Star Trek Online Beta – First Impressions
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Date: 01-26-2010 Views:
KeyWords: Star Trek Online,beta,review,Aeskor
- Summary: For all the years I’ve been alive, not once have I sat down to watch an episode of Star Trek. The knowledge I do have of the Star Trek universe comes solely from the hype in pop culture that surrounds it. Having said that, I’m not anti-Star Trek at all, in fact, after spending twenty minutes in the Alpha Quadrant I’d fallen in love with the world entirely. So let’s get on with it, shall we?
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Star Trek Online Beta – First ImpressionsBy AeskorAeskor is a games enthusiast with a strong opinion. He has previously worked as a freelance games journalist writing articles. |
For all the years I've been alive, not once have I sat down to watch an episode of Star Trek. The knowledge I do have of the Star Trek universe comes solely from the hype in pop culture that surrounds it. Having said that, I'm not anti-Star Trek at all, in fact, after spending twenty minutes in the Alpha Quadrant I'd fallen in love with the world entirely. So let's get on with it, shall we?
First I was given the opportunity to make my character. The character customisation is quite in-depth, and if you like customisation like me, you'll have a blast.
The character customisation
I chose the Vulcan race, recognising their pointy ears and thinking "Hey, I know them!" I added an Orc-like ponytail, tribal face tattoo and a mean goatee and it was done; Captain Beardguy of the U.S.S. Beard was born and ready to kick some arse.
First mission, which is actually a tutorial, was on foot. The enemies: the Borg, a pale-skinned race with about as much charisma as an office printer from the late 70s.
the Borg
My arsenal: a phaser; your basic ranged, beginner weapon. You can also use your fists to deliver a knockback attack if the Borg decides they want to swoop in for a very unfriendly 'hello'.
If you're familiar with Champions online or just about any other game released by Cryptic, you're familiar with the combat system. Skill buttons down the bottom of the UI, click to target an enemy, use those skills, kill enemy, rinse, and repeat.
It's a tried-and-tested formula which works for some, others not so much. What's interesting about Star Trek online's combat though is the crouching mechanic which zooms the camera to an over-the-shoulder view and gives a boost to your characters accuracy. It feels really smooth and intuitive and coupled with the ability to roll and dodge attacks by double tapping any direction, ground combat is sufficiently exciting and fun. That said, I did prefer space combat.
