Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown Review

Have you ever wanted to explore the final frontier as part of the Star Trek universe: fighting the Borg and Klingons while finding secrets and mysteries aplenty? Well then, developer Gameexcite might have the perfect title for you with its latest release: Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown. The question is whether this journey across the stars is one that you should take or if it would be better to stay home and have a pizza.

Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown takes place during the Voyager crew's adventure into the Delta Quadrant, giving players the chance to change things to see all of the possible results. If you’re a fan of the series, then you’ll love seeing all the characters return, while also having the chance to add your own spin on the events that transpire. For everyone else, it’s an interesting story about being lost, and the effect that caring for others in that situation can have on your own morality and beliefs. 

The actual gameplay is split into three different sections: ship management, exploration, and combat. Now, the actual ship management is reminiscent of the XCOM 2: you have a set amount of space and power, which you’ll use to build new rooms, research new tech, and manage crew morale. The challenge is making sure that you have enough power to keep everything running properly. However, space is dangerous, with it being entirely possible to end up with the Voyager destroyed. It’s a nice added challenge, but the autosave isn’t the best, as you’ll often have to redo an entire sector.

The menu showing the ship is easy to understand and fantastically thematic. It’s also simple to navigate and clear what each room does, all while being straightforward to select the right options for what to build. Each time you choose to construct or research anything, you’ll need to wait for a certain number of cycles to pass. 

You’ll also be given missions, as well as certain events that can have an impact on the crew or ship. Some of these are fine, but there’s one that punishes you for being in the system too long, which is more of a pain than it should be. I don’t want to feel pushed when the game wants me to explore.

All of this construction and powering the ship takes the right materials. You’ll find these out in the final frontier, as well as finding more threats than you can imagine. The actual controls are simple enough; you can scan planets, then fly to them, which takes a set number of cycles. Alternatively, you can move to different sectors to find other celestial bodies. When you find one with the right materials, you can choose to gather them, with some based on what you’ve researched or built. Each of these options leads to a mini-game with a bar that swings between success and failure. If you pass, you get the full amount; failure can lead to nothing, or even crew deaths.

The concept is certainly interesting, but it can make sectors feel a bit lifeless at times, as you’re really just moving from planet to planet to pick up stuff. There are the odd missions, which have you selecting certain heroes (named members of the crew, like Tuvok) to complete certain tasks. These also make up the majority of the story missions, where you’ll beam down your team and run through a series of scenarios, picking the best person for each task. They’re interesting enough, but outside of the story, they’re not much more than individual stat checks that get a bit dull after a while. 

Finally, there’s the combat, which certainly looks impressive, but in terms of interaction, it’s a little limited. Essentially, you can issue orders to your ship, such as focusing on the enemy's shields or protecting your own. While this certainly feels thematic, having you order your crew like a real captain, that’s all you really do. The ship is controlled by the AI and manoeuvres on its own, so you never really feel in control. 

Star Trek: Voyager  - Across the Unknown is odd as it has a lot to offer fans of the series, including the look, music, and even the return of two of the original Voyager actors providing voice lines. However, for other people, there isn’t really enough of an interesting gameplay loop to keep them invested. Also, there’s a lot of text to get through, with only small amounts being voice-acted, so if you're not a fan of reading, then this might not be for you. With that being said, if you’re looking for a challenge and like the series, then it might be ideal to help pass the time.