Mirror Broken #5 preview

IDW's latest release brings to an end their current TNG mirror universe comic adventure, Mirror Broken. The fifth issue (yup, the series seems to have been cut down from the originally announced six, although it did have two bonus issues in addition to the main run) is as ever written by Scott and David Tipton, and illustrated by J.K. Woodward - This time bringing us some very impression space battles!

The book is available in three different covers, with the crew-on-the-bridge A cover by Woodward too. The B cover continues George Caltsoudas character portrait series, with Data. And there's also a retail incentive cover, this time by Rachael Stott, in which mirror-Picard seems to be punching his way through the cover itself! Continue below to check them out, plus a five page preview from the issue.

Discovery updates: Third novel announced, plus art prints, comics, pins, video game, and music updates!

Lots of different Discovery merchandise and tie-in fiction updates today, including updates from both the novel and comic lines, soundtrack news, new art prints, FanSets latest releases, and new additions to Star Trek Timeline. Continue below to check them all out.

First up, the third Discovery novel has been announced. Coming in June will be the Saru focused Fear Itself, by James Swallow. StarTrek.com released the blurb:

Lieutenant Saru is a Kelpien, a member of a prey species born on a world overrun by monstrous predators…and a being who very intimately understands the nature of fear. Challenged on all sides, he is determined to surpass his origins and succeed as a Starfleet officer aboard the U.S.S. Shenzhou.

But when Saru breaks protocol in order to prove himself to his crewmates, what begins as a vital rescue mission to save a vessel in distress soon escalates out of control. Forced into a command role he may not be ready for, Saru is caught between his duty and the conflicting agendas of two antagonistic alien races.

To survive, he will need to seek a path of peace against all odds, and risk compromising the very ideals he has sworn to uphold…. 

New trailer and details for Star Trek Timelines Discovery event

Disruptor Beam have announced the details of the new Star Trek: Discovery "mega-event" Discovery: A New Anomaly, in Star Trek Timelines. The four-part adventures will run through October. They have released this snazzy new trailer, narrated by John de Lancie (Q), and featuring such pleasing images as the USS Discovery in spacedock, and among a fleet of the other Star Trek hero ships.

Discovery joins Star Trek video games

Two Star Trek video games have announced new Discovery content to coincide with the launch of the new series. Timelines has done this in most dramatic style, with a crossover trailer:



The USS Shenzhou will be joining the game in new story content, with other Discovery ships and characters also on the way. The first characters available are Saru and Burnham (image via StarTrek.com).

Video game updates: Latest from Online, Timelines, and Infinity Wars

Here's some video game news. First up, Star Trek Online's latest round of updates includes a new Undine (aka Species 8472) lock-box, which introduces the usual assortment of new ships and equipment to players of the game. There are two Undine ships, the Nicor class bio-warship, and the Dromias class bio-cruiser.

Those ships come with special abilities: The Nicor class can summon other 8472 ships to create a lower-power version of the planet destroying weapon, while the Dromias can open a portal to Fluidic Space, flooding an area of normal space with liqudiy stuff that upsets other ships.

The equipment available via the lock box also includes Undine armour and weapons for characters, so everyone can dress up like a Species 8472:

You can find out more about the Undine lock-box on the STO website. The Undine focus is because Species 8472 are coming back into the spotlight in Online as the major adversary in the latest update, Season 9: A New Accord. This video introduces the new Undine Story arc, you'll find more details on STO's website:

Meanwhile another online Star Trek game is just starting to become a reality. Jon Radoff, CEO of Disruptor Beam, recently talked to Polygon about Star Trek Timelines, and gave this summary of what they hope to achieve with the game:

We've created this amazing galaxy generator which will populate what I think will be this big galaxy filled with content so there's always new things to explore and discover," Radoff said. "... and as you explore you run into conflicts, but the conflicts more often than not are not necessarily resolved by a phaser or with violence. It's going to be a big part of this game, leveraging the story elements, the crafting elements, a new tactical mission system that we're developing that will have the option to fight, yes, but also science will play a role, diplomacy, other kinds of non-violent problem resolution will be part of it because that's really what Star Trek is about.

It's something that historically Star Trek licenses have struggled with. People are consistently a little bit disappointed with a lot of Star Trek games, because most just become another combat simulator, with ship-to-ship combat or running around planets firing phasers at everything. That's not what we want to do.

Finally, another online game has just got a touch of Star Trek. Infinity Wars, an animated online card game, has just had a set of TNG cards added to the game. StarTrek.com have previewed the fun animations, which look like this (continues after the jump):

New game on the way, Star Trek Timelines

Games developer Disruptor Beam have announced they are working on a new Star Trek game, coming at an as yet undetermined future time to Apple, Android, and web-browsers. Star Trek Timelines is set to pull elements from across the prime-timeline universe. At this stage there are few details about exactly what the game will involve, but they have indicated it will have some similarities with their existing Game of Thrones game, with an emphasis on dialogue driven story telling, and crafting, and for the new Star Trek game, an extra focus on exploration. They have laid out their plans for the game in a blog post, including a summary of how they intend to pull different aspects and time periods of Star Trek together:

Temporal anomalies, mirror universes and time travel have been recurring themes throughout all the Star Trek series and several of the films. This will form the basis of Star Trek Timelines, and gives us the opportunity to explore a lot of “what-if” scenarios: what if Spock and Jean-Luc Picard got to serve on the same ship? What would it be like to have members of the mirror universe’s Terran Empire on your crew? This game will allow you to join forces with your favorite characters from across the many eras and universes from Star Trek lore—and then make decisions that impact the future of civilizations, star systems and the galaxy itself.

They have also noted their aims for gameplay, making it clear they don't want to be just about running around and shooting stuff:

Let’s talk for a moment about what Star Trek Timelines won’t be: it isn’t a first-person shooter or a MMORPG-oriented environment where the action is about running around and blasting everyone with your phasers. There are already Star Trek games that feature first-person action—and we also feel that a combat-oriented game wouldn’t really capture the vision of Star Trek. Instead, we’re going to focus on giving you beautiful vistas of outer space, artistic renderings of your favorite characters, and a conflict mechanic where science and diplomacy are just as important as your ability to fire photon torpedoes. This means that some aspects of the game will be more “abstract” than you’d experience in a first-person perspective game – but we think it’s the right way to create the right experience for Star Trek.

You can read more about what they hope to achieve, on their blog. They've also released this tease trailer:



Continue after the jump for a look back at a couple of other recent Star Trek mobile games: