

The developer is not revealing much about the story yet, or the main protagonists, although we're told its going to be a classic Star Trek enemy – and that we can expect more info at E3 in June. Namco's head of marketing Carlson Choi has neatly branded it "bro-op" – a term he seemed quite proud of while showing us the game.Ĭollaborating closely with Abrams and his team at Bad Robot, Digital Extremes has slotted its game into the timeline between the first Star Trek movie and the second, which is scheduled to hit cinemas in May 2013. Developed by Digital Extremes – previously responsible for the likes of Darkness II and Bioshock 2 (which it worked on with 2K Marin and 2K Australia) – Star Trek is essentially a co-op shooter, with a strong focus on the relationship between the two selectable characters – Kirk and Spock. Due out in spring 2013, Star Trek the game will be heavily inspired by that director's re-imagining of the franchise and just as Abrams' well-regarded film went for action and humour, so does the game. Well, cleverly, they went straight to JJ Abrams.

So when Sony closed its E3 press event last year with the news that a Star Trek game was in development, it was a genuine surprise.

There is a reason we don't have a thriving negotiate-'em-up genre. And video games, especially major franchise tie-ins, tend to be about action and immediacy. The shows have often been more about characters, relationships and diplomacy than blasting stuff with lasers. The general consensus is that Gene Roddenberry's creation is a very different beast to Star Wars. There have been some marvelous attempts – the serious simulator Bridge Command and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, and the ambitious Star Trek Online – but we've hardly been inundated. While Star Wars has proved a bounteous source of inspiration (and money) to game developers over the past 30 years, its closest sci-fi rival, Star Trek, has.
