Killing Tuvix all over again
As a lifelong fan of Star Trek, I’ve spent decades boldly going through just about every corner of the franchise. From the original series with Captain Kirk to the darker edges of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (my personal favorite iteration of Trek), I’ve always loved the universe Gene Roddenberry built. But if I’m being honest, Star Trek: Voyager has never been my personal favorite I respect it, sure. It has some fantastic characters and concepts. But I begrudgingly became a fan in part because it was the only Star Trek on TV at the time. I have always thought the premise of the show was fantastic, a ship stranded 70,000 light years from home. That very premise is perfect for a video game and it mostly works here… Mostly.
Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown is essentially a strategy and survival management game where players will guide the USS Voyager and her crew through the Delta Quadrant. However, the focus isn’t on piloting and ship combat but instead players will be forced with the same decisions that Janeway faced during the show. Managing crew assignments, resources, repairs, on if Tuvix lives or dies and a host of others. And honestly? It works. From the start Voyager feels fragile, torpedoes and food stores are low; the game does a great job of presenting the magnitude of the situation in a way that the show couldn’t.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
The gameplay loop revolves around exploration and decision making. You’ll chart new systems, assign crew members to different stations, research new technology, and occasionally send away teams into situations that may or may not go horribly wrong. Some choices lead to new allies, others lead to fights, and a few just end with you staring at the screen wondering why you thought poking that alien artifact was a good idea.
Where the game shines are in its moral choices. One moment you’re deciding whether to harvest resources from a damaged alien vessel, the next you’re debating if experimenting with questionable technology is worth the risk. Do you stay true to Federation ideals, or do you start bending the rules in the name of survival? Those moments feel very Star Trek, and as a fan of the franchise that part absolutely clicked with me. But issues start to arise when you realize the odds are never quite in your favor. When faced with each decision players will be given choices based on a few determining factors. How much of a resource you have, is your shields upgraded, does the tractor beam work?
Once players deicide on an action the hidden dice roll begins and the meter displayed goes back and forth and hovers over the green only to slam the other way and stop in the red. This game has some of the hardest RNG I’ve seen, and I understand it’s a survival game but I felt like I was being unfairly penalized as I time and time again ended up with hull damage just because I was trying to maximize how much duranium (metal) I wanted to mine from a moon.
Away missions are also handled with this level of RNG and sadly its all menu based. Players will choose which heroes will undertake the mission, each of them has traits that could be useful and the game will display which ones each mission needs. Once players transport to the location they will be given events to read over and options to choose, the traits of each team member come into play here but they can be fatigued if you use them back-to-back, so it behooves players to ensure their away team is well balanced.
Across the Unknown is made by a smaller team of developers over at Gamexcite and while the title shows their ambitions, it also highlights how far they were from hitting them. For starters aside from the TV intro music to Voyager there isn’t any other licensed Trek music to be found. That also goes for the voiceovers, the majority of the game is just text, there are some areas where Tom Paris and Tuvok, voiced by the original actors who played them; Robert Duncan McNeill and Tim Russ respectfully; will read a brief summary to help inform players of what’s going on. It felt more like fan service honestly, but I wish there was more music and sound effects from the show here.
Across the Unknown feels like a smaller scale project. The presentation is pretty simple, menus can be a little clunky at times, and there isn’t a lot of flashy cinematic storytelling. Most of the narrative comes through text events and decision trees rather than big dramatic cutscenes.
The roguelike structure gives the game plenty of replay value, with each run through the Delta Quadrant presenting new situations, crew outcomes, and story paths. Sometimes you’ll have a smooth journey where things mostly go according to plan. Other times Voyager ends up limping through space held together by duct tape, hope, and a very stressed-out engineering crew. What really surprised me is that this game actually made me appreciate Voyager’s premise more than the show sometimes did. Being responsible for the ship, the crew, and the impossible task of getting home really drives home how desperate that journey should feel.
Star Trek Voyager – Across the Universe isn’t going to win any awards for presentation or technical polish. But what it does do right is capture the feeling of commanding a lone Starfleet ship far from home, help and allies. It makes players struggle with if the needs of the many, do in fact outweigh the needs of the few. And honestly, for a lifelong Star Trek fan who never quite fell head over heels with Voyager… that might be the biggest compliment I can give it.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
