William Shatner Vs. The Gorn: Round Two

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

So here’s a weird example of how advertising works, folks. Namco’s Star Trek: The Video Game is set firmly in J.J. Abrams’ rejuvenated Star Trek universe, where the seriousness of every impending situation is almost always on hand, and the game takes place between the first film and the upcoming Into Darkness. So the best way to sell the thing is to appeal to those entrenched in the stories, right? Or the ones for whom having the powers of a Vulcan would be far superior to holding a gun, yes?

Or maybe you just spoof an old TV series episode — in this case, “Arena” — which pits William Shatner against a Gorn Captain in a bit of a slap fight after Shatner calls the reptile out for cheating during their game session. Is it clever? Kind of, because the game uses the rarely seen reptiles as the main enemies of the game. But does having an 82-year-old man playfully tiring himself out while fighting a man in a big floppy rubber suit really convey even a glimmer of the seriousness that the game will probably be doused with? Not at all. But what’s the point of being critical when an 82-year-old man is fighting an alien? Check out the video below and see if you agree with me that the Gorn costume almost looks better than the game’s graphics.

I think I’m going to buy whatever that alien is using on its skin, because it looks amazing for 82. Star Trek: The Video Game comes out on April 23rd everywhere, even in the Gorn Hegemony.