorgeous if you have a decent graphics card.

Other new releases out this week:

Modern Groove (PS2): An interactive DVD title that's something of a throwback to the Mega CD days. If you want to create music tracks, why not seek out a copy of Music 2000 on the PS1? At least it's cheap at £19.99.

Dragon Riders (PC): Ubi Soft has another go at the role-playing game on the PC, a platform that's proven a particularly hard nut to crack with this genre (anyone remember Silver?). Shades of Panzer Dragoon Saga in the hero's ability to ride tame dragons. £29.99.

Black & White (PS1): Lionhead's amazing RPG/god sim arrives in truncated form on the PlayStation. It's still a classic because the team spent so much time polishing the gameplay that it's easy to ignore the ropey graphics. £29.99.

GIZMO OF THE WEEK

THE PS2 may boast a built in DVD, but Sony's obsession with region coding means you are stuck with UK only disks

A legion on cheaply-made DVD players which use the PS2 DVD chipset can be hacked to play films from around the world. This can be useful if you are a film buff. Movies appear on disk in the United States many months before they hit the shelves of your local Blockbuster video store. Those cunning engineers at Datel have hit upon an ingenious way of overcoming the PS2's region coding.

DVD region X uses software and a memory cartridge to fool the PS2 into playing movies from any country on the world. What's more it's amazingly cheap, at just £19.99

The DVD region X is available from all good video game stores now.