Star Trek: Resurgence

The story of Star Trek: Resurgence does an excellent job of capturing what makes Star Trek work by presenting strong characters and tough decisions. Some storylines lack closure and it doesn’t always run smoothly, but its heart is in the right place.

Resurgence is the perfect mash-up of dramatic Star Trek storytelling and Telltale-style decision making, but with too many QTEs.

Not even Resurgence’s nearest spiritual ancestors, classic ’90s point-and-click adventures Star Trek 25th Anniversary or Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity, have captured that essential human element that makes for a great Star Trek story. Resurgence ties a worthwhile cast of characters to an interstellar adventure. Does Resurgence qualify as “great Star Trek”? Probably not, but it’s hard to argue that any video game has come closer.

Still, as I said at the start of this review, Resurgence is the best Star Trek game since Elite Force. To expand on that, I’d say that Elite Force is the better video game based on Star Trek, because it’s a decent shooter (and there’s a handheld photon launcher, which is basically the most gleefully stupid thing ever conceived). But Resurgence is the best Star Trek Game. As an interactive adaptation of the popular television franchise, it succeeds. And though there are areas where it could do with more polish, where better decisions could have been made, and where I wish there was extra money to spend, all of that melts away when I consider that as someone who grew up watching The Next Generation, playing this game felt like returning home.

Solid and definitely has an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

Star Trek: Resurgence is a modest enterprise, but Dramatic Labs did a stellar job of capturing the qualities of the show, specifically its '90s era, with all the strengths and weaknesses thereof. As with the show, technically, you may notice some rough edges, but the creators have worked wonders with their resources. The visual novel stylings here suit the material, and it's got it where it counts, with excellent writing and performances across the board.Non-Trek fans won't get half as much out of it, and you may not be tempted to go back for a second playthrough. But if the current crop of Trek shows isn't quite scratching your itch, Resurgence does a great job of transporting you back a generation.

Dramatic Labs' narrative-driven entry in the Star Trek canon is a rocky ride, but a welcome one.

Star Trek: Resurgence is a great licensed narrative adventure game.

If you're a Star Trek fan looking for a game that respects the series enough to get the details right, then as a Vulcan might say, Resurgence is the most logical choice. It has an intriguing narrative that takes the risk of having two protagonists and plenty of difficult choices for you to make. However, some of the overcomplicated mini-games and melodramatic cutscenes mar the last third of the game. While Resurgence isn’t a technical marvel by any means, you don't need a lot of bells and whistles to tell a decent story. And I'm willing to settle for that.

Star Trek: Resurgence is possibly one of the more accurate games to have captured the Star Trek world in a more contemplative manner, with the adventure game format being particularly suited to it. With a compelling narrative, interesting characters (new and returning) and a game that plays well, there is a lot to like here, despite a number of technical hiccups on the PC version.