Star Trek (video game)

Star Trek is a co-op video game released on . Set between and , it allows gamers to play as and when they discover that a group of scientists developing a new homeworld for the Vulcan people have torn open a hole in space with an experimental terraforming technology, the Helios device, enabling the Gorn to launch an invasion of Federation space.
The game was developed by Digital Extremes, with a script written by Marianne Krawczyk, and story input from Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, and Mike Johnson. The primary cast of the films (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin) all returned to reprise their characters, while Chad Seiter composed the game's score, adapting Michael Giacchino's score from the films. 
Brian Miller, Senior Vice President of Paramount Pictures and the game's producer, has made statements that the game is canon, though these claims have been denied by Orci. 
== Gameplay ==
The tricorder is the primary gameplay element, allowing players to access information on various items and individuals they encounter. A successful scan is rewarded with either a playable log recorded by a character other than Kirk or Spock, or 's humorous personal opinions/anecdotes regarding the object of their study. 
Kirk and Spock also each have their own unique gameplay attributes. Kirk can call down an orbital strike from the , while Spock can use his mind melding ability to unlock certain cinematics. The choice of character affects how non-playable characters interact with them. For example, female officers encountered in the Enterprises hallways will flirt with Kirk while ignoring Spock. 
Using set blueprints, Digital Extremes shows areas of the Enterprise not shown in the film, such as the captain's quarters. The player can explore the ship and use research points collected by the tricorder to upgrade phasers, communicators, and the tricorder. The game also features subterranean swimming gameplay and ship-to-ship combat. Co-op can be allowed during Enterprise gameplay, with one player controlling the phasers and the other using the torpedoes. 
=== Enemy archetypes ===
The Gorn were redesigned by Neville Page and come in several variations, ranging in intelligence, gender, size, and color. They are depicted as being skilled with biological weapons (namely a virus), which they can use to turn some Vulcans and Starfleet personnel on Kirk and Spock, through whom the player can earn commendations by stunning or nerve pinching them to take the victims down non-lethally. The Gorn also deploy attack drones, turrets, and mines which can be hacked.
* Commander: the ten-foot-tall leader of the Gorn. 
* Henchman: The second-in-command of the Gorn Armada, he possesses a cloaking device and wields the Pillager. 
* Rusher: Unarmed, weak, and unintelligent Gorn who serve as shock troops. 
* Initiates: Front line soldiers, unarmored, wield automatic Ravager rifle, stand over six feet tall and can run on all fours. 
* Lieutenants: Armored commanders of the initiates. 
* Warrior: Genetically-enhanced initiates that can wield the Pillager and Arc Driver, and are equipped with basic armor. 
* Guardian: Purple "Royal Guard" that wield energy axes. 
* Brute: Too stupid to use weaponry, but the strongest and most heavily armored enemy, capable of smashing through cover. 
* Scout: Unarmored snipers that can walk on walls and camouflage. 
* Champion: A burly mutant who stands eight feet high. He is designed as a homage to the Gorn in . 
* Sentinel: Nine foot tall subordinates to the Commander, armed with Arc Drivers that can disintegrate organic matter. 
== Story ==
The Enterprise receives a distress call from a harvesting the power of a binary star. There is too much interference to beam the crew aboard, so Kirk and Spock take a shuttle to rescue the crew. They encounter , a childhood friend of Spock, who explains they were gathering energy to power the , which would speed up the terraforming of New Vulcan, but unwittingly opened a rip in space. Beaming to New Vulcan, Kirk and Spock meet with T'Mar's father , who explains the station's power from the base was lost after they were attacked by creatures – who call themselves the Gorn – from the Rip. Kirk and Spock enter the locked down sections of the base to recover the infected survivors, but are unable to stop the Gorn from stealing the Helios device and kidnapping Surok. 
