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Three cadets cast in upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Trailer, poster art revealed

Emmy Award winner Paul Giamatti cast in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 + complete series box set arrives on Blu-ray & DVD in August

Star Trek receives prestigious Peabody Award for franchise’s impact on American broadcasting

Star Trek: Prodigy “Temporal Mechanics 101” and “Observer’s Paradox” Review: The Trouble with Time Travel

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, Episodes 1–3 Review: It’s good to be back

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Pliable Truths book review: An important story connecting DS9 and TNG

Star Trek: Discovery Series Finale Review: “Life, Itself” An embodiment of Roddenberry’s lofty ideals

Star Trek: Discovery 509 “Lagrange Point” Review: A Black Hole of Poor Execution

Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer look back on Star Trek: Enterprise, and ahead to their new web series The D-Con Chamber

From TNG to Enterprise, Star Trek VFX Maestro, Adam Howard, shares stories from his career

Strange New Worlds director Jordan Canning talks “Charades,” the versatility of the series & Star Trek fandom

‘Star Trek Online’ lead designer talks the game’s longevity, honoring the franchise, and seeing his work come to life in ‘Picard’

Gates McFadden talks Star Trek: Picard, reuniting with her TNG castmates, InvestiGates, and the Human Condition

57-Year Mission set to beam 160+ Star Trek guests down to Las Vegas

John Billingsley discusses what he’d want in a fifth season of Enterprise, playing Phlox and this weekend’s Trek Talks 2 event

Veteran Star Trek director David Livingston looks back on his legendary career ahead of Trek Talks 2 event

ReedPop’s Star Trek: Mission Seattle convention has been cancelled

56-Year Mission Preview: More than 130 Star Trek guests set to beam down to Las Vegas convention

New photos + a sneak peek from the Star Trek: Discovery series finale “Life, Itself”

New photos + a sneak peek at Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 9 “Lagrange Point”

Star Trek: Discovery 508 “Labyrinths” Review: The (Inner) Voyage Home

Star Trek: Picard — Firewall Review: The Renaissance of Seven of Nine

2023: A banner year for Star Trek — here’s why [Op-Ed]

‘Making It So’ Review: Patrick Stewart’s journey from stage to starship

54-Disc Picard Legacy Collection, Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Complete Series Blu-ray box sets announced

Star Trek: Picard series finale “The Last Generation” Review: A perfect sendoff to an unforgettable crew

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Blu-ray, 4K UHD and DVD this December

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Hegemony” Review: An underwhelming end to the series’ sophomore season

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 finale “Hegemony” preview + new photos

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 209 “Subspace Rhapsody” Review: All systems stable… but why are we singing?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Subspace Rhapsody” preview + new photos

Star Trek Day 2021 to Celebrate 55th Anniversary of the Franchise on September 8 with Live Panels and Reveals

Paramount+ Launches with 1-Month Free Trial, Streaming Every Star Trek Episode

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[REVIEW] STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS “Children of Mars”: All Hands… Battle Stations

‘U.S.S. Cerritos Crew Handbook’ Review: A must-read Star Trek: Lower Decks fans

New photos from this week’s Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 finale

Star Trek: Lower Decks “The Inner Fight” Review: Lost stars and hidden battles

New photos from this week’s episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Warps to Netflix in July

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The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to continue in new IDW miniseries “Echoes”

Star Trek: The Original Series “Harm’s Way” Book Review

William Shatner’s New Book ‘Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder’ Review: More of a good thing

Star Trek: Infinite release date + details on Lower Decks­-themed pre-order bonuses

‘Star Trek: Infinite’ strategy game revealed, set to be released this fall

Hero Collector Revisits The Classics in New Starfleet Starships Essentials Collection

New Star Trek Docuseries ‘The Center Seat’ Announced, Coming This Fall

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Robert Beltran Is Officially Returning to Star Trek as Chakotay on ‘Prodigy’ + More Casting News

Robert Beltran Says He’s Returning to Star Trek in ‘Prodigy’

Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating talk ‘Enterprise’, their relationship with Star Trek in 2023 and their first live ‘Shuttlepod Show’

John Billingsley Talks Life Since Star Trek: Enterprise, Going to Space and Turning Down Lunch with Shatner and Nimoy

Six Classic Star Trek Video Games Now Available for Download

Journey back to the late-90s and early-2000s with these classic Star Trek games.

Just in time for Star Trek Day , online video game retailer GOG.com has revealed that six classic Star Trek computer games are now available to download. This marks the first time these games are available on a modern video game storefront.

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000) and its sequel (2003), Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002), Star Trek: Starfleet Command III (2002), Star Trek: Hidden Evil (1999), and Star Trek: Away Team (2001) are now available for $10 each. These games are promised to play on modern computers.

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force –a first-person shooter set onboard the USS Voyager where you must take on some of the most dangerous special missions. Star Trek: Elite Force II – a stunning sequel set on Enterprise-E where you get your orders from Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself! Star Trek: Hidden Evil – a third-person adventure game with both Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner reprising their roles as Captain Picard and Lt. Cmdr. Data. Star Trek: Away Team – an isometric turn-based tactical game influenced by titles like Commandos and the X-Com series. Star Trek: Starfleet Command III – a simulation game with RPG elements where you can customize your starship and lead it into space battles. Star Trek: Bridge Commander – a space combat simulation game that sits you in an actual captain’s chair with a crew waiting for your orders.

Star Trek: Armada and its sequel are slated as “TBA.”

A few years ago, we looked back at Elite Force (often considered the best Star Trek game of all time) with the game’s director, Brian Pelletier, and found it holds up well after all these years.

To purchase the games, visit gog.com/partner/startrek .

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek media releases, Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Picard , and more.

You can follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

Erik Szpyra

November 1, 2021 at 5:27 pm

I loved Elite Force, I remember in that game one of the first things I did was fire on the bridge crew, very satisfying.

David Wilburn

December 11, 2021 at 12:08 am

I would be willing to pay up to $40 if they would use more advanced game engine with high polygon and texture models on the games. I would pay as much as $60 for a single updated game including all missions and add expansions of Voyager Elite Force 1 & 2

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About This Game

Boldly go where no man has gone before..., the best defense is a strong offense—and i intend to start offending right now. -- captain james t. kirk, system requirements.

• OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8
• Processor: 1.8 GHz Processor
• Memory: 512 MB RAM
• Graphics: 3D DirectX compatible graphics card
• DirectX: Version 7.0
• Additional Notes: Keyboard, two button mouse
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0

TM & © 2015 CBS Studios Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. Software © 1993 Interplay Entertainment Corp. All rights reserved.

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Den of Geek

The Best Games to Play If You Love Star Trek

From licensed adventures to flattering spiritual tributes, these are the best games that any Star Trek fan needs to play.

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It hasn’t always been easy to be a Star Trek fan and a gamer. While Star Wars fans have historically been blessed with an impressive number of great licensed games across a variety of genres, Star Trek fans have had to settle for slimmer pickings. Not only have there been very few truly great licensed Star Trek games over the years, but many of those games are sadly no longer legally available to purchase.

So we’re going to do something a bit different for this list. Not only does it include some non-licensed Star Trek games but I’m only including games that are still available to purchase via modern digital distribution platforms. Whether they’re official Star Trek titles or not, each of these games captures at least an aspect of the Star Trek franchise in a way that too few games ever have.

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary/Star Trek: Judgement Rites (1992/1993)

Developed during the golden age of point-and-click adventure games, these Star Trek titles clearly benefited from the rapid advances the genre was enjoying at that time. Yes, they can be as obtuse as the best adventure games of that era so often were, but that format really captures the feel of the “away team” experience in ways that few other licensed Star Trek games do. For that matter, no other Star Trek game has ever captured the timeless style of Star Trek ’s original series era quite like these games do.

And that’s the biggest selling point here. Between the dialog, the visuals, and the pure sense of adventure, these games have a uniquely powerful way of immediately unlocking your love of Star Trek without ever exploiting it. Even better, the episodic nature of their campaigns helps give the original series’ crew the final adventures they always deserved . 

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Star Control II (1992)

With the original Star Control , developer Toys for Bob established their ability and desire to make the ultimate PC sci-fi game in the style of Star Trek . For this sequel, though, the studio decided to focus a little less on the original game’s intense strategy gameplay and a little more on the narrative elements that the previous game often pushed to the margins. 

That change in direction resulted in a sequel that largely invalidates its incredible predecessor in the best ways possible. The way Star Control II fills its explorable galaxy with compelling story beats that slowly unfold based on your choices is a design miracle that has rarely been replicated. Few sci-fi games have offered so many narrative possibilities and delivered them in ways that allow you to feel as if you are genuinely discovering them as you chart the unknown. That not only makes this one of the best “ Star Trek -like” games ever but one of the best PC games ever made. 

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000)

You probably don’t think of first-person shooter action when you think of Star Trek . On-the-ground action has always been a small part of that franchise and rarely the highlight of any of its eras. Even still, there is no denying that Elite Force is one of (if not the) best licensed Star Trek games ever. 

Developer Raven Software’s considerable FPS experience and obvious love of the license joined forces in this action title that brilliantly straddles two genre eras. While the game’s atmosphere, narrative, and gameplay variety feel fitting for a shooter released in the post- Half-Life FPS era, Elite Force ’s combat and creative weaponry harkens back to the “boomer shooter” style in the best ways possible. Even if FPS titles aren’t usually for you, Star Trek fans will have a hard time resisting the allure of this game’s exceptional Voyager -based story. Speaking of resistance, it turns out that the Borg make for exceptional (and genuinely terrifying) video game enemies. 

