Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a 5/10/2013 update!
First off, this is a short post today because I’ve been preparing for a trip, which is always a tad stressful and has forced me to have a Beverly Hills 90210 marathon tonight for the sake of my sanity. (The trip will be a blast. The travel planning is the painful part.) But that isn’t stopping me from obsessing over my most highly anticipated movie of the year.
Honestly, I feel like I have Star Trek Into Darkness fever. My sister, who often goes to the movies with me, can attest that I squeal every time a trailer for it comes on in the cinema. What I’m most looking forward to is seeing Kirk mature. I mean, Kirk’s character arc in the 2009 film is fun, but that’s about it. Into Darkness looks like it will have him making mistakes and wrestling with guilt, which is so much more intriguing.
And while I impatiently await the movie’s release, I’ll be playing the new Star Trek game and reviewing it for Pop GO! It’s set sometime after the end of the 2009 film.
I’ve already put a couple hours into the game, and the facial graphics are a little disconcerting, to say the least… but on the plus side, 1.) the actors in the J.J. Abrams films voice the characters in-game, 2.) music is by Michael Giacchino, who also wrote the music for the Abrams movies, and 3.) the co-op is really fun.
Whether playing solo or with a friend (or stranger, I guess), you can choose to play as either Kirk or Spock. Each character has a slightly different focus, with Kirk being more guns-blazing and Spock taking more of a stealth, let’s-solve-these-mini-games approach at times. (So yeah, I’m playing as Spock.)
Even playing alone, all the co-op actions are there, so there’s been lots of tapping “E” to open doors. I’m not completely sold on the QTEs — I mean, seriously, it feels like they are nonstop — but so far running around the Enterprise, setting my phaser to stun, and seeing some solar flares burn my poor Spock to a crisp have made this video game purchase totally worthwhile.
As long as this game isn’t too long, I might give in to playing it twice, just to see the differences in dialogue and gameplay depending on which character you play. Already, I’ve gotten to mind meld with victims and cancel a dinner date with Uhura by playing as Spock.
— Ashley
5/10/2013 UPDATE!
So, I have played Star Trek: The Video Game. Or, I have toiled through it. And I wrote a review about it on Population GO, which you can read here.
It’s probably not the worst game in the world, but it was hard to get through, and that’s because all the things I was looking forward to — particularly the inventive co-op and the Star Trek story — just fell apart, fast. The story especially bothers me, because it basically labels an entire race as “evil,” which doesn’t seem very Star Trek-y to me. And any cool co-op bits the early trailers and IGN footage showed were the only ones in the game. I hate it when that happens. It’s like a trailer for a comedy movie that gives away the only funny lines in the film, so seeing the whole movie is a total let-down because the rest of the movie isn’t as funny as the trailer. You know what I mean.
Anyway, it’s worth a rental if you’re curious… or wait until the price goes down to buy it. All I can say is, I am more eager than ever to see Into Darkness, because compared to that game, I’m sure it’s going to seem absolutely stellar.
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
I’m not a huge Trekkie, but I did love the first film by J.J. Abrams. I’m looking forward to seeing the second one. And it has Benedict Cumberbatch being sexy and evil as the villain in the film. Sold!
I look forward to reading your review on the game! :)
Yes! I’m also excited that Benedict Cumberbatch is in it, such a great actor. (I can’t wait for the next season of Sherlock, too…) And I also looooved the 2009 Star Trek movie. My nerdy friends and I were all over that one and went around doing the Vulcan salute for the rest of the spring.
Anyway, thanks! I’ll post here with I write the Pop GO game review too.=)
Ooh this sounds like fun! I was actually really looking forward to this game, even if I was also a little cautious about my expectations. The trailer made the game look like a genuinely fun coop experience and I really liked the fact that Kirk and Spock seemed to suit very different playstyles. I’m also happy they used the actors from the movie as I personally thought they were both excellent in it!
I’m glad the game seems to have turned out well and I’m really looking forward to trying it out for myself! I’m definitely going to play Kirk. :)
Yeah, it’s cheesy but fun. And I appreciate that IGN had some early videos up of the game, and the trailers made it pretty clear from the start that it’s co-op heavy… so it’s basically what I expected. Maybe a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I’m enjoying it a lot!
Ooh I bet you’ll have fun playing as Kirk. I would’ve predicted you’d play as him, because it seems you’re a pretty big shooter fan! I want to try playing as Kirk for at least a little bit too… but really, I’ll take puzzles and mind melds over my poor aiming skills most days. =)
I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far as I’ve read some less than flattering reviews for it. It sounded interesting leading up to it’s release, so it was a bit surprising to see how badly it’s been received. It’s good to see it under better light here though
From what I’ve seen from this game so far it looks pretty disastrous. The voice acting is nice, but what bugs me is the things they say. The writing is terrible. Listening to Spock and Kirk interact, their conversations seem robotic and forced. I’d like to try this game, but I think I’d be too disappointed with the result. I’ll just resort to watching Star Trek episodes on Netflix until the movie comes out.
-avideogamelife.com
Yeah, in spite of its flaws, I’m enjoying it in part because I knew going into the game that it wasn’t going to be stellar. And I certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for skipping it… but it does have some cool co-op, etc.
And like you, I also loooove catching up on old Star Trek episodes on Netflix! =)
I’m really excited for the movie, but I usually skip any kind of tie-in games. Glad you seem to be enjoying it. My Star Trek experiences are pretty limited. Seen various episodes of some of the TV series, but sort of tried the new movie for the heck of it and found it to be pretty fun.
Yeah, I agree the 2009 movie was awesome. I appreciate the big blockbuster approach for a change. As for tie-in games, I think this might be my first? I can’t remember any others I’ve played off the top of my head… but with this being Star Trek, I couldn’t resist. It’s kind of like dumb fun, or a guilty pleasure… but I’m looking forward to the movie overshadowing the game, really! =)
Great review. Definitely gave me a better insight into the game. I didn’t actually know there was a Star Trek game until reading this lol.