Gaming Trek Back in Business

For years fans have been screaming for a new Star Trek console game that encapsulates the true spirit of the franchise.

In recent times we’ve had the Kelvin Universe back in 2014 as a prequel to Into Darkness, the VR reliant Bridge Command and only a matter of months ago, Prodigy’s Supernova. Yet nothing seems to have captured the imagination of the Trek gaming community as much as classics such as Bridge Commander and A Final Unity from the 1990's.

Resurgence was slated as the Next Big Thing. There’s been hype, trailers and much excitement around Dramatic Labs new addition to their catalogue. Could this be the game to revitalise Star Trek on consoles and PCs? Might this be the first real chance to bring in fans to the levels that Online has managed?

While Supernova was evidently aiming for the junior Star Trek fan market (and some could argue completely failed at that), Resurgence is the one most fans will have been waiting for. Taking a more adult and more conversational direction, it perhaps encapsulates the franchise's nature more absolutely.

Set during the Dominion War timeframe, Resurgence will go some way to appease fans of the 90’s generation of shows. The uniforms, the ships, the Starfleet environments; all are incredibly familiar and all tied into a heavily narrative driven adventure. Don't expect that "Dominion War" tag to pay off however as that seems to have been just for marketing purposes since there's not a Jem'Hadar in sight from beginning to end.

If you’re looking for lots of shooting and high octane kicks then it might be better to head over to STO or perhaps even the (somehow still going) Alien Domain. This is a game requiring much more attention and understanding of the overall plot. 

The USS Resolute has finally been put back into service following an "incident" which is unseen during the game itself but can be found by reading the prequel comic series. Taking on a new first officer, the ship is tasked with helping negotiate between the Hotari and Alyidans over dilithium mining rights. Now this might not seem super exciting to begin with but trust me it does get going although it does seem to take a while to switch into gear.

During the mission you get to play as both first officer Jada Rydek and Petty Officer 2nd Class Carter Diaz allowing for two different perspectives on the ship and adventure as time progresses. 

As noted, this isn't a phaser fight all the way and relies much more on decision making and attention to detail. Yes, there are some combat elements but these are far outweighed by the choices made along the way. 

The first few missions do allow you some time to adjust to what might be a slower pace of gaming as you're taken through the steps - how to use the tricorder, how to interact with objects, how to shoot... before the story really kicks in.

What becomes immediately obvious is the amount of replay there will be Resurgence. Each choice leads to another but perhaps not one you chose on the last run through. Each decision also influences the relationships that character has. For example Chief Engineer Chuvok (yep, he's a Vulcan) will have his opinion of Diaz changed dependant on which of three answers he gives at a chosen point. 

At first this may not seem to cause any major ripples but as you get further into the story, or replay to see other results, these paths become more obvious.

Resurgence isn't a totally new set of characters either with the already announced Captain William T Riker (voiced by Jonathan Frakes) appearing as well as legendary Vulcan ambassador Spock. Nicely voiced by Piotr Michael you'd swear it's Nimoy and his inclusion in the game is definitely one of its highlights. His inclusion might seem like a bit of a marketing ploy but his place in the story does help tie elements together.

As is the choice to bring back the Tkon Empire. Perhaps not referenced as much as the Ionians, the Tkon appeared in TNG's first season The Last Outpost and this game plays as a decent if long overdue sequel. In the game 16 years have passed since that encounter while in real time its 36! In fact the game even takes players back to the location of that very episode as part of the story itself, further integrating it into the fabric of the Star Trek universe.

Important to note is that given the price tag, don't expect this to be the next Skyrim or GTA for quality. It's a decent mid-range game that knows it has a somewhat niche gaming market and as such you can sort of tell that it's not quite pushing the boundaries for the PS5. There are an annoying amount of glitches. The AI walking ability is horrid at points and when characters are talking you can see pretty much into the back of their digital skulls. The audio is also out of sync with their lips which gets increasingly frustrating as does the odd sound echo or cut line. Hopefully these are issues that can get ironed out with future patches and it certainly needs them to really get that immersive Star Trek episode experience right.

Resurgence in that sense does need a chunk of work doing to it in the form of patches and upgrades to iron the bugs out and make this a much smoother gameplaying experience but I guess it's initial popularity on shelves coupled with how much replay value there is will determine what that will look like.

It does also offer the chance to expand into other episodes with these characters and take them and the Resolute into different areas of the Star Trek universe. A single play through of the game's 40 episodic slots doesn't really give it a fair shot if I'm honest and it may find its true value in subsequent run throughs to highlight the results of different choices  on the story as well as those characters around both Diaz and Rydek. It's also a long game in terms of payoff just in that first experience because there are little nuggets dropped in that don't seem to really have much effect. But don't despair because everything in here has a purpose.

While enjoyable it does feel that there's still much work to be done to bring this up to warp speed and I for one look forward to seeing how the developers expand this unique entry to the Star Trek gaming catalogue.

What's your experience of Resurgence been so far?

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