Kirk opts to take the infected to a nearby starbase instead of pursuing the Gorn commander's ship through the Rip. At the starbase, the captain meets the sleazy Commodore , who implies he gave T'Mar the specifications for the device as he knew it would create a wormhole. Suddenly, the Gorn attack the starbase and kidnap T'Mar. Just as he is about to be beamed aboard the Enterprise, Spock tackles the Gorn henchman, bringing him aboard the ship. Kirk and Spock pursue him to the shuttlebay before he can commandeer a shuttle. Spock mind-melds with the henchman, learning Surok was killed after confessing he has no insight into the device, but that his daughter would. Kirk has the henchman imprisoned.
Kirk resolves to enter the Rip. After the Enterprise enters the Gorn's galaxy, Kirk and Spock take a shuttle with and to a nearby planet. When their shuttle is shot down, Kirk and Spock use wingsuits to glide to a Gorn outpost and blow it up before infiltrating a base to rescue T'Mar. They find Daniels, who is killed in an ensuing firefight. The Gorn bring Kirk and Spock to the commander, who has them taken to an arena to fight his soldiers to the death. Angered by their besting of his champion, the commander has Spock infected to fight Kirk to the death. Suddenly, Sulu's shuttle arrives and McCoy shoots Spock with a finished antidote, while the commander flees to his ship with T'Mar and the device. 
The shuttle returns to the Enterprise, which has been taken over by the Gorn. Kirk and Spock space dive to engineering and beam McCoy and Sulu back on board. They help and Keenser reactivate the warp cores, and restore power to sickbay so McCoy can replicate more of the antidote for airborne dispersal. The duo head to the bridge where the henchman is holding hostage, demanding Kirk give them control of the ship. Kirk responds by directing their shuttle to crash into the viewscreen, decompressing the Gorn into space.
With only an hour before the Rip closes, Kirk and Spock space dive to the Gorn commander's ship, where they disable the targeting platform to give the Enterprise a fighting chance, and enter the core where T'Mar and the device are being held. Kirk and Spock destroy the device and defeat the commander, and are beamed back to the Enterprise with T'Mar. The Enterprise warps back to the Milky Way Galaxy before the Rip closes: in their closing logs, Kirk and Spock state T'Mar has recovered enough to continue working on New Vulcan, and the Enterprise has been ordered to Nibiru.
== Memorable quotes ==
"I like this one."
"There are few you do not like, captain."
: - Kirk and Spock, discussing female Vulcan captain T'Mar
"All right, all right, all right! Great... now there’s two of you guys driving me nuts."
: - Kirk being double-teamed by T'Mar and Spock, who both want to accompany him to New Vulcan
"We are almost at your location."
"Well, I hope you almost find me alive."
: - Spock, attempting but failing to reassure McCoy, who is hiding from the Gorn
"HELP! Don’t let them touch me!"
: - Commodore Daniels, with two initiates in hot pursuit
== Release ==
The game began development in 2010 and was announced the following year at E3 for a 2012 release. On , it was announced that Namco Bandai would co-publish and distribute the game in Spring 2013, shortly before the release of the Star Trek sequel. 
A PlayStation Move phaser and a prequel game available from the Playstation Network were announced at E3 2011. However, Paramount ultimately opted out of PSM and Xbox Kinect. 
On 28 March 2013, a humorous advertisement for the game was released. It depicted William Shatner "fighting" a Gorn in a parody of the classic episode. 
Hasbro's Kre-O (from the Original Series) toy was distributed by video game retailer with pre-orders of the Star Trek video game. Those who pre-ordered the game from the UK outlet won a ticket to see at and were entered into a prize draw to attend the film's premiere. 
=== Downloadable content ===
Star Trek has the following downloadable content:
* Elite Officer Pack: Available with pre-ordered editions of the game, unlocking the following content:
** Brawler Pack: Kirk leather jacket skin, Spock Vulcan Science Academy skin
** Academy Pack: Kirk Starfleet Academy skin, Spock officer dress uniform skin, Academy phaser
** Kobayashi Maru Pack: Kobayashi Maru skins
** Stealth Pack: Stealth outfits, Starfleet Type IV Stealth Sniper Rifle and extra ammo
** Kelvin Pack: USS Kelvin uniform skins, Kelvin hand phaser 
=== Continuity ===
* This game takes place shortly before the events of . Kirk and Spock mention the upcoming mission to Nibiru in their log recordings at the end of the game. 
