The new Star Trek game is highly underrated

[Chrono85]

I know this game has received a mixed to poor reception, but after finishing a play-through with a friend of mine, I have to say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. It mostly plays like a co-op cover shooter, but the controls are tight and the action is usually quite fun, except for one frustrating ship battle section. The hacking mini games are also a decent diversion, although I was getting a bit sick of them by the end. The voice acting is obviously top-notch, considering all of the actors from the two Abrams movies voice their characters. The story isn't though-provoking or deep, but it is exciting, and the re-imagined Gorn are quite menacing, although I would have preferred a bit more nuance in their depiction, rather than as just a snarling, aggressive, militant race.

One annoying aspect is that whenever you continue from where you left off in a co-op game, it reverts to single player, and the second player is unable to join in. We had to go to the chapter select to pick up where we left off, but that meant that causes the second player to always lose their XP and upgrades. That is a pretty serious design oversight, considering the game was built and advertised around the co-op experience. All in all, I would recommend the game to anyone who wants another adventure with the Arbams Trek cast, or who just likes a fun action game.

 

[Starbreaker]

The story is interesting... but that's about it. I was playing it offline and:

1. the lip syncing is off
2. I played as Spock and Kirk repeatedly was running in circles or going the wrong way
3. The mini games are boring and repetitive. I eventually just started directing the AI to do them.
4. Enemies repeatedly forgot to fire on me
5. I would constantly die after two or three hits, have the AI revive me, then immediately have to revive the AI.
6. Some of the dialogue is cringeworthy
7. Some of the actions look ridiculous. The AI is never facing the correct way or even look like it's doing actions remotely correctly in game

 

[daedalus5]

Am enjoying it so far - have only played a little. Not enough time in the day for me!

 

[DarKush]

I'm not a gamer but I am intrigued by this game. For those that have played does the game go into a lot of detail about the Gorn? Does it provide information about their society? Does it have Gorn ships?

And for those who play the game and have watched Into Darkness are there any references of the game in the film?

 

[Chrono85]

I'm not a gamer but I am intrigued by this game. For those that have played does the game go into a lot of detail about the Gorn? Does it provide information about their society? Does it have Gorn ships?

And for those who play the game and have watched Into Darkness are there any references of the game in the film?

Without spoiling anything, I'll say that it shows you more about the Gorn than has been seen previously on Trek, but it doesn't give the same level of detail as we have on Vulcans or Klingons. I'll say that Gorn ships are featured in the game, as I don't really think that's a spoiler . I have not seen STiD yet, so I can't say if that movie references the game or not.

 

[DarKush]

^
Thanks.

 

[Lance]

The story is interesting... but that's about it. I was playing it offline and:

1. the lip syncing is off
2. I played as Spock and Kirk repeatedly was running in circles or going the wrong way
3. The mini games are boring and repetitive. I eventually just started directing the AI to do them.
4. Enemies repeatedly forgot to fire on me
5. I would constantly die after two or three hits, have the AI revive me, then immediately have to revive the AI.
6. Some of the dialogue is cringeworthy

7. Some of the actions look ridiculous. The AI is never facing the correct way or even look like it's doing actions remotely correctly in game

^ This.

I've come to the conclusion now that the new game is simply far less than gamers expect in this day and age. It's riddled with glitches that might have even been acceptable in the PS2/original Xbox era, but put it up alongside things like 'Uncharted' and the 'Halo' games and it's obvious that it just can't compete. Gaming technology has moved beyond the point now where we can just brush off these kinds of elementary mistakes. The bar has risen.

Which is a great shame because IMO on paper it had all the genuine potential to be a great game. Instead, it's just another average one for the 'Licenced From Movies' slush-pile.

 

[ATimson]

I have not seen STiD yet, so I can't say if that movie references the game or not.

I would say the movie actually contradicts the game twice, and doesn't make any references that I remember.

 

[General_Phoenix]

I have not seen STiD yet, so I can't say if that movie references the game or not.

I would say the movie actually contradicts the game twice, and doesn't make any references that I remember.

There is one reference that I found

Spoiler: Small movie spoiler

Where McCoy talks about delivering a Gorn baby (babies?) slightly before he helps Carol Marcus with the torpedo. McCoy mentions delivering the babies in the game to Kirk and Spock via communicator

 

[ATimson]

There is one reference that I found

Huh. I didn't remember that from the game, and assumed it was a contradiction (since it couldn't have happened before the game, and there was no time between game/movie to occur in either).

 

[General_Phoenix]

There is one reference that I found

Huh. I didn't remember that from the game, and assumed it was a contradiction (since it couldn't have happened before the game, and there was no time between game/movie to occur in either).

I think it happens on the Gorn planet, while navigating the caves. One thing I found weird was at the end of the game when Kirk says they are ordered to go to Nibiru yet the Enterprise is heavily damaged, yet when we see the ship at the beginning of the movie she shows no damage..albeit under water, but doesn't have the obvious hull damage the ship had at the end of the game.

 

[ATimson]

One thing I found weird was at the end of the game when Kirk says they are ordered to go to Nibiru yet the Enterprise is heavily damaged, yet when we see the ship at the beginning of the movie she shows no damage..albeit under water, but doesn't have the obvious hull damage the ship had at the end of the game.

The movie starts 22 days after the end of the game, and Scotty says they only went underwater the day before. That gives him three weeks to patch up the hull.

 

[General_Phoenix]

The game itself is kinda fun..the first time you go through it. I encountered a few bugs when playing with a friend (getting stuck in turbolifts) only had one problem playing by myself where the AI Kirk disappeared, had to reload the last checkpoint. I completed all special accommodations, got the 100g achievement, yet the complete half of special accommodations won't unlock (60g). Just irritating, I could 100% this game easily but that one achievement won't unlock for some reason.

 

[Captain Kathryn]

What platform is the game for and what's it's name?

I just started playing Star Trek Online and am enjoying it. I'll buy more games if they are available for either PlayStation, Wii, or Windows.

 

[ATimson]

What platform is the game for and what's it's name?

It's simply called Star Trek. It's on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC (though only available as a download in the US; if you're in Europe you can buy it on disc).

 

[Captain Kathryn]

Ah ok. I'll check it out.

 

[Lance]

DS9: The Fallen is pretty under-rated too IMO. I never completed it with anyone other than Kira, keep meaning to go back to it one of these days and try to ace it with Worf and Sisko...

 

[newtontomato539]

One of the fun parts is wearing the Kelvin uniforms and using the Kelvin phaser pistols. Sweeet!

 

[Charles Phipps]

http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2013/06/star-trek-video-game-review.html

Here's my review of the game. The short version is they wasted an opportunity to make something as awesome as Mass Effect. The game is pretty good despite this, though.

 

[ATimson]

The short version is they wasted an opportunity to make something as awesome as Mass Effect.

What makes Mass Effect awesome (in my book) are the party interactions, the (relative) freedom of character, and the galaxy-shaking consequences.

Party interactions they could have done. But not so much the freedom of character, nor the galaxy-shaking consequences (or at least, not without stepping on the movies' toes).

Something awesome like Mass Effect would've been nice, but I just don't think it's possible with a stringent license like this, where all the toys need to be back in the pram at the end.