Star Trek Online

 PC
User Score
6.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 743 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 373 out of 743
  2. Mixed: 111 out of 743
  3. Negative: 259 out of 743
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  1. TheGrindeR
    Jul 13, 2012
    2
    Graphics are okay but unfortunatelly i don't remember the sounds. Starting with a very booring storyline, and when you complete, than you can just after leveling. The characters modelling are terrible. Contains a lots of loading screen and this is the worst in this game and every (which have) MMORPG games. When i play with an MMORPG games i don't want to see a loading screen looks likeGraphics are okay but unfortunatelly i don't remember the sounds. Starting with a very booring storyline, and when you complete, than you can just after leveling. The characters modelling are terrible. Contains a lots of loading screen and this is the worst in this game and every (which have) MMORPG games. When i play with an MMORPG games i don't want to see a loading screen looks like WoW. Have a lots of ship battles in the space and this is also horrible. This game have a booring gameplay, and if you not really like, not try this. Free to play but i don't want to play it again.… Expand
  2. Rattazustra
    Feb 24, 2012
    2
    It starts out with a character generation system outdated by much more than the game's actual age, goes on with a completely heart- and soulless tutorial, an interface that is not only confusing and uncomfortable to use, but also incredibly ugly and leads into mediocre gameplay and horrid graphics. I am incredibly relieved that this game is free to play now, for I could hardly stomach howIt starts out with a character generation system outdated by much more than the game's actual age, goes on with a completely heart- and soulless tutorial, an interface that is not only confusing and uncomfortable to use, but also incredibly ugly and leads into mediocre gameplay and horrid graphics. I am incredibly relieved that this game is free to play now, for I could hardly stomach how it must feel to have spent money on this. I'd have to get paid to play it and I'd have to get paid even more to recommend it without swallowing my tongue. Simply horrible and a shame even for the Star Trek franchise.… Expand
  3. Vertigo_7
    Nov 8, 2015
    2
    The only positives this game has going for it are the ship models. The negatives start with the developer itself, Cryptic, known here after as Craptic. Craptic is just a horrible developer company with really bad customer service. They have 0 QA, their marketing deliberately misleads players in effort to get them to spend real money for their underwhelming video game items, and theirThe only positives this game has going for it are the ship models. The negatives start with the developer itself, Cryptic, known here after as Craptic. Craptic is just a horrible developer company with really bad customer service. They have 0 QA, their marketing deliberately misleads players in effort to get them to spend real money for their underwhelming video game items, and their customer service teams are basically paid to tell the customers "sorry, can't help you" when they run into a problem with STO.

    The game itself is fraught with bugs, some of which have been around since the game launched. Not that I'm expecting perfection, but at least some effort towards remediation would be deserved.

    Graphically, the game is unimpressive. STO has decent ship models but that's as far as it goes. The effects and animations are pretty lousy, like something I would expect from a 1990's video game. Game play is on par with the animations, unlike other MMO's, there's no strategy or tactics really to using abilities. You can just use ingame macro abilities to cycle every active ability you have as soon as its available and you've got a game where all you're doing is pressing a single key repeatedly.

    Bottom line is, for me, that Craptic isn't worthy of getting my hard earned cash. The only reason that STO has a player base at all is because its Star Trek, and not even close to canon Star Trek at that. Really do wish someone else would come along and make a real Star Trek game. It'd be better than this crap...    … Expand
  4. wakefield2
    Feb 23, 2016
    2
    Do you like star trek? do you like exploring the galaxy in your starship? discovering new species? settling diplomatic disputes? well than this is not the game for you!

    First a recount of my latest encounter with this games support: After playing this game for years and having beyond hundreds of hours into it, a glitch in the game deleted one of my ships and with it all of my gear,    Do you like star trek? do you like exploring the galaxy in your starship? discovering new species? settling diplomatic disputes? well than this is not the game for you!

    First a recount of my latest encounter with this games support:

    After playing this game for years and having beyond hundreds of hours into it, a glitch in the game deleted one of my ships and with it all of my gear, after contacting support and going back and forth for several days they ultimately told me there was nothing they were willing to do to help me... nothing at all.

