Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive

Eastside Games have now offered up the Lower Decks mobile game and I've been hacking away at it for a couple of weeks.

Star Trek mobile games are nothing new but in the big landscape of the franchise many have fallen by the wayside leaving just two that dominate the handheld realm; Timelines and Fleet Command. 

The second of those has had some serious heavyweight marketing too with the likes of Sonequa Martin-Green, Rainn Wilson, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes all appearing in its adverts. Both this and Timelines have run for a number of years unchallenged. While I've stepped away from mobile gaming as a whole in the last 18 months after what seemed like a religious conviction to play Timelines, I thought I might give this one a go. It couldn't hurt...!

The basic premise is that there are a series of holodeck simulations running and you just need to collect resources be it latinum,  dilithium and credits. Each of these simulations can then be upgraded, more crew can be assigned and key characters from the Lower Decks series can be used to automate the simulation. These in turn produce more items at a faster rate without you having to sit there and collect resources every 30 seconds (or longer).

Simulations in the game include the Shuttle Bay, Main Engineering, the Klingon Rite of Ascension, Kaminar, Chateau Picard and two of the environments from the Genesis Planet. Just from those there is a broad cross-section of the material used in the game and it looks great. The interface is simple with a slide up-or-down to view each of the simulation locations and clear buttons to press to collect items or upgrade. What more could you want when you've got some time to kill?

But there's also a whole ton of wrong in there too. For one thing this is one of the most repetitive Star Trek games out there. Ok, after a fair few years I finally departed from Timelines because it had just become too samey. The character options were becoming tenuous and my interest waned and died. It had the occasional facelift but there wasn't much new and no real reason to invest in the game to level up. The same is true here but after a lot shorter play time.

With Fleet Command the upgrades take an eternity but there is a lot to do and build plus there's the online aspect out battling on your ships. The Badgey Directive has absolutely none of this. Yes, you can upgrade the simulations but graphically there's not a lot that changes - a shuttle changes to a better model or the Klingons change from TNG to TOS versions - but that's it. At the core you still have to collect the resources to complete level goals and step up to the next chapter. 

And repeat.

At the moment for example I've got to a point where I'm working at getting 800 crew working at Chateau Picard. It requires a lot of funds - a vast amount of funds and an even longer amount of time to collect the required amount. I've automated everything so all I do is drop on to collect the Timed Crate reward and that's about it. If I get enough resources I might upgrade a character or simulation but that's only if and when I need to in line with the game goals.

Goals (which appear at the top of the game screen), might be to open up a new simulation, reach a certain number of crew overall or in one of the settings, it could just be to collect an amount of dilithium. In turn these provide access to chests and valuable items but also count toward the number of objectives needed to complete that specific chapter.

One of the side points to this mobile game is the regular events which tend to have some sort of Star Trek episodic theme to them but again, it's a variation on a very familiar theme. Indeed, that initial one or two simulation set up to get automated can be a right pain in the arse  as everything in the events is reset from the start. You can spend ten minutes just punching the collect button on the Shuttle Bay to be able to open up a second deck and then even longer to get characters to run them.

The frustrating thing is the time factor. There's a lot of doing nothing unless you pay for some upgrades, there's a lot of time spent watching adverts to get fund bonuses or dilithium bonuses and there's not much time actually playing the game. It seems to be one of those all or nothing play types where you have to invest a stupid amount of your life to get going and then the payoff is less than, ironically, rewarding.

The Badgey Directive looks nice and opening up the new locations on the holodecks is nifty. As I've just levelled up to Chapter 12 there's still a Risa, Q's Courtroom and Vulcan to unlock plus many of the 40 plus characters who can each help power those situations. Of the crew, there's the main four characters of Mariner, Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford plus the senior staff of the USS Cerritos and various faces that have appeared through the first two seasons. Some you'll remember and others may take a while to recognise.

The game does include cut scenes with some form of story that links into the overall chapter title. Problem is that these are very quickly skippable and have absolutely zero bearing on anything that happens on the screen because each round/chapter is a rehack of the previous. Some of the levels are swapped in and out so in Chapter 12 there's no Cardassian Interrogation Room or Tropical Genesis Planet but apart from that there's no alteration to the basics of the gameplay because each simulation operates on the same principles - collect, automate, increase crew and upgrade.

