There are very few missions that deviate from a linear do A, do B, do C, get reward paradigm and I would welcome an option to solve more missions with diplomacy like Picard than going in all guns blazing like Kirk. Because you can group up with other players, you can join in fleet missions where you fight enemies such as the Borg or the Crystalline Entity that you could not normally tackle alone. Some of the most fun in the game can be zooming around swathes of space with a group of friends (or complete strangers). At launch you could only play Klingons as a PvP (Player-vs.-Player) faction with limited advancement outside of that sphere, but Cryptic have responded to player feedback and intend to make the faction more rounded within the PvE (Player-vs.-Environment) model in a future content update. Cryptic have also said they want to develop more non-combat/exploratory missions as well, so perhaps I'll get my wish somewhere down the line. There are some lovely touches in the game as well, enough to gladden the heart of any fanboi. You can walk around DS9 and visit Quark's bar, you can travel back in time via the Guardian of Forever (where the Klingons sport the TOS make-up rather than the TNG era cranial ridges) and you can even fly around the Briar Patch - although it's nothing as depicted in Hidden Frontier, which is a shame. Overall all it's a game that has enough Star Trek influences to keep me playing for a long time, and as I've fronted up the cash for a lifetime membership, that's just as well! If you are a Star Trek fan and a MMO fan, I'd recommend giving it a whirl. So shields up, phasers to maximum, and see you on the flip side.~
Article written by Eric Granger.