First Details On Star Trek D.A.C. – Official Movie Tie-in Game

A couple of weeks ago TrekMovie first showed off a promo sheet we found for something called ‘Star Trek D.A.C.’, which was the first hint there would be some kind of game related to the new Star Trek movie. At the time Paramount was not talking, but now they are. Today during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, TrekMovie got the lowdown on what D.A.C. is all about.

Have a blast blasting ships with Star Trek D.A.C.
While they were at the big game conference in San Francisco today, Benjamin Hoyt, (Senior Producer at Paramount Digital Entertainment) and Dave Baronoff (Associate Producer on the Star Trek movie) gave TrekMovie a call to finally come clean on D.A.C. The game is an arcade-style space shooter that, according to Hoyt, is "fast-paced" and "designed to be very accessible and ‘pick up and play.’" Players will be able to extend their Star Trek movie experience by engaging in Federation v. Romulan ship-to-ship combat in a multiplayer environment. The game is being developed by Naked Sky, whose previous game is the X-Box Arcade game "Roboblitz." "Star Trek D.A.C." will also be a download game on the X-Box Arcade, as well as the Playstation Network. Expect the game to be available around the release of the Star Trek film (May 8th), but Paramount is not confirming a specific date yet.

Baronoff, who works with JJ Abrams at Bad Robot, says that "all of us here are gamers and we have been very hands-on with the development of this game." Unlike traditional movie games, this one does not try to recreate the film but is designed to be "a fun way to extend the movie experience." Baronoff notes that most movie games disappoint because the development time and requirement for film assets does not accommodate making a good game, so they chose to take another route:

We went for a focused style of gameplay so we can ensure that the developer can knock this thing out of the park. Bad Robot is not putting something out there for the sake of putting it out there or promotion. We want a game that we believe in and can enjoy and have fun with.

To enhance the Star Trek movie experience, the game includes the new USS Enterprise from the film, and other ships ‘inspired’ by film designs. Star Trek D.A.C. also features actual sounds (designed by Oscar-winner Ben Burtt) and music from the Star Trek movie. Composer Michael Giacchino (a veteran of game music) and his team worked with developers to tailor the music to loop seamlessly in the game.

All of that sounds good, but what does DAC stand for? They would not reveal that, but Baronoff would say "it definitely stands for something and playing the game will give you clues as to what that is."

Star Trek D.A.C. promo sheet (click to enlarge)

Here are some quick bullets for more details

• Top-down arcade-style space shooter ship-combat game
• Download game: X-Box Live Arcade (around release of film in May) & Playstation Network (at a later date)
• Single player & Multiplayer (but focus on multiplayer)
• Team based combat up to 12 players (teams of 6)
• 3 different game modes (each with unique objective)
• Two factions (Federation & Romulans)
• 3 ship types for each faction – (Flagship/capital ship, Fighter & Bomber)
• Federation Flagship is USS Enterprise from the movie, Romulan flagship is ‘inspired by’ the Narada from the movie. Other ships are unique to game, but inspired by movie designs
• Game features music and sounds taken directly from new Star Trek movie
• Pricing in line with other download games (which are usually under $20)

Although they are not committing to it, the game allows for additional downloadable content in the future and Baronoff says they "have a lot of cool ideas" for ways to expand the game down the road.

Look for more on D.A.C. soon, including some screenshots!