14 DAY TRIAL // Activision used to have a long lasting contract with Viacom, Paramount pictures owner, and since 1998 has been developing games for the Star Trek franchise. Strangely enough, their endeavors abruptly came to an end roughly four years ago. Activision said Viacom's support for the title ceased to be as consistent as it was when the contract was signed, therefore forfeiting the license. But the Start Trek video game saga didn't end there. It became official in January 2006 that Bethesda was the next in line to carry the flame. Oblivion developers are preparing a double treat later this year, with the release of both Star Trek: Legacy for Xbox 360 and PC, and Star Trek: Tactical Assault on the PSP and Nintendo DS.
Bethesda learned the Activision lesson by heart and is now striking the iron while it's hot. It appears a third title is already in development for the PlayStation 2, called Star Trek: Encounters. Recent news, culled from the game's official web site, tell us Encounters is "an arcade-style space combat game" to be released on the Star Trek franchise's 40th anniversary, taking place in September. The game will step in the footsteps of its predecessors, using key elements from all of the sci-fi series. Five generations under your command. Star Trek: Enterprise, The Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. To make things clearer, developers confirmed on the game's official message board that Encounters is not a PlayStation 2 port of Star Trek: Legacy.
The official FAQ reveals the game features more than 60 ships and 11 races: the Borg, Cardassian, Federation, Ferengi, Kazon, Klingon, Romulan, Orion, Species 8472, Vulcan, and Xindi. Split-screen and cooperative modes will be included, as well as two-player multiplayer support. Details on additional single player modes, called skirmish and episode, will follow shortly.