The expansion opportunities too seem somewhat limited with only new environments and new characters being the big draw here. I'd struggle to suggest how else Eastside Games can stretch the concept. Already they're managed to link in Fair Haven and The Best of Both Worlds with the mini-events which has seen players collect everything from Borg Babies to Shamrocks.

Would I recommend this? Probably not unless you have a lot of time to waste and are prepared to wait a lifetime for any form of decent reward. It looks nice on the box with all of its little animations and things going on in the background but I just can't see this being a game with a great deal of shelf life on the mobile games stores - it doesn't keep your interest for long enough. 

Enjoyed this article? Why not like and share to spread the word!

Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

The Good and the Bad: Star Trek Adversaries Is Mobile

Already available on PC, the Star Trek Adversaries game has now transferred onto the Apple App Store for us mobile gamers to enjoy.

Now it's been a little while since I last reviewed any form of online game. I still play Timelines regularly however Wrath of Gems and Trexels have both fallen to the wayside and will probably soon find themselves deleted from my phone.

So what makes this one any different to the handful already available?

Adversaries places you into starship combat but the spin on this which makes it different from the similar battle aspect of Timelines is that this is all turn-based card playing. You face off against an opponent either in multiplayer or versus the computer armed with a selected deck of thirty cards including an array of both ships and characters.

From your chosen flagship (there's a list and all come with different features to use) you can then dispatch up to four ships to battle your equally laden opponent. Each ship/card played can have its own advantage to play such as inflicting increased damage or rebuilding your own health and it's a straight out fight to be the first one to destroy your enemy's flagship.

Currently the Gamesparks game only supports Klingon versus Federation but there's a ton of ships available within the framework from the original USS Enterprise right through to the new Klingon Bird of Prey from Discovery. Each ship has its own attack and defence score and its down to you to work out the best way to play your cards although there is a degree of the game itself highlighting which cards you can play.

This isn't a game that you can really dip in and out of easily as I've discovered after a few days of playing. For one, the time for a turn is limited to two minutes for a versus computer and 30 mins per turn for an online match. You need to be able to dedicate the time to it otherwise it will nark off your opponents at how long it can take to have a go. Even with the computer battles you need a good 15 to 20 mins to play it through properly and, honestly, I just don't have that kind of time every day for two or three games.

The concept is great and there's the chance to add to your deck, customise each flagship with their own set of 30 cards to get the maximum effect in each confrontation. It is, therefore, incredibly customisable and no two decks will be even remotely the same. There is also the now-obligatory pay to upgrade options with bigger packs with more powerful ships and allies.

The detail on this game - which has very clear CBS backing - is phenomenal. The ships look stunning and the recreations of the characters are glorious but it can look as amazing as you want if there's nothing under the surface.

Luckily there is but, as I've noted, you're going to need to invest heavily in playing to get yourself up the rankings on multiplayer. When I say invest I mean financially and in time because what I have noticed on the single player mode is how quickly the opponent health level jumps once you're past the most basic level of the game. Once past this point yoou'll want to start purchasing more powerful flagships (example above), better cards...the list goes on. Talk about being lulled into a false sense of security from the off but I really should expect it fro every mobile game these days.

Adversaries is one of those games that I would love to love but I just can't. With Wrath of Gems and Timelines I'm able to drop in and out a few times a day - even when there's an event - and play in my own time. With real world commitments like family and work, Adversaries demands your attention for a sustained period of time and if I want to do that with ship based card-backed combat I'll turn to Attack Wing or even the galaxy expanding Ascendancy.

In fact, Adversaries does have a ton of features similar to Attack Wing without the movement element if you think about it. You have flagships, card decks for each ship...it's all there but I want to invest my time in that physically and it gets me talking to other people not locked to a mobile phone screen.

