- PC ››
- RPG ››
- Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online
- November 10, 2009 12:22 PM PST
- Email this!
Going boldly where no MMO has gone before, Star Trek Online plans to introduce gamers everywhere to one of the largest, most iconic science fiction universes known to man! We headed down to Los Gatos to chat with the massively multiplayer masterminds over at Cryptic Studios, and walked away thoroughly impressed at the enormous, spanning online universe that the developers had prepared.
We also sat down with Star Trek Online's Executive Producer, Cryptic Studios' very own Craig Zinkievich who told us all about the final frontier of space-based MMOs! Check out the video interview below!
It takes quite a bit to make a Monday morning worthwhile. I rolled into Los Gatos around nine in the morning, the bags under my eyes undeniable proof of my hectic weekend. I was tired, without coffee, and I'd spent the hour-long car-ride trying to rack my brain for some worthwhile Star Trek trivia. Outside of a few seasons of The Next Generation, the odd reference to space whales and a daily shouting of "KHAAAAN!" I was pretty much tapped dry, hoping that the good folks at Cryptic knew enough about the landmark franchise to carry my dead weight. Pulling into the office parking lot and spotting a few dozen Enterprise bumper stickers proudly displayed from car to car, I had a hunch that my trust was well placed.
My previous experiences with Cryptic Studios were that of the suits and spandex variety. Having subscribed to City of Heroes upon its 2004 debut and eagerly anticipating this year's Champions Online beta, I was already a huge fan of the amount of dedication and originality that Cryptic instilled in their products (and I had a level 30 scrapper to prove it.) Star Trek Online proudly continues this tradition, featuring a nigh endless universe for players to explore, as well as an ever-growing pool of otherworldly extraterrestrial creations. Additionally, Cryptic recently announced a February 2nd, 2010 release date for Star Trek Online and are currently accepting requests for closed-beta opt-ins, so if you want to get your galactic exploration on, now is the time.
More Than a Red Shirt
Players begin their cosmic adventure in typical MMO fashion by creating customized characters from the ground up. In step with past Cryptic endeavors, there's an enormous assortment of modifiable features to be found in Star Trek Online, and the option to create not only your own avatar, but also your own species? You'll be lucky if you stop tweaking the sliders long enough to even jump into the game! One of the absolute coolest innovations has to be the game's Genesis Engine, which allows players to not only create new forms of life, but enlist them into Starfleet. That bug-eyed green guy with the inverted forehead you whipped up before work? You take the right steps and you might just see him strutting around in someone else's landing party before too long.
Beam Me Up
Star Trek Online is neatly split into two categories: space exploration and ground exploration. While onboard their starship, players will survey deep space with their handpicked bridge crew, each granted a unique special ability. Where your tactical crewmembers may offer an extra wallop to your photon torpedoes, you can also assign engineers to carefully manage your ship's shields, and so on. After docking, you're asked to select an away team that you can utilize in the more conventional ground missions. Coming from a self-professed MMO addict on multiple accounts, this amount of variety can be considered either a good thing or a bad thing: a good thing meaning there's an unprecedented amount of activity and exploration at your fingertips. A bad thing meaning you may never see your loved ones again.
Star Trek Online is shaping up as an impressive addition to the ever-expanding selection of massively multiplayer games, and a worthy installment to the Star Trek canon. How it'll fare against the World of Warcrafts and Everquests of the MMO food chain is yet to be seen, but Cryptic has certainly crafted one of the most in-depth online experiences we've seen in quite some time.
More Top GamePro Stories
Comments [6]
-
- Jump To Page:
- [ 1 ]
-
- Nov 10 2009 at 06:48:12:PM PST
-
Star Trek is sooooooooo much better than Star Wars. About time the games started to shoulder some of that weight. TNG For Live.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +3
- report user
This preview is junk and gives no new information. Read any of the 20 other 'STO previews' and they all say the SAME THING!
We want to know how PvP works, how the game is supposedly dynamic as opposed to static, and we want to know how deep crafting will be, or how the player map is... is it persistent and huge... how many systems... 300, 5,000 (EVE), is there a reputation system in place, is there a moral compass/reputation system in place, what are some of the player hubs BESIDES Deep Space 9, and what about exploration... we know next to nothing about it, is there an achievement system that is more than just badges and medals, does the ship customization feature (something you didn't even mention) have parts with different strengths or is it just a bunch of cosmetic frankenstein ships?
I was going to post this on the forums for other people to read... but they'll just get upset for wasting their time with yet another preview that says absolutely nothing.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- -3
- report user
CodyFury wrote:
This preview is junk and gives no new information. Read any of the 20 other 'STO previews' and they all say the SAME THING!We want to know how PvP works, how the game is supposedly dynamic as opposed to static, and we want to know how deep crafting will be, or how the player map is... is it persistent and huge... how many systems... 300, 5,000 (EVE), is there a reputation system in place, is there a moral compass/reputation system in place, what are some of the player hubs BESIDES Deep Space 9, and what about exploration... we know next to nothing about it, is there an achievement system that is more than just badges and medals, does the ship customization feature (something you didn't even mention) have parts with different strengths or is it just a bunch of cosmetic frankenstein ships?
I was going to post this on the forums for other people to read... but they'll just get upset for wasting their time with yet another preview that says absolutely nothing.
I'm sorry you weren't a fan of the preview -- the developer is understandably keeping a tight lid on plenty of game specifics, including crafting and specific planet counts, etc., but as the game approaches its release window we'll certainly post updated previews with new impressions and the requested information you've mentioned. Thanks for the feedback!
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +3
- report user
I feel sorry for all those people who are STO is doomed or the interview was not good, or they are releasing it way too soon. I will be laughing when we are all playing it and they are still complaining.
With this interview i learned more about the bridge crew and other things will be following since we have a few months to go.
I feel this game will be one if not the best game for a long time, with lots of content to be added for a long time :) Can not wait
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +1
- report user
Yeah. I have been looking into this for a couple years now. Looks to be pretty sweet. This and KOTOR Online both look great. First MMORPGs to get it right.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
-
- Jump To Page:
- [ 1 ]