Star Trek: Away Team (2001)

I’m tempted to call Away Team “underrated,” but it would probably be more accurate to call this 2001 tactical strategy game “flawed.” On paper, Away Team offers a strategy experience similar to the original X-Com games yet set in the Star Trek universe. In reality, it just doesn’t quite live up to the refined brilliance of those classic PC titles.

Still, if the thought of “ Star Trek meets X-Com ” briefly raised the hairs on your arms, then I’d certainly argue that this game is worth its modest price tag. Away Team is another Star Trek game that only captures a small part of the Star Trek experience (in this case, leading an away team on a tactical combat mission), but it’s also really the only game out there that bothers to tap into that aspect of the series in a substantial way. I’m an especially big fan of the series-accurate non-lethal options this game offers you as well as the ways it allows you to modify your strategies based on who you pick to join your away team. 

Star Trek: Bridge Commander (2002)

Though every Star Trek fan has their own franchise fantasy they’d like to live out (some of which I’d prefer not to know too much about), the allure of the captain’s chair may be the Star Trek ‘s most universal draw. Who hasn’t wanted to helm a starship and command a capable and loyal crew through a seemingly hopeless and fantastical scenario?

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Well, Bridge Commander offers you the chance to do just that. By casting you in the role of an upstart captain with a lot to prove, Bridge Commander allows you to divert all the power, fire all the phasers, and engage all of the warp drives that your heart desires. Some may be turned off by the sometimes dry strategic nature of this game and its generally sparse narrative but this is about as good as it gets so far as captain’s chair fantasies go.

Star Trek Online (2010)

Star Trek Online is not the Star Trek MMORPG that many franchise fans have begged for over the last couple of decades. Though the game has benefited from numerous improvements since its disastrous debut, it’s not nearly as deep as something like EVE Online nor nearly as refined as a game like World of Warcraft . Furthermore, its free-to-play model has too often been used as an excuse to experiment with a variety of microtransactions. 

For whatever it’s, quite literally, worth to you, though, that free-to-play model is also one of the best arguments for this game. There are pockets of brilliance in Stark Trek Online (such as its storylines, atmosphere, and ship combat) that are easier to appreciate when you realize they cost nothing to experience. This game has always fallen tragically short of its potential but it has ultimately landed in a place that is certainly worth exploring if only from time to time.

Though FTL has garnered fairly glowing Star Trek comparisons since it broke onto the indie game scene in 2012, you should know that this game is rarely interested in fulfilling your wishes. This roguelike title that sees you command and gradually upgrade a spaceship and its crew across a ladder-like series of threats and opportunities is notorious for its difficulty. Even skilled captains who can effectively manage their ship’s various subsystems will often have their runs cut short thanks to an unavoidable bit of bad luck.

Once you accept that losing is part of the “charm” of FTL , though, it becomes much easier to appreciate the game’s numerous other charms. This is a game for those whose Star Trek dreams include orders to manage their power levels, sending crew members to new decks, and targeting recently discovered weak points of unknown incoming enemy vessels. FTL may largely only focus on a specific part of the Star Trek experience, but it does so in a way that makes it easy to lose dozens (if not hundreds) of hours to this all-time great indie experience. 

Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator (2013)

Artemis ’ Steam description confesses that it is “designed for anyone who watched Star Trek ,” and that’s certainly been the game’s biggest selling point for over a decade now. Even when compared to official (and licensed) competition, Artemis remains one of the absolute best ways to live the fantasy of commanding a spaceship bridge with the help of your friends. 

This local co-op title emphasizes true coordination by limiting what each participant has access to at any given time. Up to five players assume various ship stations (such as weapons and engineering) and are only able to view their station via whatever screen they use to access the game. However, the sixth role, the Captain, cannot view any screen and must rely on the information provided by their teammates to make decisions. Not only does that setup make teamwork more important than it sometimes is in somewhat similar games, but it also ensures that the Captain can’t simply take over the game by virtue of drawing the most traditionally prized role. 

Stellaris (2016)

Many grand strategy sci-fi games allow you to explore the galaxy and command nearly every aspect of a fleet of ships. While Stellaris is certainly one of the best options for those whose Star Trek fantasies can be converted to spreadsheets, the real reason it’s on this list is due to the quality of its Star Trek conversion mods. 

There are two notable Star Trek mods for Stellaris ( New Horizons and New Civilisations ) and each does an exceptional job of applying a necessary layer of Star Trek goddess to that game’s absurdly deep collection of strategy systems. Stellaris isn’t the absolute best sci-fi strategy game of its kind, but if you’re dying for all of that Star Trek iconography, you’ll have a hard time finding a more rewarding game to lose yourself in. 

Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (2016)

Few games try to capture every element (or almost every element) of the Star Trek experience, and Halcyon 6 shows why. Through a combination of gameplay concepts that include 4X strategy, JRPG combat, and simulation-style base management, Halcyon 6 tries to allow you to do everything you’ve ever wanted to do in a sci-fi environment. It’s a noble attempt at an ambitious goal, but that buffet of gameplay means that parts of Halcyon 6 end up feeling undercooked.

However, if you’re willing to look at this as a turn-based sci-fi RPG that tries to offer more depth in areas that similar titles would overlook, you’ll likely fall in love with what Halcyon 6 has to offer. It’s a game that often asks you to manage a sometimes overwhelming amount of mechanics and resources yet consistently rewards you for your efforts through both in-game payoffs and the ability to look back at everything you have created and accomplished. 

Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017)

Bridge Crew ’s VR functionality is its defining quality, greatest asset, and biggest detriment. Bridge Crew is at its best when you have four friends with four VR devices who are all willing to cooperate in a shared campaign. There are ways to play this game with fewer people and without VR, but every compromise dilutes the effectiveness of the intended experience. 

However, this truly is a dream Star Trek game when you’re able to play it the way it was meant to be played. It turns out that leading the bridge of a starship with the help of three friends in a virtual reality environment is just as much fun as many probably imagined such a thing would be when that scenario was as fantastical as any episode of Star Trek . Bridge Crew may be simpler than comparable video game experiences, but it’s a pure power fantasy in the best ways possible. 

Space Haven (2020)

One of the things I love about Star Trek that I don’t see replicated in a lot of video games is the communal nature of the Enterprise (especially Next Generation ’s NCC-1701-D). Yes, many Star Trek episodes typically focus on the bridge and away crews, but the idea that the Enterprise is essentially a miniature civilization with its own community and social structure has long been one of Star Trek ’s most fascinating and important sci-fi concepts. 

Space Haven is one of the rare games of its kind that allows you (or perhaps forces you) to explore that aspect of Star Trek while experiencing some of that franchise’s more cinematic adventures. Between the away team missions, ship-to-ship combat, and diplomacy assignments, Space Haven asks you to not only manage a ship full of people but turn that ship into a home. The game sometimes suffers from trying to do too much, but too few games offer what Space Haven does when it’s at its best.

The Captain (2021)

Despite its name, The Captain focuses a little less on commanding a starship (though that is an aspect of this title) and a little more on the difficult decisions that come with leadership. As Captain Thomas Welmu, you are tossed clear across the galaxy and tasked with making it back to Earth in time to save your people. Along the way, you will not only have to assemble a crew but also make incredibly difficult decisions about what you’re willing to sacrifice to make it back home.

It’s those choices that define The Captain experience. There are moral dilemmas in this adventure game that are as challenging and compelling as the quandaries presented by far larger and more famous RPGs. The Captain ’s brilliant story is worthy of the Next Generation episodes it was clearly inspired by and will allow you to experience exactly what it’s really like to need to make decisions in scenarios where there are no right answers. You may try your best to be the Picard this galaxy needs, but don’t be surprised if you often feel like you’re falling short despite doing your best. 

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Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2021)

From the moment BioWare revealed the first Mass Effect game, some couldn’t help but hope that one of the greatest developers in the world would finally make the Star Trek RPG they always dreamed of playing (minus the license, of course). Well, even though the Mass Effect games suffered through some ups and downs across the course of the trilogy, they ultimately proved to be just that. Compelling characters, difficult decisions, crew management, an entire galaxy to explore and impact…the Mass Effect trilogy remains the easiest game to recommend to anyone looking for the deepest, most complete, and overall best Star Trek -like gaming experience imaginable. 

What about Mass Effect Andromeda , though? Well, while that game was rightfully criticized upon its 2017 release for its many bugs and general decline in quality, I actually recommend giving it another look if you’re craving more Mass Effect . At the very least, that game’s basic structure and best ideas are easier to appreciate in a post- Anthem world deprived of BioWare-like RPGs.

Star Trek: Resurgence (2023)

If you’ve ever wondered what would have happened if the Telltale Games crew had made a Star Trek game during the company’s Wolf Among Us / Walking Dead glory days, then this adventure title is seemingly as close as we’ll ever get to that dream project. Actually, Resurgence was developed by former members of the Telltale team, and they were certainly not shy about bringing some of that studio’s best ideas to this project. 

It turns out that most of the things that defined those Telltale games (the episodic formats, the tough moral choices, and the narrative/character-driven scenarios) fit perfectly into the Star Trek universe and are enhanced by that universe’s style and lore. I’d go so far as to argue that this is the only official Star Trek game that not only excels at forcing you to make difficult decisions based on your relationship and ethics but even bothers to offer an interactive version of that aspect of the franchise in the first place. Hey, there is a reason it made our most underrated games of 2023 list. 

Matthew Byrd | @SilverTuna014

Matthew Byrd is Games Editor at Den of Geek and an entertainment enthusiast living in Brooklyn. When he's not exploring the culture of video games, he's…

A Brief History Of Star Trek PC Games

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1971: Star Trek: A Text Adventure

The first Star Trek game was created in the early 1970s as a text-based space simulator. Although the game was fairly simple, it marked the entry of Star Trek into the video game world. Over the years, Star Trek has grown into one of the most successful franchises in the world, spawning dozens of games, several movies and hundreds of TV shows. We're taking a look at the games created inside the Star Trek universe as they evolved over time.