It's still early days for this latest mobile experience and just look how much the others have chopped and changed over the years to become slicker games. Adversaries has a lot of potential and it's only just scratched the surface with its use of the Federation and Klingon ships. Plus there must be an absolute ton of characters still to drop into the game. But does it all really matter? 

I'm certain that if you want to get up the rankings then the basic cards you can purchase with credits won't make you Top Dog and for sure the "Ultimate" special features will only come alive with the power of stronger cards. I actually don't think that adding factions such as the Romulans or the Borg or even offering more characters will entice the more casual Star Trek gamer because they won't make that much difference to the gameplay and this might be Adversaries' biggest downfall - there's not enough variety in the game. It's one type of combat over and over and over again and changing to play someone else won't alleviate that. It's the same actions repetitively and if your fleet's crap it's going to stay crap unless you (gonna say it again) invest.

One final good point - the selection of ship skins is insane. Have a ganders through and you can be shuttles, Runabouts, the NX-refit, a Voth city ship, armoured Voyager, the Shenzhou or the biggest draw - the refreshed Constitution Class from the season one finale of Discovery. Well worth two minutes of your time to have a scroll through and spin around of all of the craft available. Pick a ship then click on the ship icon in the bottom right corner to see what skins are hidden away...

Nevertheless, have a dip in but I for one think there are better and more involving Star Trek games out there to take your time and money if that's your thing. I may well play again in a few months to see what improvements have been made but at the moment I'll take my playing thumbs elsewhere.

Played Adversaries? What's your take on this new mobile game?

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Some Kind of Star Trek: The Podcast Episode Three

Back with more news and interviews in our third podcast episode.

We're a bit ahead but couldn't turn down the chance to chat with our friend Jim Bray from Star Trek Anthology plus we cover off a couple of news stories too -

The tragic death of Anton Yelchin

Star Trek Timelines latest event

Getting into the new The Fifty Year Mission book from Ed Gross and Mark A Altman

Star Trek Anthology - here's our original post from exactly one year ago!

You can check out the podcast right now via iTunes by searching Some Kind of Star Trek or download it here from Soundcloud. 

PLEASE take the time to share and review and let us know what YOU want to hear!

Live on YouTube

Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Join the conversation on Star Trek: Risa 

Missing Persons: Timelines Updated

Try as I might I can't pull myself away from playing the addictive Star Trek Timelines. 

My Trekkie friends play it, we follow the vids, discuss useful characters, pointless traits and just who did you get when the portal threw up the choice of Old Bashir, Seven of Nine or Captain Scott?

Yes, it's become an obsession within an obsession as  I've collected characters completed missions and acquired starships since the initial launch in January. Y'know what, it's even managed to get me to part with a little bit of cash each month to get some daily dilithium (really makes a difference!).

But Timelines has never sat on its laurels with multiple changes to the starship combat levels, updated screen layouts  for traits and skills plus new additions such as the Dabo Wheel and most recently the new Shuttle Boosts. Impressively there are now missions which cater for your one and two star characters that you might have binned off as useless to use their spots for three, four and five star crew.

The biggest addition has been the events with three so far taking us into the monochrome world of Captain Proton, the 30th anniversary episode Trials and Tribbleations homage mashed up with Klingons and most recently the Mirror Universe offering Kirk and Uhura prizes. Utilising the shuttle missions players have had the chance to win limited time characters and get them maxed up in a few days which certainly helps on some of the harder difficulties and later episodes.

One of the biggest draws for me has been the characters and there are new ones very regularly. Even just this week Disruptor Beam have added ten new crew options including Captain Kurn, Fencing Barclay, Chief Engineer Geordi (it's taken this long for this option?) and Carol Marcus but chatting to Ian Kimmins from the Irish USS Cuchulain group the two of us came to realise that there were still some big players missing from the game.

Ian and I have been chatting about Timelines for a while now, comparing crews and helping each other out with questions and trying to work out if using that Dabo Wheel is actually worth the risk; but we thought it would be cool to pull together a list of ten characters we think should be added to the Timelines Hall of Fame in the near future. So here's Ian and my choices in no particular order...

