Star Trek Timelines
- July 12, 2017
- Tilting Point
- 3h median play time
"Star Trek™ Timelines is a RPG space combat game with an interesting plot, excellent visuals, good music, and humor, but has grinding, excessive advertisements, and bugs. Take command of your starship and save the galaxy in this immersive and challenging game."
Reviews
- The game captures the essence of Star Trek with a wide variety of characters and storylines from all series.
- Customer support is responsive and often compensates players for issues, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game offers a good balance of free-to-play options, allowing players to progress without spending money, though spending can accelerate progress.
- The game has numerous bugs and connectivity issues, often leading to crashes and frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Progression can be slow and tedious, especially for free-to-play players, with many features locked behind paywalls.
- Recent updates have introduced more aggressive monetization strategies, making it feel like a cash grab rather than a fair gaming experience.
- story914 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, with many players appreciating its engaging narrative and connection to the Star Trek universe, featuring a variety of characters and missions. However, players often express frustration with the repetitive nature of missions and the difficulty spikes that hinder progress, leading to a grind for resources and character upgrades. While the storyline is compelling, the gameplay mechanics, particularly the reliance on in-game currency and the need for extensive replaying of missions, detract from the overall experience.
“The story is surprisingly well written too.”
“I love the game, collecting crew and abilities, uncovering the story.”
“Great story, diverse variety of characters, lots of different starships, being part of a multiplayer squadron adds depth.”
“The game is good but very repetitive and not in a good way; I stopped paying attention to the story, so I have no idea what's going on half the time. The event games are all the same with not much new to offer.”
“The main story is still incomplete, over two years from release.”
“The replay of missions to get that last reward star is frankly tiresome and boring and quite beneath the quality of the rest of the game.”
- graphics411 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive widespread praise for their quality and detail, particularly in the 3D ship designs and vibrant artwork that appeals to Star Trek fans. However, some users report issues with resolution and display on certain devices, leading to frustration with menu navigation and gameplay visibility. Overall, while the graphics are often described as fantastic and immersive, there are calls for improvements and updates to enhance the experience further.
“The graphics are amazing, especially for a mobile game. If you are a fan of Star Trek, no matter which one, you definitely have to check this out.”
“The graphics are fantastic, I love the traits given to each character.”
“The graphics are beautiful, there is always something to do... I can play for hours!!”
“The graphics are terrible.”
“Graphics suck, resolution is horrible.”
“The graphics are uninspired.”
- gameplay298 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
Gameplay in this game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the engaging storyline, character collection, and strategic mechanics, particularly for Star Trek fans. However, frustrations arise from repetitive missions, slow progression, and a heavy reliance on pay-to-win mechanics, which can hinder enjoyment and limit gameplay without spending real money. While the graphics and overall design receive praise, the gameplay experience is often marred by bugs, ads, and a grindy nature that can lead to boredom over time.
“Gameplay-wise, the character-building aspect is very much like SWGOH, but instead of everything feeling like constant JRPG random encounters, you get a more strategic and episodic approach in both the away team missions and the ship-to-ship ones.”
“The gameplay is fun, and unlike many mobile games, there is always something to do.”
“Great graphics, easy controls, and gameplay with totally customizable crews, and each crewmember has specialties that you can choose to upgrade and customize.”
“Gameplay is limited by an annoying mechanic called chronitons, wherein you can only do a few missions before running out and having to wait or buy more.”
“Boring gameplay, too many paywalls too early in the game.”
“The gameplay is bland and utterly uninspired and uninteresting.”
- stability225 mentions
- 1 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 99 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern among users, with frequent reports of freezing and crashing during various gameplay moments, including battles and loading screens. While some players note that customer support is responsive and helpful, the overall experience is marred by persistent glitches that disrupt gameplay, making it frustrating and often unplayable. Despite occasional updates aimed at fixing these issues, many users feel that the game remains overly buggy and in need of substantial improvements.
“I love this game; overall it runs great.”
“No glitches, runs smoothly. Leveling up takes a while though.”
“Every time I go into battle and select my crew, it freezes. I tried restarting my device, but it did not fix the glitch. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the game, and it still didn't work.”
“The game is good, but there are some real problems with connectivity. Sometimes it freezes in an infinite loading process or doesn't connect at all when I start the game, and this is on a brand new Samsung Galaxy S9.”
“Game freezes constantly. I can't play at all; it freezes on startup after the latest update.”
- monetization187 mentions
- 4 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 58 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has drawn mixed reviews, with many players labeling it a "cash grab" due to the high cost of in-app purchases and the frequent presence of ads. While some users find the ads manageable and appreciate that they can be optional for rewards, others express frustration over the necessity of spending money to progress effectively, leading to a perception of the game as heavily reliant on microtransactions. Overall, while the game can be enjoyed for free, significant investment is often required to enhance the experience.
“While the game has microtransactions, I played for 3 years without purchasing anything and greatly enjoyed the time spent.”
“In-game purchases are available but the game is still quite enjoyable when playing for free.”
“I really enjoy it and it's the first game I've ever decided to spend on in-app purchases. However, the add-ons are way too expensive and I think the team should consider lowering prices.”
