Star Trek: Infinite
- October 12, 2023
- Nimble Giant Entertainment
- 17h median play time
This game is as great as Captain Pike’s hair. If you’re ready to blink away three hours of your life in what feels like three minutes, Star Trek: Infinite is for you.
"Star Trek: Infinite is a Real Time Strategy game with both single-player and multi-player options, including PvP. The Deluxe Edition offers the U.S.S. Cerritos ship, California-class uniforms, Klingon Voice Pack, downloadable soundtrack, additional music tracks, and an art book. The game boasts good story, splendid mechanics, fabulous graphics, but be prepared for lots of grinding and potential bugs."
Reviews
- The game captures the Star Trek atmosphere well, with familiar characters and events from the franchise.
- The mission tree adds a unique gameplay element, allowing players to engage in story-driven quests.
- The graphics and ship models are visually appealing, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game has been abandoned by the developers, with no future updates or support planned.
- Gameplay is often buggy and unbalanced, leading to frustrating experiences and game-breaking issues.
- The limited number of playable factions and lack of depth in mechanics reduce replayability and overall enjoyment.
- story568 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story aspect of "Star Trek: Infinite" has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the incorporation of familiar Star Trek lore and missions inspired by the franchise's iconic events. However, numerous bugs and design flaws hinder the experience, often locking players out of critical missions or leading to frustrating gameplay due to poorly timed or unfulfillable objectives. While the mission tree system adds some structure and thematic depth, it is criticized for being overly simplistic and lacking the engaging narrative complexity found in other strategy games like Stellaris or Hearts of Iron.
“Exploring as the Federation has all sorts of anomalies and missions that pop up, which are basically pulled straight from the show.”
“The setting for the game is TNG with a splash of DS9 (excluding the Dominion) and a cameo from Voyager. You follow the major events from those shows and complete goals related to those events, giving the setting some story and context, which is a very nice touch.”
“The mission tree allows you to either play the usual Federation or go dark and play the Confederation of Earth or the Terran Empire as you wish.”
“The game has been left with a clunky story, numerous bugs, and no real Star Trek feel.”
“The story elements are shallow; there's very little to see or do in reality - and the elements just repeat game after game, so at best you are looking at maybe 8 partial walks in the park before you exhaust everything.”
“The mission trees are kind of hot garbage in how they were designed/planned out.”
- gameplay360 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Star Trek: Infinite" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its heavy reliance on mechanics from "Stellaris," leading to a perception of it being a re-skinned version rather than a unique experience. While some appreciate the streamlined mechanics and the incorporation of Star Trek lore, others criticize the game for its limited variety, numerous bugs, and a lack of depth compared to its predecessor. Overall, players find the gameplay engaging yet flawed, with potential for improvement through future updates and patches.
“The gameplay feels as if I've been hamstrung and have to follow the story.”
“The mission tree system adds more depth and variety to the gameplay, and gives the players more control and choice over their empire’s development.”
“I love the visuals, and the gameplay is fun.”
“Unfortunately, what we got instead was the cosmetic changes without much improvement and even some added glitches and quirks that make the gameplay tedious after a while.”
“The flavor text of the factions may suggest a unique playstyle for them, but in truth the mechanics force you to play similar strategies.”
“The gameplay is frequently interrupted by messages; the Borg threat is silly and annoying.”
- stability143 mentions
- 2 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous users reporting it as a "buggy mess" and "unfinished" at launch. Many players have experienced frequent crashes, glitches, and gameplay-breaking errors, leading to frustration and disappointment. Despite some patches being released, the overall sentiment is that the game remains unstable and has been effectively abandoned by its developers.
“Game runs great for me and is just what was more or less promised in the teasers.”
“And it runs great as well, way smoother than Stellaris mods, in my opinion.”
“This game is a disaster, very limited gameplay and buggy as all hell.”
“The game was a buggy incomplete mess on release and has now been abandoned without being fixed in a half-finished state.”
“It's very buggy and unstable right now; after the third time playing with a friend, it seems to have totally broken now and I can't launch any new games.”
