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Star Trek Timelines: familiar ships, familiar faces, and IAPs
Disruptor Beam has finally made Star Trek Timelines available in the Google Play Store. The adventure strategy game is narrated by John De Lancie (who plays Q) and it is available for free.
Timelines stitches together elements from all of the original generations except for the J. J. Abrams reboot. That means you’ll encounter friends, enemies, and technology from the Original Series, the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. Gameplay sees you adventuring and battling all across the final frontier, building your crew up and equipping them with better and better accessories. The graphics are gorgeous, and the interface looks snappy and satisfying, but one feature may turn away some of even the most die-hard Trekkies: in-app purchases.
In the television version of the Star Trek universe, currency is a thing of the past. However, this mobile version performs a bit of soft-retconning by bringing no fewer than three separate currencies into gameplay. One of these can be purchased with real world cash. Whole parts of the game and some major features are locked away until you make your first purchase.
The problem with the free-to-play model is that it is extremely effective, as South Park points out. While not all free-to-play games are evil by any means, some worry that the mobile market’s affinity for this model is preventing it from becoming a competitive gaming platform, a possibility that still seems to be in the cards.
For many fans, the experience of collecting and playing with their favorite characters and technologies of the Star Trek universe will be enough to draw them to this game. Some, however, might draw the line when they see “In-app Products: $4.00-$100.00 per item” in the game’s description.
Click the button below to begin your journey into deep space. In the meantime, what are your thoughts regarding Star Trek Timelines? Worth a spin, or are you going to pass? Let us know in the comments!