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Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard

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Star Trek: The Next Generation –
Klingon Honor Guard
Klingon Honor Guard cover art
Developer(s)MicroProse
Westlake Interactive (Macintosh)
Publisher(s)MicroProse
MacSoft (Macintosh)
Designer(s)Christopher Clark
Programmer(s)Les Bird
Artist(s)Daniel Mycka
Composer(s)Roland Rizzo
Mark Cromer
Mark Reis
EngineUnreal Engine 1[3]
Platform(s)Mac OS, Microsoft Windows
ReleaseWindows
Macintosh
  • NA: January 1999
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, online multiplayer

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Klingon Honor Guard is a 1998 first-person shooter set in the universe of Star Trek during the time of The Next Generation. The game was developed by MicroProse, using the Unreal game engine. The critical response to the title was generally positive with praise for the graphics, but mixed opinions of the level design.

Gameplay and story

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Aftermath of battle aboard a Klingon D7 cruiser

As a new member of the Klingon Honor Guard, the player is given the mission of foiling a plot to assassinate Chancellor Gowron. During the course of the game, the player encounters a variety of environments, including planet surfaces, caverns, enemy ships, and space stations. Enemies include rival Klingons (including members of the House of Duras), Andorians, attack robots, Nausicaans, Letheans, and various hostile creatures.[4] The game includes twenty missions across 26 maps.[5] Weapons that the player can use include disruptors, the Klingon Bat'leth, grenade launchers, and a gun which creates a miniature black hole.[5]

Multiplayer supported up to eight players via LAN.[6] On the internet up to 4 players was supported.[7] Multiplayer modes included co-op, death match (which the game called 'Death Rite Matches', and bots.[7]

Development

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Klingon Honor Guard was the second game to use the Unreal game engine.[5] MicroProse both developed and published the game.[8] It was released in Europe in early 1998, with the release in the United States following on October 14.

The voice acting talent for the game included Tony Todd as Captain Kurn,[9] Robert O'Reilly as Gowron, and Barbara March and Gwynyth Walsh as the Duras sisters Lursa and B'Etor.[citation needed][10]

Reception

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The game received positive reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[11] Thierry Nguyen of GameSpot thought that the game suffered from the same problems as the original Unreal and replicated some of the enemies seen in that game but with different graphics, albeit in greater quantities. Whilst he thought that level design improved as the game went on, he also found that the gameplay broke down into finding objects to open locked doors in order to reach the final room which completed the level. He pointed out that multiplayer was effectively unplayable at launch, with a patch promised, and while it might be enjoyable for a Star Trek fan, it was otherwise quite average.[17] Tal Blevins of IGN said that he was pleased to see that the intelligent enemies which had appeared in Unreal continued to be seen in Klingon Honor Guard, but found a variety of graphic and gameplay bugs as well as suffering from at least one computer crash per level which gave it a very rushed feeling. Overall Blevins felt that the game seemed like it was a Klingon style overlay for Unreal and not really a brand new game.[5]

Nick Smith of AllGame said that despite the Star Trek license, Klingon Honor Guard was a "truly excellent game in its own right". He said that the action ran as fast as Doom, while the missions were inventive.[8] He said "Whether you're a true Trekker, a first-person shooter fan, or just an eye-candy junkie, this title will not disappoint you."[8] In a retro review for Eurogamer in 2010, John Walker criticized the length of the game but praised the level design for the mission where the player fights enemies on the outside of a spaceship. He also reserved praise for the Ding-Pach Spin Claw, a weapon which fires off a blade which eventually returns but cannot be fired again until the blade returns. He summed it up by saying that it was a "game that is, unquestionably, fantastically overlong and dull. But a game that contains the thrill of space floating combined with the best FPS weapon ever made."[21] Chris Chan for the Malaysian-based English language newspaper New Straits Times ranked the game as the eighth best Macintosh-based game of the 1990s.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "We're always first for the latest games". The Independent. October 22, 1998. p. 10. Retrieved January 19, 2024. Star Trek: The Next Generation//Klingon Honor Guard//New
  2. ^ Gentry, Perry (October 16, 1998). "What's in Stores This Week". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  3. ^ "Spiele mit Unreal Engine - Von 1998 bis heute". GameStar (in German). Webedia. Archived from the original on 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  4. ^ Klingon Honor Guard game manual, Microprose, 1998.
  5. ^ a b c d e Blevins, Tal (October 16, 1998). "Star Trek: Klingon Honor Guard". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  6. ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard - PC - GameSpy". pc.gamespy.com. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  7. ^ a b Star Trek: Klingon Honor Guard - IGN, 17 October 1998, retrieved 2021-04-20
  8. ^ a b c d Smith, Nick. "Star Trek: The Next Generation – Klingon Honor Guard - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  9. ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  10. ^ McDolnald, T. Liam (January 1999). "Klingon Honor Guard". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22.
  11. ^ a b "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Klingon Honor Guard for PC Reviews". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  12. ^ Cirulis, Martin E. (October 29, 1998). "Star Trek TNG: Klingon Honor Guard". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on June 10, 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  13. ^ D'Aprile, Jason (November 19, 1998). "Klingon Honor Guard". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on July 4, 2003. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  14. ^ Chin, Elliott (January 1999). "Way of the Warrior (Klingon Honor Guard Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 174. Ziff Davis. pp. 316–17. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  15. ^ Chronis, George (1999). "Klingon Honor Guard Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 6, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Brian B. (October 1998). "Klingon Honor Guard Review". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Nguyen, Thierry (November 9, 1998). "Kilngon Honor Guard Review [date mislabeled as "May 1, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on January 4, 2005. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  18. ^ Parker, Samuel (June 1999). "Klingon Honor Guard". MacADDICT. No. 34. Imagine Media. p. 58. Archived from the original on July 9, 2001. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  19. ^ Smith, Rob (December 1998). "Klingon Honor Guard". PC Accelerator. No. 4. Imagine Media. pp. 86–87. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  20. ^ McDonald, T. Liam (January 1999). "Klingon Honor Guard". PC Gamer. Vol. 6, no. 1. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on March 9, 2000. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  21. ^ Walker, John (January 17, 2010). "Retrospective: Klingon Honor Guard". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  22. ^ Chan, Chris (December 20, 1999). "Top Macintosh games of the decade". New Straits Times. Media Prima. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
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