    The bottom line is this is a dying MMO with nearly no effort put into it, there is NOTHING to do in the end game, which will only take you about a weekend to reach max level. The whole game should just be put out of its misery and cryptic should learn how to re-evaluate how the currently treat the long term players and supports of this game, especially that still pay money to play a free to play game... They are an inept company that doesn't care about its customers
    If they didn't have the star trek IP they would have gone out of business when Atari dumped them and part of me wishes they had...

    The game play is weak, pretty much all you have to do is spam the space bar until you win, the writing and acting in the game are some of the worst i have ever seen, almost every "new" mission involves either time travel, and let me sum up ALL of the games story lines in one phrase - "The iconians did it" - This hardly mentioned in the show race is apparently responsible for every single event that has ever happened in the galaxy and has become Cryptic's all purpose excuse for poor writing and zero imagination every story line just leads back to an : it was the iconians moment...
    There is nothing that makes Star Trek so wonderful and enjoyable in this game, no interactions with crew members, no dramatic writing, no exciting moments, no diplomatic responses to anything... simply power up shields - hit the space bar and pew pew to victory...

    I think my time with STO has come to an end, I recommend if you are a current player you get out before what happened to me happens to you and if your considering playing it please don't, or at the very least don't give them a single penny of your hard earned money it isn't worth it and Cryptic/Perfect world simply doesn't care about any of their players and sadly I don't think they ever will.    … Expand
  5. KevinB
    Feb 15, 2010
    1
    Another unfinished mess by Cryptic. Pointless skill trees, worthless itemisation, broken combat and just like their previous failed MMO Champions Online: Retarded game changing last minute decisions. Not to mention that this POS has a cash shop despite being a pay monthly game, and has purchasable content despite it's only just released. Why wasn't that content part of the game? Another unfinished mess by Cryptic. Pointless skill trees, worthless itemisation, broken combat and just like their previous failed MMO Champions Online: Retarded game changing last minute decisions. Not to mention that this POS has a cash shop despite being a pay monthly game, and has purchasable content despite it's only just released. Why wasn't that content part of the game? Because they are greedy idiots with no long term plan for this game.… Expand
  6. DookS.
    Feb 16, 2010
    1
    STO is a poor game all around. No 360 degree movement in space combat making space combat a 2d snoozefest, the AI in the PvE portions of the game is awful, ai combat movement is limited, they rarely reinforce shields or take any defensive measures, difficulty(and there is very little of it) is attained my the usual mmo convention of adding more power the npc (ie. they're weapons do STO is a poor game all around. No 360 degree movement in space combat making space combat a 2d snoozefest, the AI in the PvE portions of the game is awful, ai combat movement is limited, they rarely reinforce shields or take any defensive measures, difficulty(and there is very little of it) is attained my the usual mmo convention of adding more power the npc (ie. they're weapons do more damage than my identical weapons) instead of actually developing a decent AI, instead artificially inflating damage and shield power but not making combat anymore interesting and less fun as the game progresses. Exploration is nowhere to be found(star clusters are a joke), Ground combat is more of the same old loot and dice-roll based combat, which was a fine system in the 1970's when rpg's were played on paper, but its become archaic and laughable in an interactive game. Graphically the game is a mixed bag, the 3d models look fine as do the back drops in space but the texture work is some of the worst i have seen, the ship damage texture is awful, and the death animations for space are embarrassing; the ships disappear and are replaced by a stock explosion, no ship parts or debris flying off, (reminds me of space invaders). The future does not look bright for STO if the first real "content" patch is any indication, badge grinding and raiding seem to be the focus going forward. Sad that no company has had the guts to break free of the eq/wow mmo mold. With STO, Cryptic solidifies itself as the shovelware king of the mmo industry with this timid, soulless and boring approach to one of the best sciFi IP's around.… Expand
