Star Trek Online at Ten Ton Hammer

Rather than having a single, massive hotbar stuffed full of skills, the available options in combat were neatly fit into a number of separate UI elements that when taken as a whole, give players a more interesting set of options on how they want to approach combat. For example, I could manually manage how much energy went to my shields on a given side by tapping the corresponding arrow key on my keyboard, while at the same time wearing down my opponents shields with a series of quick shots that would then allow me to unleash some more damaging torpedo attacks. Meanwhile, each of my bridge officers also had certain abilities that could contribute to combat in a specific way, such as being able to fire off a volley of attacks or boosting the overall maneuverability of my ship for short bursts which would allow me to get into a more tactical position. Some standardized energy layouts were also just a click away, so for example while approaching my targets I could shift power over to my engines, but then once I closed into firing range it was another quick click to divert power over to my shields.

After blowing the pixilated snot out of a few groups of Klingon vessels, the combat shifted scenes giving me my first taste of ‘away team’ combat. Some basic principles carry over from ship to ship combat so that it’s not an entirely jarring experience to transition between the two. For example there are certain tactical elements such as finding adequate cover or even the more simplified central hotbar that’s enhanced by a number of other gameplay elements that you can tweak at any given time such as the abilities brought along by the bridge officers brought along to round out your away team of 5. In the live game those other team positions can naturally be filled by other captains, or you’ll also be able to have a few human teammates with a couple of bridge officers along for the trip.

The specific bridge officers you bring with you can also have a direct impact on how you’ll ultimately want to approach the mission content you come across. For example a team that’s heavy on science and medical officers will no doubt tackle situations much differently than members of your crew with a stronger combat focus. As we’d learned previously, each of these officers will truly act as “living loot” – in other words they can be trained up alongside of your character as you advance, and will typically be found while out exploring alien worlds. At any point they’ll also be tradable to other players, which Craig Zinkievich went on to explain has the potential to turn into an interesting business all on its own. For example, you could build a reputation for training up some the best science officers around which you could then sell to other players who may have a different approach to training up their crew.  

While the graphics will no doubt be tweaked a fair amount in the coming months, one of the things that immediately struck me as my away team beamed down to the surface of a nearby planet, was that it felt like I was stepping onto a soundstage or film set. Whether or not this was intentional, it surely enhanced the notion that I was the star of my very own mini-episode a Star Trek show.

I’m certainly looking forward to seeing how STO progresses over the coming months, but overall I can say with certainty that the wait so far has been well worth it.