Preview

Star Trek Online Updated Impressions

Cryptic's massively multiplayer sci-fi adventure is getting closer to launch, and we checked it out at GamesCom.

Set in the year 2409 (Stardate circa 86645.315), Star Trek Online kicks off 30 years after the events in Star Trek Nemesis, in the prime timeline rather than in the new timeline created by the events in the 2009 Star Trek film. Things aren't good in the 25th century: the Khitomer Accords have been broken, and the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war. To make matters worse, the Borg have returned to wreak havoc on the Alpha Quadrant.

Every person plays the role of a starship captain in Star Trek Online. You can take control of a Federation or Klingon Defense Force vessel, along with three bridge officers. "It's all about being a captain. That's the game we wanted to make," said executive producer Craig Zinkievich. Star Trek Online was granted an official licence from Star Trek owner CBS, and Zinkievich said the goal with the game was to "make it feel like the TV shows and movies," and from what we saw at GamesCom, it's on its way to achieving that goal.

The mission we saw involved ferrying a Vulcan ambassador to a monastery. En route our ship was hailed by several Klingon ships, who warned us that the ambassador was an evil shape-shifter and that we would need to beam him over to them, or die. Despite the immediate hostilities, the environment looked rather peaceful with our ship floating blissfully around the class-M planet and through a nearby asteroid field. In our intergalactic journey, we also saw some beautiful nebulae and planetary bodies in deep yellow and purple colours. At subwarp impulse speed, you can just coast along and take in all of the sights; however, when travelling at warp speed, you view the galaxy from an astrometric grid view. Despite being able to fly through space at warp speed, the Federation ships aren't particularly zippy with impulse power. Zinkievich explains that these are massive warships with more than 100 crew members, and space combat should reflect the size and scope of these awesome ships.

There are quite a few things to keep you occupied during the heat of battle. For a start, you can move energy from auxiliary systems to the weapons systems and shields. An icon around your ship is split into four quadrants, and these represent your front, rear, and side shields. The quadrants will visually display how weak or strong they are, and you can bolster a sector if you're taking a beating from any particular direction. At your disposal are forward-facing photon torpedoes and forward- and rear-facing phaser arrays. While the torpedo arc is only 90 degrees, the phaser arcs are much wider, and if you're able to broadside an enemy, you can use the front and rear arrays together for a more powerful attack.

In addition to shields and weapons, you'll be occupied with your ship's throttle and power levels and with commanding your bridge officers. You have access to multiple officers, but you can use only three at once. Each one has its own skills and abilities, so you need to take the right ones into battle. Zinkievich said one of his favourite tactics is to have his science officer use a tacyon beam to knock out an enemy's shields, and then use his tactical officer to destroy the craft with torpedoes. After taking care of the Klingon ships, we discovered that some of the Klingons had beamed down to the surface to attack the monastery, and we beamed down to follow them.

Away teams can carry two weapons. Our character had a phaser pistol and a rifle, so he could stun or kill. The phaser's visual effects look great, and we could see the air sizzle around the solid beam of hot energy. In addition to standard weapons, you can unlock other weapons depending on which faction and type of character you play as. One such weapon we saw was a stasis field, which was used to freeze one of the Klingons. You'll also unlock more-powerful weapons later in the game, and we're told these will be one of the bigger rewards.

Star Trek Online is shaping up to be a Trekkie's dream, with plenty of space and on-foot battles, plenty of diplomatic and research missions, and plenty of customisation of both the character and vehicles in the game. We look forward to spending more time in the Alpha Quadrant before the game is released, although that current stardate is unknown.

75 Comments

  • Lostat

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 2:04 am PT

    As the comment below, is this game confirmed for the 360? If so then ace! I have a laptop PC but would need to buy a new PC to run this game, so if I can play it on my 360 instead, on my HD TV then that would be fantastic for me.

  • InuHanyou1701

    Posted Sep 18, 2009 4:33 pm PT

    Might be my first MMO... too bad it will have a monthly fee tho. That's what will keep me away. Is it really going to be on the 360 as well? The official website had a question regarding cross over PC and console gameplay (which went unanswered) in the FAQs but it's been removed now. =(

  • cap_n_quirk

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 2:01 pm PT

    This title might interest me.

  • nevryn

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 10:47 pm PT

    Few things here. First off this "update" is pretty vague and leaves out a ton. You can find out a heck of a lot more by visiting the game's site. For instance, the ability to make your alien look like whatever you want. Also, I'd like to point out that it's Cryptic making the game. For those of you that don't know, they made the original City of Heroes/Villians and more recently Champions Online that just released. As a result, based on previous games, this game is likely to be focused on player customization. So getting to design your own races, and hopefully your own ships. As for comparison to EVE, first off, EVE is just evil. I've played the game for over 2 years now off and on and really it potentially one of the most difficult MMOs to learn and play (for instance pvp losses are FAR greater than pve losses for death which is opposite of most MMOs) plus the game itself is complicated as hell (there's a nice graphic that shows the learning curve you can look up with google). Cryptic is all about ease of playing and catering more to the casual niche gamer rather than your hardcore WoW player (or EVE player) so most likely will not be much like EVE at all. Plus they mention in the article and the website there are ground missions, which EVE never had even close to.

