That's right, I'm in the beta for STO, call me a nerd later. Well anyway, the review.
two of five smileys
The Short Story
pros:
- a Star Trek game that isnt unplayable!
-Responsive and very streamlined control structure
- customization of everything about your avatar, even a species creator
- ship combat that is less jerk reaction and more tactical.
-ground combat that is tight and responsive.
-plenty of trek-ish depth. As good and as bad as that is.
Cons:
- please note that I only said its not unplayable, not that its worth the money.
-get ready to die in ship combat quite a bit.
-though the species creator is very deep through the creation process, every other customization possibility seems to fall short.
-long range travel takes a very long time.
-quest system is broken.
-lacks polishing in alot of areas.
Disclaimer
I know exactly what someone is going to say, "But this game isn't out yet! how can you write a meaningful review?" Well my answer to that is this, please note the -so far- in the subject header. Also the thing about beta's is its more about finding flaws in the current game design, well and stress testing. I very highly doubt that any of these problems will be solved or even addressed in the near future. Ive done way too many of these to say differently.
The Good
The start of the game is great, you can either quick choose a race or probably my favorite part of the game, make your own race, which can be just about any bi legged humanoid you can imagine. then after about a hour you get command of your own ship, and go about exploring the galaxy!...or conquering it.
The very good news is that the space combat is exceptional, trekky, and with plenty of personality to actually make it fun.
Also good is the ground combat, though not as detailed as some other mmo's, it is worth saying unlike those other mmo's you can have up to five people on the ground, at all times. (red shirts!*)
All this in a very streamlined package, reducing redundancy that could have happened very easily.
Of course, trek lore...which can be good or bad considering how you look at things.
The Bad
As much as I'd love to give this one a good rating simply because I cant stand to give another trek game a head shake, I cant, I just cant.
Why? well for one, the customizers outside of the species creator, is a bit bogus, the ship customization hamstrings you with the games lore, which isn't necessarily bad...per se, but it also means that if your in the federation, your ships gonna look like a ufo and in the Klingon empire, its gonna look like a big bird...that's it. you can give minor aesthetics, but its not really worth the time.
Then theres the gameplay, though the ship combat is fun, dieing is a commonplace, and the higher up the ladder you go, the more often you die, which isn't how its supposed to work.
The questing is what really kills this game, its just horrid, for one, you gotta get the mission, get to the system that has the mission which most the time means enduring a very long, very boring flight to the quest location, killing everything in space or on the ground, (for a pittance in experience,) and warping out to turn it in for a pittance of experience for the amount of time spent. repeat several hundred times and you get your first new ship! repeat several hundred more...you get the idea.
Worst off yet, there is never more then one quest that is not a chain in one system. meaning that you have to do one very long quest, warp out, endure another long travel to the next system, and do it again. even then, the chains offer very little in the way of variety, most the time just bouncing between space and ground combat repeatedly.
Now one thing they should have done well is the messages you get in ship or on the ground...unfortunately its the equivalent of a pop up annoying you as the very WRONG time...and often saying close to nothing. Remember those bridge officers that were kinda the fun sidekick in the trek series? Like Data and Spock?...those dont exist here, there all pretty generic cookie cutter things that give you ship abilities when you need em. Having the personality of a stump.
The Ugly
I dunno why, but this game just feels so unfinished! seemingly generic with no polish whatsoever. To put it another way its like they got the framework and dry walling of the house up but forgot the paint and roof it so you don't drown in your own tears. To answer the question before its asked no, reviewing this game about 2 weeks before its supposed to release and saying its incomplete isn't ironic, its going to ship unfinished unless it gets pushed back. Its too bad, because its framework is excellent too. with a lil love and personality it would have been the sci-fi mmo to beat...but as is, its just a very nice framework. That framework is not worth 60 bucks plus the monthly fee, but it is worth two big smileys out of five.
(* for those that don't know, red shirts are the dead walking nameless people trek capts. would take on a mission. Because there part of the security team and they wear...you guessed it.)
