For any follower of my writings or socials, the fact that I am a passionate Star Trek: Voyager fan shouldn’t come as a shock. So you can imagine my surprise, mild confusion and excitement when the news broke last year. The gaming world was returning to the corridors of my beloved Intrepid-class starship. Only a few months after the demo. The full version of Daedalic Entertainment’s Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown is now available on PC, Switch 2, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.
Read on, but be wary of spoilers for my thoughts on the PC and Switch 2 version (I just need Voyager on the go, okay)?
Pricing, versions and Day 1 DLC
In the current era of £70 games, with £20 ‘battlepasses’ and £10+ ‘cosmetic packs’ in a microtransaction store. Across the Unknown is a breath of fresh air. On PC, the base game is only £29.99 RRP, with a 10% discount currently live on Steam until the 4th of March. The price jumps a bit for Switch/Xbox at £32.49. Its highest price is on the PS Store at £34.99.
There is also a deluxe version, which comes with 5 extra missions, 3 technologies and 2 additional recruitable heroes: Denara Pel and Kashyk from Voyagers 2nd and 5th seasons, respectively. This is, oddly, where the pricing switches. The Deluxe upgrade (not bundled) is the most expensive on Steam.
The choice to have a deluxe version with extra content has been met with mixed reactions. At least if Steam reviews are anything to go by. Day 1 DLC has long been a controversial practice. But in this case, we’re not talking about an AAA title with half a billion budget. The game was developed by GameXcite. A German studio with a back catalogue consisting of 3 Asterix and Obelix games. With a smaller developer, I’m more than happy to pay a little extra for some extra content on day 1.
Set a Course… For the Delta Quadrant
It’s important to go into Across the Unknown knowing about the time of the game that you will be playing. If you like titles such as FTL, Fallout Shelter, or just more generally, gameplay that rewards/punishes resource management and careful planning. You’ll have a great time.
If you’re expecting a (long overdue) Bridge Commander 2? You might find yourself disappointed. That’s not to say that there isn’t some Bridge Commander DNA in there. Across the Unknown does put you in Captain Janeway’s boots after all. But it’s closer to the ‘on the bridge’ mechanics, where you’d click in your Tactical/Helm/Engineering menus to get the crew to take auto-actions. As opposed to the 3rd person (starship)? View where you took more direct control.
But the combat certainly isn’t the focus of the game. You’ll spend more time in the sector and ship views. Shaping your version of Voyager and your unique take on Voyager’s story.
Taking Control
One Struggle with the Switch 2, and this may be my PC native sensibilities rearing their head. Is that the controls sometimes do not feel like the most intuitive choices? While it’s nice that many gameplay loops have dedicated buttons. I feel they could be better served by shifting focus around the screen, as you do in the deck overview. It’s also a shame that the game doesn’t seem to support the touchscreen. Especially given the LCARS aesthetic prevalent throughout the UI. As well as the developers’ history of mobile game development.
It definitely feels like the mouse and keyboard, not a controller, are the best way to play the game. Navigating on PC feels natural and intuitive, and even my gripes about the dedicated buttons for gameplay loops fell away. Which means there’s always the possibility that my frustration is more a result of me not being as familiar with the Switch 2 controllers and layout. Something that touched support could have definitely helped mitigate…
For the interface itself, as mentioned above, you’ll find yourself with a familiar LCARS aesthetic in the ship view. It’s fashioned after the Master Ship Display at the back of Voyager’s bridge. Giving an insight into what that display might have looked like if Voyager were produced today, rather than in the 90s. The main interfaces are then rounded out by System, which shows you the planets/points of interest around your Voyager. Then the Sector. Showing you how many systems are accessible within the current block of story by warp.
70,000 light-years, feels a little closer today
To say that I’ve been having a lot of fun with Across the Unknown would be an understatement. I haven’t had a game keep me up past 1 AM on consecutive nights for years. So if you have work the next day, be wary. Like any strategy game, it eats time. You’ll quickly find yourself looking out a window at a sunrise if you’re not careful.
The game is split into 12 sectors. Each one has a main story based on an episode (that the sector is usually named after on the main menu, though there are a few exceptions), with a number of smaller stories sourced from other episodes scattered throughout. At the time of writing this review, I’ve just made my way to Sector 8 on the game’s medium (Survival) difficulty. Along the way, I’ve had a few restarts. 3 mutinies, 2 destructions, and one sector restart after a particularly bad run of luck led to Tom Paris’s death.
I’m not missing out on any Captain Proton content. Not that I know if any exists yet… The sector I just completed covered the Hirogen relay station arc in Voyager’s 4th season. So any day now…
Despite starting my game with the best of intentions. Hoping to mirror the show’s journey as closely as possible. I’ve already had some strong departures from the story I know and love. I recruited a Kazon that Cullah was going to kill. Telek R’Mor, the Romulan scientist from the past, joined my crew to avoid a risky transport. On my Voyager, I even kept Kes after Scorpion (as well as Seven)! But don’t worry, I still separated Tuvix. Sorry, not sorry.