  7. MikeS
    Feb 2, 2010
    1
    Buggy, laggy, and not fun. Yet another game that imitates a MMO in order to charge a monthly fee yet offers no incentive or motivation to actually team up to accomplish a task. Why are there games that do more for multiplayer while not charging a fee? Cryptic excels at squandering potential when it comes to game design.
  8. NickE
    Feb 11, 2010
    1
    The art is Beautiful and the ship models are very well done so the graphics people should be very proud, but that doesn't make up for the absolute lack of content, horribly buggy missions and constant server issues. This is NOT Star Trek by any means. It does NOT have any of the feel or immersion of ANY of the 40 years of the Star Trek franchise and has been a terrible disappointment The art is Beautiful and the ship models are very well done so the graphics people should be very proud, but that doesn't make up for the absolute lack of content, horribly buggy missions and constant server issues. This is NOT Star Trek by any means. It does NOT have any of the feel or immersion of ANY of the 40 years of the Star Trek franchise and has been a terrible disappointment for those that waited with baited breath for an MMO that would fill the love of Star Trek fans' dream of on online game. Save your money for something worth playing online.. STO is certainly NOT it. Once you get past the 'oh cool..it's Star Trek' honeymoon period, it reveals itself as a bland cookie-cutter semi-multiplayer game.… Expand
  9. SeanM
    Feb 14, 2010
    1
    A disappointing and embarrassing attempt to recreate the TNG-era Star Trek universe in a massively multiplayer setting. Persistent, unresolved, showstopping technical problems with the servers and the client are the primary reason why I rated this game so low. Due to the promising space combat, I would rate the game a solid 5.5 if all the technical issues disappeared. But even that very A disappointing and embarrassing attempt to recreate the TNG-era Star Trek universe in a massively multiplayer setting. Persistent, unresolved, showstopping technical problems with the servers and the client are the primary reason why I rated this game so low. Due to the promising space combat, I would rate the game a solid 5.5 if all the technical issues disappeared. But even that very nice-looking space combat gets boring after a while, because the game is so repetitive. Highly recommended to avoid, especially if you are a Star Trek fan and don't want to ruin your opinion of the franchise.… Expand
  10. BobJ
    Feb 15, 2010
    1
    I have a feeling this game would have been so much better if not made by cryptic. Since it was though it was released far to early with a lack of content, boring quests, horrendous ground combat, and without any real fun factor. Also with all the instancing I don't think it should be called a MMO. I regret my purchase, Buyer Beware.
  11. JimmyB
    Feb 25, 2010
    1
    This is the worst ive ever seen... I seriously dont know where to begin... The game is not even half done and yet they want full price for it? AND a monthly sub even though its not an MMO? Its sad to see good people pay hard earned money for this kind of crap. Cryptic should be ashamed of themselves. This could have been a good game with two more years in development, but as it is right This is the worst ive ever seen... I seriously dont know where to begin... The game is not even half done and yet they want full price for it? AND a monthly sub even though its not an MMO? Its sad to see good people pay hard earned money for this kind of crap. Cryptic should be ashamed of themselves. This could have been a good game with two more years in development, but as it is right now its just ridiculously repetitive and empty. Its basicly four mission that you do over and over again and then the game ends. There is NOTHING to do at higher levels. Now they are waiting for people to resub so they can release a 45 day patch. (we all know why its 45 days and not 29 days, dont we?) It feels like a beta product that you have to pay full price for while the devs are developing the game, and actually, thats exactly how it is...! Its crazy. Never again a Cryptic product. (I gave it a 1 instead of the 0 i was thinking of giving it because the space combat was fun for a week).… Expand
  12. JoelT
    Mar 1, 2010
    1
