A new Star Trek game is on the horizon. Revealed at the recent Game Awards, Star Trek: Resurgencewill once again let players explore the vast reaches of space in their own ship. As per the title, however, the game sees a resurgence of several familiar visuals and conventions. Many of these are visible in the trailer.
Though only a teaser, Trekkies are already picking this footage apart. Their mission is simple: dissect the elements shown and determine whether the game is a faithful extension of the beloved sci-fi franchise. This is even more important given that the developers are going back to the series' older years, crafting a love letter to those longing for those bygone days. Considering how devoted these fans are, it shouldn't be difficult to gauge the game's authenticity.
8 Uniforms
Costumes are a valuable tool for worldbuilding. They can help differentiate various factions and hint at each one's respective culture. In the case of Resurgence, the Starfleet uniforms seen in the trailer solidify the game's setting.
Officers here sport gray and black suits. Not only does this place the game in the franchise's original timeline, but the tale seems to unfold after The Next Generation.
It was around this time that the gray outfits replaced the more colorful ones of the old-school era. Viewers saw this in the TNG movies and the latter half of Deep Space Nine. Fashion choices evolve over time in the real world; they should naturally do the same in the Star Trek universe.
7 Old Tech
In addition to the cinematic bits, the trailer also showcases third-person exploration gameplay. This involves some tech that fans might recognize. First, the protagonists use a phaser on a ship exterior. Then, they pull out a tricorder to scan for anomalies in an unknown locale.
Like the uniforms, these tools harken back to the post-Next Generation period. This is apparent in both their designs and functionality. For instance, the phaser fires a steady beam. In contrast, the newer shows turn it into a single bolt. Such a shift essentially makes it a Star Wars blaster. Thankfully, the phasers here are back to the elegant weapons of their native franchise.
6 A Trill
The trailer reveals a variety of unusual aliens, but one crewmember simply sports dots on her neck and head. To the uninitiated, she simply looks like a tattooed human. However, she's actually a Trill.
These beings emphasize both learning from past experiences and gaining new ones. The chosen Trills play host to symbionts: slug-like creatures passed from one generation to the next. Upon bonding, each host inherits memories and even personality traits of previous hosts.
Though this game's host is a young woman, who knows how far back her symbiont stretches? As a result, she could serve as a mentor for players (akin to Jadzia Dax) or a fresh-faced newbie with more memories than she knows what to do with (like Ezri Dax). She's probably even switched sexes a few times through the decades. The sky's the limit, so players can expect plenty of conversations with her.
5 A Bajoran
Another crewmember sports a chain earring and stitch-like markings on his nose. These elements identify him as a Bajoran. Considering his position on the bridge, it's safe to say he'll play a prominent role. Fans got another such star in Kira of Deep Space Nine fame, but she came with a key difference.
In that show, Bajor hadn't yet joined the United Federation of Planets. The bureaucrats mainly placed Kira as second-in-command as a liaison with her people. Because of that, she wore her native garb rather than a Starfleet uniform. By contrast, the Bajoran in Resurgence does don foreign clothing. This is another indicator of the time period. The Bajorans are fiercely traditional, so they likely wouldn't adopt outside customs until after joining the Federation.
4 New Klingons
For all the effort to emulate the older entries, this inclusion seems odd. Viewers eventually spot a robed alien who looks like a Klingon. Specifically, it resembles the bald, flat-faced, monster-esque Klingons from Discovery.
Nothing else in the game echoes the current Trek shows. Why, then, would the developers choose to bring in the modernized Klingons? It's even more perplexing given these new Klingons exhibit the least personality of all the incarnations. Their appearance simply doesn't allow for much facial expression, yet players typically rely on such expression to fuel their decisions in these choice-centric games. Most illogical.
3 Fast Track To Captain
The narration for the male and female protagonists reveals that they joined Starfleet to explore the galaxy and captain their own ships. Both of them achieve this goal in the trailer. When you think about it, though, this makes little sense.
Like in the real military, it takes years to rise through the ranks in Starfleet. Only a few exceptions exist, such as the 2009 movie. Here, Kirk goes from cadet to captain in a few days. The plot forces him into that role, and it just sticks. Fans naturally took issue with this contrived ascension. Unless Resurgence has a time jump or two, it risks straining credulity the same way.
2 Disobeying Orders
To show off the choice system, the trailer has the protagonist receiving orders from another officer. Considering the player's rank as captain, this officer is likely an admiral or other superior. Trekkies know this as a common trope.
The captains occasionally face unethical or immoral actions from higher-ranking officers, mostly admirals. This pattern pops up throughout the franchise, with examples being Commodore Decker in The Original Series, Admiral Leyton in Deep Space Nine, and Admiral Marcus in Into Darkness. In all cases, the heroes have to choose whether to obey their orders or do what they feel is right. Players look set to face the same dilemma in this game.
1 Ambassador Spock
Toward the end of the trailer, players get a pep talk from Spock. The Vulcan relays the importance of the mission and the delicate nature of the negotiations. That, as well as his aged appearance, indicates his role later in life.
After exploring strange new worlds as a science officer and teacher for years, everyone's favorite pointy-eared icon took on new duties as an ambassador. He then continued the series' goal of galactic friendship, working to build bridges between the Federation and opposing parties. Fans saw this in The Undiscovered Country, The Next Generation, and the J.J. Abrams films. If establishing intercultural peace is a central point of the game, few mentors are more qualified than Spock.
Star Trek: Resurgence releases in Spring 2022.