Gorn Captain ***

Skills: 31 Command, 41 Security

Traits: Gorn, Resourceful, Duelist, Veteran

A truly classic character that needs to be in the game - and I mean the original version not the CGI one from In a Mirror Darkly. One of my favourite aliens ever and thoroughly deserving of a place in the game.

Admiral Kirk ****

Skills: 72 Command, 39 Diplomacy, 68 Security

Traits: Human, Federation, Starfleet, Resourceful, Tactician

Either with antique glasses nose-perched or that blood stain across the open uniform flap for the image. We do have a "movie" Kirk already in his Nexus version but there's no Admiral option to date. This could make an awesome The Wrath of Khan event if he was introduced then as one of two possible prizes. This Kirk's skills would sit somewhere between the two versions from the five year mission (Captain Kirk and Command Wrap Kirk) and that Generations Nexus one.

Dathon ***

Skills: 70 Diplomacy, 60 Command, 

Traits: Child of Tamar, Inspiring, Diplomat

Jalad, Tanagra; we all know the stories but once again it's a classic guest character who's been overlooked for some perhaps lesser main character versions and less memorable guest stars. Also this then begs the question will we get a Captain Terrell since both are played by the late Paul Winfield.

Icheb **

Skills: 24 Engineering, 34 Science
Traits: Innovative, Civilian, Brunali, Astrophysicist
If we've been granted the future version of Naomi Wildman surely Icheb - and we mean the Manu Intiraymi version - isn't far away. If memory serves this is the only other major guest crew character from Voyager that hasn't made his way into the game as yet. I'm almost certain you'd get Manu to record some new lines too!!! 

Guinan *****

Skills: 100 Diplomacy

Traits: El-Aurian, Diplomacy, History, Bartender

No-brainer. I could suggest a couple of versions but I'd plump for the one from Night Terrors carrying her big gun from Magus III. I'm very surprised that we've not had the Enterprise's bartender yet. Could this be due to image rights? Honestly I don't know but she's got to be an essential addition. I think having Guinan as a super rare character would also make this a highly sought crew addition.

Generations Sailor Worf ***

Skills: Klingon, Federation, Starfleet, Duelist, Costumed 

Traits: 43 Command, 50 Security 

We rarely get to see the The Next Generation crew out of uniform so this is a unique version of Worf from his time on the show. After all we've had Tommy Gun Dixon so other variants must be coming! The current Worf characters in game follow a fairly similar path, having a costumed version will add an extra trait to his character here and an extra dimension to the Timelines universe.

Gary Seven ****

Skills: Human, Crafty, Resourceful, Civilian

Traits: 21 Command, 42 Diplomacy, 50 Engineering

Gary Seven is a slightly enigmatic character from The Original Series. Even though he appeared only in one episode he left a major mark. To add a character of this quality to the game will only enhance the playability and with his unique skills and traits he would be a must have! Cat Essential.

Zhian'tara Odo (Facets) *****

Skills: Diplomat, Changling, Bajoran Constable, Cultural Figure

Traits: 67 Diplomacy, 51 Security, 52 Command

Odo and Jadzia Dax are both great Deep Space Nine characters. This particular combination version of them makes them one of a kind. Fusing a two star Jadzia and a three star Odo would be the logical way to the five star experience and offers a new Easter Egg just as we had with the recent Tuvix combo.

Vic Fontaine *****

Skills: 31 Medicine, 73 Diplomat, 57 Command
Traits: Hologram, Federation, Inspiring, Gambler, Counsellor
Vic is a great character in Deep Space Nine. He keeps the whole crew entertained and even manages to counsel Nog in his spare time! Vic was a significant additional character in the final season of the show and certainly added a new dynamic that we weren't expecting. He's a great character to add another unique dimension to the Timelines universe!

Erika Hernandez ***

Skills: Human, Starfleet, Pilot, Explorer

Traits: 43 Command, 26 Diplomacy, 16 Security

As captain of the NX-02 Erika Hernandez was one of the first female captains in space and an important character in Enterprise. Hernandez will add an exciting alternative to the existing Enterprise characters and also to the overall game.

