The six best Star Trek games

Contents

Since its premiere in 1966, “Star Trek” has captured the imagination of countless people – and, of course, game designers. The crew of the Enterprise took its first foray into interactive territory on its fifth birthday in 1971: Mike Mayfield's “Star Trek,” written in simple BASIC, consisted of phosphorescent green text and revolved around finding and destroying Klingon ships made up of ASCII characters typed into the clacking keyboard of the euphemistically named “minicomputers.” and “SDS Sigma 7.” Basically, it was a variation on “battleship,” except that the ships fired back.

From there, it was one thing after another, photon torpedo after photon torpedo, and the “Star Trek” games, both official and unofficial, shot out of the grain silos like Tribbles. Logically, not all of them were a hit in terms of gameplay. –, which is why we have selected six old and new games from Gene Roddenberry's universe that we can wholeheartedly recommend.

Star Trek: Judgment Rites (1993)

Released in early 1992 and thus just missing the celebrations implied by its name, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary was a really good point-and-click adventure. It didn't exactly offer the most logical puzzles this side of the Delta Quadrant – But it was pure fan service, living and breathing the spirit of “Star Trek” like no other game before it. This was not least because the entire original crew, including William “It sickens me” Shatner, was brought in front of the microphones for the CD release that followed later.

But that doesn't mean there wasn't room for improvement. As I said, even Mr. Spock would have raised a critical eyebrow at some puzzles, and the forced “Wing Commander”-style space battles were jerky and frustratingly difficult, especially towards the end. And the whole adventure wasn't particularly long either. No wonder, then, that the official sequel hit stores in November 1993: “Star Trek: Judgment Rites” was, at first glance, more of the same: same graphics, same controls, everything the same. Under the hood, however, there was a lot that was new: significantly revamped presentation, much more variety in the crew (Kirk no longer went on missions with just Spock, Bones, and a disposable redshirt), more extensive missions that now offered an overarching storyline. –, but the dreaded shooting missions were finally optional.

“Star Trek: Judgment Rites” is, of course, not a glossy product. But for fans of the original series, it still offers some of the most interesting puzzle adventures in the series' history.

Available at: GOG, Steam

Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity (1995)

Speaking of puzzle adventures: On May 23, 1994, the acclaimed “Star Trek” sequel series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” came to a thrilling conclusion with the award-winning episode “All Good Things...” (All Good Things...). It would be another year before fans could experience more adventures with Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, and Geordi La Forge. This time in a point-and-click adventure from a company that had not previously been associated with this type of game: the flight simulation experts at Spectrum Holobyte.

But that didn't matter in the slightest, because fans had - “A Final Unity” gives you no reason to complain. The crew of the new Enterprise once again takes on the Romulans, and a mysterious artifact points to a long-lost civilization. There are lots of conversations to be had with friendly and unfriendly people and aliens, and a large part of the Enterprise-D can be explored. And then, of course, there are plenty of away missions with tricorder scanning, lots of items, and some very clever puzzles.

“A Final Unity” is to TNG fans what “Judgment Rites” is to TOS Trekkers: an all-round successful adventure with the best Enterprise crew, which captures the atmosphere of the series with impressive precision. What's more, all the actors also had their say here. – which for most German players was probably their first encounter with the original voices of the actors. Available: currently not officially available anywhere. Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force (2000)

“Star Trek: Voyager,” the fifth series in the official “Star Trek” canon, which premiered in 1995, still divides the fan base to this day. On the one hand, there are fantastic characters such as Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok, the Holo-Doc, and (from the fourth season onwards) Seven of Nine. On the other side, there are some of the worst TV crimes of all time (cough, “Threshold,” cough, cough) and a series that never managed to establish a truly unique identity.

But that doesn't matter to gamers, because Voyager provided the setting for what is still the best first-person shooter in the Star Trek universe. The English packaging, with its wonderfully martial motto “Set Phasers To Frag,” made it clear right from the start that this was not a game for talking and negotiating, but for shooting. Developed by shooter experts Raven Software and released in fall 2000 by Activision, the game used id Software's then-fresh “Quake 3” engine, delivering one of the most graphically exciting adventures of its time. As a member of the elite “Hazard Team,” players not only engaged in thrilling battles with Borg, Klingons, and Hirogen, but also followed an exciting storyline and even explored a remarkably large part of the Voyager between missions.

Three years later, the second installment, developed by Ritual Entertainment and simply titled “Star Trek: Elite Force II,” followed, which is also highly recommended.

Available from: GOG