Okay, I’m old and I’ve been watching Star Trek since I was a kid. I own all the original series on DVD in the hard cases that look like tricorders and I’m happy about that.
So when I got the chance to put my hands on Star Trek Encounters, the PS2 game put out by Bethesda Softworks, I was a happy guy. The first thing I noticed that troubled me was the $20 sticker price. How could a new game (it was released October 3, 2006) come out with a price so low? Especially one that involved licensing?
So there was some trepidation when I stuck the disc in the PS2 and prepared to boldly go where no one had ever gone before. The first thing I noticed was that it took an awfully long time to boot up and get going.
A quick check on a few review sites showed that was a problem that a lot of people were having with it. Evidently Bethesda chose to burn the game to a blue disc instead of the traditional one and it was causing problems. One of the reviewers even suggests putting Scotch tape on the disc to thicken it up so it will spin properly. Thankfully, all I had to do was wait.
But that’s when the bad news really started kicking in. Star Trek Encounters is strictly a shooter game. Sure, you get to fly all the ships (after you’ve miraculously unlocked them), but it’s just not…well, Star Trek.
I watched the television show for the characters and the situations. From the very beginning, Star Trek has been about the people, emotions, and problems that had more than one answer or more than one way of getting to the answer. That’s always been the fun of the shows, watching the interaction, the friction, and being able to understand completely the driving forces that put the characters in motion – sometimes against each other.
Sadly to say, all of that is missing in action in this game. It’s a shooter, dressed up like Star Trek but ultimately as ersatz as a Klingon at a Star Trek convention.
To add insult to injury, the qualification runs in the beginning that set you on the path through the extremely limited and repetitious game play is boring and almost physically impossible. All of this is done to familiarize you with the controls and the handling of the Enterprise (in her various incarnations). At least, that’s the excuse for inflicting frustration on you.
Article comments
1 - Jarik Solo
Okay, I bought Encounters. It's not a bad game. Grant it the thing is a shooter game, but I lived on Space Invaders one summer. This game is right up my allay. I am on the 26th ring in 30 minutes. You have to look at the blue line that shows the altitude of the object you are aiming for. Those are not transporter room beems. Follow those guys and you'll be moving faster than you think. I havn't gone beyond that and killing Klingons, but I enjoy what I have seen. So, far, I have not had any problems with the disk. I almost squashed it before I played it though. It works great. If you love Space Invaders you will love Encounters.