* Both the game and the comic Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness end on some variation of the crew of the Enterprise being sent off to Nibiru. As such, confusion has sprung as to which story takes place first if indeed both are set in the same continuity. A likely explanation is Spock's line in the opening of the game where he comments about Kirk's endless desire to stretch his legs. This would seem to reference the events of the beginning of the comic wherein Kirk mentions a desire to stretch his legs when surveying a planet which he wishes to observe up close, thus indicating that the events of the comic happened first. This reference coupled with an acknowledgement of Mike Johnson, the comic's writer in the game's end credits, would seem to support this conclusion.
* In a conversation with Kirk over the comms, McCoy mentions an incident which he will later brag to about – the delivery of baby Gorn via Caesarean section. This event was precipitated by stunning a pregnant female that tried to attack them. According to McCoy, the infant nearly bit off his hand. 
=== Reception ===
Reviews were critical of the game's AI and controls, as well as the dated graphics. Some praised the voice acting and story, although Digital Trends took issue with the Gorn being from another galaxy, "which constitutes a liberty taken by the developers. J.J. Abrams' story went out of its way to reboot the franchise without disregarding the established universe. It was a time paradox, but one that allowed the existence of all the old mythology, just in a slightly different way. The game does not." The Xbox 360 version of the game possesses a 42/100 score on Metacritic. The PC version possesses a score of 43/100 and the PlayStation 3 version possesses a score of 45/100. 
After the game's release, PC users reported problems with using co-op. Paramount and Steam reportedly solved the issue two days after release. 
In September 2013, J.J. Abrams stated he was "emotionally hurt" by the game's poor quality and reviews. He also claimed the game hurt Into Darkness by being released shortly before the film. 
== Credits ==
=== Cast ===
* Chris Pine as Captain (voice)
* Zachary Quinto as (voice)
* Zoe Saldana as (voice)
* Karl Urban as (voice)
* Simon Pegg as (voice)
* Anton Yelchin as (voice)
* John Cho as (voice)
* Charles Dennis as / additional voices (voice)
* James M. Connor as additional voices (voice)
* Megan Cavanagh as additional voices (voice)
* Chris Cox as additional voices (voice)
* Michael Donovan as additional voices (voice)
* D.C. Douglas as additional voices (voice)
* Crispin Freeman as additional voices (voice)
* Sunil Malhotra as additional voices (voice)
* Scott Menville as additional voices (voice)
* Isabel Wagner as Enterprise Crew Member
* Anna Vocino as (voice, uncredited)
=== Stunts ===
* Daniel Arrias – Stunt Performer
* Maryellen Aviano – Stunt Player
* Mike Massa – Stunt double for Chris Pine
* Tierre Turner – Stunts
=== Crew ===
* Marianne Krawczyk – Writer
* Alex Kurtzman – Writer
* Roberto Orci – Writer
* Chad Seiter – Original Music
* Sheryl Blum – Hair Stylist
* Francesco Ferrara – Painter
* Muckney Tipping – User Interface Designer
* Dustin Burford – Dialogue Recordist
* Anthony Julio – Special Effects
* Chris Bangma – Libra Head Technician
* John Davies – Rigging Electric Gang Boss
* Robert Ikeda – Grip
* Mark Wojciechowski – Grip
* Susie Bench – Music Preparation / Conductor / Orchestrator
* Warren Brown – Music Editor
* Tim Davies – Additional Orchestrator
* Peter Fuchs – Score Mixer
* Bernie Grundman – Music Mastering
* Frank Macchia – Additional Music Preparation
* Lucas Hirl – Voice Production Coordinator
* Andy Stephens – Aerial Operations Manager
== External links ==
* – official site
* 
* 
* 
* Behind the scenes: , , , 
* 
* by Fernando Acosta
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Star Trek