Because of the extremely high volume of Star Trek games in existence, we focused on games created for computers. These include games created for Windows, Apple, DOS, Amiga and similar systems. We've dug up as many of these games as possible, although because some Star Trek games created prior to the year 2000 have fallen into obscurity due to their age, there may be some about which we were unable to learn sufficient details to mention here.

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1984: Begin

The next entry into the Star Trek gaming world was called Begin . This game marked the transition from the text-based game to one that actually required you to use buttons to control your vessel.

1985: Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative

Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative is the first in a series of text adventures from game publisher Simon & Schuster Interactiv e . These games focused on the cast of the original Star Trek series as they dealt with a series of challenges.

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In this game, you take control of Captain Kirk as you attempt to repair your ship and complete other objectives.

1986: Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy

The second Star Trek game by publisher Simon & Schuster Interactiv e was Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy .

The Promethean Prophecy is centered around the Promethean solar system, which the Enterprise arrives at as part of its ongoing mission of exploration. The ship is then attacked by the Romulans and sustains considerable damage. During the game, players attempt to complete a series of tasks to help the crew survive, deal with the Romulan threat, and explore the Promethean system.

1987: Star Trek: The Rebel Universe

The third Star Trek game by publisher Simon & Schuster Interactiv e was Star Trek: The Promethean Prophecy .

In this game, you take control of various members of the original cast as the Enterprise makes its way to a mysterious part of space. All Federation ships previously sent to this area have rebelled against the Federation, and it's your mission to discover why.

1988: Star Trek: First Contact

The last Star Trek text-based adventure from publisher Simon & Schuster Interactive that we are able to find information about is titled Star Trek: First Contact . It focuses on first contact with a new alien race.

1992: Star Trek 25th Anniversary

On the 25th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise, Interplay produced a game titled Star Trek: 25th Anniversary . This game, like all prior Star Trek games, followed the original cast through a variety of missions. The game has two primary modes of play: Most of the game is played from the bridge of the enterprise, but at times, members of the crew will leave on away missions.

During the away missions, the game behaves more like a click adventure to gather items and investigate the world. The game was originally released on floppy disk, but later it was ported to CD-ROM. The CD-ROM port featured a few improvements over the original, including voice acting from the original Star Trek cast.

1993: Star Trek: Judgment Rites

The 25th anniversary game was followed up by a direct sequel titled Star Trek: Judgment Rites that was released in 1993. The overall game play is similar to Star Trek: The 25th Anniversary , and the missions are set up to take place directly following the previous game. Like its predecessor, Star Trek: Judgment Rites used voice acting performed by the original Star Trek cast.

1995: Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity

In 1995, the Star Trek game franchise transitioned to the cast of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, which had recently finished its final season. The game uses a click-adventure style interface reminiscent of the previous two Star Trek games. The overall game play has been extended, however, with the addition of new parts of the ship to explore (outside of the bridge) and new ship systems to use. At times, the player would also transport off of the Enterprise D to go on away missions.

1996: Star Trek: Klingon

In 1996, publisher Simon & Schuster made a return to the Star Trek game franchise with Star Trek: Klingon . This game could almost be construed as an educational tool for learning Klingon culture much as a game. The entire game is technically played inside of a holodeck simulation created by Gowron, the Klingon High Chancellor. The purpose of the simulation is to teach the player about Klingon culture and language by navigating a series of social situations.

The player must act correctly in each situation to progress the story. This sometimes requires the player to understand the Klingon language and recognize Klingon cuisine such as Gagh.

1996: Star Trek: Borg

Star Trek: Borg represented an attempt by publisher Simon & Schuster to build on the success of Star Trek: Klingon . The game uses a relatively similar style of gameplay, but with a completely different story. Players take control of a man named Qaylan Furlong. Qaylan is greeted by an unexpected visit by Q, who gives Qaylan a chance to travel back in time and save his father from dying in battle with the Borg at the Battle of Wolf 359.

Throughout the game, the players must explore the ship to learn about the events unfolding, answer questions from Q, and solve puzzles. This game proved to be overall less successful than its predecessor.

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• ern88 I wish they would do another Bridge Commander style game. Reply
• Reynar Uhhh...Birth of the Federation was turn-based. And glorious despite the game breaking memory leak and other bugs. Reply
• adgjlsfhk No star trek armada III? technically its a mod, but it still is amazing. Reply
• Mopar63 Birth of the Federation was an amazing game that needs to be remade. Sadly it was never properly supported. The Star Fleet Command series will always hold a special place in my heart. I worked with Taldren as a part of the "Inner Circle" a select group of play testers that worked directly with the devs. I was also the creator and Editor and Chief of Hailing Frequencies, an SFC Fanzine. Of all the Star Fleet Commands my least favorite was SFC III, I just never felt it captured the essence of SFC. I works on the New Worlds beta, all I can say is I am sorry. :-( I played a lot of Star Trek Online but Perfect World has pretty much ruined what started as a great Star Trek game. Reply
• dimar I would love Star Trek game series, Mass Effect style. Rich story line and lots of action. But no prequels. I hate prequels! Reply
• enewmen Some where exceptionally good, but only similar to Star Trek - having warp, shield, photons, etc. The Cosmic Balance by SSI (1982) for example added strategy by limiting the space available by hull size. So you can have a ton of weapons, but no shields. Or Super fast but no weapons. Or good weapons & shields but no living space. Balanced, Or any combination. The paper game "Star Fleet Battles" (1979) was also excellent, but there was never a good computer game version of that. Edit: Most licenced "Star Trek" games where made for suckers and totally SUCKED! "Starship Creator" (1998) for example was exceptionally bad (wait 2 hours to cross the map and nothing happens). Edit again: I have no love for Star Trek online - no good reason and I can't die. Just don't like it. Reply
• jaguarskx Playing Star Trek Online while doing a bit of moderation...LOL. Reply
• jaguarskx Star Trek Bridge Crew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=romB8e5nMp8 Reply
• cletus_slackjawd Armada and bridge commander where my favorite Reply
• wifiburger did not play a single startrek game, even tough the movies / tv series are decent, FPS MMO would be nice I'll play that :-) 20% no man sky and 80% destiny yeah that would be awesome Reply
• View All 24 Comments

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Good Old Star Trek Games

Star Trek computer games have a long history, going back to the first personal computers. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Activision released a number of them for the x86 PC platform. Many of them still run like a charm or with minor (solvable) problems. As GOG re-released some of them in September 2021, those games got new attention. For newcomers and veterans alike, this page holds some information to smooth some of the rough edges of their releases as well as the original releases. At the moment this page covers the following games:

• Star Trek: Armada ,
• Star Trek: Bridge Commander ,
• Star Trek: Elite Force II and
• Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force .
• Star Trek: Armada II .

At a later time, others may follow, e.g. Star Trek Away Team or Star Trek: Armada II.

Some Discord servers cover a number of games or are community places for multiple games. Some are game specific. These are more general Discords, covering (among others) Star Trek games:

• HaZardModding
• The Last Outpost
• Classic Star Trek Gaming

Other, more game specific Discords can be found on their respective pages.

• July 9, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Pauses To Reflect In “Imposter Syndrome” [Episode 206]
• July 9, 2024 | First Cadets Cast For ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’
• July 8, 2024 | Paramount Global Officially Agrees To Skydance Merger, With Potential Big Impact On Star Trek’s Future
• July 7, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Takes A Deep Dive In “Observer’s Paradox” [Episode 205]
• July 6, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Season 2 Hits Netflix Top 10 Internationally, ‘Discovery’ Season 5 On Nielsen Top 10

‘Elite Force,’ ‘Bridge Commander’ And More Classic Star Trek PC Games Updated For Windows 10

| September 8, 2021 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 40 comments so far

A frustration for fans of classic PC games is that they become unplayable on modern computers, or maybe you can’t find those long-lost game discs. But this will no longer be a problem for a selection of some favorite Star Trek games of the past.

Activision Star Trek games on GOG.com

The digital storefront GOG.COM and Activision are celebrating Star Trek Day by bringing some of the franchise’s favorite and critically acclaimed video games back, updated to work on modern operating systems. According to GOG “Preserving classic games is at the very (reactor) core” of their business and they have set their engineering crew to make sure that all of these games are up-to-date and running smoothly on Windows 10. Some of the titles even work on LAN multiplayer.

The six classic Star Trek games now available on the GOG.COM store include:

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force – a first-person shooter set onboard the USS Voyager where you must take on some of the most dangerous special missions.

Star Trek: Elite Force II – a stunning sequel set on Enterprise-E where you get your orders from Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself!

Star Trek: Hidden Evil – a third-person adventure game with both Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner reprising their roles as Captain Picard and Lt. Cmdr. Data.

Star Trek: Away Team – an isometric turn-based tactical game influenced by titles like Commandos and the X-Com series.

Star Trek: Starfleet Command III – a simulation game with RPG elements where you can customize your starship and lead it into space battles.

Star Trek: Bridge Commander – a space combat simulation game that sits you in an actual captain’s chair with a crew waiting for your orders.

In addition, two real-time strategy titles, Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II, are coming soon to GOG.COM and can now be added to the user wish lists.

The games are priced at $9.99 each. For more details, please visit the Star Trek games page on GOG.COM .

Find more news on Star Trek games .

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Star Fleet Command was way better when it was based off Starfleet Battles (I think I and II)! Are they going to update that version because would love to play that multiplayer! Had great weapon and ship variety and awesome tactics! The most memorable Star Trek games to me was 25th anniversary (PC) and Judgement Rites; it was like playing a TOS season. They should continue that series!