Honourable Mentions

Honestly we could have gone on for a much longer list but confined ourselves to a core ten we would love to see. Other considerations that came in were Leeta, Vedek Bareil and the baseball versions of the crew from Take Me Out to the Holosuite from Deep Space Nine plus Voyager's resident killer-come-saviour Lon Suder and thanks to Ian for those additional "bubbling under" suggestions. However, I then realised there's a massive gap in the game once I'd considered a Tholian, Tolian Soran and Ru'afo - where are all the variants from The Motion Picture?

Not only am I thinking of the crew options, Kolinar Spock, Drafted McCoy but also V'Ger Ilia for instance? It just seems there's a very obvious hole that's not yet been plugged unless Disruptor Beam have something up their sleeve! Seems very strange we've not had any from the initial movie but then it might be an adversity to grey one-piece uniforms...What's the score on that Mr Gallup?!

Overall though we can't fault Timelines because it is constantly changing, the team give us constant updates in-game and via their brilliant YouTube channels and their game tutorials have come in handy to get new starters thoroughly immersed in the multi-verse. Keep it up team, we're loving what you're doing!

Who do you think HAS to be included in Star Trek Timelines? What essential characters are still missing from this ever-expanding mobile game? Let us know below!

NOW check out and subscribe to our monthly podcast. You can find us on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher by searching "Some Kind of Star Trek". Episode one is live and ready for you to listen!

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Join the conversation on Star Trek: Risa 

A Gem of a Game

Last year Genera brought us Star Trek: The Wrath of Gems and for a while I tootled along and played it a bit. 

Then both Trexels and lately Timelines took my Star Trek gaming attention elsewhere. Trexels fell by the wayside a little and then I pottered back in the last two weeks to Gems while still hammering the shuttle missions on Timelines to build up the crew stats. So why the heck am I bothering with something that is "just another columns game" after effectively giving up with it six months ago?

I'm not a sucker for punishment and totally go into playing Gems knowing that it's classic freemium material. The basic concept of the game is to align gems of different colours (red, orange, purple, blue, yellow and silver) to score points and use them in turn to damage your opponents and/or build up power for special abilities. Combining five or more activates some sort of super-bonus feature which is effectively game over for your opponent.

OK, it's really just another take on Tetris or that annoying candy game that seemingly everyone was playing about 18 months ago and in some respects its not too dissimilar to those pinball machines where they had the generic internals and slapped a franchise overlay on it.

There are two basic parts to the game. First there's a storyline which allows you to battle enemy characters or ships to gain points and level up characters to make conflicts easier. This takes place over a series of instalments gradually increasing in difficulty.

The second is a Versus mode in which you take on other players to win health packs, ship repair packs, character cards, ship cards, coins or dilithium which can be used to improve your chances both here and in the story mode. Within the Versus section you choose to enter a competition which might be under the header of a character (ie La Forge) or a ship (ie Negh'Var) with various rewards enroute to the Big Named Prize. These pretty much change each week or so and require some dedicated visits to climb the rankings, obliterate your peers and collect the rewards.

Now I stepped away last year while playing on my Android phone and recently switched over to iPhone. As part of the switch I chose to reinstall the game and see if anything had changed. Y'see I'd become rather bored with the whole thing. The characters were a bit dull and there didn't seem to be much draw as it became increasingly hard to level up my Worf and Data characters.

Gems focuses mainly on the characters and ships from The Next Generation and The Original Series be it the crews or alien races including the Klingons, Romulans, Anticans and a host of other Randoms introduced for the game. The same went for the ships as Birds-of-Prey, D7s and the Enterprise (original and D) warped in, each with its own quirks and special abilities to exploit. Thing is you tend to lean on particular characters and level them up and then rely on their gem characteristics forever more. For instance, Inagh, my choice Klingon uses the purple gems to kick out a phenomenal attack, my Spock uses (at present) the silver, yellow and orange crystals for a variety of actions.

