Preview: Try To Live Long And Prosper In Star Trek: The Video Game

Recently I was able to go hands on with Star Trek: The Video Game which is being developed by Digital Extremes and co-published by Namco Bandai and Paramount Pictures. The demonstration started off with the Senior Vice President of Paramount Pictures talking about the Star Trek franchise as well as the journey taken to have the game developed. This was followed by a live demo of the game with members of the development team providing insight on the storyline, gameplay and general mechanics.

So finally it was time to get on the game in which two levels were available with the first being in 3D. There was also Co-Op but due to time constraints, I wasn't able to check it out. One thing that should be noted here is that I am indeed no Trekkie as they call it, so while the legions of fans would probably enjoy the game completely based off its title, I was able to look at it in a more structured way and see it for what it really is. Was the gameplay fun? Where the visuals great? Even though it’s a different piece of media, could the game make me want to check out the actual series itself?

Everyone's favourite duo.

Star Trek: The Video Game is set in the same canon universe set by JJ Abrahams 2009 release, however it features an original storyline that centre’s around everyone’s favourite duo, Kirk and Spock. While I was playing the demo levels, at the beginning you got to pick between the two however there is no actual way to switch between them in game meaning that if you haven’t got a friend around to control the other character, all your hopes will be on the CPU doing a good job which in some cases, it doesn't  For example in one level where both Kirk and Spock are trying to avoid the sun’s rays by staying in cover every time the shield goes down, sounds simple right? Well not to the CPU who seems to constantly get blasted by it.

Gameplay is a mix between figuring out puzzles such as opening doors or saving a civilian who is trapped due to fire, to staying in cover and shooting down the opposing forces. While not really difficult, this seems to be the path its taking. There is also this other mechanics called the Tricorder which gives you hints as to what to do next. I'm not sure if it was just for the sake of the preview but the Tricorder pretty much told you what to do next every time you activated it, hopefully in the final version it’ll be a little more balanced such as having a time limit between uses or having to charge it therefore becoming more limited.

Marriage material right?

Weirdly enough for a game that has such a rich universe backing it, I expected the environments to more detailed and just generally stand out. In some instances, Start Trek does just that however in most cases we’re presented with blurry textures with only Kirk, Spock and any semi important characters with models being the stand out feature.

For fans, Star Trek: The Videogame will be full of everything they love about their favourite franchise, however as a game itself it feels as if it isn't quite up to the level I expected it to be at. Make no mistake however, this is just a preview and chances are the final version will reach an even higher level from the polish the team will put to it.

Star Trek: The Videogame is scheduled to be released on April 26th for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC so for more information on the game, visit the site here - http://www.startrekgame.com//intl/uk/