Warf would be proud. Review

Warf would be proud.

You have just been initiated as a man, a warrior. Join the Klingon forces with Gowron, head of the Klingon High Council. Investigate your father’s death in this full motion video adventure game.

You are Pok, son of Torghn

and K’Tar, and you must point-and-click your way through the mystery surrounding

your fathers murder. The full motion video of the game is very respectable.

It fills up the whole screen, which is something that many games lack, and the

video quality is pretty good. There is some scratchiness and graininess to the

film, but that can be ignored because of its good plot and funny dialogue. The

filming was directed by Jonathan Frakes who played Commander Riker on Star Trek

the Next Generation.

The directorial quality is just as good as the recent movie he directed, Star Trek: First Contact. Which makes it about equal to a regular Star Trek show, and its just as fun. Although Star Trek: Klingon doesn’t boast any of Star Trek’s regular actors, it does include Gowron (Robert O’Reilly) who periodically appears. You may remember him from his buggy, bulging eyes and the intriguing use of his eyebrows.

The other part of this title is the interactive Klingon Language Lab. If you need to look up a Klingon insult, it’s just a click away. How about a word to call your little brother? Try “veregan Ha’DIbaH”: a Ferengi dog. Can’t pronounce it? Just click on Tutor and Gowron will say it. Follow his lips and learn to speak Klingon! It uses a Klingon computer interface that comes complete with the actual computer bleeps and bloops heard on the TV show. Study hard, because there are also tests and quizzes, I’ll bet you wish you took this course instead of Spanish in high school… It also has a voice recognition system that allows you to talk into your microphone and attempt to properly enunciate Klingon words. Don’t accidentally say “qoH” or fool, when you mean to say “HoD” or captain!

At any point during the game

you can double-click and stop the film on its current frame. You will be presented

with a cursor that spins around, and when you move it over something that is

identifiable by the computer, it will tell you all about the item. This is vital

to playing the game, for when you are asked to bring the worms over to eat (in

Klingon), you’d better not grab the blood wine by mistake! There are other parts

when the action stops where you must make a decision, either by clicking on

something or just waiting and trying to see what happens. Depending on your

decisions, you’ll either show that you are a true Klingon warrior, or if you’re

just Human slime.

There are two levels of sound quality in this game. If you have a 2x CD-ROM, you’ll have to settle for the standard quality, while anyone with a 4x CD-ROM (or better), you can benefit from the enhanced sound. All the background sounds and speech are great. They are crystal clear; the gap between TV and computer video is closing. There were some problems with the synchronizing of the soundtrack being played simultaneously with the video. At points, the mouth movements are off from the actual speech, and it looks a little silly. But for the most part, audiophiles will be pleased.

Unfortunately, the length of the game was fairly disappointing. It took about 40 minutes in all, and with no variation in gameplay, that’s about all you get. It’s great fun the first time through though, and for a quick thrill, it’s worth it. The addition of the Language Lab will keep long time followers here, and the voice recognition technology allows you to quickly learn the galaxy’s favorite language, Klingon! Something to spice up any resume.