In an early strong contender for my favorite thing of the year, erstwhile Captain Kirk William Shatner has filmed a promo video for the upcoming Star Trek videogame from Digital Extremes.
The clip, presented below, sees the actor (who starred in the original Star Trek between 1967 and 1969) recreate an oft-mocked encounter from the classic episode “Arena”, in which the intrepid Kirk does battle with an enraged Gorn while stranded on a desert planet for the amusement of a race of higher beings. The fight is well-remembered for the lethargy of its action and the Gorn’s memorable gargling and has become something of an Internet phenomenon for Trekkies and non-fans alike. You can watch the original video below the new advertisement.
Priceless. Oh, and for reference:
[springboard type=”video” id=”695069″ player=”wgtc007″ width=”600″ height=”350″ ]The more I watch that, the more two things make me laugh –Â the crash zoom at the start (which also makes an appearance in the new clip) and Kirk’s silent exit at the end. The way the camera just lags behind, not even bothering to follow him, is such a bizarre choice in itself.
The game is due for release on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC at the end of April and takes place within the same canon as J.J. Abrams’ pair of Star Trek films. Players take control of either Kirk or Vulcan bro-for-life Spock, with the pair and their Enterprise crewmates voiced by their respective actors from said movies.
As hinted above, the game’s plot sees our heroes under threat from an entirely less menacing digital brand of Gorn who have less in common with the original beastie’s lumbering lummoxitude than with their computer-generated appearance in a 2005 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. It’d be nice to think that Shatner’s involvement with the franchise could make an appearance in the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness more likely, but for now at least, this trailer’s enough to send me to bed with a big smile on my face.
Are the gamers among you excited for Star Trek: The Video Game, or is this an unwelcome glass of milk from the cash cow?