“Even after spending thousands of dollars, you'll still be stuck watching numerous ads for necessary but minuscule returns and will still need to spend more.”
“Uninstalled after a week and $30 invested, game is nothing more than a cash grab against fans of Star Trek.”
“Cash grab requires $$$ to play at any level, save your time and money, avoid this app.”
- grinding104 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious and repetitive, often requiring players to replay missions numerous times to progress. Many users express frustration with the slow energy regeneration and the high costs associated with premium currency, which can make advancement feel like a pay-to-win scenario. While some players appreciate the grind as part of the experience, the overwhelming sentiment is that it detracts from overall enjoyment, leading to boredom and a sense of futility in progression.
“Managing your inventory to a maximum of 1000 unique items is soul-crushingly tedious, especially with the in-game interface, but if you don't do it, the game randomly deletes some of your good gear.”
“Boring and progression is dull; grinding is soul-destroying and painful. After an hour of gameplay, you cannot progress without paying for items, and you're stuck grinding levels you've done thousands of times before.”
“The game itself is fun until you run into the excessive amounts of grinding!”
- music29 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its adherence to the original Star Trek themes and sound effects, enhancing the overall experience. However, several users express frustration over the inability to play their own music simultaneously, as the game's audio often overrides other sources and can become repetitive or annoying. While the soundtrack is appreciated for its quality, some players suggest that more variety would improve the experience.
“Amazing art and sound and music.”
“Seriously, the game stays absolutely true to Star Trek continuity and the music, sounds, and voices are the originals.”
“Love the concept and graphics and soundtrack 😀”
“Which means listening to music or doing anything else while playing the game is almost impossible; otherwise, 5/5 stars.”
“The music becomes annoying after a while.”
“Also has now been updated to steal audio focus, constantly cutting off any music or podcasts you're listening to.”
- optimization21 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players noting significant improvements in performance after updates, while others continue to experience severe issues such as stuttering, battery drain, and poor compatibility with various devices and aspect ratios. Many users express frustration over the game's initial performance and ongoing instability, leading to a lack of enjoyment despite its engaging content. While some updates have enhanced the experience, the game still struggles with optimization on certain devices, leaving many players dissatisfied.
“After leaving the game for ages, I honestly forgot about it. I saw it again while browsing Google Play, so I reinstalled it, and may I just say the issues I had before are all wiped out. The game controls fantastically now; performance and overall feel of the game are outstanding.”
“They've made some huge performance improvements, so the game is actually playable again, and I've updated my rating accordingly :)”
“Performance enhancements, graphic enhancements, and the way special missions are handled is far better!”
“Very bad performance for such an expensive pay-to-win game.”
“Game is not optimized for different aspect ratios (on a Sony with a 21:9).”
“Can not recommend due to the horrifically poor performance at the start and at times feels as if the game has completely locked up.”
- humor17 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a standout feature, with players enjoying its witty dialogue, hilarious scenarios, and clever Easter eggs. While many find the comedic elements engaging and entertaining, some critiques highlight a disconnect between the humor and the game's monetization strategies, which are perceived as overly greedy. Overall, the blend of humor and gameplay keeps players entertained, despite frustrations with technical issues and pay-to-win mechanics.
“The shout outs and easter eggs are hilarious.”
“I enjoy the subtle humor throughout the game.”
“Oh, and sending adversarial characters on shuttle missions together never stops being funny.”
- emotional5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- -40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a mixed emotional response, with some players feeling frustrated by the story and decisions made in the game, while others express unexpected excitement and attachment to characters. Overall, the emotional engagement seems to vary significantly among users, with some feeling disconnected and others finding joy in the experience.
“The emotional moments felt forced and didn't resonate with me.”
“I found the story to be overly melodramatic and lacking depth.”
“The character development was shallow, making it hard to connect emotionally.”
- character development5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted for its depth, akin to a full Star Trek series, featuring a diverse selection of characters and engaging storylines. However, some players find the pace of character and ship development frustratingly slow, particularly due to the lack of purchasable ship schematics. Overall, while the gameplay is enjoyable and character development is generally well-received, the progression can feel tedious for some players.
“I like the selection of characters and character development.”
“The gameplay is good and character development is easy.”
“Character development and ship development take forever, especially since there is no way to purchase ship schematics.”
“All the depth of a full Star Trek series, with character development, perilous enemies, and annoying omnipotent interruptions with your favorite crew from across the eras.”
“Steals character development.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its great graphics and immersive qualities, evoking a sense of fun and a distinct Star Trek vibe. However, some players feel that the lack of clarity in gameplay detracts from the overall experience, leaving them confused about the game's objectives.
“So far it's very fun and atmospheric.”
“Nice Star Trek atmosphere.”
“Seems cool, good atmosphere, but no idea what does what or is going on half the time.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, users highlight that the game offers high replayability due to its in-depth content and multiple levels. However, some suggest that simplifying certain levels could enhance the overall play experience and encourage even more replay value.
“The in-depth gameplay and replay value are very high.”
“There is a lot of replay value.”
“The levels encourage you to revisit and explore different strategies.”
“You need to review the levels and simplify them to make them more playable.”
“In-depth and replay value is very high.”
“Lots of replay value.”