Yes, please, please do I&II. III was not bad, but was dumbed-down (no doubt by marketing drones) for “broader appeal”, it was/is not NEARLY as deep as I&II…

Yes, I’ll never get why story writers were like “let’s give everyone cloaking devices”, “everyone uses photon torpedoes”, “everything is generic!” and then wonder why a TOS with Romulans having cloak and plasma torpedoes, Klingons having battleships, disruptors, Kzinti/Hydrans with fighters, Lyrans, transporter marines. mines, expanding sphere generators, drones, etc is so much more exciting in a game. SFB expands on that with the Andromedians invading the galaxy with repulsor beams, displacement Devices and the Tholian Web, etc – that should have been SFC III.

Yeah, the first two Starfleet Command were based on SFB. They have the first one but oddly not the second.

GoG also has both 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites!

Star Feet Command 1 is already on GOG

Oh, thanks!

Darn. I have a Mac.

You always have the option of boot camping a Mac – not all hope is lost.

Is it an x86 (Intel) Mac or one of the new ARM ones? If it’s the former you might be able to install Windows in a VM or natively and play them that way. I think DOSbox is probably available for macOS for the DOS-based ones. Even 64-bit Windows can’t run DOS games.

Awesome! I have all of them on disc, and so far the ones I tested (Armada II and Elite Force) were running fine in compatibility mode. But this is of course great for people who don’t own the old discs anymore and don’t want to pay excessive amounts of money on ebay for those games (I saw bridge commander go for 100+ Euros)

This is a nice little surprise. Played most of the games back in day. A pity Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Fallen is not included. A decent third person shooter.

Would be so much easier were they on steam.

I don’t know about “so much easier.” GOG is great!

Agreed; I love GOG!

1st: Be patient, the Trek titles from Interplay became available on Steam after just a short time of GOG.com exclusivity.

2nd: Why, just why would you say such a thing? GOG Galaxy is at least as comfortable as Steam, and you can even use it to access your Steam library. On top of that GOG.com does not bother you with DRM. You can actually download and install the games from a stand-alone installer without a client, if you fancy that. No internet activation required. Also, GOG.com takes care of the classic games published there and will keep them compatible on Windows 11 and into the future. The only actual downside is the lack of an integrated modding library like the Steam Workshop.

You are aware that you can bind games into steam to launch them from there?

Elite Force was so sick back in the day. There was even a multiplayer death match, too!

I LOVED Armada and Armada II!!! So pleased to see these coming back!

Me too! I just played it today on my old windows xp computer which I kept because of that. Would love to play it on windows 10.

This is great news. The only remaining 90’s Trek game I really want to play again is “Birth of the Federation.” It was such an underrated game.

One of my favourite Trek games and it’d be fantastic to play it again.

Man I used to deliberately cheat to keep the game going and have about 80 starships protecting each system, the Klingons would almost always still give me a run for my money though if we hadn’t reached an alliance. For some reasons the Cardassians were always the first to fall haha.

Add to that my game would go for too many turns and each turn would end up taking like 5-10 minutes to process or something ridiculous.

Bridge Commander!! Finally playable on modern hardware! That’s awesome!

I’ve missed these old friends. That activision lawsuit was such a blow to me in high school. I wanted my EF2 expansion!

Hope they get the rest of the Interplay Trek games up like Klingon Academy, Starfleet Command 2 and New Worlds. To add to that get the Microprose titles too like A Final Unity, Generations, Klingon Honor Guard and Birth of the Federation

Never have I ever been so happy in my life, with the exception of asking my fiance to marry me of course haha.

I loved Armada I and Armada II as well as Bridge Commander. I had the Hidden Evil demo but I never got to play it. I am seriously purchasing all of these games. I am so stoked.

I hope they add DS9: The Fallen!

Could they bring Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy back from the dead too??

Gog has Starfleet Academy listed for sale.

Thank’s for that. Actually I wish the Klin Acad. A LOT! :)

I love both Star Trek and games, but I’d prefer a Star Trek game that’s NOT about fighting. Are any of these about exploring and making friends with new peoples?

Try 25th anniversary and judgement rites. You basically play a TOS season.

Thanks! I’ll check that out.

There’s a bit of exploration in Bridge Commander. But also a lot of combat. Despite this it stays true to the series and films.

No Star Trek: Armada? That was the only one worth playing. Haven’t been able to play it for years.

On the GOG website both Armada 1 and 2 are listed as coming soon. Can’t wait to play them again!

I was always a big fan of the Elite Force games. Can’t wait to try them out again.

Since I own Elite Force 1/2 on disc – can I download a patch somewhere for Windows 10? I DID manage to get it working recently, via unnoficial means, but I’d like a proper patch to install or whatnot.

I lost a lot of sleep to Elite Force back in the day. And cookies. First person shooters give me motion sickness, but I’d still play that one in online group battle mode for hours. I seem to remember finding a server somewhere where someone had patched it with a limited TOS environment. It was so cool that I’d just walk around like a tourist getting blasted.

Best Star Trek games of all time

Boldly go where no one has gone before with our in-depth, ranked list of the best Star Trek games of all time.

10. Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova

9. star trek: klingon academy, 8. star trek: invasion, 7. star trek: elite force ii, 6. star trek: bridge crew, 5. star trek: deep space nine – the fallen, 4. star trek: voyager – elite force, 3. star trek: starfleet command iii, 2. star trek: bridge commander, 1. star trek online.

It's only logical that you check out our list of the best Star Trek games of all time.

Star Trek: Resurgence , a new narrative-driven video game based on the famous sci-fi franchise, has just hit the shelves and garnered positive reviews. While it looks like a perfect entry point for newcomers to the Star Trek universe , it also reminded us of all the older titles that deserve more attention nowadays, as well as recent releases that have flown under the radar. Below you’ll find our picks for the very best Star Trek games of all time, ranked worst to best.

Much like the movie and TV franchise they’re based on, Star Trek video games have traditionally been more obscure than Star Wars titles, or at least more demanding from players trying to warp into the unknown. Still, Star Trek has produced a handful of remarkable games well worth checking out if you’ve got the time.

If you need some recommendations to better navigate through the Star Trek movies released so far, be sure to check out our list of the Star Trek movies ranked, worst to best . Likewise, we’ve got plenty of other sci-fi gaming suggestions (old and new) with our lists of the finest Alien , Warhammer 40K , Marvel , and DC games of all time.

• Platforms: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
• Developer: Tessera Studios

After a successful season 1 on Paramount+ in late 2021 and early 2022, the animated series Star Trek Prodigy received its own tie-in video game in late 2022. Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is far from being the deepest nor most representative title the franchise has received, but it’s tailor-made for the next generation of fans.

There’s plenty of top-down action and adventure for the whole family here, coupled with reasonable puzzles and a co-op option which seems perfect for Trekkie parents trying to get their children into the universe. In an age when tie-in games are rare and normally undercooked, Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova has almost all the charm of the source material and doesn’t stumble too often.

• Platforms: PC
• Developer: 14 Degrees East

Klingon Academy is one of the many weird, overlooked Star Trek video games that were born from an era when the most obvious projects had already been developed. Movies and TV shows weren’t at their highest peak either during the late 90s and early 2000s, so many off-beat and fascinating titles came out during those years.

Star Trek: Klingon Academy was yet another space flight sim, with the main difference being that it followed a young Klingon warrior joining the Elite Command Academy in order to prepare for a future conflict with the United Federation of Planets. While it was designed as a successor to Starfleet Academy, the unique setting and storyline, coupled with complex systems that rewarded diehard players, placed it among Star Trek’s finest games as years passed.

• Platforms: PS1
• Developer: Warthog Games

The year 2000 also gave us Star Trek: Invasion, a pretty competent and good-looking space combat shooter for the original PlayStation. It perhaps didn’t get enough attention back then because it strayed a bit too far from the spirit of the franchise, but the quality and retro thrills are there.

On the downside, the music largely missed the mark and barely felt like a proper Star Trek soundtrack, plus many ships in the game weren’t canon-accurate. Still, Invasion landed critical shots with everything else and provided a Star Trek experience unlike anything that had come before it.

• Platforms: PC, macOS
• Developer: Ritual Entertainment

Star Trek tried its luck with the first-person shooter genre as well, and found great success twice. While Ritual Entertainment’s Elite Force II isn’t as remarkable as the first installment, there was plenty to love in it, including much-improved graphics.

Oddly enough, Elite Force II also serves as a semi-sequel of sorts to the largely derided movie Star Trek: Nemesis as well as the end of the Star Trek: Voyager series. As for the gameplay, it’s an exciting mix of FPS action and surprisingly solid puzzle-solving. The game resonated well with critics and veteran fans alike, but it was a commercial failure and marked the final Star Trek release by Activision.

• Platforms: PC, PS4, Oculus Quest
• Developer: Red Storm Entertainment

Star Trek: Bridge Crew was hard to fully recommend around launch to the average player or Trekkie because it was strictly a virtual-reality title, but there was eventually an update that introduced the option to play it without VR. It takes place in the Kelvin timeline (created by the 2009 movie) and sees the Starfleet ship USS Aegis searching for a new homeworld for the Vulcans.

Players can choose from four roles: captain, tactical officer, engineer, and helm officer. Many tasks, both story-related and randomly generated, are performed from the ship’s bridge, and it’s all about working as a team to come out unscathed from dangerous and stressful situations. It’s a rather unique and more casual experience that channels much of Star Trek’s distinctive soul without alienating newcomers.

If you do have a VR headset then that's the best way to play, but it's worth checking out regardless.

