First Hands-On Impression Of Star Trek: The Video Game + Gameplay & BTS Video

Star Trek: The Video Game comes out next week. I have had a chance to play with the game a little and give you first impressions of the game below, along with four game play videos. Plus there is a new making-of video released by Paramount showing the new Star Trek doing their voice work for the game.     

 

First hands-on impressions of Star Trek: The Video Game + Gameplay vids

Paramount’s new Star Trek: The Video Game arrives next week for Playstation 3, X-Box 360 and PC Download. The cooperative game set in the new movie universe tells a new story set between the 2009 Star Trek movie and Star Trek Into Darkness, and according to Paramount this story is part of the official canon – and has been overseen by Roberto Orci. The game tells the story of a mission to the New Vulcan colony, which has been overrun by a horde of Gorn – and lots of different kinds of Gorn. Along the way you will visit a Vulcan space station, a Federation starbase, New Vulcan itself and of course explore the USS Enterprise.

I had a chance to play the game for a little while at Paramount. TrekMovie will have a full review after a review copy arrives and there is more time to play the game through, but the first impression of this game are very positive. You can tell right away that a lot of love for Star Trek went into the game. Once you start up the game you truly feel immersed in the new movie universe. Some of this immersion comes from having the whole main cast of the 2009 Star Trek movie along – enhanced by new music from Michael Giacchino and genuine sounds from both the 2009 Star Trek movie and some original Star Trek series sounds too (like Tribbles). In fact finding all the hidden tribbles is a nice side-game within the game. Other nice touches can be subtle like looking down in a turbolift in the Vulcan station and noticing the floor is engraved with a Vulcan IDIC symbol.


Gameplay: Explore the Enterprise as you rid it of a nasty Gorn

One surprise for me was that – unlike what you may see in some of the trailers – the game is not all about shooting things. In fact in the half-hour or so that I played different parts of the game I ended up using my tricorder more often than my phaser. And there is a lot of ‘platforming’ type of jumping around and (of course) dangling off of ledges (it is nuKirk and that is one of his super-powers).

Another thing that impressed me was how different the gameplay is as Kirk or Spock. Each has their own equipment and each have different tasks to do. And being a real co-op game they always have to work together to get the job done. And often there are different ways to move forward. You can use brute force or be subtle, so the game doesn’t appear to be too linear.


Gameplay: Fly the Enterprise with a friend & argue with McCoy

Much has been talked about regarding the Gorn but I liked the approach of expanding on the universe of the classic Gorn. While one of the types of Gorn in the game is like the one we see in "Arena," there are lots of different Gorn types, each of which poses a different challenge in the game. And it isn’t just Gorn you will have to deal with as there is a surprising horror-movie like element where the Gorn ‘infect’ some of your crew and use mind control to get them to attack you. When playing as Kirk I killed one of them and got scolded by Spock – because unlike Borg drones you can eventually (working with Dr. McCoy) cure them.

The graphics for the game (I played a PC version running on a decently powered laptop) were impressive. Maybe they weren’t up to the state of the art of the best games on the market today, but certainly the best ever seen in a Star Trek console game. 


Gameplay: This is one big Gorn

So that is it for first impressions. A more detailed review will be here at TrekMovie after a play-through of the game itself – which is said to take about 13 hours (and you can then play it again as the other character). But in short what I have seen makes me believe Star Trek: The Videogame is a triumph. After a long draught, Star Trek gaming on consoles (and PC) is back. I can’t speak for hard core gamers who may have greater demands for the latest in everything and perhaps more things to shoot at, but I think that casual gamers who love Star Trek will really enjoy this game – and the story it has to tell.



Gameplay: Work together as Kirk and Spock to escape from New Vulcan

Behind the scenes on Star Trek: The Game

Here is the latest video from Paramount on the making of the game.

Game Arrives April 23rd – PC Download Now Available for pre-order

The new Star Trek game arrives on April 23rd for XBox 360, Playstation 3 and PC download. You can pre-order the Xbox and PS3 version at Amazon.

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“These are the voyages of the starship Snarkyprise…”

“dangling off of ledges (it is nuKirk and that is one of his super-powers).”

Super-powers? Really? and here I thought that this young Kirk was just an ordinary human male placed in extraordinary situations, which makes him that much more heroic and lovable.

Dangling off things. Yes, that’s my Pine/Kirk!

I am still waiting for the quintessential scene of having the fine trio, Spock on one side of Kirk, Kirk in the middle and McCoy on the other side, hanging by vines over deep, noisy rapids. Somehow Bones and Spock end up arguing logic and Uhura is the one who rescues our hapless, but lovable trio. Go Uhura/woman, go!

