by Emil and Mike Favila, Reporters
I just had the pleasure recently of playing the new Star Trek game by Namco. For this review, I was provided the PS3 version. The story is based in the universe of the 2009 reboot by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias). In the game, you work together with either the 2nd player or a computer to stop a legendary enemy race known as the Gorn Invaders in the 23rd century. You can choose between either playing as Spock or Kirk, who are voiced by their respective actors in the reboot (Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto).
At my first play through, Star Trek is pretty fun, especially if you’re a fan of 3rd person over the shoulder shooter/puzzle games such as Uncharted, Dead Space 3 and Mass Effect. There aren’t any instructions (which I guess is pretty typical of console games these days) but controls are provided throughout the game. The only part I found that could use some work was opening doors in game. You would have to be aligned with your partner and do a little button mashing just to get a simple door open. That’s a little frustrating, especially when I just want to keep advancing through it. Other than that, the rest of the play mechanics seemed to move pretty smoothly. The puzzles aren’t too difficult to figure out and provide just enough challenge to keep me interested.
As far as replayability, I haven’t quite finished the game yet, but I definitely feel like it’s fun enough to go through a few times. Since Spock and Kirk have different weapons and items and tasks, that’s probably reason enough to replay the game at least a few more times. The graphics are pretty well rendered and are great eye candy.
When in co-op, you really have to work together to move forward. Thankfully, there are different ways to advance through the missions. Like Uncharted, you can either use stealth or charge right in during missions, so it’s not too linear. I always appreciate the chance to handle a level the way I want, depending on my mood that day.
The story itself is great and the cinematography and voice acting are excellent enough for any fanboy of the series to want to own Star Trek. The transitions from each cut scene are relatively smooth, in that it feels like you are watching a movie while at the same engaged in the story. The graphics themselves are decent and this is definitely the best Star Trek game released to date. I would definitely recommend picking up this game if you’re a fan of Star Trek or the action adventure genre in general. This is an excellent way to ramp up and get pumped before the Star Trek: Into The Darkness comes out May 17th!
Rating: 
ComicsOnline.com gives Star Trek 4 out of 5 shaky holograms!
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