- music135 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players expressing disappointment over the absence of iconic Star Trek themes and sound effects. Instead, the soundtrack is described as generic and uninspired, often leading players to mute it in favor of original Star Trek music from external sources. While some users found the music to be competent or enjoyable in isolation, the lack of authentic Star Trek elements significantly detracted from the overall experience.
“The music isn't particularly crazy or memorable, but it is competently done and does sound like what you'd expect in a Star Trek game. I haven't listened to the whole soundtrack, so there may be some more bombastic sounding combat music I missed, but from what I heard it was much more calm overall, giving you a more chilled out experience as a result if that's what you're looking for.”
“The artwork, the music, the gameplay—all make this game enjoyable.”
“Yes, I'd like some more ship classes and some actual Star Trek songs would be nice, but overall I'm happy with the game.”
“The final insult for me was paying for early purchase to gain access to special music tracks, only to have this break two days later and come to find the music is generic science fiction and not music from Star Trek.”
“It lacks any identifiable Star Trek music, not even in the launcher or during loading to get you hyped.”
“The music is bland and has none of the scores or tones we would hope for in a Star Trek game.”
- graphics123 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful artwork, ship models, and overall aesthetic that captures the Star Trek universe. However, some players criticize the graphics as outdated or lacking depth, comparing them unfavorably to other titles like Stellaris. While the visuals contribute to an immersive experience, they are often seen as a highlight overshadowed by gameplay shortcomings.
“The artwork is stunningly beautiful, from still images and the soundtrack to the ship models and stations.”
“Beautiful models, graphics, and effects!”
“The aesthetic implementation of the Star Trek universe in 'Star Trek: Infinite' could be appealing for fans of the series.”
“Star Trek Prodigy was garbage and Star Trek Online has not changed since its release; they keep adding more content but no graphic updates or game changes!”
“The graphics of the game are awful and ugly on large monitors.”
“The game needs a complete makeover of its graphics and UI design to make it look like a modern game.”
- monetization45 mentions
- 7 % positive mentions
- -4 % neutral mentions
- 98 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has been overwhelmingly criticized as a blatant cash grab, with many users expressing disappointment in Paradox for releasing a product that feels unfinished and lacking in support. Reviewers describe the game as a rushed effort to capitalize on the Star Trek franchise, with minimal content and no plans for future development, leading to a strong recommendation to avoid purchasing it. Overall, the sentiment reflects a deep dissatisfaction with the perceived prioritization of profit over quality and player experience.
“There are no in-game purchases, which is a refreshing change.”
“I appreciate that the game doesn't pressure players into spending money.”
“The absence of monetization tactics makes for a more enjoyable experience.”
“This is a huge cash grab and a slap in the face that it won't be supported.”
“This game seems like a quick cash grab.”
“This was never meant to be anything more than a quick cash grab using the Star Trek license; many features are missing and bugs still remain.”
- replayability39 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
Overall, the replayability of the game is considered quite limited by users, primarily due to the small number of playable factions (only four) and the static nature of events, which leads to similar gameplay experiences across sessions. While some players appreciate the thematic elements and minor variations in resource distribution, the lack of dynamic content and diverse mission paths significantly detracts from the game's long-term engagement potential. Many reviewers express a desire for additional factions and content updates to enhance replayability.
“The four main powers (Federation, Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians) of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants are playable, each with their unique playstyle.”
“It is highly replayable in my opinion, with four major factions to choose from, and the fact that the resources in each system change with each game, which means you can't spam certain systems that you know contain the best resources.”
“As it is, the game is still relatively thematic for the casual Star Trek fan, delivering hours of entertainment and reasonable replayability.”
“Once you play one game, you've played them all. All the static events always happen; there's honestly no replayability other than different ship sets or different empire flavor. But once again, once you've played it once, every game plays out the same.”
“As a base game, it is okay, but there is no depth and the replayability is slim to nil. I personally find it disappointing in the extreme that the publisher did not even support the game for a year after release; they should be ashamed for taking advantage.”
“The game's biggest weakness is that with only 4 powers at game launch, if they don't add more content, there will be limited replayability.”