Message to Supreme Court – Make it so. Do it! Do it! Do it!

Will the XBox 360 version of the game be available in NZ on 23 April also?

“I’m a doctor, not a covert agent”…

This is great, thanks. So more Assasin’s Creed-like than just crazy shooting. Everybody seemed to jump to conclusions based on a quick trailer…

I’m so pumped for this game!:-)

Inability to dangle off of cliffs was the downfall of ShatKirk.

I’m curious if the Steam version being $10 is because the PC version doesn’t support a cooperative split-screen mode. I hope that isn’t the case. I doubt I can convince any of my friends with gaming PCs to buy this game for $50 dollars just so I can play coop with them.

Have the game pre ordered- Next week is trek heavy, with the game and Season 3 and BOBW TV Movie, going to be a great one.

Really glad you get to use the tricorder and explore as well, as exploring is part of Trek as well as some action, cant wait to play this game. And although expensice having out at somae time as TNG Season 3 gives me a lot of new Trek stuff.

forget the game – the official magazine is here!
comment image

remember buying the Trek starlog movie magazines back in the 80s/90s…. just like old times

@ Dr. Cheis (Post 6): The game does not have online co-op from what I have seen, and has some crazy ‘frame locking’ feature to allow 3D Displays and multiple GPUs to be used to display the splitscreen, so I think it;s a safe bet it will have split screen gaming on the PC. I mean it’s not 100% confirmed but Co-Optimus has it listed on PC and Split Screen and Polygon had the article that talked about multiple GPUs for 3d splitscreen which consoles don’t have.

I want to have the PC mini-requirements. Can´t find them in the internet!

Any chance this soundtrack gets released?

@11:

Exactly what I’d like to know! Most games get a soundtrack release these days, Tomb Raider and Far Cry 3, for example. For this not to get one would be a shame, especially with a 100 piece orchestra used for the compositions.

I am very disappointed they could not get the cast to do their own voices for this. It seems like they only want to do their three movies and then leave as soon as possible. Why do they hate being in Star Trek so much?

Thanks Anthony! Glad to see this get an honest positive review. Might as well close the comments section now before the usual trolls come an talk about things they know nothing about :)

Can’t wait to start playing!

BobOrci, please don’t let this be a one-off game, and thanks for all the work with the designers!

I hate when they say things that aren’t funny but they THINK is funny. So, pretty much everything that Simon Pegg says. The dialogue is pretty awful and amateurish.

13 – NuFan…. do you not see the picture of Pine recording his own voice, or the cast recording their dialogue?? Really?

13. NuFan:
Are you joking? There is a video of Pine, Quinto, etc. voicing the video game characters ON THIS ARTICLE! Not to mention Anthony wrote this in the third paragraph:

“Some of this immersion comes from having the whole main cast of the 2009 Star Trek movie along ”

Wow, dude, just wow.

One thing’s for certain: those aren’t your father’s Gorn. I love how they’ve been re-imagined. Awesome.

“Unlike Borg drones”?

I’m sorry, but has everyone simply forgotten Picard/Locutus (and back to Picard) & Seven of Nine?!?!?

@18: Well, Captain, daddy likes his classic Gorn…

Speaking of the Borg, have we also forgotten the group in the episode ‘Unity’ (ST:Voyager)?

17 – lol… THIS :)

20 – Don’t give up hope, games like this often offer different ‘skins’ to buy or earn, and perhaps your classic Gorn will be an option.

Certianly no reason NOT to play the game, if in fact you even plan to.

#8, Thanks for letting us know about the mag … time for me to get out and buy Empire and this and something else ST-related I can’t remember at the moment …

(It’s really too bad that that awful-expression-and-weird-pose pic of Spock is the one on all the billboards and the cover of this, and Empire mag. Everyone else came out looking great so I don’t quite “get” why this one was used! “Hey! I know! Let’s make Spock look really dorky” ?)
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This view of the game, the new music, and the various scenarios you mentioned in your article [thanks Anthony!] make it more of a possibility that I may buy it. However, as an artist and acute observer of faces and body language, I find the 3D animated renders a bit … unsettling.

Yes it’s sarcasm. The canon police keep announcing that this universe will be ignored after the third movie. Much like they tried to convince us that Into Darkness would obey the old canon.

Just pointing out that reality, and huge piles of cash say otherwise.

I hope the game is awesome as much as anyone. If it was awful, would Anthony say though?

Well, this looks fun! I had to watch most of it in silence ’cause I’m at work. But yeah, I can see myself getting this for the PC.