• Developer: The Collective

Back to the off-beat titles from the early 2000s, we find Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – The Fallen, a rather straightforward but surprising third-person shooter that made good use of the Unreal Engine and allowed itself to be creepy and scary at times.

Players can choose to play through the entire game as either Captain Benjamin Sisko, Major Kira Nerys, or Lt. Commander Worf. The different points of view shed new light on the overall plot, and the entire story isn’t fully revealed until all three paths have been walked. Another nice touch was the inclusion of gadgets and comm mechanics that break up the action and give the whole experience a deeper Star Trek feeling than some of the reskins we've seen.

• Platforms: PC, macOS, PS2
• Developer: Raven Software

The first Elite Force game was specifically linked to Star Trek: Voyager’s sixth season, and introduced the Hazard Team, a new elite security section created to deal with extremely hostile missions. While the USS Voyager makes some repairs after being trapped in a starship graveyard, the Hazard Team is tasked with protecting the ship and the crew.

“Set your phasers to frag”, said the game’s cover, and that certainly wasn’t a lie. Raven Software, generally known for their work on the excellent Star Wars: Jedi Knight titles, made great use of the id Tech 3 engine, which was the perfect choice at the time for top-tier FPS games. Its action-heavy approach also meant it was very appealing to players that weren’t big Star Trek fans. More than 20 years later, this one still feels fantastic to play.

• Developer: Taldren

The Starfleet Command series had a pretty great run, and its third entry remains the best Star Trek space sim and real-time strategy title the franchise has ever had. It packs great story-driven missions split across three factions (Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, and the Federation), engrossing RPG elements, and RTS mechanics, and yet somehow never feels overcomplicated or obtuse. Moreover, a Borg Collective campaign was also added to the game as downloadable content, though it wasn’t connected to the main storyline.

If you only have time for a handful of Star Trek titles as you explore the best that Trek has to offer, Starfleet Command III is absolutely the must-play of the space sim bunch and also a great accompaniment to a full rewatch of The Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager.

• Developer: Totally Games

In many ways, Bridge Commander feels like a key predecessor to Bridge Crew, with its focus on the ship’s bridge and the crew working together to solve many problems and win battles. As this was a full-blown PC game made for diehard Star Trek fans, it offered a deeper experience than many other entries on this list, featuring tactical gameplay and hands-on control of the many ship systems.

While Star Trek: Bridge Commander might not be everyone’s cup of tea and requires a certain amount of commitment to learning the ropes, we can’t think of a richer game for massive Trekkies. Furthermore, customized scenarios in “simulated environments” can keep it going after the story campaign is completed.

• Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
• Developer: Cryptic Studios

It’s not often that a franchise’s best game is an MMORPG, but Cryptic Studios’ unyielding commitment to Star Trek Online has paid off for more than a decade now. Like many MMOs before, it originally launched requiring a game purchase and monthly fees, but later shifted to a free-to-play model with premium access to extra content and items.

Even if you don’t spend any money, Star Trek Online keeps expanding in meaningful ways and offers both on-foot and starship action that perfectly captures the IP’s magic with story quests and PvP battles surprisingly well-adjusted to the MMO framework. 

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Fran Ruiz is our resident Star Wars guy. His hunger for movies and TV series is only matched by his love for video games. He got a BA of English Studies, focusing on English Literature, from the University of Malaga, in Spain, as well as a Master's Degree in English Studies, Multilingual and Intercultural Communication. On top of writing features and other longform articles for Space.com since 2021, he is a frequent collaborator of VG247 and other gaming sites. He also serves as associate editor over at Star Wars News Net and its sister site, Movie News Net.

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All 15 star trek: the next generation games (& when they take place).

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Honkai star rail 2.4 leaks: everybody's favorite character may be the first to get a skin, resident evil 9 must kill the series’ most important character.

Star Trek: The Next Generation spans fifteen years, seven television seasons, four movies, and fifteen video games, which can make it difficult to determine the chronology of events. Beyond Captain Picard and his crew, there’s an entire galaxy full of alien civilizations and complicated interplanetary politics that are hard for even the biggest Trek fans to keep straight.

The Next Generation was a cultural phenomenon that resurrected the Star Trek franchise and created a whole new generation of Trekkies. The television series was set in the years 2364-2370 and then was followed by the movies Star Trek Generations (set in 2371), Star Trek: First Contact (2373), Star Trek: Insurrection (2375), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2379).

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Many of the Star Trek: The Next Generation video games fill in the gaps between movies, with several games tackling the Dominion War that occurred after Insurrection . Other TNG games explore alternate timelines or let players serve aboard the Enterprise-D under Captain Picard himself. Here are all fifteen Star Trek: The Next Generation games and when they take place.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation is a 1999 PC game developed by MicroProse and published by Hasbro Interactive. This turn-based strategy game gives players control of the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, Ferengi Alliance, or Cardassian Union and features empire-building mechanics similar to the Civilization games. Though this game ties into TNG , the actual timeline is all over the place because players are controlling empires from their first inception through to the events of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Conquest

Star Trek: Conquest is a 2007 strategy game for the Wii and PlayStation 2 developed by 4J Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Players can command the Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, Dominion, or Breen fleets and are responsible for building support structures, managing admirals and other officers, and commanding ships during combat. Star Trek: Conquest takes place in a non-canon alternate reality, but it's set in the year 2364 which places it during the first season of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Borg

Star Trek: Borg is a 1996 point-and-click adventure game from Simon and Schuster for Windows and Mac. The player is a Starfleet cadet who encounters Q and is sent back in time to the Battle of Wolf 359. This battle took place in the two-part episode “The Best of Both Worlds” at the end of season 3 and beginning of season 4 of TNG, in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg and leads an attack on a Starfleet armada.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993)

Star Trek: The Next Generation is a 1993 Game Boy and NES game by Absolute Entertainment in which the player takes the role of a Starfleet cadet participating in a training simulation.

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The game takes place on board the Enterprise-D, and though there’s no specific date mentioned, the bridge officers on duty in the game line up with the command structure during seasons 2-7 of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1994)

In 1994, Spectrum HoloByte developed a Star Trek: The Next Generation game that was published under the subtitle Echoes from the Past for Sega and Future’s Past for Super Nintendo. It’s an adventure game in which players are investigating a temporal device being sought after by the Romulans and the Chodak. Echoes from the Past / Future’s Past doesn’t mention a specific date or year, but it takes place onboard the Enterprise-D with the same crew and bridge officers as seasons 2-7 of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity

Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity is a 1995 point-and-click adventure game developed by MicroProse and published by Spectrum HoloByte for PC and Mac. Players control Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D who are all voiced by the original cast of The Next Generation . The storyline of A Final Unity takes place around the year 2370, between the first two episodes of season 7 ("Descent" and "Liaisons").

Star Trek: Klingon

Star Trek: Klingon is an interactive movie/RPG released by Simon & Schuster Interaction in 1996 for PC and Mac that was directed by Jonathan Frakes. The player is a young Klingon about to pass his Rite of Ascension when there is an assassination attempt on Chancellor Gowron, forcing the player to embark on a blood oath to avenge the Klingon High Council.

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The exact timeline of Star Trek: Klingon is unknown, but it has to take place during Gowron’s chancellorship, placing it sometime between his election in season 4 of  The Next Generation and his death in season 7 of Deep Space Nine .

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Klingon Honor Guard

Star Trek: Klingon Honor Guard is a 1998 first-person shooter for Mac and PC released by MicroProse. This game is very similar in concept to Star Trek: Klingon , with the player in the role of a young Klingon investigating a plot to assassinate Chancellor Gowron. Klingon Honor Guard also takes place at some unspecified point during Gowron’s chancellorship.

Star Trek: ConQuest Online

Star Trek: ConQuest Online is an online strategy game for PC developed by Genetic Anomalies and published by Activision in 2000. The player is a member of the Q collective fighting against other Qs for control of the galaxy using game mechanics similar to Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering . As with anything relating to the Q, the timeline of ConQuest Online is hard to pin down, but it loosely takes place during The Next Generation .

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek Generations is a 1997 first-person shooter developed for the PC by MicroProse. Star Trek Generations essentially just follows the plot of the 1994 movie by the same name, so it takes place in the year 2371, shortly after the events of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Hidden Evil

Star Trek: Hidden Evil is an adventure game for the PC developed by Presto Studios and published by Activision in 1999. The player takes the role of Ensign Sovok, a human raised by Vulcans who must foil a plot to use a rare genetic seed’s destructive powers to control the galaxy.

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Star Trek: Hidden Evil was marketed as a direct sequel to Star Trek: Insurrection , which took place roughly five years after the end of The Next Generation .

Star Trek: Invasion

Star Trek: Invasion is a 2000 space combat game developed by Warthog Games and published by Activision for the PlayStation. Star Trek: Invasion takes place during 2377, after the end of the Dominion War, which means it occurs after  TNG and between the S tar Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis movies.

Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II

Star Trek: Armada and Star Trek: Armada II are PC games from Mad Doc Software and Activision that were released in 2000 and 2001 respectively. The Armada games are real-time strategy games in which players build and maintain fleets as either the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Star Empire, or Borg Collective. Star Trek: Armada takes place in 2376 and Armada II occurs in 2377, placing both games in between the events of Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis .

Star Trek: Away Team

Star Trek: Away Team is a 2001 PC strategy game from Reflexive Entertainment and Activision. Players serve aboard the USS Incursion, an experimental Starfleet ship equipped with holographic technology that allows it to impersonate any vessel. Star Trek: Away Team takes place after the end of the Dominion War in 2377, after Star Trek Insurrection , and before Star Trek: Nemesis .