However things have changed with the game now including character versions from The Next Generation movies and The Motion Picture plus ships from other spots in the franchise such as the Negh'Var from Deep Space Nine and very recently the Enterprise-A and the Romulan Scout. I would have liked the classic movie characters to have been decked out in their monster maroon outfits (any reason why?) but it has opened up more playability with the game. These new characters are stronger, have more powerful attacks and are rarer to win. I just feel sorry for Riker who appears to have put on about 10 stone when you compare his The Next Generation avatar to the one from the movies.

To be fair this could be any generic gem collecting game but giving it the Star Trek spin with ships and characters to collect and level up does work. I'm in no way saying that this is the most unique, amazing Star Trek experience ever - get Online or Timelines if you're searching for that kind of gaming - but it's certainly a great way to pass some time. The graphics and semi-cartoon style really work and I'd choose playing this just for the strategy element in preference to the Facebook Alien Domain any day. I actually think one of the reasons I didn't "get" this game is because some of the features are hidden away and I had to find them to understand why some of my versus battles were ending in utter disaster.

Y'see, it turns out that your crew (the ones who fight those clever little team battles) actually make a difference to the abilities of your ship when you assign them. It's taken me a fair few months to work that piece out and it's made a massive difference to playing the events. I actually stand a bit more of a chance now.

Gems has certainly kept me entertained as my Constitution Class USS Enterprise takes a pummelling from other Enterprise's, Birds of Prey and the occasional D7. The Star Trek thing may just be a nice overlay but seeing the ships in action is oddly satisfying but not perhaps on the level you might be expecting in Timelines. What is nice is that between all the various games that are available just on the mobile platform, there is a very impressive degree of differences - puzzles, action, adventure, story, starship battles - and all with their merits whether as long term time or money "investments" for fans.

Definitely one for enjoyment rather than faithful immersion. The touches are there but it can feel like a cash in at times. For me the choice to return to Gems might be the Star Trek overlay but it's also something that's kept the grey cells ticking over and definitely entertained. Look past that glossy and its a game that will keep you entertained or at the least fill a spare five minutes.


Have you indulged in the Gems? Casual timeout or something more?

You can find out more about the game, competitions and lots of other bits by visiting the official site HERE from which you can also download it!

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Join the conversation on Star Trek: Risa

Ships, Films and Games: Guesting with Irish Trekkie

Just a quick one - for a few months now both Damien (TheIrishTrekkie) and myself have been thinking of ways to join forces.

Just over a week ago we grabbed a couple of hours for what we hope will be our first foray into a two-pronged Trek attack and chose to tackle our favourite subject - that of the Starships Collection plus Beyond and finally Timelines. Hilariously our friends over at The Engage Podcast suggested a team up just 24 hours ahead of our already planned chatter - those guys have some interesting mental powers...!!!

Every time I've guested on a fellow fan's podcast or channel it's been a great experience and this was just as good in every single way. Damien's a great guy to work with and we managed to cover current ships in the series (Phoenix and the Xindi Aquatic Cruiser) plus starship model misfires, the highs and lows of the ships we know are coming in the 70's plus which craft we expect to see as specials from the third reboot movie, Star Trek Beyond. 

Keeping it starships we even managed to chat about our progress on the mobile Timelines game and the way in which starship combat and the look of the craft work - and don't work in this new mobile gaming experience. How Damien has managed to level up so quickly bugged me for a few days but fortunately some acquisition of tools suddenly ramped up all my abilities and I'm back on track (Ensign Wesley Crusher and Captain Kirk are superb crew).

I'd also direct you all to Damien's EXCELLENT YouTube channel where he posts vids unboxing the latest starship models and much, much, much more. I like to think his starship vids are the ying to my written review yang if you will! It's a great place for some generally great geeky stuff so head there right now. Oh and there's even some Star Trek themed pancakes goin' on there from this week...

What we discussed I'll leave for you to drop onto the video below and take a look but needless to say it was a great hour and I hope that we can do it again soon. If you have any suggestions what we could discuss, drop a line below. From the feedback so far it seems we will be putting a second vid together and hopefully not too distant.

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr
Join the conversation on Star Trek: Risa

You're in Command: Star Trek Timelines

For the last two weeks I've had the fortune to be playing the beta version of Star Trek Timelines and this week it's gone live across the world!

