It's typical that most video games made in honor of a movie franchise typically suck out loud. However, in the case of this game, Star Trek: The Video Game, it's obvious the makers DID put some thought and effort into it. It's an original storyline that features the once famous villain from the original series TV show known as "The Gorn". However, this ain't your daddy's Gorn, this iteration of this species falls more in line with the velociraptors you saw in Jurassic Park.
The short end of my verdict for this game, if you love all things Star Trek, then you need to pick this up. If you're on the fence about Star Trek shows and their movies in general, then I'd definitely not be as quick to recommending it as a worthy buy. It's nothing groundbreaking to the video game industry, but it is groundbreaking to a Star Trek centric audience because it's one of the best games that's been made for the series since the 90s.
What makes this game extremely authentic to the Trek lore is it has an original story, set between the events of the 2009 feature film and the upcoming sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. It also has every single actor from those films voicing their main character. That's right, the entire gang of actors and actresses that brought the original series characters to life four years ago on the big screen recorded hefty amounts of dialogue for this game. Add to it, an original music score that hits just the right notes throughout the course of the game, really giving it the ambiance it needs to make the gamer feel like they're apart of a film, not just a video game. Even just getting to roam around the bridge of the Enterprise freely is a trip. It should also be noted the contributions of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, voicing their characters of Kirk and Spock were nicely done. It's easy to forget as they banter back and forth that this is simply a game over a full length movie.
As far as the gameplay, the controls do take some getting used to, I did find myself sometimes mixing up the right button to open the tricorder scanning device as opposed to the weapon I needed to be using to fend off the bad guys, but nothing too cosmic to get the hang of. There are those that feel this game has a Mass Effect quality to it with the movements and controls being more third person, over the shoulder. I suppose I agree, but it takes nothing away from you feeling like this is Star Trek, not Mass Effect.
I'm only into the second mission of the game and it's obvious this isn't a game you'll conquer in 4 hours time. It's got a lot of meat to it, and it's by no means just shoot to kill every moment, there's many instances where you have to have your character of Kirk or Spock study or scan an object, or figure out some way to get from one room or obstacle to the next. Overall, there's some level of thought process your own brain will need to run through to get from point A, to B, to C, etc.
All in all, ignore the haters of this game. I'm getting the vibe that if new games don't completely emulate Call of Duty in the ultra life like graphics department, then said game will garner a below average review score. That's just wrong in my opinion. And speaking of graphics, I personally think they're just fine for a game like this. They're bright, colorful, and detailed enough to make you think your setting your phasers to stun in the Star Trek Universe. (forgive me, I had to be somewhat cheesy)
I rate it a 4 out of 5 stars IF you dig Star Trek, and a 2.5 out of 5 stars if you hate Star Trek. It's just that simple. Nuff said:)
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