Star Trek: Bridge Commander

Star Trek: Bridge Commander is a space combat simulation game for PC developed by Totally Games and published by Activision in 2002. The player is a newly promoted captain who is assigned to investigate an exploding star. Star Trek: Bridge Commander occurs just after the Dominion War, which means it’s in between Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis .

There are Star Trek: The Next Generation video games in every major genre, spanning across the entire fifteen-year run of the TNG era, providing fans with a variety of ways to interact with Gene Roddenberry's vast and complicated universe.

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• Game Features
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Star Trek: Resurgence Is the Best of ’90s Trek With the Worst of ’90s Gaming

Star Trek has an up and down history with video games moreso than most storied franchises. It’s rare for a singular game to properly capture Star Trek as an experience when, at its best, Star Trek debate, diplomacy, and scientific investigation don’t quite line up with gaming hallmarks. But the adventure game genre is one where Trek has succeeded in the past—and for the most part, Star Trek: Resurgence adds to that history… with some significant caveats.

Out this week, Star Trek: Resurgence is a narrative-driven, choice-based adventure game in the vein of Telltale Games’ episodic gaming series, such as The Walking Dead, Batman , Guardians of the Galaxy, and more (developer Dramatic Labs was founded by several former Telltale staffers after the studio first effectively shuttered in 2018; the revived studio is currently working on a game based on The Expanse).

Whereas traditional adventure games lean heavily on puzzles, these games are driven by player choice through multi-pronged dialogue scenes, allowing the player to shape the path of the narrative—a perfect fit for a series like Star Trek. Unlike the oeuvre of past Telltale games, however, what sets Resurgence apart is that it is a singular, 12-ish hour story, rather than being broken down into episodic seasons of game slices. The feeling it creates is less like watching an interactive episode of Star Trek, and more like a choose-your-own-adventure novel coming to life.

Resurgence is set in 2380—a year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis—and follows the crew of the U.S.S. Resolute, a science vessel rocked by a recent accident that resulted in the loss of 20 of its crew, including its first officer. When new XO Commander Jara Rydek is brought aboard, the Resolute is tasked with participating in diplomatic negotiations between two alien species, the Alydians and the Hotari, over a mining world—only to discover the source of the conflict has dire, far-reaching implications for the entire galaxy.

Where Resurgence stands out from prior adventure games of its ilk, and where it plays to Star Trek’s strengths the most, is in dividing the player’s perspective between two primary characters: the aforementioned Commander Rydek, a Kobliad officer thrust into the politics of not just a new command but a senior staff splintered over the loss of one of their own, and Petty Officer Carter Diaz, an engineering crewperson trying to navigate life in the lowest of the lower decks on a Federation starship with his best friend, a Trill named Nili Edsilar. By making the audience viewpoint cover such a broad scope of Star Trek’s command structure, Resurgence deftly manages to explore life aboard a starship from multiple narrative and mechanical angles.

If Jara’s sections of the story are driven around establishing herself as a senior officer and the politics of diplomacy, from command of the bridge to staff meetings, Carter’s leans a little more on the practical side of the adventure game genre, problem-solving and puzzling to get his job done in environments where his rank means he’s not often the go-to for big, splashy Star Trek action. Even when things go sideways and the whole Resolute crew is thrust into an epically staked mission to save the galaxy, this divide in perspective remains throughout, capturing the broad Star Trek experience.

This is just one of the many ways Resurgence revels in capturing the vibe of Star Trek—and more specifically the vibes of his heyday in the late ‘80s and the ‘90s, the peaks of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager defining a modern era of the franchise beyond the original series’ retro aesthetic. Resurgence shows its love of Star Trek not in cameos and references (although their are a few notable characters who make appearances, including Ambassador Spock and Titan captain Will Riker), but in aping classic story elements and structures from those shows, weaving a largely original take through nods and connections to prior stories. Like Star Trek itself, the action is largely sparing, with the most tension and conflict coming from how your characters navigate tough command decisions or debate—and even when things do come to blows and conflict becomes violent, Resurgence more often than not eschews direct combat to instead focus on the decisions its characters are forced to make in those moments, rather than how good they are at firing a phaser.

This is amplified even further by the fact that Resurgence focuses on a completely original crew of characters. The decisions you make, from the mundane to the life-threatening, all feel like they carry a weight of uncertainty, as no character is necessarily guaranteed to make it out of the story in one piece. You’re watching your relationship to these characters grow in real-time as you decide who to put faith in and who to keep at arms’ length, or in how you shape Rydek and Diaz themselves grappling with the morals of Starfleet coming up against the desperation of their increasingly hazardous mission. Resurgence is still largely a story of Starfleet heroes saving the day, but there is a level of tension running throughout that most Star Trek stories can’t quite capture when you know the crew you’re following is going to be largely fine by the end of the tale.

All of this narrative interest, however, often comes into conflict with the other truth of Resurgence: it’s simply not a very fun game to play. The moments you are given control of Jara and Carter are defined by awkward controls, clunky animation, and an erratic graphical consistency where character models look great but the environments they’re in decidedly do not (it’s worth stating that Resurgence will run you $40, under the typical price of a major AAA game but still enough that it feels very rough around the edges for that cost).

Although moments of direct action are rare in Resurgence’s focus on dialogue choices, that’s not to say they’re absent entirely. But you find yourself thankful that phaser shootouts are few and far between because they’re the most frustrating sequences of the game to play; weightless action and swimmy controls are matched by frustrating fail states that often feel like they’re asking far too much of what Resurgence can mechanically handle. This is further impacted by the simple fact that, for an adventure game, there’s very little actual adventuring to do. Resurgence’s decision to lean heavily on cinematic dialogue choices for its interactions means there’s little in the way of interesting puzzles or tools to interact with the world around you. There’s one way to do most things, and it’s not about figuring that out as much as it is shepherding you from one dialogue sequence to the next.

That linearity also adds to Resurgence’s core weakness: it’s linear to the point of frustration. Awkward moments where you’re asked to take control of your character to clunkily navigate a corridor—only for a cutscene to immediately take over—make you feel relieved that for the next few minutes, the game might only ask you to make a few dialogue choices instead of more directly play it. The single-minded thrust of the game also means there’s little downtime between major story beats for you to casually explore your surroundings, or get to know your crewmates better. Every interaction is in the name of driving the main story arc forward, with limited opportunities for reflection and exploration. By the end of Resurgence’s 12-hour trek, that makes you feel like a lot of those big story choices you’re being asked to influence are mostly impactful on the immediate following scenes rather than the larger story, taking the bite out of the weight and tension the narrative leans on as one of its greater strengths.

Not quite as major but still frustrating is that at least on PC with Resurgence’s press-build, the game is equally clunky in its bugginess. While it’s nothing severe enough to cause a loss of progress, Resurgence on PC was a pain to navigate with menus not functioning right, certain menus not recognizing a gamepad (which even on PC, is the recommended control option), and, bizarrely enough, the game locking up every time I tried to close it after a session. Although gameplay is largely spared from these issues, there are still some persistent bugs while playing, in the form of dialogue subtitles either not correctly displaying or, sometimes, showing incomplete or totally different lines to what was being said—a pain point from both an accessibility standpoint and a narrative standpoint, where several modified subtitles provided the player with contextual information that wasn’t actually said in the scene, making it hard to tell what mattered.

Ultimately, how willing you are to grapple with the awkward gameplay of Star Trek: Resurgence will depend on how much you really want a new, original Star Trek story, in a time when there’s more Star Trek available in various formats than arguably since its giddy heights in the ‘90s. Resurgence will very much give you a solid Trek tale populated with compelling characters and interesting leads that perhaps comes closest to making you feel like you’re taking part in a classic Star Trek narrative—certainly more than many other games have attempted in decades. But that success is often in spite of itself, a not-quite diamond in the very-much rough of its clumsy, awkward mechanics.

Star Trek: Resurgence launches tomorrow, May 23, on PC (exclusively through the Epic Games Store), PlayStations 4 and 5, and the Xbox Series X, S, and Xbox One.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week, star trek: resurgence is a welcome throwback to '90s trek.

While “ Star Trek ” has enjoyed quite the long history of video game adaptations—dozens of games spanning almost every system known to man, though the best ones end up on PC—it’s a difficult franchise to get right . It’s not “ Star Wars ,” where lightsabers and space dogfights are the order of the day, a single hero saving the galaxy against pure-evil antagonists. (Even the best “Trek” action games, like the “Elite Force” series, have to bend their utopian premise just enough to make room for the run-and-gun antics the genre demands.)

But “Star Trek: Resurgence,” just released from developer Dramatic Labs and publisher Bruner House, hews more closely to the spirit of classic “Trek,” more focused on exploring strange new worlds and new civilizations than blasting them to smithereens with a photon torpedo. In so doing, it proves a welcome addition to the broader universe—even if its narrative choices are more compelling than their actual gameplay.

If you’re familiar with the choose-your-own-adventure flavor of Telltale Games, you’ll feel right at home in the narrative-focused gameplay of “Resurgence.” (Dramatic Labs is made up of 20+ former Telltale artists and producers.) Set just a few years after “ Star Trek: Nemesis ,” the last TNG movie, the game eschews the relative familiarity of the Enterprise for a smaller ship, the Centaur-class science vessel Resolute . It’s not the Federation flagship, nor is it particularly beautiful to look at (diehards will recognize the design as a “kitbash,” where modelmakers would glue together bits of existing models for random ships in the background of ‘90s Trek). But that’s the point: You and the Resolute crew are regular, everyday joes, doing the grunt work of Starfleet while Picard and co. get all the attention. 