For months we've been waiting for its arrival, to play this generation spanning adventure that we hoped would rock the Star Trek gaming world. So, after two weeks of testing and as it now drops onto the phones and tablets of Trekkies everywhere on iOS and Android, what do we really think? 

It's like no other mobile Star Trek game you have ever played. Fact.

I could just end the review there and leave you to download it but let's get a little closer and have a better taste of game play. Set aside Trexels, maybe even pause Online because here's something new and very close to the original material. 

At the core of Timelines we have a temporal anomaly which has brought characters and ships from different times into one place hence you can be fighting a Constitution Class in its original styling with a Constellation class ship one minute then having Sisko, a Hirogen and Uhura teaming up for an away mission the next. On one mission you're at Regula One, then in a heartbeat you're orbiting the Caretaker Array - yes, the possibilities and combinations truly are endless with Timelines via this wonderous plot device. 

Reed - slightly proficient in Command and Security. Rubbish at Medicine. 

As you progress through the game completing episodes or cashing in prize funds you'll gain additional characters who can join your crew and provide a healthy bundle of benefits. There are six distinct skill sets; Command,  Diplomacy,  Science, Medical, Engineering, Security and each character carries a combination of one or more of these abilities and at differing skill levels. Got it? Good, because each character will also have certain personality traits that will provide extra bonuses on away missions and help complete tasks more effectively. For example, Ezri Dax has the Medical skill but doesn't have the Doctor personality trait which could leave some paths through an episode segment locked until you have a suitable candidate (e.g. McCoy) but then you might need to level him up in turn to finish the job. One issue here is that the Train and Advance buttons don't respond to touch very well and require numerous "taps" to try and level up your character. Very annoying and something I hope is fixed soon.

Each task within the episode path will tell you if it's easy, medium or hard to complete for the characters you choose to fulfil the mission and that's the big winner for Timelines. You truly do have the chance to make each and every decision, learn from your mistakes, try different combinations and even replay multiple episode acts different ways and with different characters to collect all the rewards available. So far I've only had the chance to play though episodes focused on the Klingons/Augments and a second starring the Maquis/Cardassians/Bajorans but there's been a lot of variety just in these. Besides the action elements you also need to talk to the races you encounter to turn them into either allies or enemies and thus gain further reward through conversation choices.

In regards to the rewards they help level up the skills of your characters by providing then with equipment which can be either purchased one-off or will need to be built from components. That can take some time but you can buy them with the rare dilithium or with accumulated credits dependent on the pricing.

Constellation Class is your starter mode of transport

Levelling up can take a but of time when you start accumulating a crew and it'll keep you busy for a few hours at least -  need to get Promoted Sisko a phaser rifle? Well replay a story from episode one and you might find it....

In addition you can drop crew with required skill sets on diplomatic shuttle missions which will see them locked from standard play for a couple of hours but might bring back some needed component rewards and help with the episode you're playing. And why?  Because each shuttle trip takes you to a particular faction be it Klingons, Maquis, Dominion... And will help secure a faction's  victory which may get you some higher skilled crew. I was a bit picky here since the Dominion's homeworld is Xindus and the Hirogen have their "home" at Pollux IV?!

I loved getting new crew and finding how great or useless they could be. Hirogen Donik (from Voyager's Flesh and Blood), Promoted Sisko (The Adversary) and Desert Ezri (Shadows and Symbols) became firm favourites as did Commander Spock if only for his superior science skills that saved more than a couple of missions from going south. There were some duffers too; Cardassian Investigator Odo (Necessary Evil) was a poor choice with a low security score,  Simon Tarses from The Drumhead did little to set the world alight in medical or diplomacy but just seeing that they were included demonstrates the incredible attention to detail that had gone into the creation of Star Trek Timelines. 

Indeed there were a few moments of "Really...?!?!" when both Keiko and then Nurse Ogawa appeared or I realised that I could use clean-shaven Wil Riker in a more useful fashion. In my crew for the full game I now have,  finally,  some decent medical staff but my engineering skills are lacking. That and I now have two versions of Wesley.  Does someone hate me that much?! 

