Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
Year: 1999
Type: Original Soundtrack (OST)
Composer(s): Steven Scherer
Number of tracks: 17
Stillbirth
As a pre-millennial gem, BotF plays like a rudimentary Stellaris-mod with a Trekkie touch, i.e. it is a 4x (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) space strategy game that, unlike the modern top dog, is turn-based. This ensures that you have much more time for planning, allowing us to calmly advance the expansion of our empire, either the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, the Cardassians or the Ferengi. In the process, we meet countless species who either join us by skillfully using the surprisingly well-functioning diplomacy system (aka bribery) or are persuaded to do so by the use of force.
A real feast for fans of the TV series The Next Generation, on which the game is based. Other factions such as Species 8472 from Voyager or the Gorn from TOS, however, are reserved for other games such as Star Trek: Armada 2 or the Starfleet Command-series - a pity. It's also disappointing that the game suffered from all kinds of problems when I played it ages ago: frame rate drops in the space battles, program crashes and balancing problems (*cough* Borg cube *cough*) prevented Birth of the Federation from ever becoming a success ... but that's probably the fate of this brand.
So be it. Let's move on to the original soundtrack. It was composed by Steven Scherer and features three tracks, named Strategic Screen (galaxy map), Tactical Combat Screen (combat tracks) and Waiting (AI moves), to match the respective factions. These are joined by the nice Main Music and End of Game, resulting in a total of 17 tracks (5×3+2). Those familiar with the series will immediately notice that the composer emulates the style of Jerry Goldsmith from The Next Generation surprisingly well despite the technical limitations. This is not unexpected, as he has already gained experience through his previous work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Harbinger and Star Trek: Generations (1997).
The soundtrack sounds pleasantly familiar, the motifs (albeit somewhat brief in places) evoke Star Trek-feeling from its heyday. The Cardassians with their strings and minor-key winds have a suitably military feel, while the Federation is sublime. The Klingons are more animalistic and uncontrolled, while the music of the eternally scheming Romulans is also well suited as background music for a shady alleyway scene at night. In contrast, the Ferengi fall somewhat short, which is not surprising as there are hardly any motifs for them in the original. As they were given the antagonist role in the canon of the TV original until Deep Space Nine , the tracks sound more like your generic Bad Guys music.
The score also suffers from the turn-based strategy aspect: the pieces seem sequenced and put together so that they can be played by cue at the start of a round or in the various stages of the battles. For this reason, the music 'jumps', which detracts somewhat from the enjoyment. The OST is therefore not a real highlight, even though Scherer basically does a good job. It lacks anything distinctive or special. Instead, we hear what you would expect from a licensed game from the era and what could have appeared in a shorter form in the series.
High praise, actually, but one with a catch. Because the Star Trek-series have never produced great scores. Theme songs, definitely. Movie scores, definitely. But the music of the television formats is inextricably linked to the images and loses its impact as soon as these are missing. A pleasant, nostalgic tingle perhaps, but no storms of enthusiasm. All in all, it's again more for enthusiasts. Birth of the Federation-soundtrack won't convert anyone into a Trekkie ... only bribery will do. Because as the 10th rule of acquisition says: greed is immortal.
Nostalgia warning
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Main Music | Steven Scherer |  |
| 02 | Cardassian (Strategic Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 03 | Cardassian (Tactical Combat Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 04 | Cardassian (Waiting) | Steven Scherer | |
| 05 | Federation (Strategic Screen) | Steven Scherer |  |
| 06 | Federation (Tactical Combat Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 07 | Federation (Waiting) | Steven Scherer |  |
| 08 | Ferengi (Strategic Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 09 | Ferengi (Tactical Combat Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 10 | Ferengi (Waiting) | Steven Scherer | |
| 11 | Klingon (Strategic Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 12 | Klingon (Tactical Combat Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 13 | Klingon (Waiting) | Steven Scherer | |
| 14 | Romulan (Strategic Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 15 | Romulan (Tactical Combat Screen) | Steven Scherer | |
| 16 | Romulan (Waiting) | Steven Scherer | |
| 17 | End of Game | Steven Scherer | |
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