It’s amazing how important strong source fiction can be to an MMO – it just imparts depth to the world. That’s a serious advantage any Star Trek game was going to have right from the get-go. Having a big sci-fi licence is no guarantee of success however; one only needs to look at how Star Wars Galaxies leapt into hyperspace only to sputter to a slow limping death when it was later mishandled. But so far Cryptic Studios seems to have gotten it right with Star Trek Online. If setting the stage and getting players totally immersed in the world is half the MMO loyalty battle, then you’ll quickly discover that Star Trek Online has already conquered your brain’s Delta Quadrant.

The impact the game’s familiar stirring music and sound alone - the familiar whine of phasers, the deep hum of the transporter and the hard ‘thrum’ of photon torpedoes – all serve to give you that perfect sense of place. While it doesn’t always match up graphically there are some truly beautiful space environments, spot on ships and rough but still effective planet-side locations, like Star bases which serve as mission hubs or alien worlds to explore.

Its approach to Trek lore also helps, Cryptic Studios’ game is based in the ‘real’ Star Trek universe as opposed to the pansy, lens flare-filled JJ Abrams reimagining. Set thirty years after the events in Star Trek: Nemesis in 2409, Star Trek Online sees the long peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation collapse into all out war. A natural origin story for the Federation and Klingon factions, it serves as the source of your missions and quests. After progressing past Level 7 you’ll get to engage in PVP combat as part of the mighty Klingon Defence Force. The war plays a huge part in Star Trek; this is Trek more in the vein of the Wrath of Khan and the war-torn DS9 than the peacenik antics of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

That was always going to be the case in a game, but those looking for a more cerebral Trek could be disappointed. The opening tutorial instance sets the tone as you battle on a starship under Borg attack while learning the basics of ground combat, before taking the helm of your ship in combat against Borg Cubes. When you heroically triumph you’re raised to Lieutenant and given the ship- starting your adventure in earnest. It all really draws you into the game, as do many of the early missions. The abstract Sector Space Map, which serves as your over-world map is also very Trek. Tiny representations of you and other players travel around it to mission worlds, triggering random encounters or entering huge Fleet battle instances.

This being a Cryptic game you can totally customise your character, and in Star Trek that doesn’t just include your planet-side avatar, but your ship as well, which you get to name and customise – ours was the ‘USS Stellar Hammer’. Starting with light Cruisers, you move onto larger more powerful ships fitting familiar MMO archetypes as you gain rank. Options for your humanoid avatar aren’t as detailed as in Champions Online, for example, but you’re able to choose from a good selection of Trek races like human, Vulcan and Andorian or make your own with a good degree of customisation.

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