Oh and just so even looking at your roster isn't a dull affair each character has been loaded up with a few choice soundbites. Great for the first few hours but there's only so many times I could listen to Sisko bemoan war being the only hope before it got muted.

The images and detail that have gone into not only creating the look of each character and in some cases multiple versions of that character is just astounding and we have been teased that more will be coming in the future as the game expands and develops. I cannot wait to see who they add for the second release.

Perhaps there is one big failing with Timelines however and that comes in the form of space combat. Over the course of the beta testing there were two versions released. The first relied on a lot more planning and perception to defeat your enemy and progression would be determined by how much damage you received. The updated version was much more button bashing and a lot less skill requiring more patience to wait for a skill recharge than actually thinking of your next positional tactic to take out that rusty Bird of Prey. It is a big problem and one that is really crushing since the other aspects I've played as so damn good and immersive -  space combat is a bit of a slap in the face. That said it does seem ever so slightly harder in the "real" game now released so it seems there might have been some further tweaking before launch.

As with the majority (it seems) of games available in the mobile sphere, there is a paid element to this "freemium" product. Chronitons are your cash to open and play each episode segment and fully recharge (to 40) in about three hours with each "turn" costing between four and eight points so they do get used quickly. You can of course buy more by depleting your Dilithium supply but that too is finite and requires cold hard cash to replenish. Dilithium is the gold of the game and with it you can purchase better characters, ships and equipment from the Time Portal. Regular points acquired from the game will get you items but at a lower skill and star level (usually one or two star max while Dilithium can get you a five star character). 

Yes it's annoying when you run out of points and have to replay levels to build up skills or credit but that's the nature of the mobile gaming beast and there will be people paying for those skills as well as the VIP perks which also assist in your play. Also Dilithium is your currency at the Dabo Wheel where you can gamble some funds to receive a random item - no guarantees what it might be though!

It's also a shame because I didn't get chance to fight in anything other than a quad-engined Constellation Class nor did I get an opportunity to experience the feature of assigning crew to areas of your ship but I'm guessing there were some bits held back for launch to keep us all super-excited. Having a hunt around though there is a large diversity of ships too - Voyager, the D'deridex Class Warbird, a Maquis Raider, the HMS Bounty Bird of Prey, Defiant and many, many more each with it's own foibles available when you collect their schematics in the same way as equipment.

Due to the beta being updated I didn't have a chance to play the second style of space combat in PvP but I suspect it may have been better in its first iteration. Sadly in the second beta the Delphic Expanse story was locked which did limit my exploration a little although in the full version it is now back open. PvP is still "coming soon" however but at least I can add up some friends and level up a few times to stand me in better stead when it does come available.

There are just so many different facets and ways to play with Timelines that this is a game that is never going to be boring. I know there will be paid ways to increase your abilities and level up quicker but if we look past that to the essence of the product I think it's very clear to see that Disruptor Beam have done fans proud from every angle. I loved testing the game and in the fortnight I ragged the beta version it didn't crash a single time; not one and for that I give a decent amount of kudos to Disruptor Beam. 

If this game was built around the space battle concept it would be a flash in the pan and I'd be putting it down very quickly. Yes, this piece has its issues but it doesn't make up the majority of the game which is otherwise amazing. The return value is certainly there because I tend to be sending out shuttle missions with frightening regularity to help boost stats and get to the end of that next episode. Having Sisko with a Diplomacy of 70 is fine but I can't do anything when he faces a challenge with a level of 80!

Timelines, even with its glitches, is still the bar to which all future Star Trek mobile games will have to aspire and be judged by and at the moment it is the final playable frontier. 

So I'm off to play once more and if you happen to chance across Defiant's Cloak on your screen at some point, add me up and say "Hi!" (my DBID is 519739818684416.

What's been your favourite part of Timelines? What characters are you finding the most useful or is there a tactic you've discovered? Let me know here!

Live on YouTube
Like our page on Facebook 

Follow us on Twitter

+1 us on Google+

Add us on Tumblr

Add to to conversation on Star Trek: Risa