Nerds That Geek Gaming Flashback - 'Star Trek: Judgment Rites'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​In this sequel hungry world, wherein many of us ponder as to whether or not a particular saga deserves another chapter when it’s already received so many, sometimes the sequel truly is a necessity. Because if the story is that rich and that good, there needs to be more, and quite frankly, if the tale in question is so close to properly wrapping everything up, then a sequel simply has to happen in order to give the story the justice it deserves and in the winter of 1993, a sequel that met all of that criteria just so happened to be waiting for me under the Christmas tree that year.
 
Because in November of that year, Interplay decided it was high time to release the next chapter in their computerized Star Trek saga and they delivered unto us a direct sequel to the stellar 25th Anniversary and my goodness, did Interplay provide us with one incredibly geeky and awesome ride. For Star Trek: Judgment Rites is hands down one of my absolute favorite computer games of all time for several reasons, and the biggest of one all, relates to the story, since the script for this particular game was about as good as it gets.
 
For in this particular game, the writers went above and beyond to bring to life something that was never found when it comes to The Original Series, arc-based storytelling, and they pulled it off in impressive fashion. Because, aside from a sequel episode to the finale of 25th Anniversary to kick things off, initially it truly seems as though you’re just enjoying an upgraded sequel to the aforementioned first game, and that this iteration is going to consist of more self-contained missions for the crew of the Enterprise. But as the story begins to progress, you come to realize there’s something bigger at work when it comes to the story and that allows for one compelling ‘season finale’ to come to fruition and the build-up to it is equally as amazing.
 
But, all storytelling aside, there are other elements that make this game a joy to play, like the fact that Interplay worked hard to upgrade the graphics system to provide the player with a far more cinematic experience, and the expansion pack that arrived later on only helped to further that experience and Interplay really did do a fine job with this. Because the graphics here are downright breathtaking at times and truly capture the magic of the series and that enhancement alongside the return of the original cast for voiceover work made this an extremely special game for one unexpected reason.
 
Because Judgment Rites serves as the final adventure of the original cast of the show because DeForest Kelley would never again play the role of Leonard McCoy and the rise of The Next Generation in film and the power of Deep Space Nine would signal a shift in the Star Trek universe and games featuring those crews were to follow. But this final ride with Kirk and company is one that I revisit as often as I can, since this game is also available to buy online these days, due to the fact that it is a proper and respectful send off to the original crew of the NCC-1701 and the quality storytelling found here, set a high bar for future Star Trek games to come. 

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