Like the A/B-plot structure of many a classic “Trek” adventure before it, “Resurgence” flits between the perspectives of two different crewmembers. There’s Commander Jara Rydek (Krizia Bajos), the new first officer of the Resolute ; the ship’s previous officer, along with several other crew members, was recently killed in an accident, and the captain (her former Academy mentor) is counting on her to help him weather the new scrutiny to his command. In the trenches, we also follow Petty Officer Carter Diaz (Josh Keaton), a happy-go-lucky enlisted engineer more focused on a potential romance with a fellow crewman than the big decisions of the brass.

Together, they and the Resolute crew embark on a dangerous diplomatic mission that wouldn’t be out of place in an old episode of “The Next Generation.” There are two warring factions with centuries of animosity between them, and it’s your job to mediate the dispute before it explodes into all-out war. 

In classic Telltale fashion, the game itself plays out largely like an interactive movie, with a heavy emphasis on dialogue and relationship-building. As either Rydek or Diaz, you’ll talk to crewmembers and alien guests alike to mediate conflicts, come to decisions, or exert your will on your subordinates. As Rydek, the weight of command lies heavily on you: Will you force a crewmember to risk their life to save several others? Which of your second officers will you lean on for support during a difficult test? Do you safeguard the reputation of your captain or make an unpopular decision that may protect the crew from danger? 

It’s this relationship management that feels paramount (no pun intended, considering “Trek”’s parent company) to “Resurgence”’s gameplay: the pause menu even gives you a rundown of how each character feels about you depending on how you’ve treated them thus far. Moreover, the dialogue tree isn’t as clear cut as something like “Mass Effect,” and your decisions are on a timer: You’ve got to think fast about what you say, and it’s not always clear how your statements will come across. It’s a great simulator of the soft skills and quick thinking required for Starfleet command.

These elements are compelling and appropriately tense, and the script and voice acting are top-notch. (Special mention goes to Piotr Michael as Ambassador Spock, whose Leonard Nimoy impression spices up one of the game’s few cameos from existing “Trek” characters. You can practically hear the dentures.) Writers Dan Martin and Andrew Grant have built a charming, likable cast of characters both on and off the Resolute , which lends additional impact—though the late-game addition of an Ancient Big Bad renders many of your thornier ethical decisions a bit inert. 

The fissures in the warp core, so to speak, come when “Resurgence” juggles additional gameplay elements on top of its interactive-movie structure. This comes into play most with Diaz’s sections, which (unlike Rydek) are focused more on scanning and fixing things. In his shiny Starfleet boots, you’re often stuck with tedious tricorder minigames or quick-time events with frequently-unclear mechanics. Sure, it’s fun the first couple of times to scan something or work a transporter panel, but the novelty gets old quickly. There are cover-shooting and stealth sections to break up all the politicking, but they feel unpolished enough to read more as intrusive. 

The game’s technical issues, at least at the time of publishing, sometimes take you out of the immersive “Trek” vibe the developers are going for. Subtitles will randomly not appear, walking and facial animations read as stiff, and the audio will get frustratingly staticky sometimes (I played this on an Xbox Series X). And the aforementioned scanning sections grow more tedious in the rare moments where the anomaly you’re supposed to scan for doesn’t appear on your tricorder. 

These mechanical hiccups aside, it’s hard to think of a recent game that captures the spirit of classic “Star Trek” quite like “Resurgence.” It feels like an upscaled episode of the classic "The Next Generation," from its wood-paneled Starfleet bridge sets to its motley crew of characters and sociopolitical dilemmas. Its graphical detail may not touch something like “Jedi: Survivor,” but that’s part of the charm: “Trek” heroes aren’t grizzled loners with laser swords. They’re principled members of a team who work together to boldly go where no one has gone before. In this respect, “Resurgence” works great as a “Star Trek” simulator, putting you in the captain’s chair with all its attending burdens. It’s hard to think of a Trekkier game than that.

Clint Worthington

Clint Worthington is a Chicago-based film/TV critic and podcaster. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of  The Spool , as well as a Senior Staff Writer for  Consequence . He is also a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and Critics Choice Association. You can also find his byline at RogerEbert.com, Vulture, The Companion, FOX Digital, and elsewhere. 

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Star Trek: Borg is a '90s FMV game that doesn't completely suck

Rewrite history in this interactive Star Trek episode.

One of Star Trek's most divisive characters is undoubtedly Q, an extra-dimensional troublemaker who delights in hassling the crew of the Enterprise, and has appeared in numerous spin-offs including Voyager and Deep Space Nine. Some people hate Q episodes, but I love them—largely because of John de Lancie, who plays the character with absolute relish. So when I heard about Star Trek: Borg, an FMV game released by Simon & Schuster in 1996 that is essentially an interactive Q episode, I had to play it.

You couldn't move for terrible FMV games in the 1990s. These 'interactive movies' were notorious for having cheap production values, bad acting, and lacking any identifiable interactivity. What sets Star Trek: Borg apart, however, is that John de Lancie is brilliant in it (he's brilliant in everything), it was filmed on the same sets as the TV show (specifically Voyager), and although it's just as linear as the worst low budget CD-ROM games, it uses Q's dimension-hopping powers to do something a bit more interesting with the genre.

It's no Tapestry (my favourite Q episode, from season 6 of The Next Generation), but it's one of a handful of '90s FMV games that is actually still worth playing today—and for more than just laughing at how bad it is. Of course, your mileage may vary if you don't like Star Trek—but would you have read this far otherwise? The game was written by Hilary J. Bader, a writer on TNG, Voyager, and Deep Space Nine, and was directed by Star Trek veteran James L. Conway, which makes it feel like an authentic part of the universe.

You are Qaylan Furlong, a Starfleet cadet whose father was killed by the Borg in the infamous Battle of Wolf 359. The Borg have invaded Federation space again, but Starfleet command has denied you the chance to fight them and avenge your father. Enter Q, who offers you an opportunity to go back in time to Wolf 359, alter history, and prevent your old man's death. It's a little absurd that Q would concern himself with some random cadet, but hey, let's not think about that too much. The Q Continuum works in mysterious ways.

Brilliantly, if you refuse Q's offer he clicks his fingers, the game unceremoniously quits, and you get kicked back to your desktop. But if you agree, you're whisked back to your father's ship, the USS Righteous, and begin recklessly meddling with the space-time continuum as John de Lancie prances around being extremely Q. All the game's FMV is filmed in first-person, which gives you the strange sensation of being in an episode of Star Trek, rather than just watching it, which is kinda nice. It's a shame about the heavy interlacing, but you can blame the limited space on your average CD-ROM for that.

The reason I like this more than other FMV games is how it makes failure fun. When you play games like this you're usually forced to tediously replay sections over and over again until you do exactly what the developers want. This game is no different, but when you make a mistake you're rewarded with a pithy line from Q or a dramatic scene that shows you just how badly you screwed up—whether it's a Borg drone killing a crewmate or the entire ship being destroyed. Some puzzles (if you can call them that) even require you to fail on purpose to find the solution, which taps nicely into the time travel concept.

Would Star Trek: Borg be half as good if Q, and by extension John de Lancie, wasn't in it? Eh, probably not. But if you love Star Trek, and you have a fondness for that omnipotent trickster, it's basically a must-play. Finding a copy and getting it running on a modern PC is hard work, but not beyond the means of anyone with a search engine and a powerful desire to experience a CD-ROM from the 1990s that doesn't totally suck. And with the Borg being part of the story in Picard, the latest Star Trek TV series, this is the perfect time to learn more about the history of the Federation's war against them.

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The 10 Best Star Trek Games, Ranked By Metacritic

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Star trek: the 10 best captains, star trek fleet command codes (july 2024).

The Star Trek franchise is one of the media's biggest and oldest entertainment juggernauts. It covers movies, television, card games, role-playing modules, action figures, and a whole slew of every niche in between. Video games might have been one of the earliest branches from the original television series, appearing even before the movies.

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Considering the brand's popularity, it has a poor reputation when it comes to video games . That might have started in the days of console gaming when the Star Trek name was attached to some hilarious failures. The fact is there are plenty of good Star Trek games out there no matter what computer hardware or gaming console is available, and one way to find them is by using Metacritic.

10 Star Trek: Invasion - 76

There's nothing that beats a classic, and this PS game has all the basic elements of a vintage Star Trek episode. The player is a pilot taking commands from none other than Commander Worf, and together they take on the Borg, a rogue Starfleet captain, and the Romulans. The focus of the game is the elite, cutting-edge ship that takes the player through this adventure-space shooter hybrid.

9 Star Trek: Bridge Crew - 78

One of the more recent games in the franchise,  Bridge Crew isn't the first one designed with Virtual Reality in mind, but it was intended specifically to be an immersive VR experience. The game recreates the environments from the show with impressive accuracy as the protagonist leads their ship and crew, and players and critics are heralding this as the future of virtual gaming.

8 Star Trek: Elite Force II - 78

The player is part of a clandestine security unit assigned to the Enterprise in Star Trek: Elite Force II.  This PC game has some nice fanservice for Trekkers and enough detail and expertise in the design department for everyone else.

RELATED:  15 Casting Decisions That Saved Star Trek (And 15 That Weren't Great)

The game includes a prologue in which the protagonist also gets some time on the USS Voyager along with a variety of other environments. This adventure leads to vast alien landscapes, other starships, and the void of deep space .

7 Star Trek: Starfleet Command III - 78

This PC game is a favorite because of the strategic gameplay and immersive plot, a common feature of most Star Trek games. What sets  Starfleet Command III  apart from others, either as part of the larger brand or in the Starfleet Command series, is the level of customization involved. Players can modify their ships with more weapons, better defense, and other features depending on their chosen strategy.

