The
second environment was the huge outdoor map shown in some of the earlier screenshots. After landing on a pad outside a big alien city, the team had to
make their way inside to protect the inhabitants from nasty monsters attacking the place. The level of detail and the sheer size of this map were
breathtaking. The city itself was very reminiscent of Blade Runner, with constant rain and little details like smoke rising up from exhaust vents.
Finally,
there was a multiplayer map set aboard the Enterprise-E during Star Trek First Contact. Though only a Borgified engineering, the bridge
and a handful of (curved!) corridors and Jefferies tubes were accessible, the map looked and felt just right. And who wouldn’t want to deathmatch on
the bridge of the Federation’s flagship?
Speaking of deathmatching, there was only a small number of weapons featured in the E3 demo. The trusty type II Phaser, the compression rifle and the IMOD all made the transition from EF1 to EF2, and are looking better than ever. The IMOD is particularly impressive, with all sorts of little details visible on the weapon model. Another neat touch is a small screen on the gun, which actually displays a red crosshair when pointed at an enemy.
Three
all-new pieces of equipment were featured, namely the Romulan disruptor, the Tricorder and the Federation assault rifle, which is basically a rapid-fire
compression rifle. The Tricorder is probably the coolest addition here, allowing players to hack consoles and computer systems in order to shut down
force fields and other unhealthy obstacles. It also provides access to special view modes, such as nightvision and the structural integrity overlay,
which comes in handy when trying to find weak spots for placing explosives. Also, when used, the Tricorder activates a small radar screen, displaying
enemies as well as teammates, NPCs and mission objectives.
Overall, the game seems to have come a long way already from the screenshots released in PC Gamer only 6 weeks ago. With some 8 months of development time still left, we should be in for a very nice treat early next year.