25 – Yes, i think if the controls were wonky, or the story/characterizations seemed off Anthony would most certainly say. I never thought they would be, been following this game development for a while and a lot of sincere effort went into this to make it great Trek gaming experinece.

Of course, modern games are like movies, and everything is subjective.

And I agree, Anthony, can we find out about a soundrack release availablity?

Still want to see a game in the Star Control 2 / Starflight vein where you explore the galaxy discovering various subplots and occasionally getting into fights.

@9 Great to hear about those features. I hadn’t read them. You can already read the manual online from Steam (you may have to be logged in to Steam first?)
http://cdn2.steampowered.com/Manuals/203250/STAR%20TREK%20PC%20Manual%20021213%5B1%5D.pdf

The manual mentions an “Online” game mode, so my guess is it will support both online and splitscreen co-op.

28 – Dunsel, sounds like you are describing Star Trek Online?

@9 It will indeed have online coop as well as split screen. This has been confirmed.

I think this is where someone should say “Khan will be in it!” So there you have it. Khan will be in this game… but they’re only telling us it’s the Gorn. Tricky, tricky!

On the Namco Bandai Youtube Channel there is already MTG 4 online :)

I hear there are hilarious outtakes from the Shatner/Gorn reprised fight scene…where Shatner stuffs a “cannon” with pepper from the kitchen, etc. … I hope these are released soon… these outtakes were shown at a retail electronics store here in Oregon…

Chris Pine has said that he was never much of a Star Trek watcher, let alone fan. I have to say, after looking at the video clip here, that Chris seems to be very much enjoying playing this young Captain Kirk of Star Trek.

We’ll make a Trekkie out of you yet, Chris…:)

I want to know about the bonus bit where Kirk & Spock get to fight each other.

This looks seriously cool.

Probably wont buy it-poor college student, but will try to redbox it.

Picking this up next week, can’t wait to get my Trek-on! Will be a great appetizer before the main course on May 17th!

Does Spock have red blood there after the crash?

Thanks for the follow up Anthony!

Given the recent history of Trek games, I would seriously advise waiting until full game reviews are up on gaming sites. They should appear within 24 hrs of launch. If they don’t then it is usually an indication that final code was not sent out to reviewers prior to the retail launch.. In most cases, PR departments do this for a reason…

37:

That’s great Anthony, thanks for enquiring.

Anthony, is the pop-in as seen in most of the gameplay videos (where in the cutscenes, each time the camera angle moves, the textures take a second to appear) still in the final game?

Only thing that seems disappointing about this game, the graphics look fine to me just that seems a little distracting.

I am so pumped for this

I wonder how replayable the game is. For example, I’m still playing Mass Effect 3, over a year after it came out. ME3 has a strong multiplayer combat aspect. Sounds like Star Trek. Hooray.

46:

I’m not sure if there will be a multiplayer component, which is a shame. It’s a bit of an unusual stance for me, as I usually prefer single player content and can’t really be bothered with tacked on multiplayer elements of most games. However, the gameplay footage suggests this going to be an enjoyable foray into the movie universe (possibly the only one in game form, for the moment). It would be nice to extend that experience once the main game is finished.

Still, I can make do with replaying the story missions again; I still do that with DS9: The Fallen and Elite Force.

The gameplay seems a little linear, as you are funneled down a set path but visually it looks pretty good even though a lot it is very reminiscent of the Mass Effect games.

The videos I’ve seen suggest that you do a lot more than just run and gun as your tricorder seems to get a lot of use and it looks like there’s a decent mix of gameplay styles – 3rd person combat, simple platforming and even some basic puzzles.

It doesn’t look particularly original in any way but compared to most licensed Trek games its definitely a more polished product.

I’ll probably pick up the Xbox 360 version next week; I usually don’t like to blind buy at $60 but as its a Trek game I do want to support the product.

I’ll also be curious to see how the 3D looks as I own a 3DTV.

Anybody else here wondering how the Gorn can keep absorbing multiple close-range phaser blasts? This seems to strain credibility, given that a phaser can melt rocks with multiple bursts?

Never occurred to me, given it’s a video game. There would be no boss battle if you could simply vapourize someone in one shot like in the series. It’s all about gameplay balance and challenge.

49. In fairness, in this new timeline, the phasers only have two settings: stun and kill (with that stupid spinning emitter). Given that Starfleet is a peaceful organization, they wouldn’t use the kill setting unless absolutely necessary. So the only option left is the stun setting, and we don’t know how strong this universe’s phasers are so, the stun setting may be weak enough that Gorn can take multiple hits.