Star Trek: The Next Generation: Echoes From The Past - Gameplay

Gameplay

Future's Past is an adventure video game in which the player is investigating the relationship between the Romulans, an alien race called the Chodak, and a temporal device. The game plays as an episode of the series does, in that the player communicates with members of the crew and interacts with them in a variety of ways. In game areas include the main bridge, transporter room, conference room, alien ships, and planet surfaces.

The main bridge offers a large amount of interactivity. Here the player can interact with each crew member, interviewing them to gain knowledge for the mission and to solicit opinions on how to proceed. The bridge has a variety of terminals, including the Conn, communications, engineering, the main computer, and access to the transporter room and conference room. The engineering terminal gives the player control over ship repair duties, in a similar style to the PC game Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity. The main computer offers a material to research for missions, and general information about the Star Trek universe. The Conn is the ship's navigational control and is where the player plots course and speed to various game destinations. In the conference room the player is briefed with the crew regarding how to proceed at various points throughout the story.

When the player goes to the transporter room, planning to beam to a destination, he can choose his crew to bring along. Each crew member has stats that decide how effective he will be at certain tasks, such as tactical, technical, strength and health. Choosing a selection of characters that target the mission goals can make the gameplay much easier. At the destination, the player has individual access to each character and their inventory. The phaser, tricorder, and various specialized devices (such as medical equipment) are used in the game to interact with the environment.

In-game events are played out through conversations on the main bridge viewscreen, in-person on away missions, and via short in-game animated cinematics. The game's intro mimics the intro of television series.