Format: XBOX 360
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Digital Extremes
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Our Score: 1.5 out of 5 stars
I am a huge fan of “Star Trek”, especially the new reboot from J.J. Abrams. When it comes to video game adaptations of films, things never usually turn out well. Unfortunately, “Star Trek: The Video Game” is no different at all. You are able to play as either Kirk or Spock or together as a co-op duo. 2009’s “Star Trek” cast is on-board reprising their voices for the game, including Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. Despite that though, this the game has poor controls, lacking animation and filled with a whole mess of bugs. While playing, I was just left repeating the same thing over and over…”Was this game ever tested before being released”. I guess with the release of “Star Trek Into Darkness” this summer, they were anxious to get it out there. Unless you are a die-hard Trekkie and need to own everything “Star Trek” as a collector, then I would recommend steering clear from this game.
The game itself was developed by Digital Extremes, who are known for games like “Bioshock 2”, “Dark Sector” and “The Darkness 2”. The story is set after events of “Star Trek” (2009) and is written by BAFTA award winner and “God of War” writer, Marianne Krawczyk, along with close collaboration with the writer/producers of the new “Star Trek films”, Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. The story is decent but not enough to balance out the negative. You are able to explore new areas on the Enterprise and other ships, as well as never-before-seen sectors throughout the galaxy. I have to admit that I was very curious about how the co-op experience was going to be turn out and I was left very unsatisfied. I felt that it was very annoying, especially having to wait for the character to catch up when in one player mode. On the positive, you do get two different characters to explore, if you can deal with the bugs. I would have been happier to settle with one character backed with really good game play over what we got here.
For XBOX 360, I have certain expectations in terms of graphics and general animation. From the moment this game started, I was looking at Kirk and Spock and I just said out loud “Eww, they look terrible”. The graphics are very poor and not polished at all. I feel like this final product should have been like the first beta for this game before they cleared the bugs and polished it up. Same goes for the controls, which are all over the place and will have struggling to get a grasp on your characters. Also even though we get the original cast returning, there is also issue with terrible lip-syncing. The game clocks in at around 10 hours, which is pretty good for a film adaptation but that is not 10 hours of pleasure, more like aggravation. It is also 10 hours that you will never get back. “Star Trek: The Game” will leave you wanting more and wishing you didn’t just spend $60 on this game. I might recommend to check it out if when it drops to under $20 bucks, just if you are a die-hard fan.