It used to be, when games werent taken as seriously as potential licenses, that a game based on a movieeven with a loose connectionwould ship a year or more after the film came out. A movie would hit theaters and then the game license would be negotiated, with development still needing to be done. Its hard to ride the coattails of a big movie when youre out a year laterafter the film is out of most peoples minds.
Today, as the digital-entertainment business continues to evolve, more and more publishers are taking advantage of the launch of a movie to bring the game out at the same time. The movie studios are more savvy, so they negotiate big brands after the film has been greeenlit. This enables the game companies to work in conjuction with the film production while the flick is being made,which helps to facilitate the sharing of assets, such as matching the films sets as 3-D replicas for use in the game. Being able to take this path, the gamemakers have a better opportunity to replicate the films look and feel in their products, so they can be more authentic and accurate to the source.
And in some cases, the movie studio starts the game company to take advantage of that synergy.
A big battle breaks out over a control point.
The latest to do just that is Paramount Pictures, which had revealed its digital plans recently and sped right out of the gate with an announcement of its plans for a Star Trek-based Xbox Live Arcade title due out in early May. The game, entitled Star Trek D-A-C, was inspired by the upcoming Star Trek movie that hits theaters on May 8and certainly will get an advantage in proximity to the big-brother movie. Though Paramount doesnt have a release date its announcing, we assume that the game will appear on Xbox Live Marketplace around the time the film comes out.
When Paramount came by the TeamXbox offices to show us the top-down space shooter, the somewhat cryptic name was the first order of business. We ask Ben Hoyt, the games senior producer, exactly what the D-A-C in the title stands for, and with a smirk he told us he could reveal it yet, but the answer could be found in the game. Hmmm
After getting a rundown of the game and playing it for a bit, it would seem the answer lies in its gameplay modes: Team Deathmatch, Assault and Conquest. Okay, that means the game probably should have been called Star Trek T-D-A-C or Star Trek TD-A-C, but well give latitude to Paramount on that.
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-A-C is designed to be a 12-person multiplayer shooter, though it can be played with any number up to 12, even solo, by filling empty slots with bots. In fact, its gameplay configurations are Versus, Co-op and Solo. As youd expect, the combatants are divided into Federation and Romulan factions.
The modes are pretty much what youd expect from their names:
Team Deathmatch is a team vs. team mode set up for ten-minute rounds with the first team to hit 50 kills declared the winner. If neither team reaches 50 before time is up, the winner is the team with the most kills.
Assault is a mode that Hoyt called a gauntlet-style game. It requires a team to take four sequential control points, with one team on offense and the other on defense, then switching sides for a second match.
Conquest has four control points: one for each team as its respective base and the other two being neutral. If a team captures the two neutral points, the opposing teams base unlocks and can be captured for a win.
There are also three different craft to choose from, each with its strengths and deficiencies. The Flagship is slow, but makes up for it with the punch of its photon cannon. The bomber leaves powerful explosives in its wake and is the fastest of the trio, though its quite vulnerable to enemy fire. The Fighter is the middle-of-the-road choice that can deliver decently powered laser blasts and good acceleration.
Each ship controls the same way: You pilot it with the Left Stick and fire your weapon with the Right Trigger. The Flagship and Fighter can have their weapon aimed with the Right Stick, firing in the direction that you point it. You can also give a throttle boost with the A Button, and you can bring up a sector map with Y.
You have two main bar gauges, one for ship health and the other for energy. Seeing as both the weapon and boost tap into your energy reserve, you have to be careful with its use: If you drain too much energy escaping a battle with your boost, you might not have anything in reserve to fire shots if you happen upon another enemy. Similarly, if you unload your armaments in combat, but dont take out the adversary, you wont be able to put the pedal down and hightail it out of there to safety.
This is like the space-combat equivalent to a knife fight.
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-A-C does offer some pick-ups around the universe. The white ones have a dual purpose in that theyre energy boosts that refill that gauge, but as you collect them, they also increase your weapon strength. The circle in the middle of your energy and health bars shows how much your weapon is charged up, and collecting five white orbs will max it out. There are also yellow pick-ups that give you a one-use benefit at the tap of a bumper buttonas Hoyt said, much like Mario Kart. These include one that gives you a few seconds of invincibility to one that unleashes an area-effect blast that radiates out a short distance from your craft.
If your ship is blown out of the universe, youre forced to start over, though you can pick which of the three you want to return with. An exception is if you hit the A Button at the right time after your craft has been destroyed, which will put you in an escape pod for a few seconds. If you survive that interval without having an enemy take you out, youll return to the action immediately after you select a replacement craft (otherwise, you have a respawn time you have to wait) and enter the battle with a portion of your previous weapon charge carried over to your new ship.
The game is fairly simple from a design standpoint, with the top-down view giving you a 2-D perspective on the actionalmost like an advancement on the original Asteroids with multiplayer and more modern graphics effects. However, the ship models are 3-D, rolling and angling as you turn them, and with strong graphic effects, such as the smoke cloud that follows an explosion or the increasing glow of the ship thrusters when you trigger the boost.
Paramount opted to have a somewhat streamlined gamethere are no famous actors delivering legendary Star Trek line, no cutscenes or even static screens displaying of any of the movies actors and no story elements whatsoever. However, the gameamkers also decided they wanted an affordable price on its game, which will be priced at 800 Microsoft Points (or about $10).
While itll provide no-frills action, Hoyt pointed out one more thing that it will offer: if you download the trial version, youll be able to play multiplayer games as a tryouta rarity for XBLA games. Paramount and developer Naked Sky (RoboBlitz) wants to make sure you get a good feel for its gameplay and the level of competition it offers.
Be sure to check out our full review of Star Trek: D-A-C after the games release date has been finalized.
