But of course, none of that was true. There was only so long I could keep pulling wool over my own eyes from the absolutely self evident fact that Star Trek: The Video Game is another addition to a long line of video games that take licenses with incredible potential, and then proceed to squander it. For every one thing that this game does well, it does three more things wrong. Playing Star Trek is more painful than it would be to play an outright bad game, because the license could theoretically lend itself to such an incredible video game. And yet here, we get nothing. Here we get a shooter that is as run of the mill as Star Trek’s science fiction outer space setting is now generic.

Let’s start first with what the game does well, though. Most important of this are perhaps the most inconsequential parts to the actual game part of a video game. Nonetheless, credit where credit is due, because Star Trek: The Video Game has a pretty good story. It’s no Mass Effect, nor is it even as good as the 2009 reboot, or the more recent Into Darkness. However, it feels right like it belongs to the old Star Trek television series, while still set in the new continuity where Kirk’s father dies, and Vulcan is destroyed by a black hole.

"The shooting problems are made even worse because the enemy AI, to put it plainly, sucks. "

Equally good, if not better, is the game’s general presentation. Cutscenes in general are pretty impressive, the graphics are rather good looking (if plagued by the occasional glitch), and the voice acting, in particular, coming courtesy of the films’ cast, is spot on and indicative of some very good production values.

Straddling the divide between what the game does well and what it does not is its gunplay. Star Trek: The Video Game is designed as a third person shooter with an emphasis on co-op gameplay (you can play as Kirk and/or Spock, depending on whether you are playing single player or multiplayer). And while the actual shooting mechanics are done well, and there is some rather good variety when it comes to the weapons, there is no denying that it all feels so trite, so banal, so boring, so run of the mill. Star Trek: The Video Game does not boldly go where no game has gone before with its gameplay design, it chooses to fall into the same rut that other, better games in the genre have worn so well by this point that most veterans of the genre know them like the back of their hands.

The problem is compounded by the level design, which is bland and boring, and the weapons themselves- as mentioned above, there is at least some good variety, but the gunplay just feels off, it never feels right, it always feels a bit… floaty. It’s like the anti Killzone, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl of third person shooters.

The shooting problems are made even worse because the enemy AI, to put it plainly, sucks. Glitches abound, and the Gorn, your quarries in this game, are clearly a collectively maniacally depressed species, driven to the brink of suicide, and only deciding to come into battle so they could just stand there dumbly, behind walls, or in plain open sight, while you pick them off one by one.

"In all seriousness, though, the game has some serious issues. "

It’s not like the AI problems are just limited to the enemies alone- there’s perhaps a reason this game places such a heavy emphasis on co-op, because otherwise, your partner acts every bit as suicidal and retarded as the Gorn do. He will just stand there, staring at the oncoming fire blankly, almost as if he can’t believe his eyes. Unless, of course, his aim was to get us killed, and thus disable the Enterprise entirely, in which case the plot of this game suddenly becomes, like, five times better than it was.

In all seriousness, though, the game has some serious issues. I never even got around to describing the sad platforming parts, for example. It sucks, because again, there is the nexus of a great game here, and there are some very well done production values here. But I have to stop and wonder whether the game got enough time in the oven, because it feels like with just a few months more, it could have been legitimately good. As of now, it’s just a letdown.

This game was reviewed on Xbox 360.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. DLC

Development

The developer Digital Extremes had a meeting with the filmmakers and wanted to make the Star Trek game to expand the franchise into bigger and more ambitious projects.  The pros and cons and previous failures of movie-based games were discussed. The game began development in 2010 and was announced the following year at E3 for a 2012 release. It was subsequently delayed to 2013. [reference]

The developers wanted to create the characters of the game into the likeness of the Actors in the movie. Vice president of Paramount Brian Miller stated in an interview that, “Once we decided to make a game, we thought about what kind of game we wanted to make and so we looked at Star Trek – what is Star Trek at its core – and for us that was Kirk and Spock and that lead to it being a co-op game. And from that it kept rolling along, we would do a co-op game where you can play as Kirk or Spock. No other Star Trek game had done that before. But if we are going to do Kirk and Spock, then we need to get Chris (Pine) and Zach (Quinto), and if we are going to get them we might as well get everyone else, so it then it turned into: we must make the most authentic Star Trek game that we can.” [reference]

Other cast members from the film who will be contributing their voices and likenesses include Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), Karl Urban (“Bones” McCoy) and Anton Yelchin 9Chekov). [reference]

Various games and genres were studied and mechanics implemented to create a Star Trek game whose experience would mirror the first film released in 2009. It has been described as “splicing Metroid Prime into Uncharted” by Digital Extremes creative director Sheldon Carter.

