Star Trek: DAC Review

It's hard to put your finger on just what Star Trek: DAC was trying to achieve as a game, as it could quite simply be any generic space shooter. This one simply had the blessing of licenses to use the Star Trek ships, names and any other references to the Star Trek universe. It's not until you make the link between this and the recent rejuvenation of the Star Trek film series, that you realise it was simply a ploy to generate some buzz about the return of the franchise to the big screen.

It would be nice to think that not every movie related game wasn't simply to cash in on the name, before lunch box manufacturers and quilt designers manage to bleed the cash cow dry. It's gone backwards in the case of Star Trek: DAC, and it seems they are out 'early-bird' style, to see if they can catch that damn worm first.

Which has left us with a mediocre game, at best. The menu graphics really do the world of Star Trek justice, as do the sounds used throughout the game. But the actual game play is where we are essentially slapped about with a bit of fresh haddock. Let's start with controls, you have movement controlled by the left analogue stick, though the game represents your 360 degrees of movement freedom, into about 32 actual directions you can point. A well made D-Pad would have no problems with moving the ships around, due to the limited nature of the movement.

Whilst playing as the flagship - the U.S.S. Enterprise, the game gives you a targeting reticule to aim with the right analogue stick. Though we're brought right back round to the first point, as it seems to generate a life of its own randomly. The smaller ships, an attacking fighter and a defensive bomber, are about as much use as a chocolate kettle, having little to no shields, meaning a well placed shot from an opposing flagship can render you in little pieces with one shot.

Difficulty is not a word this game understands either. Try playing a round against the AI, heck, even tip the balance in your favor and give your team an extra player, and you're still likely to come off worse from the battle.

Overall, if you were to remove the Star Trek licensing from this title, you would be left with a terribly generic space shooter worth only 400 of your Microsoft Points at best. This doesn't feel like an 800 point title, given it's relatively short game play, maybe if you have a group of Trekkie friends, who pal up together to take on the Romulans, then this could be of bigger interest to you, but sadly, for the average gamer this leaves the bittersweet taste of disappointment that you could have had another game instead.