The Game Awards 2021 showed there’s still a hunger for choice-driven narrative experiences that characterized the output of Telltale Games before it shut down in 2018. Telltale was revived by LCG Entertainment the following year, and at The Game Awards revealed it is working on anepisodic title based onThe Expanse. Also revealed during the December 9 awards show wasStar Trek: Resurgence.
Developed by Dramatic Labs, which includes former Telltale employees like Andrew Grant, Dan Martin, Kent Mudle, and Brett Tosti,Star Trek: Resurgenceis described as a “narrative adventure game"with branching storylines, as well as representation for the less diplomatic sides ofStar Trek. Gene Roddenberry’s 55-year-old franchise has developed an expansive universe, andResurgenceis set at a converging point in its timeline where fans can probably expect a lot more interesting, deep-cut cameos than Spock; who appears in the game’s reveal trailer.
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Resurgence’s Place in Star Trek
NumerousStar Trekshows since the original series cover over a thousand years following humanity’s development of warp drives, which allow for faster-than-light travel - not to mention forays into time travel and alternate universes. The important thing to keep in mind for anyone overwhelmed by this history is that every show is designed to reflect various sociological quandries of their time, as well as explore the ways that relations among humans and alien species evolve.
Casual observers should be familiar with the original series andStar Trek: The Animated Series, whose stars include Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, andWilliam Shatner(who actually went to space in October 2021). These shows take place over about five years in the 2260s, putting them about 100 years afterStar Trek: Enterprisedepicts Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) forming the United Federation of Planets.
Between those shows are the events ofStar Trek: Discovery’s first two seasons and the upcomingStrange New Worlds. About a century after the original series comesThe Next Generationhelmed byCaptain Picard (Patrick Stewart). There was a huge resurgence inStar Trekmedia during the 1990s, asThe Next Generation,Deep Space Nine, andVoyagerwere all in production and covered the same general period in-universe.Star Trek: Resurgenceis set to begin in 2380, right after the events of the finalNext Generationfilm,Nemesis.
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Star Trek: Resurgence Can Follow Modern Trek’s Wider Cameos
WhileResurgencefollows a new crew on the U.S.S. Resolute, players seeing through the third-person perspective of First Officer Jara Rydek and Engineer Carter Diaz, the game’s website teases “characters that are fan favorites.” The only confirmation so far is Ambassador Spock, butResurgenceshould have a lot more packed in at launch considering it will not be episodic (nor is it planning to include microtransactions, DLC,NFTs, or other monetization).
Setting this game in the era afterThe Next Generationfilms means cameos could range from all the 1990s-eraStar Trekproductions, and modernStar Trekshows are full of these.The animated seriesLower Decks(also set in 2380) includes Jonathan Frakes' William Riker in a major role, and centers one episode around Robert McNeill’s Tom Paris fromVoyager.Star Trek: Picardand the Nickelodeon seriesProdigyalso pull fromVoyager, featuring Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine and Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway, respectively.
Discoveryis the only outlier as far as cameos are concerned, as its early seasons are set before the original series and includes more of a back-door pilot forStrange New Worlds. However, when Season 3 brings the Discovery into the 3000s, there are plenty more references to the events ofStar Trekshows and their ramifications. One major character in Season 4 is Federation president Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), who has prominant facial markings of both the Bajoran and Cardassian peoples.
GivenStar Trek: Resurgencealso has a Bajoran character, the cast ofDeep Space Ninemay get more play.Resurgenceis said to be about unraveling a “sinister mystery involving two alien civilizations on the brink of war,” so the Cardassian occupation of Bajor and the Dominion War would offer fitting parallels. However, the overall trend of modernStar Trekproductions meansResurgencecan - and should - pull from everything it’s able to. The MMOStar Trek Onlineis similarly set afterNemesisand features characters from every series, so there’s plenty of potential for fleshing out the universe.
Star Trek: Resurgencereleases in spring 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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