Star Trek has been around for decades and has had a few fair video game adaptations.  Paramount Digital Entertainment has decided to help add to Star Trek’s list of games by releasing Star Trek D-A-C by Naked Sky Entertainment and Robot Interactive. While Star Trek fans won’t find a world soaked in Star Trek lore in D-A-C, they will find a fun arcade shooter experience that is accessible to anyone whether they a fan of the series or not.

Gameplay

The game is a top-down arcade shooter, which allows you to combat other players or the AI using one of the three classes of ships available (fighter, bomber, flagship); each with their own strengths. Players may choose to play as either the Romulans or the Federation. The difference between each side’s ships is completely aesthetic as they play identically.


Star Trek DAC’s fun lies in its simplicity. There are no complex combos you need to pull off or stats to memorize, you simply pick a ship and get into the action. Each ship class differs from the others. The fighter is very quick, but doesn’t have a lot of armor. The bomber can drop mines, which do a lot of damage, but have very weak defenses. The flagship is strong both defensively and offensively, but quite slow.

The game offers players three ways to play: Versus, Co-op and Solo. Within each, players can choose one of these gameplay modes: Assault, Conquest, and Team Deathmatch. In assault, teams take turns capturing points in order. Conquest is your standard point-capture game and Team Deathmatch is quite self-explanatory. The gameplay modes are complemented by the game’s maps. There are only a handful, but most are well-done and provide a good place for big fights.

The game flow is really hectic and makes for some fun moments when a lot of players congregate in one spot. Players fly around the map shooting each other, capturing points, and picking up powerups. There are two types of powerups on the map: white and orange. White powerups restore your ship’s energy, which it needs to shoot and boost, and it also restores the ship’s health. Orange powerups give the player a secondary ability, which can be anything from giving you a wingman to making an explosion that knocks all enemies away from your ship.


Multiplayer seems a little empty right now. Sadly, most gamers want to play as the Federation. The rRmulans have always been seen as that sneaky vulcan type character who no one in the federation likes. So the desire to play as one, even if both sides appear to be balanced in theory, when executed, it just doesn’t happen. The game tries to balance things out by adding in AI players to give both sides the same number of ship, but as we’ve seen with all games, nothing takes the place of an actual person over the computer, especially when it comes to competition. I feel for those players trying to play Romulans, they’re left alone or with a partner while five or six Federation ships bear down on them. The AI helps a little, but doesn’t make up for the lack of Romulan love out there.

Graphics & Sound

Star Trek DAC’s graphics surprised me. I expected a cavalcade of ugly textures and gross lighting effects, but was met with just the opposite. The game’s graphics are quite good-looking. Lighting and other effects look quite nice. There’s really not much to say here other than my only gripe is that the ship models can make it hard to distinguish fighters from bombers and get a nasty surprise when coming up behind a ship that you think can only fire in front of it. It’s good to see a solid effort put into making arcade game graphics appealing, as many developers do not.


Fans of Star Trek, especially series dating after The Original Series (TOS), will notice that the music matches what they are used to and sound effects give them that sense that they are indeed on the bridge of their beloved Enterprise. While the music doesn’t do much for the game, it does offer that sense that you are playing a Star Trek Game. The orchestra-like music that has become synonymous with Star Trek Films exists here in it’s best form.

Value

Star Trek DAC suffers from a lack of lasting value. While the gameplay is fun, it is also repetitive. Games of conquest with the AI (which you will often be forced to play with few online players) are mostly comprised of capturing the enemy’s point while they capture yours, then switching spots and doing it again. At 800 Microsoft Points (almost 10 dollars) most gamers will get a few hours of fun with little reason to go back. Competitive gamers may find more here than others, provided they can find enough players to join the game.

Conclusion

While the game is fun, the lack of multiplayer opponents quickly diminishes the experience. Anyone who has a group of friends willing to pay 800 Microsoft Points to play the game, will definitely enjoy the experience.