Hilton’s Borg attraction leaves visitors beaming

Kirk Baird

Thursday, March 18, 2004 | 8:19 a.m.

In the "Star Trek" universe, the Borg are the ultimate enemies.

A genetically enhanced race of half-organic, half-cybernetic creatures from the far end of the galaxy, the Borg's only directive is the assimilation of all humanoids. In the real-world, however, the Borg have proven to be quite heroic, having saved the "Star Trek" franchise countless times.

Midway through "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" second season, as the series battled sagging ratings and critical bashing, the Borg were introduced as mysterious uber-villains.

It wasn't long before "Next Generation" turned around and fan support grew. The Borg eventually became "Star Trek's" biggest and baddest enemies since the Klingons and not coincidentally appeared in many of the show's best episodes.

The Borg have since been the featured antagonist in one of the best "Star Trek" films, "First Contact," and virtually rescued the creatively spent "Star Trek: Voyager" series from a lackluster death.

So it was only a matter of time before the Borg showed up at Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton.

The $70 million, 65,000-square-foot attraction devoted to "Star Trek" features a motion-simulator ride, a restaurant, "Quark's Bar" (modeled after the intergalatic watering hole from the series "Deep Space Nine"), and the obligatory gift shop for Trekkers to load up on T-shirts, shot glasses, posters and other souvenirs.

The original ride at the Experience, Klingon Encounter, is actually quite fun, as you're "beamed" aboard the Enterprise, escorted to a real-life replica of the now-familiar bridge and then loaded onto a shuttle, which faces a movie screen.

Once you are securely fastened in your seat, the ride portion begins, as the shuttle shakes and twists in sync with the on-screen action -- a battle with a group of Klingons above Las Vegas.

All in all, quite fun.

I'd like to say that the new ride does its older brother one better, but I can't.

That's not to say that Borg Invasion: 4D doesn't live up to the multimillion-dollar hype. It does. It's just a different kind of ride than the Klingon Encounter. Instead of the being jerked around in a motion simulator, you're treated to 3D visuals, high-definition-quality video and state-of-the-art special effects.

Borg Invasion begins the same way as Klingon Encounter, with patrons walking through a "Star Trek" timeline and museum. It's a nice touch for fanatics, who can get carried away by the details, and an easy way for the uninitiated to get up to speed on the basics of "Trek."

It's also kind of fun to see prop pieces from the shows and movies. Warning: They look much cooler -- and way more realistic -- on TV and in film.

As you wait in line, the rides are separated by two doors at the end of the hall.

The door to Invasion leads you into a room otherwise known as Copernicus Station, a deep-space outpost. The story -- both rides include patrons in a storyline -- is that you're among a small group of humans with DNA that may be resistant to the Borg's nanoprobes that allow them to assimilate humans.

Spearheading "Project Resistance," as the program is called, is Robert Picardo, Doctor from the "Voyager" series.

Before any tests can be made, however, the Borg show up and begin blasting away at the station. Apparently they don't want humans to develop a resistance to the assimilation.

As the battle unfolds, everyone is escorted from the room and to the safety of a space shuttle. Before you can get there, though, there are numerous encounters with the Borg.

Just as with the Klingon Encounter ride, real-life actors interact with the patrons. Some are blasted by phaser fire. Others are assimilated. Some simply run off into corridors.

There's one particularly nice segment where a Borg takes control of a computer. As soon as he touches the screen, sparks fly and the monitor turns green as it becomes assimilated into the Borg Collective.

Once you reach the safety of the shuttle, you're given the necessary 3D glasses -- goggles, as the crew calls them -- and you move into a 48-seat theater.

The seats are well-padded and aren't positioned so tightly where you feel your neighbor's pulse. Once everyone is seated, the lights dim and the movie portion begins.

The film takes you into the heart of the Borg's spacecraft, where the Borg Queen (Alice Krige, reprising her role from "First Contact") is on hand to deliver the Borg catchphrase: "Resistance is futile."

"Borg Invasion" is the first all-digital film to incorporate live action and animation in a 3D movie environment. For the most part, the 3D images are crisp and distinct, with little of the blur that normally plagues 3D films.

As the film winds through the corridors of the Borg ship, there are some nice interactive touches better left as a surprise. When all hope seems lost, the Voyager ship shows up with Admiral Janeway (series star Kate Mulgrew) at the helm to thwart the Borg's plans.

"You resisted the Borg with the human spirit," she says. "As long as we have that, resistance is never futile."

As a stand-alone, I think I prefer the Klingon Encounter. Maybe it's because the motion-simulator aspect constitutes more of a "ride" in my mind. The Borg Invasion, however, is a great addition to Star Trek: The Experience, and works best when paired with the Klingon Encounter.

Which is why it's nice that Star Trek: The Experience offers a discount for both rides, $29.99, in what they call their "dual-mission" ticket. It's also the same price for a ticket to one ride, so there's no reason to miss out on the Borg Invasion.

One way or another, they seem to be assimilating everything else in the "Star Trek" franchise.