Star Trek DAC is NOT Star Control!

Star Trek DAC was released for Xbox Live on May 13; it will also be released for PlayStation 3 and PC.  DAC stands for Deathmatch, Assault and Conquest, referring to the different gameplay modes available.  It was developed by Naked Sky Entertainment, who stated they have intentionally focused on action and arcade-like gameplay; they avoided the cliche of taking a movie’s plot, adding repetitive gameplay and using the movie’s success to sell the game.

This is an overhead, multiplayer space combat game.  Because of this, some reviewers have compared it to Star Control:

"Imagine if Geometry Wars and Star Control II had a child, and that child was half‐Romulan."

"The size, speed and weapon variations across ships was very Star Control II ‐ but, unfortunately, you only have two races represented here, and three ship types (Flagship, Fighter, and Bomber). "
‐ Scott Stein, CNET.com
"A game in the vein of Star Control 2, only minus most of its content, charm, and excellent game design."

"A terrible game that wouldn’t be worthwhile at any price. Go see the movie instead, then go pick up Star Control 2 to see how this genre is done right."

"Actually, there is a free game in this genre that is better. Specifically, Star Control 2 (also known as The Ur‐Quan Masters). While it isn’t available for the 360, it has ports to most modern computer operating systems and offers tons more content and fun than this cynical cash‐in on a movie license ever will. I highly recommend you to check it out at the Ur‐Quan Masters website"
‐ Jim Cook, Gamers Daily News
"What I would like is a PSN game like Star Control Melee, now that was a cool game."
‐ Freak_c, PS3Blog.co.za

I played the demo to Star Trek DAC for the Xbox 360; while I could only select the Romulan or Starfleet fighter ship, the game was fairly fun with simple controls.  However, it does not replace Star Control and there is no epic adventure or witty dialog.  Star Trek DAC has more emphasis on space combat and has the advantage of playing with people online.  Imagine if Star Control II’s Super-Melee was only 3 variations of the Earthling Cruiser vs 3 variations of the Ilwrath Avenger; that’s what Star Trek DAC is like when I compare both games.  It’s a good game with what it does and I was surprised that they used the Star Trek license to do something different, other than a mini-game cash-in.  The demo is definitely worth checking out for anyone who is curious about it.

It’s another sign that Star Control is more than a collection of game design ideas; it’s an entire universe where each race has a unique type of ship with strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered when fighting against any opponent.  There is a lot of mystery and plenty of room for sequels and prequels.  When TFB finishes their current project, the time will come for us to find out if Activision can be further convinced that Star Control will do well in sales and reception.

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