Star Trek: Conquest

Star Trek: Conquest is a video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game features both turn-based strategy and real time strategy gameplay. It was developed by Scottish studio 4J Studios, which previously developed Star Trek: Encounters, and was published by Bethesda Softworks for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.

The game is set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, with players able to choose six groups and races: Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Breen, Cardassian and Dominion. These races are the main combatants of the Dominion War featured in Deep Space Nine.

Plot
''Stardate 41153.2: It is a time of unrest; all major races are at war, age-old alliances are forgotten and diplomacy is dead. Powerful fleets prowl the galaxy, vanquishing indigenous and enemy fleets alike, in the pursuit of galactic domination.''

Campaign
Star Trek: Conquest is played in turns. Each turn allows the player to purchase facilities or ships, construct Special Weapons or commission an Admiral. Fleets can move between friendly and attack enemy systems as well, but if players engage in combat, they must resolve it immediately.

The goal is to conquer the galaxy by eliminating all enemies by taking their Home World.

If players lose their homeworld, they will no longer be able to commission Admirals or construct Special Weapons.

Skirmish
Skirmish mode allows players to set-up battles without playing the campaign. Victory is achieved by destroying all of the opponent's ships. Some options will be unavailable until unlocked through the Campaign-mode.

Galactic Map
The map is made up of many systems from Star Trek canon.

Admirals
Players begin Campaign mode with one free Admiral. Each Admiral comes with a Cruiser and can have up to seven ships. Admirals are commissioned/purchased at the player's homeworld, and comes in various types which bonuses to bonuses to players depending on their type: Attack, Defense, or Movement.

Experience and Ranks
Each battle gains experience. Once enough experience is gained, the Admiral will rise in promotion and earn improved abilities. Each Admiral starts at rank one and can move up to rank five, however, if he is defeated, all experience will be lost.

Ships
Ships can be purchased in any system occupied by the player, containing both a Starbase and Admiral.

Special Weapons
Each race has three different Special Weapons which can be purchased one at a time from the player's Home World. They cannot be purchased if the player has a fleet stationed at their Home World.

Upgrades
If enough Research Points, players can purchase upgrades to their race. Each race has a variety of 6 different upgrades.

Races
The game features seven races.

Federation

 * Scout: Defiant class
 * Cruiser: Intrepid class
 * Dreadnought: Galaxy class
 * Special Weapons: Subspace Disruptor, Genesis Device, Healing Device

Borg

 * Can only be played in Skirmish Mode
 * Scout: Borg Sphere
 * Cruiser: Borg Tactical Cube
 * Dreadnought: Borg Cube

Ferengi

 * Non-Playable
 * Scout: Ferengi Shuttle
 * Dreadnought: D'Kora class

Klingon

 * Scout: Bird-of-Prey class
 * Cruiser: Ravenous class
 * Dreadnought: Negh'var class
 * Special Weapons: Genesis Device, Wormhole Generator, Virus Emitter

Dominion

 * Scout: Jem'Hadar Destroyer
 * Cruiser: Jem'Hadar Cruiser
 * Dreadnought: Jem'Hadar Dreadnought
 * Special Weapons: Genesis Device, Wormhole Generator, Healing Device

Breen

 * Scout: Breen Scout
 * Cruiser: Breen Cruiser
 * Dreadnought: Breen Dreadnought
 * Special Weapons: Pulse Device, Virus Emitter, Subspace Disruptor

Romulans

 * Scout: Defender class
 * Cruiser: Raptor class
 * Dreadnought: Warbird class
 * Special Weapons: Virus Device, Subspace Disruptor, Healing Device

Cardassians

 * Scout: Hideki class
 * Cruiser: Cruiser class
 * Dreadnought: Keldon class
 * Special Weapons: Genesis Device, Pulse Device, Virus Emitter

Reception
Initial reviews were favorable with IGN describing the Wii version as "an interesting game to say the least" with a score of 6.8, but the Wii price tag means that "only hardcore Trekkies and hardcore strategy fans need apply".

Most reactions though, have been strongly negative, with a 54 Metacritic rating (PS2)". The out-of-character actions of Starfleet " punches gatling-phaser holes in purist Trekdom all over the place" and is seen as "an offensively bad use of a cherished license".