Star Trek: The Game takes place after the events of the first film where in the 23rd Century the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are constantly searching the galaxy for new lifeforms and technologies for the benefit of mankind. Soon after the events of the game begin, the team comes in contact with an advanced alien race known as the Gorn, who have got their reptilian hands on a powerful wormhole creating technology and wish to conquer the universe with their newfound power. The crew is having none of that and set off on a long mission to find and recover the technology all while blasting away some dinosaur scum. The plot of Star Trek: The Game isn't terribly unique or engaging and chooses to play it safe rather than adding any interesting plot twists or real character development. Instead, we get to see the maturation of Kirk and Spock's relationship and a narrative just like whatever is on SyFy right now. Go ahead and flip your television to that channel; we'll wait. Despite having great potential, the story of Star Trek: The Game stumbles and never really recovers with any other design choice either.
Star Trek: The Game is meant to be played in multiplayer cooperative mode, and you'll have Spock along for the ride whether you're playing single player or not while playing as Kirk. The problems with the game begin here with terrible AI for the computer controlled player, as he rarely helps out in combat and suffers from getting stuck on walls and the typical poor AI mechanics that many low quality games encounter. Playing as either Spock or Kirk doesn't seem to matter much either; Spock gets a few different moves, but they are all but useless when using a gun is so much more effective. Many times throughout the game, players will notice enemies glitching through walls, being completely unaware of gunfights going on right behind them or even worse glitches such as the player's gun hurting them when being fired. These types of problems are at the extreme levels of unpolished and are simply unforgivable in Star Trek: The Game. Confounding the problems is uninspiring gunplay that desperately tries to mix up the action with segments of flying through the air in special space suits, solving various puzzles that are too often repeated and using the combined efforts of Kirk and Spock to open a single door far too frequently. The repetitive nature of the game wouldn't be quite so bad, but the ideas that are repeated aren't fun the first time you complete them, nevertheless the thirtieth time in a single campaign. Star Trek: The Game fails to be an even average shooter despite a crowded market and being this far into the current console generation.
In screenshots for the game, Star Trek: The Game doesn't look too terrible, and the visuals are even a little more improved when playing on PC, but incredibly poor character animations and sloppy environments help contribute to this snorefest. Characters' voices don't match the movements of their mouths, movements are stiff and unrealistic and even the excitement one could gather from exploring the Enterprise is removed with repeating designs, non-interactive environments and a few useless NPCs. Finding anything to enjoy in Star Trek: The Game is incredibly difficult, though there are plenty of hidden collectibles, a roughly 10-hour campaign and mini games to give the player plenty to do for the most desperate of Star Trek fans. If you're looking for a good science fiction shooter, you'd be much better off picking up Mass Effect, Defiance or any number of shooters before wasting your time and money on Star Trek: The Game. You've been warned.
Star Trek: The Game is now available from all major retailers for the MSRP of $59.99 and can be purchased for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Star Trek: The Game is rated T by the ESRB for Animated Blood, Language & Violence. For more information on the game, check out the official Star Trek: The Game website.
Game Features:
Game Information:
Developer: Digital Extremes
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC (reviewed)
Release Date: April 23, 2013
