Star Trek: Resurgence is a 2023 adventure video game developed by Dramatic Labs and published by Bruner House. Players control two officers on a Starfleet ship that becomes engulfed in a deadly alien conspiracy; the primary focus of the game is the player's choices and how they shape the outcome of the main story.
Gameplay
Set in the fictional Star Trek universe, Resurgence is centered around Jara Rydek (Krizia Bajos), first officer of the USS Resolute, and Petty Officer Carter Diaz (Josh Keaton), who has recently been assigned to the Resolute's engineering crew. The Resolute is tasked with overseeing a diplomatic mission organized by Ambassador Spock to mediate a dispute between two formerly peaceful alien civilizations over control of valuable mining claims, but soon discover that an unseen enemy is manipulating both sides to its advantage.
Both Rydek and Diaz have distinct narratives: Rydek finds herself torn between the Resolute's veteran officers and her captain, who has become increasingly reckless in his command; she is ultimately forced to pick a side to determine the vessel's fate. Diaz works to prove himself as a capable crewmember, pursues a potential romantic relationship, and becomes instrumental in thwarting an attempt to destroy the Federation.
Players choose dialogue options and solve puzzles, including quick time events. There are also action sequences where players engage in firefights and fly shuttles. Failed sequences can be restarted from a checkpoint, but there is no way to go back to previous chapters to make different decisions.[2] Each player has a guide to check their relationships with different characters, which will in turn affect how their stories end.
Development
The developer, Dramatic Labs, was founded by former Telltale Games staff. Star Trek: Resurgence was released on Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X/S on May 23, 2023.[3]
The game subsequently release on Steam on May 23, 2024, following its year of Epic Games Store exclusivity.
PC Gamer, IGN, and Polygon praised the combination of storytelling and decision-making, which they thought captured the spirit of Star Trek.[2][7][8] However, PC Gamer criticized the amount of quick-time events,[2]Polygon disliked the minigames entirely,[8] and IGN felt the stories lacked closure.[7]IGN and Polygon also commented on having technical problems with the Windows and PlayStation versions, respectively.[7][8]Shacknews called it "the most logical choice" for Star Trek fans, though they criticized what they felt were melodramatic cutscenes and overcomplicated minigames.[9]RPGSite enjoyed the visual novel aspects and recommended it overall despite their dislike of the game mechanics that strayed from making dialogue choices.[10]
