Star Trek: Elite Force 2 launched on PC in June 2002 as a first-person shooter built around combat, puzzles and character-driven dialogue. Although it was not a major commercial success at release, the game later earned a loyal following and remains a highly regarded Star Trek title.
Its story could have been very different. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred while the game was still being developed, forcing the team to rethink a major sequence planned for the beginning of the campaign.
In a new interview with FRVR, lead scripter and level designer Benson Russell described how the events affected the project. The original version of the opening was set at Starfleet Academy, where players would have witnessed an attack involving a shuttle striking a building.
“One of the original scenes was, when you were at Starfleet Academy, it was supposed to get an attack, and we actually had a shuttle fly into a building and stuff like that.”
With Elite Force 2 scheduled to arrive less than a year after the attacks, that material could not remain unchanged. Russell said the sequence had to be removed or substantially reworked, describing it as an understandable “no-no” in the circumstances.
A Star Trek shooter that found its audience
The changes did not stop Elite Force 2 from becoming a fondly remembered entry in the franchise. Powered by id Tech 3, the game delivered the fast-paced action expected from an early-2000s FPS while making room for puzzles and conversations between missions.
It also gave players plenty of memorable moments with Jean-Luc Picard. The captain appears in the game with deliberately low-poly visuals and is voiced by Patrick Stewart, adding an authentic connection to the television series despite the era’s technical limitations.
For more stories about classic games and the wider arcade scene, explore RETROCADE’s arcade gaming news. Players interested in bringing older genres home can also browse arcade machines and arcade videos.
Another major game affected in 2001
Star Trek: Elite Force 2 was not the only game whose plans changed during this period. Rockstar Games also revised Grand Theft Auto 3, released in 2001, because its contemporary New York City-inspired setting closely resembled real-world locations.
The studio changed the planned police vehicles so they looked less like genuine NYPD cars and more generic. The United States launch cover was changed as well, while the European release used the cover art originally planned.
That replacement cover went on to become one of the defining images of the Grand Theft Auto series. Its grid-based design established a visual approach that subsequent games followed, including the cover style associated with the upcoming GTA 6.
These examples show how quickly real-world events can reshape games that are already deep into production. In the case of Elite Force 2, an abandoned opening helped preserve the game’s release while leaving behind an intriguing piece of development history for fans to discover years later.
Leave a Reply