    Overall I think the game will be much different from EVE for better or for worse. Only time (and beta testers) will tell if it actually is fun.

  • dprintz

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 4:52 pm PT

    "It's all about being a Captain"? This guy doesn't understand Star Trek at all. If I wanted to be piloting a starship and fighting space battles I could just play Eve Online (which I do). I want to *get into character* - which means on-planet walking around, it means on-station interactions, sure blast salt-monsters, etc., but this game would be better riffing off of LotRO or Wow than going space-battle on us. I not a fan of Star Wars, but I'm more inspired by what I've heard about the KotOR MMO than this Star Trek attempt.

  • dbgoodin

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 12:09 pm PT

    Can't wait, although I would like to have a choice of races such as Klingon, Ferengi or Cardassian

  • Neogenic

    Posted Aug 31, 2009 4:14 pm PT

    @ WarLokk1980

    Hate to bring it to you, but there will almost allways be a monthly fee for these type of games. Most new MMO's have monthly fees to enable adequate server space & game development.

    This game seems to be shaping up pretty good. Hope it will stand up to the competition, also coming out that year.

  • jabadahut12

    Posted Aug 29, 2009 12:57 pm PT

    i dont even see how this this will be played

  • WarLokk1980

    Posted Aug 29, 2009 3:32 am PT

    I realy do hope that their won't be a subscription charge. After all this is the pc we're talking about! Does anyone remember Microsoft charging pc users to use their Games for Windows Live service? Microsoft abolished that so I can't see this game costing in the £30 region and then having to shell out more. If it does cost extra to play I'll pay up but don't expect me to be happy about it. Nevertheless I'm waiting for this game with great anticipation and be sprinting to my local GAME store on release.

  • RadPie

    Posted Aug 28, 2009 8:56 am PT

    This is either going to be a huge hit a monster miss for me, I will try it out, but it'll be interesting to see how it turns out

  • OmegaFurion

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 8:42 pm PT

    Woohoo!! I can't wait to boldly go where no one has gone before with this game. They have not been able to make a solid Star Trek game that engages (pardon the pun) me since Bridge Commander. I think this one definitely will. : )

  • gravrdr

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 7:24 pm PT

    "There are quite a few things to keep you occupied during the heat of battle. For a start, you can move energy from auxiliary systems to the weapons systems and shields. An icon around your ship is split into four quadrants, and these represent your front, rear, and side shields. The quadrants will visually display how weak or strong they are"

    What about the Ventral and Dorsal shields?? All of the "new" 'Trek game producers should take a very detailed look at how Klingon Academy Handled ship to ship combat. No other Star Trek game has ever come close.
    Capt. Hughes IKS GraveDigger
    Klingon Academy
    Release Region: United States
    Release Date: June 15, 2000
    Publisher: Interplay

  • anubite_gozen

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 3:22 pm PT

    I personally am unsure of this game, when the announcements first appeared about a Star Trek MMO. I was concerned coz at that time Eve online was a couple of years old and it was quite popular, and that STO would be just like eve with a Star trek Skin but i will hold judement till STO has arrived. I do not wish to start a riot but its irelevent when a game has come out or what its name is, a game is a game and its either good or it isnt.

  • DarthPlush

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 10:00 am PT

    Firstly, I just facepalmed more times in a second than I thought possible.

    Secondly, for the laymen still wondering what my original "EVE vs. STO" comment was, I'm going to explain it to you in simple, easy-to-understand terms.

    The preview up there sounded a lot like a game that has already been invented (ie. EVE Online). Thus my comment was a facetious comparison between the two games. I hope the confusion has been resolved. EDIT: Just to add on that because I just *know* someone will mention it - I'm not comparing the two franchises. So don't even start.

  • Lordloveflaps

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 9:08 am PT

    would be yummy if you could level up your own officers and customise them up some..

  • plague513

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 8:24 am PT

    I cant wait for this game! Eve online? please do not make such awful comparisons.

  • Blank2k2

    Posted Aug 27, 2009 5:57 am PT

    There better be a fee for it infact im pretty sure they said there will be & it will be around the same price as other games during a conference they did (think its on there website), trust me F2P games are the worst games on the face of the planet.

    Much *infinity rather pay £10/month than pay nothing & have to spend £2-3 per item + event items like "boxs" that give random items for £2 a pop, anything from a health pot to a bazooka. are there fave tactic for ripping money out of peoples hands.

    as for being a £30 & your done game, i can promise right now it wont be. (MMO's cant run like that)

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