![]() There was too much emphasis on combat, not enough that felt true to the ethos set down by years of movies and shows. That was what bothered a lot of fans at launch: that the game wasn't Star Trek enough. Ground combat is a bit less polished, and the AI is weak, but it still shakes down into good fun.īut all of that wouldn't make much of a difference if it didn't feel like Star Trek. One of my Engineering captains uses turrets and generators for party support another sets up debuffs and shield reinforcements. And there are certainly plenty of options for how you want to play your character. The shooter-style optional interface isn't a game-changer, but it does make the game more entertaining. There is a plethora of different weapon types, different abilities, different options for combat - so many tricks that it feels as if you could keep coming up with new configurations forever.Įven the ground combat is satisfying in its own way, albeit not as good. It's active without being action-based, and you spend a great deal of time adjusting your speed and position as you work on chewing down opposing ships by eroding their shields and then blasting at their hulls. These are closer to naval battles, but they also have elements you just don't see otherwise. Star Trek Online, on the other hand, strikes a different balance. ![]() There's a reason Star Wars: The Old Republic let you immediately get in the cockpit of a starfighter instead of a capital ship. Big ships that launch a bunch of fighters and bombers who do most of the actual work while the big guys idly toss out mortar volleys and the like. ![]() Most space battles in science fiction are modeled after Star Wars, which is to say that they're World War II dogfights from the Pacific theater. Space battles are both fun and entirely in keeping within the spirit of the source material. ![]() Even the developers seem to prefer it to ground combat, as evidenced by the fact that there are far more space skills than ground skills and space traits are valued over ground traits. Pretty much everyone gushes about space combat. And there are a lot of options when you hit the level cap even if some of the systems in place do come across as being rather grindy.Īll of this is backed up with excellent space combat. Skills can be reassigned, ships can be changed, bridge officers can be altered, and everything can be edited to meet your needs and wants. In some ways it's even a little more flexible than City of Heroes was because the only thing you can't change at all is your captain's profession, and there are only three of those anyway. It plays out well, too: An Engineering captain can free more space in her ship for damage-boosting abilities, while a Tactical captain provides more straight offense while also freeing more space to make up for defensive shortcomings. There's an emphasis on giving every character and ship some measure of offense and defense, rather than consuming yourself completely with one goal. There are only three careers, but all three are fully capable of taking on several different roles. More to the point, there's a lot of flexibility in how you put your character together because of the skill system and your various officers. You set your own objectives, you build your own sort of character, and if you want to place your Science captain inside of a cannon-wielding Escort, good for you. Want to kick around in randomly generated space missions? Go for it. Oddly, part of my affection for the actual mechanical portion of the game comes from something I barely even realized until someone else pointed it out to me: Star Trek Online is the closest game we've gotten to City of Heroes in terms of structure. It's not perfect, but it's amazingly well-done. Every time I go back to the game, even though I have complaints here and there, I fall back in love with the game as a whole all over again. Really, the thing that amazes me is that I manage to take time away from Star Trek Online.īut loving the name on the box would only take me so far if the game were a big steaming pile. It's a setting I have an immense fondness for, something I've been invested in for most of my life. It's been a fixed point for me since I was around seven years old. My various natterings on the site have covered a lot of settings for which I have no real affection, but Star Trek is different. I always feel like explaining my desire to play Star Trek Online can be summed up quite simply with eight words.
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