Bethesda Announces Star Trek: Conquest, New M...

Bethesda Announces Star Trek: Conquest, New MMO Studio

Despite the mediocre success they had with all those Star Trek games thrown on the market last year (Legacy, Encounters and Tactical Assault), Bethesda insists on thoroughly milking this license, announcing a new strategy game called Star Trek: Conquest this week. "Strategy game" could make you think about the PC first and foremost, however the new project is only planned for release on two consoles, Wii and PS2, with a release date planned for this holiday season.

Star Trek: Conquest will be set during the era of the best TV series (in my humble opinion) - "The Next Generation", with Picard, Riker and Whoopi Goldberg. Players will be able to start their campaign of galaxy conquest with any of the major factions, from Federation, Klingon and Romulan, to Cardassian, Dominion and Breen. Expanding your empire will be achieved in a strategic turn-based mode, by moving the starships from one planet to another on the galactic map (piece of cake with the Wii Remote), building support structures on conquered planets, researching new technologies, managing the limited resources and, not least of all, engaging your enemies in combat.

From this point on (once you enter a battle), the game switches to a more tactical perspective, allowing for a more direct (and more real-time) control over your ships. Maneuvering them on the Wii will be done with the Nunchuck controller, while targeting and shooting will be done with the Wiimote. That's about all for now, the first images can be seen in the local gallery.

Speaking of Bethesda, their parent company, ZeniMax Media announced a few days ago the formation of a new studio, focused on developing MMO games. They call it ZeniMax Online Studios, and it's headed by Matt Firor - one of the founders of Mythic Entertainment. Great, what better reason to start those Elder Scrolls MMO rumours again.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)