Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force beams onto PlayStation 2 as Codemasters secures European publishing rights.

Critically acclaimed as the best Star Trek game produced, the title follows an original plot written with the approval of the TV show's creators. Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force sees the Federation ship and crew on a dramatic all-action mission that takes in time travel, alien attacks and an eerie space junkyard.

As the crew find themselves stranded within an uncharted area of space laden with abandoned spacecraft, the player controls the heroic leader of Voyager's Hazard Team assault squad. As the team are sent to investigate the abandoned craft, it's soon apparent that the spaceship junkyard is not as dead as it first appeared and as a series of familiar and new adversaries make their presence known - including an advance party from the evil Borg… With enhanced visuals and a wealth of all-new gameplay additions, the PlayStation 2 edition recreates stunning 3D visualisations of Voyager's expansive decks and the doom-laden interiors of five abandoned spacecraft. There isn't however, much time to admire the views: the action comes thick and fast as the team is attacked by aliens out to ransack Voyager.

In keeping with the game's close links to the TV series, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force uses the vocal talents of the show's cast as they liase with the team.

Kate Mulgrew (Janeway), Tim Russ (Tuvok) and Robert Picardo (The Doctor) have all provided exclusive audio tracks for the game, which are used to give Munroe fresh orders and update the evolving plot.

Each member of Munroe's team has access to official Federation armaments, including Phasers and Tachyon Lasers, all of which boast special dual firing mechanisms. The Ensign can also equip his team with guns liberated from defeated alien races, effectively doubling the number of weapons at his disposal.

The Hazard Team officers are intelligent game characters, but then so are the aliens… get caught up in the middle of a massive firefight, and both the invading aliens and your Federation officers run and duck for cover behind crates, taking careful aim and retreating when injured. It's sheer blinding brilliance as battles escalate in firepower with the other Hazard Team members fighting beside the player, rather than leaving you to do all the hard work.

The series' famed Holodeck is also used to provide backdrops for exclusive training and multiplayer levels, wherein up to four players compete in a series of multiplayer challenges or battle against computer-controlled characters.

Says Gary Rowe, Codemasters' Head of Business Development: "Star Trek is a continually strong brand in the game market and Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force has already found huge success on PC. We're confident that the PlayStation 2 edition, with its impressive action-based gameplay, will be an incredibly strong performer for us next year. "

With its stunning mix of fast action, fully interactive levels and stunning story-telling, Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force is a superb take on the hugely popular series and a dynamic addition to the first-person shooter genre. Star Trek Voyager - Elite Force will be beaming down to PlayStation 2s across Europe via Codemasters in April 2002, and is set to stun.