 Energize. A new species has appeared and is leaving devastation in its wake. Now it's up to Spock and Kirk to figure out what this species has planned and how they can put an end to it. And no, you don't get to fly the enterprise.
1. Gameplay
I started this game expecting a trainwreck. I had read the reviews, something I try not to do prior to playing a game, so I knew that this game had issues. However, this game exceeded my expectations in some ways. Understand that is a relative statement, since my expectations were extremely low, but there were some good things about this game.  I think it's about time to flip the boards and call it a draw. First, this game takes a different approach to story than either of the more recent Star Trek movies. Most movie games just tend to rehash the plot from their respective movies, but the developers here at least had the decency to write something new. It may not be the most compelling Star Trek storyline ever created, but it’s definitely not the worst. Second, the game is fully cooperative. Players can choose to be either Kirk or Spock, and the writing for both characters is nearly flawless. The voice acting is top notch too. I’m not sure if they got the original actors to voice the roles, but all of the characters look like the actors from the Star Trek remake.  ...essentially. But this game ultimately has one fatal flaw, it’s not really Star Trek. This game isn’t about space exploration and research, it’s about third person shooter combat. And while the combat mechanics are mostly adequate, there are plenty of other, much better third person shooters. It may be a bit unfair to compare this to Gears of War, but purely on game mechanics Star Trek doesn’t hold a candle to Gears. There were other things that could have made this game better, such as greater variety in gameplay and enemies, the meat of my problem with the game is that I didn’t really feel like this game should have been a third person shooter. I want a Star Trek where I explore new planets, interact with new species, make decisions that affect the fate of said species. I wanted an RPG or an open-world adventure game.  There's only so much of this I can handle before I start wanting something different. Instead, Star Trek is a lesson in mediocrity. It’s an adequate third person shooter with good voice acting and cooperative elements. It never really had much of a chance of meeting my expectations, but it definitely didn’t try very hard to meet them anyway.
I completed the entire campaign in around 7 hours. There were a few other things I could go back and do, such as getting the various audio logs or research items that were littered throughout the game, but there wasn’t any additional content to discover. What does help extend replay value is the ability to play this game cooperatively with a friend. One player plays as Spock and the other as Kirk as they go through each of the missions together. If a player can find someone willing to play this game it might end up being considerably more enjoyable and thus have greater replay value.
Frustration isn’t really the right word for how I felt about this game. Annoyed may be better. The game was very easy on normal difficulty, but there were a few elements that made certain sections a bit more tedious than I would have liked. For example, the game gives “commendations” for completing certain sections in certain ways. Some of these commendations were for completing a section stealthily. I never completed a single section stealthily. The game is already painfully slow at times, so trying to complete a section by increasing the length of time it takes to complete and completely removing the fun combat-based elements was too much for me to find acceptable. Even my natural achievement-driven compulsions weren’t enough to attempt any section stealthily. The friendly AI was also completely idiotic at times, to the point where it was sometimes painful. For example, one enemy type would charge at the player and his partner. If the charge hit a character, it would do a significant amount of damage. Fortunately, sometimes these attacks could be dodged by rolling to the side. The AI player never did this. Not once. He would always get downed by the attacks, and I couldn’t save him before I was run over by the same attack. So I found it was easier to simply kill the creature on my own rather than attempt to save my partner. 2. Parental Notices
Violence in this game is fairly mild. Kirk and Spock will have access to a small variety of human and alien weapons, most of which will have the exact same effect. Each weapon uses an energy-based projectile or set of projectiles to do damage. These weapons will cause a pretty bright light effect. While enemies will bleed when hit, the blood is easily lost in the bright flash and the smoke effects.  Pew pew pew! Almost all of the weapons have this exact same effect. Some weapons, such as sniper rifles, will have what seems like a more devastating effect, but this is still the same light effect made more noticeable by the single shots.  I would ask if you wanted toast, but I'm not sure that's fire. There are a number of stealth sections the player will go through. In these, the character that the player chooses makes a slight different in the visual animation but the outcome is still the same. For example, Spock can silently take down enemies using the Vulcan death grip. However, this doesn’t seem to actually kill the enemy.  It feels like a nice neck massage. There were also be many times when the game seriously encourages the player to play through it nonviolently. In some cases it was easier to stun an enemy and then run up to him and knock him out rather than try to engage in a large, extended firefight. There were only a few enemy types that couldn’t be taken down after being stunned.
While Kirk comes off as just as much of a playboy as he seemed in the movies, sexuality is never included in this game.  Hello ladies.
There were only two real substances present in the game and neither was truly visible at any point. The first is the poison that is injected into different sentient species by the Gorn in order to “infect” the subject and control its mind. This process is seen a few times in the game. The substance is likely the acidic yellow stuff that glows through the skin of the infected, but it’s never made 100% clear.  I'm still not really sure what's going on here. The second substance is the antidote that Dr. McCoy makes for the infection. The antidote is distributed via the ventilation system aboard the Enterprise. However, other than a cloud of smoke, the substance is never seen or used directly by anyone. It also doesn’t have any adverse effects on the non-infected crew.
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
Anti-law is not a factor in this game.
The only multiplayer elements that are included in this game is the player’s ability to play cooperatively with other players online. Since I could not find a single player to play with cooperatively, and since I expect that anyone who plays this game cooperatively will play with someone that they know, the online community is not a factor in this game.
While most of the time Kirk and Spock will keep their feet planted firmly on the ground, there are a few specific sections where things get a bit more wild. For example, the player will have to guide their character through a maze of debris and enemy ships in a few sections in the game by using rocket boosters. These look a bit like the personal underwater craft that scuba diver sometimes use, but clearly specifically designed for space.  If you think that it's difficult to tell what's going on from this picture, you'd be right. There are a number of other sections similar to this. For example, later in the game Kirk and Spock will use wingsuits to fly from one side of a canyon down through it to the enemy base.  I'm a rabid flying squirrel!
While some of the elements included in the game may seem magical, such as the teleportation ability and some of the weapons, the Star Trek universe has been completely established in the realm of science fiction, not any sort of fantasy. While the concepts involved in technology such as the teleportation may not be explained in significant detail in this game, they are clearly presented as technological. As a result, magic is not a factor in this game.
Torture In some of the levels there were indications that the Gorn were experimenting on some of the races that they conquered. These indications included surgical tables in odd places (such as in narrow underground tunnels). There were also different species, living and dead, that were being held in containment cells. These were likely the victims of the experimentation and torture.  She's alive, just not doing so well. Experimentation As mentioned before, the Gorn seemed to have a habit of experimenting on the races that they captured.  For some reason I picture them line dancing here. Human Disfigurement Those humans who have been infected glow yellow. However, other than this, they are relatively undamaged by the virus. There is never any significant growth or mutation in these infected.  I could never get any of them to turn their face without wanting to kill me.
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