- optimization30 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including stuttering and poor AI and faction balancing, leading to refunds. Others report satisfactory performance, noting improvements over previous titles like Stellaris, but still highlight areas needing optimization, particularly in ship management and late-game performance. Overall, while there are positive aspects, many users feel the game requires further updates to enhance its technical performance and user experience.
“The game is pretty optimized and looks gorgeous!”
“Performance seems to be no worse than Stellaris and might be slightly better due to the smaller fleet sizes.”
“I have to say performance has been great, no crashes, and loading speed is fast.”
“This had a lot of potential, and the developer should just close the doors and never develop a game again after this letdown of a performance.”
“I refunded after 47 minutes of playing due to the stuttering of the gameplay and having no real fun with it.”
“However, the main setback for 'Star Trek: Infinite' is its technical performance.”
- grinding18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, primarily due to the overwhelming micromanagement of star systems, planets, and fleets, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. Many reviewers express frustration with the lack of meaningful upgrades and the repetitive nature of tasks, such as managing identical ships and dealing with a non-interactive AI, leading to a sense of monotony. While some quality-of-life improvements have been noted, the core gameplay still suffers from excessive grinding and a lack of engaging content.
“I spend so much time managing star systems and planets and buildings, that part starts to get tedious.”
“Gameplay is grinding upgrades for tiny boosts.”
“Endless grinding of research and economy micromanagement, lackluster non-interactive AI, irritating randomness from the pirates, and no real satisfaction or climax in the combat system.”
- atmosphere11 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 9 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere receives mixed reviews, with some praising its ability to recreate a TNG-era galactic feel and beautiful graphics that enhance the mood. However, others criticize the lack of authentic Star Trek elements, such as iconic soundtracks and effects, which detracts from the overall experience. While some find the atmosphere engaging, others feel it falls short, particularly in comparison to other titles.
“This game, in my opinion, does an excellent job recreating the TNG-era galactic atmosphere in the Stellaris format.”
“Beautiful graphics that contribute to an all-around atmospheric mood.”
“The game depth and atmosphere is just great.”
“The atmosphere lacks because of this, but overall it's still a fun game.”
“Access to the original Star Trek soundtracks and sound effects would add more atmosphere.”
“This game has absolutely no Star Trek atmosphere.”
- humor9 mentions
- 89 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with players finding amusement in its absurdities, such as the misrepresentation of Star Trek lore and the quirky mechanics like overpowered pirate fleets. Many appreciate the inside jokes and random events, particularly the humorous quests that evoke laughter, though some feel that the game's inconsistencies lead to a comedic frustration as it diverges from its source material. Overall, while the humor can be entertaining, it often stems from the game's shortcomings rather than intentional comedic design.
“Also, making second contact with the Cerritos made me laugh.”
“The inside humor of the random events or 'quests' (called either missions or anomalies) had me cackling.”
“It starts off great and I was really into it, but the more you play, the more it unravels and you end up fighting the systems of the game and laughing at the weird take on the Star Trek universe.”
“The Bajoran story is so wrong; it's not funny. First of all, why do you have a Cardassian as the envoy for Bajorans? Wtf.”
- emotional7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a deep emotional connection to the game, feeling a strong sense of immersion in the Star Trek universe. However, many find the emotional depth lacking compared to the source material, leading to disappointment and heartbreak over the game's current state and polish. Overall, while the potential for emotional engagement is recognized, it remains unfulfilled.
“Heartbreaking as I thoroughly enjoyed some of the stuff they've done.”
“No other game has ever made me feel as though I'm truly part of the Star Trek universe.”
“It was honestly heart-wrenching to hear.”
Critic Reviews
Star Trek: Infinite Review
This game is as great as Captain Pike’s hair. If you’re ready to blink away three hours of your life in what feels like three minutes, Star Trek: Infinite is for you.
100%Star Trek: Infinite Review
Star Trek: Infinite does a great job of capturing the look and feel of Star Trek, but those enticing bones splinter under the weight of its bugs and glitches.
50%Star Trek: Infinite review
Compelling, but not quite there yet. Needs two seasons to grow the beard.
72%