Star Trek hasn’t really had the best of luck with video games, but the folks at Trek Culture makes a big swing at which one is the top dog.
There are so many great versions of Star Trek. From the television side of things, with shows like Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and the like. To films like First Contact and Into Darkness and a slew of others. To books and comics, who are constantly getting great new properties. The only side of the entertainment industry that fails to get much love ever is the video game side.
The history of Star Trek video games is rough. Sure, there are free to play mobile games that are good for a little bit but if we’re talking dedicated PC or console games, there is not much to look at here.
Admittedly, it’s hard to capture the essence of Star Trek in a video game form. It’s not just about shooting and blowing things up, nor is it just about talking and figuring out problems. There are too many genres of games and none of them really fit the totality of Star Trek. So when talking about the best games in the franchise, Trek Culture had their work cut out for them.
So when we talk about the best Star Trek games, you’re just hoping for good enough. The best of that bunch is arguably Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force or Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity. Both games are PC based, though Elite Force had a failed PS2 port, and both games are radically different.
Elite Force is a run and gun action game, while A Final Unity is more exploration-based.
Did Trek Culture go with either? No, they went with Star Trek: Bridge Commander. Now, that game is great in its own right but it isn’t as fun as the others. It’s also a bit more involved, maybe too involved for many fans to enjoy it.
The real problem though is that all three games came out in 2002 or before. That means the best Trek games to come out ever came in 1995 (Unity), 2000 (Elite Force), or Bridge Commander (2002).
That’s the true issue.
Come on Trek, make a great game for this decade!