Miller described it as having “elements of a shooter, elements of exploration, adventure and discovery. This is what the new Star Trek is about.”

Story

Star Trek: The Video Game takes place after the 2009 film and before “Into Darkness” and its events will be official canon in the new Star Trek universe. The storyline follows Kirk and Spock as they take on the Gorn and recover a lost device.

The game begins when the Enterprise intercepts a distress signal from a group of Vulcans who are stranded on a space station. Among one of them is T’Mar, a childhood friend of Spock, who both share an interesting history with each other. The game’s story will be canon to the Star Trek universe.  Kirk and Spock meet with T’Mar’s father Surok, who explains that the station’s power from the base was lost after they were attacked by the Gorn and thus begins the game.

Gameplay

Kirk and Spock will each have different gameplay attributes. Kirk can call an orbital strike from the USS Enterprise, while Spock can use his Vulcan mind melding ability to unlock certain memories.

Also, while Kirk has phase set to Stun, Spock uses a more silent weapon that freezes enemies. The player can explore the USS Enterprise and use research points collected by the player and upgrade phasers and communicators, not too dissimilar from a game like Mass Effect 2.  The game also features ship-to-ship combat.

The enemy Gorn species will vary in intelligence, gender and size. They are depicted as being skilled with special poisons, which is used to turn Vulcan’s and Starfleet personnel on Kirk and Spock.  [reference] This serves as a means for players to use non-lethal takedowns and earn points. There are different takedowns depending on who you are playing as while trying to fight a Gorn. For example, Kirk’s takedowns are much more aggressive while Spock can walk up to an enemy and use his neck pinch technique to render them unconscious. The Gorn also deploy attack drones, turrets and mines which can be hacked.

The choice in character will also affect how the crew will interact with them. The game also features cavernous swimming game play. Co-op can be allowed during Enterprise game play, with one player controlling the phasers and the other using the torpedoes. Players cannot change between Kirk and Spock during a mission but the game does allow other players to drop in and play co-operatively.

DLC

Thus far, DLC confirmed for the game includes the Elite Officer Pack available with pre-orders that provides an array of alternate costume skins and weapons.

These include the Brawler Pack (Kirk leather jacket skin, Spock Vulcan Science Academy skin); the Academy Pack (Kirk Starfleet Academy skin, Spock officer dress uniform skin, Academy phaser); Kobayashi Maru Pack (Kobayashi Maru skins); Stealth Pack (Stealth outfits, Starfleet Type IV Stealth Sniper Rifle and extra ammo); and the Kelvin Pack (USS Kelvin uniform skins, Kelvin hand phaser). [reference]

It beat out the previous number 1, Injustice, to attain the spot. Let it not be said that the British don’t love them some good ol’ fashioned zombies.

Digitial Extremes’ Star Trek: The Video Game also debuted quite high at the number 3 position, with Bioshock Infinite down by three places to the number 5 slot. The survivor Lara Croft managed to hang on at number 4 with Tomb Raider however, and is still going great guns.

Most surprisingly, Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen – an expansion to the previous game, which also included the original plus tons of new content – didn’t even crack the top 20. Somewhat disturbing, especially since Capcom wants it to be the next big franchise. We’ll stay tuned in the coming weeks though.

President of Consumer Products at Paramount Pictures LeeAnne Stables, “This is the most expansive, authentic Star Trek experience ever developed for the video game format. It represents an incredible collaboration with the film creative teams, our development and distribution partners, and many true Trek fans. The result is a multi-faceted, fun-to-play new Star Trek adventure for gamers at all levels.”

