Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown is an unusual game that I didn't have high expectations for. It's not a game that will blow you away with big-budget graphics. Rather, it's a well-crafted indie game with heart and soul. Your mission is to find your way back to Earth after something has gone wrong and the U.S.S. Voyager has been transported far away into the galaxy. You and your crew end up in what is known as the Delta Quadrant. If you like the Star Trek universe and would have made different choices to those made by Commander Kathryn Janeway in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, this is the game for you. The story is the same, and after you've been transported, you discover that it will take you and your crew 70-75 years to get home again. You and your crew must make good use of that time so that you can cope with all the challenges and dangers in this part of the galaxy.
The tutorial does a pretty decent job of explaining how to play.
At first, the adventure starts off fairly straightforward, with few decisions and choices to make. Over time, the number of choices you make in dialogue and the ways in which you can complete missions increase. You have a resource system that determines what you can do, and a construction system on your spaceship. To survive, you need to build up your spaceship using a system reminiscent of what we see in XCOM 2. In addition to this, you need to research new technologies, ensure the crew is well looked after, and develop new equipment. The whole thing reminds me quite a lot of the campaign aspect of Firaxis's XCOM series and also FTL. The difference here is that you also travel to various randomised solar systems, search for resources and transport your crew to planets for various missions. However, you cannot influence what your crew takes with them on the mission; instead, you select based on their rank and abilities. Your crew can also be linked to certain buildings to improve their functionality.
I found the missions interesting as they require you to select personnel who complement one another. If the individuals you send down to the planet or other locations have the same abilities, you may sometimes find it difficult to find solutions in every situation. However, this does mean that both characters can resolve a situation simultaneously. The missions involve you being presented with four or more scenarios via text and images. To handle each situation, you need to choose the right person with abilities that offer a solution. A result is then generated at random. If their skill is too low, there is a risk that you will not be able to handle the situation. Even a character with significant bonuses can fail, meaning that every choice is important. You are often presented with several solutions for each situation, and these offer different rewards if your character succeeds. Depending on your choices, the final situation can also influence the story slightly. It's a system that works, even if it does become somewhat repetitive after a while. Heroes can also die in this game, which is worth bearing in mind.
Your abilities, skills and other factors are displayed on a gauge. The arrow then moves across the entire gauge, regardless of colour, and depending on where it lands, you either succeed or fail. There are also other colours that indicate whether you have exceeded expectations or fallen short.
I think the game as a whole offers a pretty good blend of storytelling, nostalgia and gameplay elements. Given that it's based on the TV series, you have the chance to make choices the original crew never did. It's very faithful to its source material, and there's often a reason why certain decisions you can make weren't made in the TV series. This is a game that asks you, 'What happens if I do this instead?' You can, of course, also relive the TV series and make the same choices. Even the epic space battles are interactive in this title. You choose a group of heroes who grant you abilities. You can then issue commands to your spaceship, even though you don't have direct control over it whilst the battles are taking place. You select targets, order your ship to defend itself, and decide which of the enemy's systems to fire upon. It's similar to the systems in FTL, but in full 3D, much like the battles in Galactic Civilization IV.
There is, of course, much to appreciate, but there are also aspects of somewhat lacking quality. The game has very little voice acting, and this is quite noticeable. If you haven't seen the TV series, you might not have their voices in your head whilst playing this. What is there consists of voice actors narrating the experiences during the journey when you visit a new group of star systems. I really like this and would have liked to see more of it throughout the adventure. Although the music is great, I do miss some dramatic voice acting. It's things like this that show this is an indie game. However, I want to emphasise that I still like what's on offer.
The star systems are beautiful and you can visit them all. You can scan all the celestial bodies to find out what you'll discover on each planet.
If you're a fan of Star Trek, you've probably already bought this by the time of this review, but if you haven't, I'd like to give it a shout-out. Despite clearly visible budget constraints, it's immersive, exciting and lets you relive that troubled journey with familiar and new characters. Unfortunately, it's been a long time since I watched Voyager, but I still remember several situations where I wondered what would have happened if I'd done things differently. Although the choices aren't always radically different, they're different enough to create exciting situations. A typical example is if you choose to incorporate Borg technology into your starship. If you do choose to go down the scientific and technological route, it comes with both advantages and risks.
Graphically and technically, this game is perfectly acceptable. You won't be treated to the visual treats you're used to in big-budget titles. However, I feel that the design of the world, characters and other elements still sells the illusion of an interactive TV series. The music is also top-notch, with sweeping pieces, calm music and sequences where there is no music at all. It's nothing revolutionary, but it does the job. I haven't encountered any notable technical issues or bugs. The only thing I've experienced is that certain cutscenes load a bit slowly in isolated instances.
The bridge is usually shown during parts of the story. You can then ask questions, talk to your crewmates and try to make the right decisions.
The downloadable content is a bit of a mixed bag. It includes five really challenging missions, two characters you can recruit and three fairly powerful technologies. I was lucky enough to test the whole package, including this content. In my opinion, it's almost a must-have. Although it might not be particularly tempting to buy, I think it's good content. It actually adds more for you to interact with and do in the game. Aside from this, it's a fairly extensive game that took me roughly 15-20 hours to complete. I was quite satisfied but saw the replay value almost immediately. You might have missed out on recruiting heroes and doing things differently. It isn't entirely clear how to recruit all the heroes. So you can easily miss out on bringing them along on your journey.
If you like Star Trek, it's hard not to recommend this to you. It's a sharp game with issues that can often be attributed to the title's budget. It can become somewhat repetitive because the strategy aspect doesn't really offer much variety in its setup. What you do in the first solar system, you do - with few exceptions - in the later star systems as well. Despite this, I still think it's a competent product and perhaps one of the best games in the Star Trek universe I've had the pleasure of testing. However, I think it's difficult to recommend it to people who don't like the universe. A large part of the appeal relies on you having watched the TV series and being familiar with its characters, technology and much more. If you have no interest in Star Trek, I don't think you'll fully appreciate this; if, like me, you like the universe, there's quite a lot to appreciate about this title. If you love Star Trek, you can probably add another star to your rating.
Spacecraft battles are automatic, although you can issue commands to your spacecraft.
The building system is fairly simple, but it requires time, resources and planning if you want to make it work effectively. You can also upgrade buildings and station heroes in them to gain bonuses.