Star Trek

Star Trek starts with an easy pitch for fans: you and a friend step into Kirk and Spock’s roles between the 2009 film and Into Darkness, mixing phaser fights with the kind of teamwork the reboot cast is built around. The split between Kirk’s direct shooting and Spock’s stealthier tools gives co-op a real purpose, and drop-in support makes it convenient to bring someone along.

The problem is that its good ideas are scattered across a corridor-based action-game structure. Hacking, scanning, turret rewiring, platforming, and occasional space or underwater sequences add variety, but they do not always turn the adventure into a consistently satisfying one. It is a middling tie-in with enough cooperative charm for a Trek-loving duo, rather than a strong reason to beam in alone.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Playing alongside someone is where Star Trek makes its best first impression. Kirk and Spock are not interchangeable skins: Kirk is built around straightforward phaser combat, including a stun setting, while Spock leans more toward stealth and uses a freeze setting alongside his other abilities. That contrast gives each partner a reason to pay attention to what the other is doing instead of merely clearing the same corridor side by side.

The cooperative tools have the right spirit. You can boost each other’s shields and weapons, rewire turrets, and hack flying drones, which fits a Star Trek game better than nonstop shooting alone would. A friend can also join through drop-in co-op, so the game is easy to treat as a casual two-player campaign. Solo play is less inviting because the other character is AI-controlled and you can only switch characters between chapters.

There is a lot packed around the basic shooting. Scanning objects, hacking, and finding audio logs earn experience for weapon abilities, while platforming, turret-based space combat, debris-dodging space sequences, and one underwater level interrupt the corridor action. That variety keeps the campaign from becoming one-note, but it can also make the game feel like it is cycling through familiar action-game tasks rather than building toward a sharper whole. If you come for a cooperative Trek adventure, the changing activities help. If you want one excellent combat system, they are less convincing.

Graphics

Kirk and Spock carry the recognizable reboot-era cast roles while the reptilian Gorn provide the hostile centerpiece. The game moves from corridor interiors and the New Vulcan colony to open space, where debris-dodging and turret encounters give the adventure a broader sci-fi backdrop than its on-foot firefights alone.

Story

The premise has a useful place in the reboot timeline: it bridges the first 2009 film and Star Trek Into Darkness rather than retelling either movie. A tear in space lets the Gorn attack a New Vulcan colony, putting Kirk and Spock at the center of a threat that naturally calls for both investigation and force.

That setup is more appealing than a generic licensed-game excuse for combat. New Vulcan and the Gorn give the mission some franchise-specific stakes, and the focus on the captain and his first officer puts the central partnership where it belongs. The game is at its most Trek-like when your two characters have complementary jobs to do.

Still, the story mainly functions as a runway for the action. Anyone hoping for the richer debate, discovery, and character drama associated with Star Trek should not expect the premise to carry the experience by itself. It is a serviceable missing chapter for fans, not an essential piece of the reboot storyline.

Overall Experience

Star Trek is easier to recommend as a shared weekend campaign than as a solo action game. Bring a friend who enjoys the films, pick Kirk and Spock according to whether you prefer direct combat or a stealthier approach, and the game has enough coordinated moments to feel appropriately built around its lead duo.

Its biggest strength is also its limitation: it clearly wants to be a broad co-op action package. The campaign throws shooting, scanning, hacking, upgrades, platforming, space battles, and other detours at you, but that breadth does not guarantee a tighter or more memorable adventure. Some of the variety feels welcome; some of it feels like a distraction from the stronger cooperative core.

Fans of the reboot cast and co-op can find a modestly enjoyable license here, especially if they want to play through a story set between the films. Everyone else will likely see a game with decent ideas but uneven follow-through. The payoff is real when two Trek fans are working together, but it is not strong enough to overcome the game’s middling action-game foundation.