New Star Trek Online gameplay trailer
by Adam Holisky 
Nov 4th 2009 at 11:00AM
Filed under: Trailers, Video, Star Trek Online
There's both ground combat and space combat featured, with Klingon, Federation, and Borg ships taking part in the overall action. In one scene we see a fleet of ships attacking a single Borg cube in quite a nice display of firepower, including several (of what appear to be) quantum torpedoes.
One of the more impressive aspects of this gameplay footage that we picked up on right way was the tactical maneuvering of what appears to be a mid-range ship of Romulan design. A captured still of the scene is pictured above, and you can clearly see in the video that the ship is moving to direct hits against its "bottom side" after the port shields were taking a significant beating. Note that the two ships attacking the main ship with green phasers are Klingon Vor'Cha class, so we're assuming the ship demonstrating the tactical moves is of Romulan origin.
We also noticed that the ship pictured above bares some resemblance to the unidentified "classified" ship listed in the Ships of the Line articles at the official STO website. The above ship can be viewed more clearly in the HD trailer, however the unidentified ship on the STO website doesn't have a clear image -- only a blurry reconnaissance image. The warp nacelles both look similar (espeically if you take the image angles into consideration), both have the same general outline, and both have guns protruding from each wing. An interesting coincidence we wanted to point out.
The video after the break.
The new trailer from GameSpot:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Aaron said on 11:16AM 11-04-2009
I know everyone keeps saying this whenever a new video comes out, but this game seriously better not be just about the battles. Star Trek is about so much more than that. It's about politics, exploration, trade, scientific research, and many other things. Yes there is conflict in the universe but often that conflict is handled through diplomatic means and not open warfare.
If STO becomes all about fighting it will, quite simply, fail.
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Adam Holisky said on 11:23AM 11-04-2009
One of the things we've heard from the developers for a long time now is that they are putting equal weight into both the combat mechanics of the game and the exploration mechanics. They want to see both be appropriate ways to progress through the "levels" in STO.
It's likely that these trailers are more a result of marketing/PR initiative rather than trailers requested by the game designers. These trailers are going to get lots of eyes on them on the general gaming websites where it's all about "OH AH BIG ASPOLISN." Not that there's anything wrong with that, we all love big booms once in a while.
But the trailer that shows exploration of space and finding new planets might not be very visually appealing for the 30-second-attention-span-MTV-generation. I am holding out hopes, however, that the exploration gameplay will be compelling.
Raithnor said on 5:00PM 11-04-2009
I have a feeling that it *WILL* be all about the battles or at least some sort of 60%/20%/20% split between Combat, Exploration, and Other.
The plot of the universe as written is a Federation/Klingon shooting war with the odd "inscrutable threat" (Romulans/Borg/8472 etc) I seriously doubt the designers will change the setting (and the war itself is part of the setting) in any meaningful way by the players.
Maybe they'll suprise us and have something revolutionary in the explorer system, but to get an audience you need to lead off with the Explosions and Phasers.
maika said on 12:46PM 11-04-2009
But you have to remember - and people like you seem to keep forgetting - that the STO universe is set in a time of heavy conflict. So, in theory, there wouldn't be as much time to go an explore if, say, the Federation, for example, was in the middle of the Dominion War, or the Borg were attacking Federation space, threatening earth. Most Star Trek series are set in a time of peace, with short periods of war. STO, however, will be constantly in a state of war. There will be exploration, but don't forget your duty to protect the galaxy in the name of the Federation, or to defend the honor of the Empire as a Klingon.
OldBoy said on 12:52PM 11-04-2009
Problem is, reason most players do the exploring at all is to dig up better weapons to fight with. (See "Gambit".)
maika said on 12:52PM 11-04-2009
And large battles are rarely, if ever, handle through diplomacy - because they can't be. Small missions - like the "episodes" mentioned by the developers with surely have this option. But the Klingons and the Feds are at war - so, they can't be reasoned with - and the Borg never could be reasoned with, so sorry about that. You always have to fight the Borg if they want to fight.
Plus - I have to say it:
If this game was only about exploration and diplomacy, it would, quite simply, FAIL. :p
THAC0 said on 1:00PM 11-04-2009
I just want the challenge of making my Klingon the hottest she can be. That will be a very interesting mini game!
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Alluvian_Est-Endrati said on 1:47PM 11-04-2009
A very interesting trailer, it is nice to see more in-game footage being thrown around these days. However I would tend to agree that while showing off space combat scenes are all well and good of course, it would be nice to see previews of the rest of the bulk of the game content. However it would likely take a bit more than a 2-minute trailer or show to demo the exploration-type content, but perhaps something along these lines will make it out pre-launch.
On the Federation side of things, even at times of imminent crisis and during times of war there were still ships being sent out on scientific, exploration and other non-combat missions. Hopefully a good balance is struck in STO between the combat content (be it PvE or PvP once folk create Klingons) and 'everything else'.
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Aw0ll said on 1:53PM 11-04-2009
I have high hopes for this game. But one thing that just eats me up is the explosion effects. A large ship totally disappears just before the explosion... I hope this changes come release. Normally, I am not picky, but in this case, I just can't help but notice it. With large ships, you would expect them break apart during an explosion with at least some parts drifting through space... no?
Just had to say it.
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maika said on 3:30PM 11-04-2009
I saw a ship breaking apart...at .33 and .39
one thing I want to see is the warp core going critical though. And when it's that kind of explosion, the ship is usually vaporized. So maybe that's what they're doing...but I'd like to see the 'wave' effect of a warp core explosion.
Super Healer said on 8:45AM 11-05-2009
I hope the developers dont need to concentrate on small things like this at the expense of making a good overall game
Bryan said on 3:25PM 11-04-2009
I really hope the music in this video is no where near what they have planned for the actual game.
I really hope they get the rights to the Star Trek Theme music too.
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Jay said on 5:03PM 11-04-2009
Need moar asteroids?
I would honestly hate to pilot a ship in the STO universe the more I see of it. Even with deflectors and shields these ships are moving at high velocity through millions of tonnes of asteroid rubble.
The overabundance of them in every single space shot I see of this game is starting to turn me off somewhat.
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Brian! said on 7:39AM 11-05-2009
I'm gonna fly into a large asteroid cave, but accidentally fly into a huge worm to repair my ship. It seems like an oddly safe place, I mean with a near full atmosphere of air pressure and heat that allows me to go out and repair my ship without exploding and/or freezing.
Nathral said on 7:54PM 11-04-2009
So I notice alot of ships blowing up, has anyone at Cryptic mentioned what the Death penalty will be?
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Super Healer said on 8:49AM 11-05-2009
People who say that this game isn't looking like it will be in the true spirit of Star Trek (i.e. peaceful exploration) need to realise that there was a lot conflict and battles in Star Trek (theres a reason why Best of Both Worlds was one of the most popular episodes in TNG, and the introduction of the Dominion and the Defiant in DS9 made the show). Just because it doesnt fit into "their idea" of star trek doesnt mean it wont be "star trek" - I enjoyed the battle/combat aspect of all the series the most, and in my mind that is what Star Trek is.
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