ontd_st exclusive: Video Game news
Hi All! I was lucky enough to go to a presentation by Brian Miller (Paramount Senior VP) on the new Star Trek Video Game last night at the London Science Museum. A lot more info was released - as well as a live demo and the chance to play. I took some (spoilery!) notes, so find them and some pics behind the cut.
My notes:
There are girls dressed up in Uhura dressed and drinks and nibbles are being passed around. The lights are low, the music's booming and being in the kick ass London Science Museum is ridiculously fun and sci-fi appropriate. Lots of Trek enthusiasts around, which is nice to see. Brian Miller is talking on a little stage as a live demo is projected on screen. Sadly no Pine or Quinto, my poor heart breaks a little - damn high expectations.
- THE CREW: 2009 film cast reprise their roles and lend their voice to the game.
- SOUNDTRACK: New score from Michael Giacchino, especially for the game.
- STORY: Brian Miller confirms that the story is considered CANON. It takes place after the 2009 film and before the 2013 film (so no spoilers for Into Darkness, boo).
- THE GORN: The Gorn are the villains. They're here to conquer the galaxy, infecting foes with venom that can poison, cause hallucinations and kill. There are loads of different "breeds" or types of Gorn with different weapons and attacks/strengths. They look rather vicious.
- WEAPONS: There are roughly 25 different weapons, each one with 2 settings. And also grenades.
- TRICORDER(!): You have your tricorder that can investigate objects, species and hiding places etc. You get experience points for using it and I think you can level it up to give it a better range.
- NEW VULCAN: Some of the game will be set on New Vulcan. The scientists there have opened some kind of portal(?) that the Gorn come through - there's a level where you run around a Vulcan Science vessel or station and there is a least one level on the planet.
- CO-OP: Kirk/Spock asymmetrical co-op play. Two different gameplay styles and unique character abilities. Play as either and get a great experience with a friend. Not sure how the AI works with one player (I played co-op). Kirk hurts his leg and Spock props him up and walks him while Kirk shoots baddies!
- MIND MELD: SPOCK CAN MIND MELD!! Stun a particular Gorn and mind meld him to see through their eyes what's going on. Also play through the memories as a Gorn. Very interesting.
- AMOK TIME: Apparently there will be a chance to fight your companion (Kirk or Spock), inspired by Amok Time. Someone started humming the music, but unfortunately no original Amok Time soundtrack.
- CAPTAIN'S CHAIR: You can walk around and investigate the Enterprise and talk to the crew. Even see Scotty in Engineering. Apparently something cool happens when you sit in the Captain's chair.
My thoughts: The soundtrack and voices really nailed this game for me. I don't think the graphics are the best out there, but a canon story with your faves makes up for it, imho. It's not just a point-and-shoot - there's puzzles (with your tricorder), exploration and fun space jumping, a la the movie. There are more aliens in your crew too, some new species. One thing that did niggle me was that the Gorn are a sentient species and it felt weird killing them, but what the mind meld, I think there'll be more to the story. Brian Miller specifically said that Star Trek is not a show/game about killing aliens, which I was pleased to hear. Goodie bags contained: 2009 Trek on Blu Ray, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol on DVD and Enterprise keyring/bottleopener woohoo!
Screenshot:
There's an embargo on images/screenshots from the event till Feb 28th 9am GMT which I'll not break since I was there in a professional capacity. If people are interested, I'll see if I can upload some later.
Images of the event: @NamcoBandaiUK twitter HERE
Official hashtag: #TrekGame Twitter: @star_trek_game
First time posting on LJ in forever, so please excuse any mistakes!
Text source: me and my notepad
Image Source
