Star Trek Online

STO is a GOOD Star Trek game with GREAT space combat. At the risk of pulling the pin on a grenade I will even say that the space combat is more fun than any Star Wars game. Space combat is third person perspective but in 3D so the action comes from all directions. Three is a common number in STO. Your Captain is one of three officer classes (Engineer, Tactical, Science) and after our initial ship you choose from one ship classes (Cruiser, Escort, Science Vessel). Captain class does not lock you into a specific ship class. You get to keep each ship indefinitely even as you get bigger better ones. Especially with your first character you will want to try out multiple different ships. There are no wrong choices but rather it is a matter of personal preference.

Ground Combat for me wasn’t fun at all in the beginning. Early game, ground combat is shoot, shoot, heal, shoot, shoot. Flanking and getting behind your target makes a huge difference. Turning your back to a mob of enemies to run away is often suicide. Once you get a kit (adds extra skills/attacks) for your captain and a few bridge officers then there is more action. Holds, jamming weapons, turrets and grenades with the FX add to the confusion. Also teaming with other players really helps as you can flank the enemy. Flanking is the key to all ground combat and is not very easy indoors or without other players as your bridge crew runs straight back to you after defeating their current target. TIP: Go into Options/Controls, select Ground Region and turn off “Always Face Forward” so you will be able to pan around your character. Otherwise your character will always be rotating as you look around and taking flanking damage in the process.

Overall the game was aesthetically pleasing, the space combat was stunning, and the ground combat left much to be desired. The character creation was a dream however with almost limitless combinations. I was overall impressed with the game but ground combat was the only real issue I ran into. If you are a fan of EVE Online I am quite sure this game will make an easy transition into the world of REAL MMORPG’s. And if your a World Of Warcraft player, stick to that till after the Cataclysm patch and decide from there. I doubt you will leave after that, but I could be wrong.