My Voyager also has disruptors, phasers, and photons. The game also finally puts to rest the criticism that, in my eyes, never should have been a criticism. The torpedo count. Yes, they said they only had 38. But it was in the 4th episode. They learned to make more. As you can on your own Voyager, with a workshop upgrade. But the developers know of the controversy, and there’s an achievement for firing 38 torpedoes in your run through!
The story also has some interesting intersections with gameplay mechanics. Some that make sense and some… Less so.
Frustrations
I’ve mentioned the Switch 2 controls being a bit unintuitive. But with the limited number of buttons versus a keyboard, that’s unavoidable to an extent, so I won’t talk about them beyond what I have already said. Aside from that, the game is not without its rougher edges. Even though I’m having a great time. There have been moments when I’ve needed to put the game down for a bit. I also mentioned that I’d given in and restarted one sector. A result of a design choice.
The game (much like Star Trek Adventures) relies on a numerical ‘roll’ to decide whether or not you succeed at any given task. You can stack these rolls using a combination of applicable traits and crew skills to guarantee a success (or critical success). But most of the time, at least on Survival difficulty, there’s a reasonable chance of failure.
My loss of Tom Paris was after sending him and B’Elanna in a shuttle to secure the Hirogen Relay station. I failed the first save roll, and after that, it only let me save B’Elanna. Despite having picked them as they preferred skills and traits for the mission. As well as succeeding at sneaking past the Hirogen in the previous stage. The story forced a confrontation (just as there was in the show). I destabilised the station, and Tom was lost.
In some ways, I do like the roll system. It adds an element of unpredictability to each gameplay session. Which will improve the game’s replayability. It can, especially when you’re on a particularly bad run of luck. Feel like it’s taking agency away from the player, though. I’ve been low on deuterium on a few different occasions and failed the roll when trying to retrieve more from a planet with the resource.
Here, it feels like the game should let you try again at a higher risk. After all, the deuterium would still be there if Voyager failed to collect it. A ‘retry’ option could be tied with other mechanics, such as morale, to make retrying feel like it has a higher (and growing) cost. Which, in my opinion, would make the game feel a bit fairer. When you end up limping into the next system.
They also added voice lines to the battle sequences, giving a vocal confirmation of the orders you give. As well as verbal notifications of lost shields or systems. While I appreciate the intent (and do think it’s better than just SFX as in the demo). There is only a very small selection of voice lines. So they get repetitive very, very quickly. It would be nice to have a wider variety of callouts mid-battle in the future.
Whether that be from the Voyager cast (my preferred option) or a mix of male/female voices. With a few different takes for each line. Make it feel like a collaborative experience on the bridge. Rather than one person telling you what is going on.
Getting the Crew back Together
Those frustrations aside, I have every faith that this isn’t a drop-and-forget title from GamXcite. They have an active Discord server where they solicit and respond to feedback about the game. With requests from the server having already led to a number of improvements in the launch version. Those weren’t present in the demo. Voyager now launches from Deep Space Nine in the opening sequence, instead of a random system. With the added bonus that they now have a full DS9 model in-game. Perhaps hinting at a potential sequel setting?
They also got the rights to the Voyager theme music. Which features prominently in the main menu and at the start of each new sector. But they also got Tim Russ and Robert Duncan McNeill into the recording booth to record introductory logs that set the scene when you start a new part of the story. I’d love to see these sorts of logs dotted throughout the game a bit more. As well as to have more of the Voyager cast feature. I was surprised that Tim Russ was featured instead of Garrett Wang. Given that Robbie and Garrett record the Delta Flyers together.
That said, Tim Russ and Robert Duncan McNeill bounce well off each other in the logs. Tuvok gives a more measured, logical update on the ship’s journey. Tom Paris’s logs are more emotionally charged and playful. It’s a wonderful treat for Voyager fans to hear these two actors step back into their roles with a few more lines beyond their recent cameos in Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Picard.
We Did It…
So it’s probably not a surprise to hear that I highly recommend picking up this game. If you’re a fan of Star Trek: Voyager, or just rogue-like games. You will have a great time. Plus, if it’s really not for you, you can roll the dice on sending Voyager home immediately via the Caretaker’s array.
Per their latest blog post on Steam, the game has already sold more than 100,000 copies. Making it a decent bet that the game has been a huge success. Hopefully, we will see more Star Trek from GameXcite and Daedalic in the near future. Whether it be in updates (both features and content) to Voyager Across the Unknown. Or a sequel title. Perhaps on Deep Space Nine. But I think the next-best setting for this type of game (after Voyager) would be the NX-01.
One thing I would like to see is a physical edition. Perhaps through a distributor like Limited Run Games. They could work with Fanhome to include a Voyager model. Fansets to include a commbadge. Or the likes of Nacelle Toys to give you your very own Tuvix. Plenty of options. But ultimately I’d like to put it on the shelf with the rest of my Voyager collection. If you want ideas for the physical edition or for future content. GameXcite, get in touch any time!
Are you planning to pick up Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown? Or have you started playing already? Let us know your thoughts and how your story is going in the comments.
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