Star Trek: Judgment Rites

The second great adventure with the crew of the original Enterprise picks up where the previous installment left off, and for many fans represents its more mature continuation. Star Trek: Judgment Rites is a point-and-click adventure that once again places the player in the role of Captain Kirk and his crew and leads them through a series of separate missions that together form a kind of further season of the classic series.

Just like its predecessor, the game relies on an episodic structure: each mission is a self-contained story with its own plot, its own planet or situation and its own puzzles. The player again moves between landing party missions on the surface, where they explore the environment, talk to characters and combine items, and moments on the bridge of the Enterprise. The emphasis on storytelling and the atmosphere of classic Star Trek remains at the center of interest.

In the development context this is a title from the period when adventures were trying to be ever more cinematic and elaborate. A sequel usually builds on what worked and smooths out the rough edges of the first installment, from players and reviewers you often hear that Judgment Rites feels like a smoother and more mature experience than its predecessor, with an emphasis on variety of situations and wittily written scenarios for the individual missions.

The cultural value of the title lies in the fact that it prolongs the life of the classic Star Trek era at a time when the television series had long since ended. For fans it was a chance to experience new adventures with beloved characters, and the game treated its source with respect, it maintained the Trek ethos of curiosity, diplomacy and moral dilemmas instead of mere action.

On the Amiga players could enjoy graphics and sound that were among the best of the home computers of their time. The combination of a strong license with a technically capable platform made this adventure one of the more enticing titles for anyone who loved sci-fi and logical gaming.

Why play: A mature episodic adventure for anyone who wants to relive the spirit of classic Star Trek and take the stories of the Enterprise crew one step further.