Between the return of “Lost” and “Cloverfield” living up to the hype, yours truly is a little J.J. Abrams-obsessed lately. The nerd-pandering writer, director and producer will attempt to sway our hearts yet again this Christmas, when Abrams delivers his reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise for Paramount Pictures.
And, of course, there’s probably going to be a game attached to it that’s released on every platform under the sun, as well. Who’s working on it? So far, we don’t know.
Even though Bethesda Softworks owns the rights to the “Star Trek” license, the studio confirmed to Firing Squad that they aren’t working on any game based on the movie. Apparently, Bethesda has their hands full getting “Fallout 3″ ready for release later this year. In the tradition of our older “Halo 4″ speculation, that got us at Multiplayer thinking:
If we had control over the industry’s decision-making process, who would we elect to usher “Star Trek” into a new generation?
Read on to discover the four studios who made our most wanted list.
Choice #1
Just because the “Star Trek” franchise hasn’t had many good games doesn’t mean a great game isn’t possible. Some people said the same thing about the “Star Wars” franchise until BioWare shocked everyone with “Knights of the Old Republic” and its sequel. In fact, that very line of thinking leads us to our first pick to give us an interactive Captain Kirk we can be proud of: BioWare.
One could argue that BioWare has already given us their “Star Trek” adaptation with “Mass Effect,” but can you imagine how cool it would have been if the Normandy was instead the Starship Enterprise and the Reapers were the Borg? Ah, one day, but in the meantime, delivering “Mass Effect 2″ wouldn’t be so bad, either.
Choice #2
Next on our wish list? Naughty Dog. The guys and gals behind the underrated “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” have proven they know how to mix action and adventure. And there are few things more adventurous than exploring the nooks and crannies of the ever-mysterious universe. “Star Trek” adaptations seem focused on space combat. Most of the series focuses on the exploration aspect. Why haven’t the games? Naughty Dog’s shown they’re up to the task, and though “Uncharted” didn’t sell that well, there’s no reason to let that big, beautiful engine they built go to waste.
Choice #3
Considering the Naughty Dog team has already said they’re working on a sequel to “Uncharted,” however, maybe they’re too busy. So let Traveller’s Tales will take the reigns. Between the inevitable “Star Wars LEGO” sequel, “Indiana Jones” and “Batman,” it’s clear that 2008 is going to be the year of the LEGO, but we’re guessing no one’s really tired of the concept yet. And just like “Star Wars,” “Star Trek”’s ridiculous alien races are prime material for the LEGO world.
Choice #4
Last but not least, we’ll throw a curve ball and say that Japanese RPG developer Level 5 should be given at shot at bringing the sci-fi series to life again. “Rogue Galaxy” showed they can handle an epic space saga, and maybe the amount of forgettable “Star Trek” games we’ve seen from American studios indicates we need an outsider’s perspective.
***
Can you tell that we’d really like to see a “Star Trek” RPG? Please, someone, anyone, get on this. In any case, who would you like to see try “Star Trek” on for size?