Yes, no, stop, you’re right. This is an interactive movie, and it absolutely has as much interaction as any other interactive movie of the godforsaken era. But it has one other thing, and it’s really important: Q.
Oh my goodness, if you didn’t live through video games in 1996, then count yourself lucky. The CD-ROM had suddenly gone mainstream, and developers the world over went from 1.44MB per floppy disc to an astonishing 600MB per shiny circle. This vast expanse of storage space was mostly just lying empty for the majority of games, until everyone at once had the idea of filling it up with the shittiest quality FMV they could barely pay for. The deluge was horrendous, but it also brought us the surprise delight of Star Trek: Borg, and John de Lancie at his impish, overacting best.
As someone who’s watched almost every episode of Trek that’s ever aired, while struggling to like most of it, Q has always been an important character. His arrival almost always meant pricking the pomposity of the ridiculously po-faced series, breaking the fourth wall as the writers allowed themselves to observe their own folly. In Star Trek: Borg, it’s like this on steroids. De Lancie has a field day, and it’s a pleasure to watch him indulge himself.
The plot, such as it is, has you playing as the son of a crew member who popped his clogs in the battle of Wolf 359 (the one where Picard became Locutus of Borg, and over 11,000 people died), who Q sends back in time to rewrite history. You’re given the opportunity to try to save your father through various choices, with “wrong” options seeing Q reset events to let you try again. Indeed, it’s an arch reflection on the mechanics of interactive movies, even featuring puzzles that can only be solved by failing, then using acquired knowledge once the game’s reloaded.
But this is really all about watching de Lancie chewing the scenery as he prances about, unfettered by the constraints of a TV episode, which you may as well do via the YouTube video above rather than trying to find a working copy of the game.
Where to buy: Nowhere, sadly
