Though you don't have to be a Trekkie/er to appreciate Star Trek: TCS, it certainly helps. At the very least, a basic familiarity with the sci-fi concepts of "shields", "warp drive", and "phasers" is essential (my girlfriend, an avid historical gamer who has never watched a Star Trek episode or Star Wars movie in its entirety, simply couldn't visualize the action and thus failed to get into it).

Published during the time of the Trek movies, which were far more violent and militaristic than the later Next Generation shows and films, this is the rare Star Trek-licensed product that allows players to shamelessly kick some Romulan (or Klingon, or Federation, or Gorn) tail, with hardly a second thought as to the Prime Directive or progressive humanist values (so if the prospect of shouting "Set phasers to OBLITERATE!" makes you giggle, then this might be up your alley).

Mechanically-speaking, ST:TCS is a fairly standard (perhaps even "generic") hex-based military simulator. Players select from a variety of ships described in the rule book, spend the next five minutes copying the information from the book to their "control panel" sheet (thankfully, there are also pre-filled sheets you can photocopy if you know which ships everyone will be using in advance), then spend the next thirty minutes or so allocating energy, spending movement points, calculating to-hit numbers, taking into account damage modifiers, and whatnot... you know, typical, hex-based combat simulator stuff (designed by FASA, this plays in certain resepcts as a simplified version of BATTLETECH).

Obviously, the luck factor is high as everything ultimately comes down to rolls of the dice. Also, as with most games of this type, the initial scenario will have a huge bearing on the game (for instance, the outcome of a one-on-one slugfest between a barely-armed cargo freighter and a Klingon Ever-Victorious class battle cruiser will never be in doubt). To get the most out of the game, players will ahve to come up with somewhat more sophisticated scenarios than "whoever blows the other guy up wins".

Considered on its own, ST:TCS is a mediocre hex-based combat simulator with some special appeal to die-hard Trek fans. However, this game is haunted by the specter of another Star-Trek inspired hex-based combat game: Star Fleet Battles, which is both more satisfying (if also more complicated) as a game and also a more detailed (if at times divergent) re-creation of the Star Trek universe. Also, the availability of fan-created Next Generation expansions for Star Fleet Battles, featuring new races like the Cardassians and Borg, online make that product superior to ST:TCS in terms of capturing the full Trek experience, whereas ST:TCS is confined to the era of the first three films.

So why would anyone buy ST:TCS instead?

1. If they absolutely need a Trek-based combat simulator but find Star Fleet Battles too complex as a game or too unorthodox in its interpretation of Star Trek lore.

2. If they are collectors of Star Trek memorabillia.

3. If they can find it for less than $10 on ebay.

For my money, I'd go with Star Fleet Battles and download a Next Generation expansion from a fan site.

-E-