6 Star Trek Starfleet Command: Orion Pirates - 78

The Star Trek Starfleet Command game series for the PC tends to rank highly with both gamers and critics, and this is another entry on that list.  Orion Pirates  is an immersive PC game that mixes real-time strategy with the command of a starship. The player can choose to be one of the pirates or fight against them in their ultimate goal of conquering the universe.

5 Star Trek: Bridge Crew The Next Generation - 79

This game has a VR experience that has received rave reviews from both fans and critics, but that's not all that players like about it. The gameplay is intuitive, the graphics are sleek and detailed, and the storyline is compelling and immersive.

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This game might be more popular if it was on more than one platform. Star Trek: Bridge Crew The Next Generation is only available on the PS4, and uses the graphics capabilities to the full extent of their powers.

4 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Fallen - 81

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , The Fallen is a PC game that features a compelling storyline and the opportunity to play as three famous characters, either as Commander Worf, Captain Sisko, or Major Kira, each of which were high ranking officers on the show. The main storyline consists of a search for three orbs, powerful artifacts that will give the federation an edge for controlling the galaxy.

3 Star Trek Fleet Command - 82

One of the first attempts at a mobile game for the franchise, in this case for the iPhone,  Star Trek Fleet Command  delivers on the complex and interesting gameplay as well as serving up some nice hot fanservice. The game includes references and characters from virtually every Star Trek show and timeline and includes plenty of strategic adventures along with quests to explore, build, and recruit your favorite Star Trek heroes.

2 Star Trek Bridge Commander - 82

It's the drama of the storyline that initially hooks players on this highly immersive PC game. In Star Trek Bridge Commander,  the plot begins when the player takes command after the Captain is killed in a mysterious explosion.

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The protagonist's mission is to find out what caused the initial blast and prevent a recurrence. This leads into an intricate game that consists of completing missions, forming alliances, and uncovering a dark political secret.

1 Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force - 86

One of the things about Star Trek: Voyager Elite Force  that explains the high rating is that players for this PC game take the helm as fan-favorite , Tuvok. It also helps that Raven Software didn't spare any expense when it comes to funding the graphics department, and the FPS design is fun to play and easy to learn.

NEXT:  30 Crazy Mistakes In Star Trek Even Super Fans Missed

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Star Trek: Resurgence Is the Best of '90s Trek With the Worst of '90s Gaming

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Star Trek has an up and down history with video games moreso than most storied franchises. It’s rare for a singular game to properly capture Star Trek as an experience when, at its best, Star Trek debate, diplomacy, and scientific investigation don’t quite line up with gaming hallmarks. But the adventure game genre is one where Trek has succeeded in the past—and for the most part, Star Trek: Resurgence adds to that history... with some significant caveats.

Out this week, Star Trek: Resurgence is a narrative-driven, choice-based adventure game in the vein of Telltale Games’ episodic gaming series, such as The Walking Dead , Batman , Guardians of the Galaxy , and more (developer Dramatic Labs was founded by several former Telltale staffers after the studio first effectively shuttered in 2018; the revived studio is currently working on a game based on The Expanse ).

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Whereas traditional adventure games lean heavily on puzzles, these games are driven by player choice through multi-pronged dialogue scenes, allowing the player to shape the path of the narrative—a perfect fit for a series like Star Trek . Unlike the oeuvre of past Telltale games, however, what sets Resurgence apart is that it is a singular, 12-ish hour story, rather than being broken down into episodic seasons of game slices. The feeling it creates is less like watching an interactive episode of Star Trek , and more like a choose-your-own-adventure novel coming to life.

Resurgence is set in 2380—a year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis —and follows the crew of the U.S.S. Resolute , a science vessel rocked by a recent accident that resulted in the loss of 20 of its crew, including its first officer. When new XO Commander Jara Rydek is brought aboard, the Resolute is tasked with participating in diplomatic negotiations between two alien species, the Alydians and the Hotari, over a mining world—only to discover the source of the conflict has dire, far-reaching implications for the entire galaxy.

Where Resurgence stands out from prior adventure games of its ilk, and where it plays to Star Trek ’s strengths the most, is in dividing the player’s perspective between two primary characters: the aforementioned Commander Rydek, a Kobliad officer thrust into the politics of not just a new command but a senior staff splintered over the loss of one of their own, and Petty Officer Carter Diaz, an engineering crewperson trying to navigate life in the lowest of the lower decks on a Federation starship with his best friend, a Trill named Nili Edsilar. By making the audience viewpoint cover such a broad scope of Star Trek ’s command structure, Resurgence deftly manages to explore life aboard a starship from multiple narrative and mechanical angles.

If Jara’s sections of the story are driven around establishing herself as a senior officer and the politics of diplomacy, from command of the bridge to staff meetings, Carter’s leans a little more on the practical side of the adventure game genre, problem-solving and puzzling to get his job done in environments where his rank means he’s not often the go-to for big, splashy Star Trek action. Even when things go sideways and the whole Resolute crew is thrust into an epically staked mission to save the galaxy, this divide in perspective remains throughout, capturing the broad Star Trek experience.

This is just one of the many ways Resurgence revels in capturing the vibe of Star Trek —and more specifically the vibes of his heyday in the late ‘80s and the ‘90s, the peaks of The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager defining a modern era of the franchise beyond the original series’ retro aesthetic. Resurgence shows its love of Star Trek not in cameos and references (although their are a few notable characters who make appearances, including Ambassador Spock and Titan captain Will Riker), but in aping classic story elements and structures from those shows, weaving a largely original take through nods and connections to prior stories. Like Star Trek itself, the action is largely sparing, with the most tension and conflict coming from how your characters navigate tough command decisions or debate—and even when things do come to blows and conflict becomes violent, Resurgence more often than not eschews direct combat to instead focus on the decisions its characters are forced to make in those moments, rather than how good they are at firing a phaser.

This is amplified even further by the fact that Resurgence focuses on a completely original crew of characters. The decisions you make, from the mundane to the life-threatening, all feel like they carry a weight of uncertainty, as no character is necessarily guaranteed to make it out of the story in one piece. You’re watching your relationship to these characters grow in real-time as you decide who to put faith in and who to keep at arms’ length, or in how you shape Rydek and Diaz themselves grappling with the morals of Starfleet coming up against the desperation of their increasingly hazardous mission. Resurgence is still largely a story of Starfleet heroes saving the day, but there is a level of tension running throughout that most Star Trek stories can’t quite capture when you know the crew you’re following is going to be largely fine by the end of the tale.

All of this narrative interest, however, often comes into conflict with the other truth of Resurgence : it’s simply not a very fun game to play. The moments you are given control of Jara and Carter are defined by awkward controls, clunky animation, and an erratic graphical consistency where character models look great but the environments they’re in decidedly do not (it’s worth stating that Resurgence will run you $40, under the typical price of a major AAA game but still enough that it feels very rough around the edges for that cost).

Although moments of direct action are rare in Resurgence ’s focus on dialogue choices, that’s not to say they’re absent entirely. But you find yourself thankful that phaser shootouts are few and far between because they’re the most frustrating sequences of the game to play; weightless action and swimmy controls are matched by frustrating fail states that often feel like they’re asking far too much of what Resurgence can mechanically handle. This is further impacted by the simple fact that, for an adventure game, there’s very little actual adventuring to do. Resurgence ’s decision to lean heavily on cinematic dialogue choices for its interactions means there’s little in the way of interesting puzzles or tools to interact with the world around you. There’s one way to do most things, and it’s not about figuring that out as much as it is shepherding you from one dialogue sequence to the next.

That linearity also adds to Resurgence ’s core weakness: it’s linear to the point of frustration. Awkward moments where you’re asked to take control of your character to clunkily navigate a corridor—only for a cutscene to immediately take over—make you feel relieved that for the next few minutes, the game might only ask you to make a few dialogue choices instead of more directly play it. The single-minded thrust of the game also means there’s little downtime between major story beats for you to casually explore your surroundings, or get to know your crewmates better. Every interaction is in the name of driving the main story arc forward, with limited opportunities for reflection and exploration. By the end of Resurgence ’s 12-hour trek, that makes you feel like a lot of those big story choices you’re being asked to influence are mostly impactful on the immediate following scenes rather than the larger story, taking the bite out of the weight and tension the narrative leans on as one of its greater strengths.

Not quite as major but still frustrating is that at least on PC with Resurgence ’s press-build, the game is equally clunky in its bugginess. While it’s nothing severe enough to cause a loss of progress, Resurgence on PC was a pain to navigate with menus not functioning right, certain menus not recognizing a gamepad (which even on PC, is the recommended control option), and, bizarrely enough, the game locking up every time I tried to close it after a session. Although gameplay is largely spared from these issues, there are still some persistent bugs while playing, in the form of dialogue subtitles either not correctly displaying or, sometimes, showing incomplete or totally different lines to what was being said—a pain point from both an accessibility standpoint and a narrative standpoint, where several modified subtitles provided the player with contextual information that wasn’t actually said in the scene, making it hard to tell what mattered.

Ultimately, how willing you are to grapple with the awkward gameplay of Star Trek: Resurgence will depend on how much you really want a new, original Star Trek story, in a time when there’s more Star Trek available in various formats than arguably since its giddy heights in the ‘90s. Resurgence will very much give you a solid Trek tale populated with compelling characters and interesting leads that perhaps comes closest to making you feel like you’re taking part in a classic Star Trek narrative—certainly more than many other games have attempted in decades. But that success is often in spite of itself, a not-quite diamond in the very-much rough of its clumsy, awkward mechanics.

Star Trek: Resurgence launches tomorrow, May 23, on PC (exclusively through the Epic Games Store), PlayStations 4 and 5, and the Xbox Series X, S, and Xbox One.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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