William Shatner, star of the original Star Trek, will voice Capt. James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Legacy, a new video game due in October, the Reuters news service reported.
The game will let players command more than 60 starships, spanning all five of the franchise’s live-action TV series, into combat against foes such as the Klingons and the Borg, the news service reported.
Shatner, who said he doesn’t play video games but has a grandson who is keen to teach him, hopes the medium can keep the Star Trek flame burning.
“The interest in Star Trek has waned in the last couple years,” Shatner told Reuters in a telephone interview. “It’s been around a long time. It’s a staple of American life, and I think we need something new and different in Star Trek.”
Word of Shatner’s reprising the Kirk role comes on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Star Trek’s debut on Sept. 8, 1966, on NBC.
Shatner last lent his voice to a video game in 1997’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Star Trek: Legacy is being published by Bethesda Softworks, which also was behind the hit fantasy role-playing game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the PC and Xbox 360.
Source: SciFi Wire
I really hope this game doesn’t suck. I’d love a good starship combat simulator in the Trek universe. Klingon Academy was decent, but that was a long long time ago.
They may as well put this guy in another Star Trek movie while we still have him. I’d go to see it.
I saw a few other articles on this with the headline “William Shatner Saves Star Trek�. I’m probably committing sacrilege here, but I think that’s a little bit much. I think the fans are doing a great job of keeping Star Trek alive. I doubt there would even be talks of an eleventh movie if not for the very vocal fan base. Don’t get me wrong: I love Shatner and everything he has done not only for Star Trek, but the entire genre of sci-fi/fantasy as well. However, he’s not saving Star Trek alone.
Unless the reviews really, really suck, I can’t see me not buying this game. Not only is Shatner lending his voice, but so are all the other Star Trek Captains: Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Scott Bakula are also suppose to provide voice talent.
Yep! We will be doing a story on all 5 captain’s involvement on the show for 08-23-06.