The game features co-op play with heroes James T. Kirk and Spock working to fight the threat of the enemy Gorn – from the old Star Trek serials but significantly more monstrous this time around – and their claim to take over the universe. Chris Pine and Zachary Pinto reprise their roles of the characters Kirk and Spock respectively.

Revealed by Paramount Pictures, it provides more info on the game along with showcasing film actors such as Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban and Anton Yelchin.

Star Trek: The Video Game will be releasing on April 23rd for North America and April 26th in Europe for Xbox 360 and PS3. It features character likenesses from the upcoming film Star Trek: Into Darkness, and will see the crew of the Enterprise battle the age-old but still dreaded Gorn from waging an all-out invasion on the universe. The game is currently open for pre-ordering here.

Although time has not been kind to either combatant.

Of course you’ll be fighting off the Gorn in the video game as well as you take control of James T. Kirk and Spock as they work to defeat the overwhelming power of the Gorn army. Which is sadly not as hilarious as the old rubber suit versions from the 1960’s.

Star Trek: The Video Game will release on April 23rd in North America and April 26th in Europe for Xbox 360, PC and PS3. It’s developed by Digital Extremes and published by Namco Bandai.

About Star Trek.

Game Overview:

The producers and development team of Star Trek: The Video Game worked closely with the entire creative team responsible for the re-imagined 2009 blockbuster Star Trek film to ensure what players see will look and feel remarkably authentic.

Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 and PS3

Release Date: 26/04/2013

Stay tuned to Gamingbolt.com for more news and updates.

Upon pre-order, gamers will recieve a code which they can redeem online via a microsite.

What’s more? Namco Bandai will select one winner and offer a VIP, red-carpet treatment to a future Paramount Pictures UK Premiere including 5 star accommodation.

“Since the exciting announcement of Star Trek we have been teasing fans with little nuggets of what they’re likely to experience in this unique story.”, commented Lee Kirton, Namco Bandai UK’s PR & Marketing Director.  Kirton continued, “We wanted to offer something truly special and valuable to fans so working with GAME stores group has allowed us to award the consumer with a pass to the hottest movie this year following their unique video game experience.”

The game is due on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC April 26th.

Digital Extremes has released a developer diary for the upcoming video game rendition of Star Trek, and the developers talk about the co-op of the upcoming third person shooter/action adventure hybrid.

The developers are calling it the “ultimate co-op experience”, and saying that with Spock and Kirk both as playable characters and both having vastly different styles of tackling situations- with Spock being the calm, methodical kind and Kirk being the brash, impatient kind- the co-op component is going to be a very interesting affair in the game.

There’s a lot of gameplay footage in there, and honestly, it looks quiet impressive. Any game that lets you give orders as the Captain of the Enterprise and actually walk around in the ship that so many want to walk around in cannot possibly not look good.

Star Trek: The Video Game releases for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on April 23. Stay tuned for more updates.

Paramount Pictures and Namco Bandai have revealed the release date for Star Trek The Video Game and it will be available on April 26, 2013, in Europe and Australasia.

They have also revealed that the video game’s pre order program will be starting the coming weeks at participating retailers. The pre order bonuses are given below. It will include access to the “Elite Officer Pack” which features exclusive items and unique uniforms for characters like Kirk and Spock.

The story has been completely created for Star Trek The Video Game and is being written by BAFTA award winner Marianne Krawczyk.

The game will be released on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Check out the features below of the Elite Officer Pack:

–Stealth Pack – Kirk and Spock stealth uniforms, plus Starfleet Type IV Stealth Sniper Rifle and extra ammo
–Brawler Pack – Kirk leather jacket costume and Spock Vulcan Science Academy costume
–Kelvin Pack – Kirk and Spock  U.S.S. Kelvin uniforms, plus  U.S.S. Kelvin Hand Phaser
–Academy Pack – Kirk Academy Uniform, Spock Officer Dress Uniform, plus Academy Phaser
–Kobayashi Maru Pack – Kirk and Spock  Kobayashi Maru uniforms