    I love Star Trek, but I hate myself for having bought this game. I played the beta release and thought surely they'd iron out the bugs before the official release. I was wrong. There's nothing compelling or interesting about this game that makes me what to put up with the clumsy interface and lack of interactivity. I almost gave this game a zero, but gave it a one since it has a I love Star Trek, but I hate myself for having bought this game. I played the beta release and thought surely they'd iron out the bugs before the official release. I was wrong. There's nothing compelling or interesting about this game that makes me what to put up with the clumsy interface and lack of interactivity. I almost gave this game a zero, but gave it a one since it has a Star Trek theme. I was so ripped off by the purchase, but at least I'll not pay a dime for a subscription. Worst $50 I ever spent!… Expand
  13. JohnR
    Feb 15, 2010
    1
    I'm sorry I bought this game! At best this game is only half completed. It lacks any serious content. The developers must of thought everyone just wanted to do PvP or patrol mission. Not enough episodic missions to level with. Exploration mission are cheap on XP's. Oh and those new worlds you are supposed to boldly go and explore equate to nothing more than test planet patches, I'm sorry I bought this game! At best this game is only half completed. It lacks any serious content. The developers must of thought everyone just wanted to do PvP or patrol mission. Not enough episodic missions to level with. Exploration mission are cheap on XP's. Oh and those new worlds you are supposed to boldly go and explore equate to nothing more than test planet patches, with a real estate area equal to the half the circumference of the great forge area in WOW, or the area around the space dock in Theed if playing Star Wars Galaxies. There is no crafting system to speak of, unless to call scanning a cloud in space, or a cheap graphic to get an anomaly harvesting, and using the so-called harvested items to turn banal equipment into negligibly better banal equipment. It becomes mind-numbing after 12 levels because the templates used for missions both space and ground is so limited, nothing seems new, it all follows a very basic formula. I made the mistake of buying the digital deluxe version. Do not buy any version of this game, don't use it if they give it to you for free!!!… Expand
  14. TheCommedore
    Jul 28, 2012
    1
    Now 2 years and 8 months since the game has launched and nearly 2 years since my initial review. In that time STO has not improved much. Failing in a subscription model Cryptic/PWE switched to a F2P model. Unlike many other F2P models, this one is a blatant cash grab and none of the transaction can be considered "micro". As far as content and systems go, nothing from my previousNow 2 years and 8 months since the game has launched and nearly 2 years since my initial review. In that time STO has not improved much. Failing in a subscription model Cryptic/PWE switched to a F2P model. Unlike many other F2P models, this one is a blatant cash grab and none of the transaction can be considered "micro". As far as content and systems go, nothing from my previous review has been addressed such as exploration, crafting PvP, factional systems, etc... leaving these important game systems in poor shape. In addition, the player-base has received word that the Feature Episode Series has been canceled, these missions were highly acclaimed by the player base. The only deep system the game has is the Duty Officer System, the new Fleet System was recently introduced but is indicative of the heavy grind found in asian MMO's where the reward is hardly worth the effort placed into it. From here, I will review the game's new season, Season 6 Under Seige. With $7 costumes to $20, you can only get per character, and lottery boxes with poor rewards abounding, the direction of economic model of this game will cause its ultimate failure. Season 6 took nearly 8 months to develop and while the system and generally the artwork are great, the poor content, rewards, and buggy aspects far out-shadow anything good. The monitization hooks abound in the Fleet System with some estimates saying the dollar cost of a fully functional Starbase is $1,500. The introduction of Season 6 came plagued with game breaking bugs to the Foundry, exchange, mail system, combat system to which Cryptic has been slow to respond to. In all, Season 6 has a good foundation that was poorly capitalized on by Cryptic. Even though this "shoot-em-up" version of the Star Trek Universe is F2P, I would recommend passing until the game could be fleshed out more.… Expand
  15. duckteller
    May 21, 2013
    1
    It could have been a solid 6 star game but unfortunate the Zynga-isme business model detracts at the very least 5 of those stars which then just barley grants this game a single lonely star.

