A fascinating new adventure is coming to Star Trek that returns to the franchise’s classic “lost in space” series, Star Trek: Voyager. This time around, however, you will be the one to lead the intrepid starship through the Delta Quadrant.
Game publisher Daedalic Entertainment recently announced a new game, developed by gameXcite, called Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown. In their announcement, the game is described as a “story-driven survival strategy game that puts the fate of the U.S.S. Voyager in your hands.” A key component of the game seems to be that your decisions can change the course of the journey.
Apart from the news post and a teaser trailer, there is no further official news about the upcoming game. There isn’t even a release date yet. As a result, it is not clear if you really are “stepping in” for Captain Janeway in the context of this game, or if you will instead be playing as Janeway. Those two possibilities could change how some players approach the game.
The description of the game suggests that you will have quite a bit of latitude to run Voyager the way you want to. This could mean that you will get to create and define an alternate captain to command the ship, which may feel very freeing from a roleplay perspective. Alternatively, playing as Captain Janeway may compel some players to maintain her integrity, even if more freedom is available.
This leads to another interesting question about the game: It is described as “roguelite,” meaning that the outcomes of the game will change based on your decisions, but how closely will the game follow the events of the show? Will players find themselves reenacting classic episodes from the series? Is there a path where you retain Tuvix but Seven of Nine never joins the crew?
Hopefully, all of these questions will be answered in time. Regardless, it is interesting that Voyager was chosen as the basis for a video game. One would expect that a game in 2025 would be made to tie into and promote the newer Star Trek series. At the same time, the premise of Voyager is unique in Star Trek, and the show certainly has a healthy fan base, even today.
Personally, I am keen to see what this game is like. I am not an ardent gamer, but I’ve loved Voyager ever since I started watching reruns of it after school in the mid-2000s. Given that my love for that show is strongly rooted in the characters, though, I am very curious to see how that gets adapted to a strategy game.
Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown is reported to be coming soon and will be available on PC and consoles. It is developed by gameXcite, published by Daedalic Entertainment, and licensed by Paramount Consumer Products.