Star Trek The Game Review

Hardcore trekkies were probably very excited to hear that this year they would get a double Star Trek treat: a follow-up to the successful 2009 feature film which pretty much breathed new life into the franchise and a video game with their favorite characters. Unfortunately, although tied in with what will be one of the year’s major blockbusters, Star Trek The Game is quite disappointing.

The fact that developers Digital Extremes made this game a third person cover shooter is a bit of a letdown, given the rich and intricate Star Trek universe and its great potential to be turned into a magnificent gaming experience. But this isn’t the problem, after all the game has to appeal to and be enjoyed by a mass audience. The problem is in the execution.

In terms of plot, the game is set between JJ Abrams’ Star Trek reboot and the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness. The Federation is attacked by a reptilian race called Gorn (seen in the original TV series), which of course wants to take control of the entire galaxy. As it is. And the only people that will stand between the Gorn and galactic disaster are everyone’s favorites, Captain Kirk and Commander Spock.

In single play mode, gamers will be able to take control of one of the two characters, while the AI controls the other one. In multiplayer mode, players can switch between the two. It’s not like it actually matters, since they don’t really have different skill sets.  The gameplay is flawed too and the puzzles are somewhat unintuitive, becoming really frustrating.

The graphics may look good, at least at the beginning, but the game has so many bugs and glitches that it really takes away the pleasure of playing. The movements are clumsy, objects are clipping through each other, players get stuck mid-level and have to start all over again or even lose control of their character entirely. It feels rather like you’re testing a game which is still in its very early stages of development.

To wrap it up, there isn’t much “to boldly go where no man has gone before” in this game and like many such titles associated with big motion picture releases, Star Trek The Game fails to live up to its own ambitions. One of its very few redeeming qualities, possibly the only one, is the voice acting. Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock perform superbly, but even this isn’t enough to save the game. Our advice? Skip this one and go see Into Darkness when it comes out.

Star Trek The Game is available for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

[Image via gamestm]