Today I received a text from a fellow Star Trek fan (well, technically I'm married to him) that GOG.com would now be selling digital versions of some classic Star Trek games. To read the official statement, you can go here.

The games that are being sold are probably some of the most well regarded Star Trek games that have ever been released, the line up being Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, it's sequel Star Trek: Judgment Rites and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Of course, just the fact that these games are being released digitally is cool, so no fussing with trying to get your old copies working with DOSBox or the like. I know that buying the games again, if you already own them, may not be the ideal solution, but for someone like me that wants to be able to install a game and go, this is pretty awesome. I've done it in the past to get a working and stress free copy of Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura, and I'll probably be doing the same thing with these games as well.

After reading the article, I found that there may be even more exciting news on the horizon, namely that more Star Trek games may be released in the future. The final line of the article states -

Beam us up, GOGbear! We're one a voyage to trek across galaxies, and we're taking everyone along. Today is the beginning, who knows what the distant future may bring?

Forgive me if I am eagerly anticipating a playable digital version of Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force or Star Trek: The Next Generation - Birth of the Federation, but those games were dope!

So, anyone else super excited that these games are now available digitally? And, if you're as excited as I am, what Star Trek games do you want to see next?

Eeeeeehehehe! Giddy!, The games they put up I don't really have any connection/desire to play, but if this is the start of getting other Star Trek games on there, then that is super exciting.
You already mentioned Voyager Elite Force, which was actually a really fantastic game, I loved how much exploration you had in that game and the story was pretty fun as well. So it would be great to get that and its sequel up one day.

And please, please, desperately please, I pray to the almighty GOG , Bridge Commander.

But this is great news all around, there are a bunch of Star Trek games from my youth I remember fondly but have been very under represented on the digital market, having to hope you held on to them all these years or seek them out on Ebay or Amazon for whatever ridiculous price some of them have.

So this is great, none of the games up yet are for me, but I look forward to the future. Love GOG.

Bridge commander and elite force would be amazing gets for gog!!!

I liked Star Trek Armada and Armada 2. Decent RTS games. Too bad they are not there.

AWESOME!!!

I've heard great things about those adventure gameish ones, and now I can know for myself!

Also, a note for any Next Generation prudes... The Original Series is really damn good.

A year ago despite being a huge fan of Star Trek TNG and on, I had no interest in anything older than the first movie, and considered the old stuff to be more of a campy frolic through groovy space than the gripping political drama that's Star Trek at its best. But I've been marathoning TOS with my girlfriend and (aside from some unfortunate lingering 1960s attitudes towards women, made even more unfortunate by the fact that most of their female characters are awesome and daringly progressive for the time) it's shockingly great. And Netflix has every episode of the remastered version that's high res with all of the effects beautifully re-done. WATCH IT!

(though to be clear, Kirk is a reactionary idiot who punches anyone who frustrates him and gets distracted by any fake eyelashes batting in his direction, no matter how many red alerts, transporter malfunctions, or evil sentient computers are after him. And he somehow ends up topless in about 80% of the episodes. Still... great show.)

Funny you mention that game specifically. Just three weeks ago I tried playing my GOG copy of Arcanum for the first time, only to fight for a few days against instant crashes and freezing that seem no have no answers even in the wealth of knowledge and complaining that are internet message boards. But I'm very willing to chalk that up to my computer being a buggy, crashy mess on its last digital legs than any issue with GOG themselves. Maybe I just have to click that .exe, roll my d20, and hope for a crit. ;)

I was hoping for Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity I absolutely loved that game. Probably doesn't hold up, but I would totally pay money for it again.

That sucks! I haven't played it within the past few months, but I didn't have any issues that I can recall when I tried it upon purchasing it, or after I had to reinstall it after an unfortunate hard drive issue. I won't say that these games are perfect and guaranteed to run on every computer, but I haven't had problems with the games I have gotten from GOG. Hopefully you get your issue figured out, though. Arcanum is a really cool, different RPG.

I don't have any particular affinity for Star Trek, but I've only heard great things about 25th Anniversary, so maybe I should check that out.

Another chance to legally own 25th Anniversary? Awesome.

@zolroyce: But then you are on the Voyager...

25h Anniversary and Judgement Rites were two of my favorite adventure games of all time, and fit the spirit of Star Trek better than the games focusing on space combat or shooting people. Highly recommended lost gems of the adventure genre.

Just give me Bridge Commander and I'll be happy.

@rigas: thank you for posting this! I remember two Star Trek games from my childhood that I loved but couldn't remember them. This one I'm pretty sure my family got free with our very first, very advanced, windows 95 machine. The second own I know is more recent, say early 2000s. It was a first person shooter and I played the demo of it. The first mission was on a Borg ship and the second was on a ship while it was being torn the fuck up. Still can't recall that one but I think it actually had a sequel a few years later.

Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force was an FPS that came out in 2000, it also had a sequel. Is that the one you're thinking about? I just looked up a screenshot from the demo and it appears to have combat with the Borg, but without playing it, I can't be 100% sure. Sounds like it though!

What kind of games are these? The only Star Trek games I've played in the past were spaceship simulators and these look more like adventure games as you're playing through an episode of the series.

I'm really happy to finally see some of the Star Trek games on GOG. I never thought it would happen, considering how many hands the Star Trek video game rights have been in throughout the decades. So far it's just the Interplay games that are available, I hope we'll get to see the Activision games (Elite Force and Bridge Commander) in the future as well.

25th Anniversary and Judgment Rites are primarily adventure games with some space combat in there (25th Anniversary's space combat is really hard and kinda unfair though - but it's kinda cool that you still play it from the captain's point of view - where you give orders to raise shields, arm weapons and stuff like that, rather than having it feel like you're the one doing every task on board. But Bridge Commander most certainly got that done better), and Starfleet Academy is an FMV space combat game, somewhat like Wing Commander 3 and 4, with some of the original series actors reprising their roles. You don't play as any of them though, but they give you mission briefings and stuff.

Same. I was 14 when I played that game. I am fully prepared to have my nostalgia goggles shattered, but would still buy it.

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I replayed both Elite Force games and DS9: The Fallen somewhere around 3 years ago. Elite Force is pretty rough by modern standards. Elite Force 2 is a better video game but barely feels like Star Trek. I actually liked The Fallen the best, which is funny because at the time it came out I'm pretty sure I didn't think much of it - this may be due to developing a fonder appreciation of DS9 itself in the intervening years.