Incoming Message... Onscreen...(Star Trek Online Beta Impressions)

         When you think of Star Trek, what do you think of?  Captain Kirk? Spock? A scene from the bridge of the Enterprise perhaps?  I'm probably in the same boat.  But this is not exactly what you are getting in Star Trek Online, a new MMO, from Cryptic Studios.  I played about 3 different characters from the time of the closed beta up until last Saturday Night which was the last time I could play the open beta.  I reached the ripe old level of Lieutenant 4th Class which I am told is the same as level 5.  Due to some problems with communications and some server trouble, I was unable to play the Klingon side which I was disappointed about; because that is really what I wanted to do from the beginning.  So all of this will be from the Federation point of view.

         I played a Vulcan, a Trill, and a Human with my three tries.  But I only played with the race creator; coming to the conclusion that, that seemed a little shallow as well.  The beginning story for you if you create your own race is that your home world was destroyed before the game starts.  Playing a Vulcan seemed more powerful considering the history they have in the movies and television shows.  The Trill are cool because you get three slots to choose your attributes.  But they aren't anything special; neither are the humans.  But again, I really felt the Klingons would have been the most fun to play; as they have the most history in the Star Trek Franchise.

       The game is broken up into two major types of gameplay.  Flying around in your ship, you are made Captain of your own vessel at about level 1.5; and going on ground missions on planets.  I certainly loved the ship battles in the game.  It is probably the most realized ship battles in the Star Trek style I have ever played and I would probably have bought the MMO on the second day, if that was all there was to the game.  But there is the little matter of the ground missions.  The idea of beaming down to a planet or over to a ship with your hand picked bridge crew is great.  Except that when you get there four out five times all you are doing is fighting guys.  Add this to the fact that four out five times all you do when your in your ship is fighting people; you kind of get tired of it.

     The progression in the game is pretty much centered around picking up items after you kill your enemies.  Those things are of a very large variety; everything from materials to weapons or shields.  Once you reach about level 3 or 4 you start picking up better weapons and shields for both yourself and your ship.  But most of these new pieces of equipment really don't change the way you play that much.  The upgrades you make by leveling up your characters is only minor compared to those that you make with equipment.  But 99% of the time you are going to find white items and really you only see major improvements with the VERY RARE green weapons and shields.

    Honestly, the mechanics of Star Trek Online isn't what is keeping me from purchasing a lifetime subscription it is what those mechanics frame.  There is nothing fun or exciting about any of the fighting in the game after you've done it for a few hours. Considering that, there is nothing more to Star Trek Online but fighting.  It gets old rather quickly.  Unlike other MMO experiences, Star Trek Online just isn't enough like Star Trek.  Because the combat is really not the major component of Star Trek that makes it Star Trek.  What makes Star Trek unique, is the drama and the new worlds with new life on them.  The new worlds in this game really don't look any different from the known worlds; and they don't seem to have any new life on them.  Usually they are colonists or lost freighters.

    The slow leveling in the game and the incredible grinding type of gameplay that Star Trek Online boils down to; really makes the MMO a little too much of a second class citizen.  There was a point in the game where I just wanted to turn my ship green or something; just some change.  I'm not exactly critical of Star Trek Online for not being like Star Trek. I'm more critical of it, because it just isn't very fun for very long.  Which is probably a bad thing for a MMO.  Finally, the game doesn't really need to be an MMO because I really rarely found an occasion where I needed help at ALL.  And even then, there is no real penalty for dying so, I just respawned and progressed from there.  As great of a try as this game is, I won't be engaging this game again any time soon.

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