Unlike its esteemed Lucasfilm counterpart, Star Trek’s history with video games isn’t exactly stellar.
There are licensed Star Trek video games that date back 50 years, but there’s never been a truly great Star Trek game, one whose appeal transcends the boundaries of its existing fan base. In addition, even the most celebrated Star Trek games, such as 2000’s Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Forceyears 2002 Star Trek: Bridge Commanderand the long-running MMORPG Star Trek online, place an overwhelming emphasis on combat, which in Star Trek stories is just a last resort. Gene Roddenberry’s cosmic polemic often contains action, but never about action; Star Trek is about compassion, curiosity and camaraderie. To truly capture the essence of the space adventure series, a video game should be as much about talking as it is about flying and shooting, allowing players to explore new worlds, build relationships, and tackle complex moral dilemmas.
This seems to be the intention Star Trek revival, the debut release from Telltale offshoot Dramatic Labs, and the first Star Trek game in ages to be as focused on characters and dialogue as the television series. Aboard a new ship and with an almost entirely new cast, resurgence is a branching story whose balance of interstellar intrigue, interpersonal conflict and explosive action in space comes closer to that of its source material than any Star Trek game in decades – perhaps ever. As a game and as a piece of software, it leaves a lot to be desired. But as a Star Trek story, it certainly deserves its pips.
Image: Dramatic Labs/Epic Games
resurgence alternates between the perspectives of two player-controlled characters aboard the science vessel Resolute, incoming First Officer Commander Jara Rydek (Krizia Bajos) and Enlisted Engineer Petty Officer Carter Diaz (Josh Keaton). The Resolute recovers from a recent disaster that claimed the lives of several of its crew and the reputation of its captain, Zachary Solano. Fearing he’s lost the trust of his staff, Solano counts on Academy protege Rydek to help him restore his honor as the Resolute embarks on an important diplomatic mission. Over the course of the story, Rydek sets out to unravel a mystery with galactic implications, earning the crew’s trust while judging whether Solano is worthy of hers. Meanwhile, Engineer Diaz deals with more of the nuts-and-bolts issues aboard the ship, as well as navigating a romance with a fellow officer.
Like in a good peak time Star Trek episode, the “problem of the week” is approached from more than one angle, with part of the crew dealing with a social or interpersonal conflict, while others investigate a related scientific or technological puzzle. Teamwork is an essential ingredient for Star Trek, and resurgence emphasizes that different skills and perspectives are needed to solve complex problems. There is a two-way relationship between the bridge crew who handle the big picture and the specialists below who sort out the finer points. Alternating between these A and B plots also breaks up the story and gameplay nicely, introducing the player to a variety of lovable, memorable characters who you interact with differently depending on your protagonist.
Image: Dramatic Labs/Epic Games
The story moves forward at a steady clip, with the stakes escalating organically from that of a typical Next generation episode to something closer to a modern season-long arc of Discovery. Crucially, for a video game and for a Star Trek story, the player is faced with consistent, difficult, and timely choices.
Unlike the (still much better) Mass Effect games, which present players with clear Paragon or Renegade paths to follow, resurgence‘s dialog trees don’t always provide a clear ethical binary. Will you risk a dozen lives to save one? Will you ignore a direct order to follow the advice of a passionate subordinate? Which member of your crew do you trust more in a crisis, and will they trust you in a pinch? These decisions are all made at short notice, forcing the player to think quickly and rely on their instincts. This makes right away resurgence feel even closer to the “real” Starfleet experience than the vast open world of Star Trek online, which dictates most of your objectives for you; almost every path ends with “fire all phasers”.
It is mainly your relationships with the supporting cast that determine the variations in the story. It’s not simply a matter of passing everyone’s individual loyalty check, allowing you to achieve a 100% “perfect” ending. You can’t please everyone and you can’t save everyone. (Or at least not yet in my two playthroughs.) Not only does this put the full weight of duty and command on the player and provide an incentive to replay the game multiple times from 12 to 15 hours, but it also underscores a of the essential principles of Star Trek: it is possible for two parties, in good faith and in good conscience, to disagree. Sometimes a compromise can be reached, sometimes conflict cannot be avoided, but no one has to remain enemies forever.
Image: Dramatic Labs/Epic Games
On the other hand, commitment to the Star Trek ethos has its drawbacks. Starfleet’s strict code of conduct means that players are somewhat hindered. For example, when enlisted engineer Diaz’s love interest is caught accessing files she’s not supposed to, you, as Diaz, can’t lie to cover for her. In a movement typical of the franchise whose reputation for political radicalism has been somewhat exaggerated, the core political conflict between a colonizing empire and their long-suffering protectorate smacks of some unfortunate both-sidesism. Some of the sci-fi twists that complicate the plot do so at the expense of nuance, introducing an overarching threat that forces all parties to work together without ever actually addressing what drove them apart in the first place. It’s a flaw found in much past and present Star Trek that demonstrates the liberal-moderate belief that we can all just get along without committing to any meaningful change in the status quo.
It’s in the non-dialogue-driven gameplay elements that resurgence really stumbles. While the stealth and cover shoot parts are smooth and fun, many of the other mechanics are slow, tedious, or both. This is especially true for PO Diaz’ technical tasks, which feel less like puzzles or mini-games and more like busy work. (Pull R2 to open this channel, LS+R2 now to remove this isolinear chip, then the next, etc.) Fail conditions of certain minigames or levels can be disabled via a Story Mode option, but there’s no way to avoid the game’s more mindless chores.
Star Trek revival also suffers from numerous technical issues at the time of release, at least on PlayStation 4. It’s not uncommon for dialogue to start late or cut off early, costing the scene significant exposition or flavor. Keeping subtitles enabled can sometimes offset this problem, except in random cases where the subtitles disappear completely a line or two at a time. Busier cutscenes, such as the game’s space battle finale, load slowly on PS4, creating seconds-long pauses between shots, destroying the momentum of what should be a thrilling climax. These issues may be fixed in future updates, but at launch they are an undeniable hindrance.
Image: Dramatic Labs/Epic Games
Despite these glaring flaws, Star Trek revival offers a space-worthy experience for Star Trek fans. Where other titles have offered a more complete picture of the Star Trek universe – letting players explore the vastness of the galaxy, walk the decks of their favorite starships, or build their own starships – few have looked beyond that. lore direction story. Not only do fans love Star Trek for its cool ships or deep mythology, we love it for the friendship between Kirk and Spock, and Picard’s growth from stiff loner to proud patriarch; for Sisko’s impossible moral dilemmas and Burnham’s quest for redemption.
Not even resurgence‘s closest spiritual ancestors, classic point-and-click adventures from the 1990s Star Trek 25th Anniversary or Star Trek: The Next Generation – One last unithave captured that essential human element that makes for a great Star Trek story. resurgence pairs a valuable cast of characters with an interstellar adventure. Do resurgence qualify as “great Star Trek”? Probably not, but it’s hard to argue that a video game has come any closer.
Star Trek revival was released on May 23 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PS4 using a pre-release download code from Double Fine Productions. Vox Media has partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy here.