    Lets start with how STO earned it's 6 starts before then rapidly losing 5. It's a pretty descend MMO thou without any doubt somewhat dated and lackluster. One of the biggest complaints (a side from    It could have been a solid 6 star game but unfortunate the Zynga-isme business model detracts at the very least 5 of those stars which then just barley grants this game a single lonely star.

    Lets start with how STO earned it's 6 starts before then rapidly losing 5. It's a pretty descend MMO thou without any doubt somewhat dated and lackluster. One of the biggest complaints (a side from the Zynga-isme which we'll get to in a bit) is that the game is compiled of a series of endless instances which in turn means you'll spend a good amount of time going through loading screens which truly can break immersion.
    As a PvE experience you going to have a good time if you're a Trekkie as a Sci-Fi fan you'll be happy too if you can glance past the countless bugs and hiccups you are sure to encounter during your missions.

    Now lets get to what this game has degraded to since it took up the infamous Free 2 Play business model. Rumor has it that the executive producer Daniel Stahl once upon a time was a intern at Zynga Inc. and Oh Boi did he pick up a neat trick or two. You can now describe STO in a few simple concepts *1. Narly gambling (lock boxes) *2. Endless grind (time-gated reputation system) *3. The Ultimate MMO Power Trip (starbases provides insane value both in terms of time spend and real world moneys).

    PvP is straight up Pay to Win and since there isn't much else to do once you reach end-game you are going to have a bad time luckily you can choose well at least as a federation character to stay clear of any PvP mischiefs.

    My hope is that the future of gaming will be about creating great game mechanics and giving players unforgettable experiences and the period of how to manipulate game-play and thus players for maximum profit will became a brief and shameful footnote in development history.    … Expand
  16. dmcimo
    Jun 3, 2013
    1
    This game has become a scam, STAY away from it at all costs. I used to play with Cryptic Studios owned it and now that Perfect World Entertainment owns it they make it impossiable to connect/link your account to Perfect World Entertainment site and when you try to make a new account to USE your Cryptic account they say your email is attached to an already game account WITH THEM...then theyThis game has become a scam, STAY away from it at all costs. I used to play with Cryptic Studios owned it and now that Perfect World Entertainment owns it they make it impossiable to connect/link your account to Perfect World Entertainment site and when you try to make a new account to USE your Cryptic account they say your email is attached to an already game account WITH THEM...then they offer no help to solve the problem and want you to rebuy everything 4 times the prices and reown the game again. SCAM SCAM. keeping away from now on… Expand
  17. ThePathOfDawn
    Dec 4, 2013
    1
    Pardon me, but Cryptic. I am a huge fan of ST, particularly Voyager. I was wondering how will they achieve the meaning of ST exploring. Well... They didn't. Such a small effort was put in this that it makes me sick. They made a single player shooting game. This is an online game with almost 0 multiplayer options. Although this is a mockery to star trek, after I haven't played a whilePardon me, but Cryptic. I am a huge fan of ST, particularly Voyager. I was wondering how will they achieve the meaning of ST exploring. Well... They didn't. Such a small effort was put in this that it makes me sick. They made a single player shooting game. This is an online game with almost 0 multiplayer options. Although this is a mockery to star trek, after I haven't played a while this game, I wanted again to drive the intrepid few more times. Well I couldn't, because Cryptic banned my account for some reason and wouldn't give me it back. Pathetic as they are, they even don't respect their players.

    I'll give it a 1, only because I can't give a 0 to something that has"Star Trek" in it's name.    … Expand
  18. aala
    Apr 23, 2014
    1
    It originally started as a good concept but the game still feel better. It seems STO or Cryptic don't care about it's player base especially starting season 8. It has ground and space combat but their is no end-game content. The company stated they will not make end-game content. Additionally, admittedly the game elite mode is easy mode which I fail to see how it makes sense.It originally started as a good concept but the game still feel better. It seems STO or Cryptic don't care about it's player base especially starting season 8. It has ground and space combat but their is no end-game content. The company stated they will not make end-game content. Additionally, admittedly the game elite mode is easy mode which I fail to see how it makes sense.

    Exploration and ground combat is a joke. Any skills a player gained, the company has limited it to only 4 in which players will possibly be forced to use 4 skills out of 100 with the new reputation system.    … Expand
  19. Myselfandyou
    Jul 1, 2018
    1
    This game started pretty nicely, with many promises of an actual decent star trek videogame. Unfortunately that feeling only lasted for about 1-2 years until the game become f2p. The game as in 2018 is a complete mess, filled with bugs, broken content, terrible broken animations, broken mechanics and abilities, lag, rubberbanding, etc, etc, you name it... and its a total embarrasement forThis game started pretty nicely, with many promises of an actual decent star trek videogame. Unfortunately that feeling only lasted for about 1-2 years until the game become f2p. The game as in 2018 is a complete mess, filled with bugs, broken content, terrible broken animations, broken mechanics and abilities, lag, rubberbanding, etc, etc, you name it... and its a total embarrasement for the star trek franchise. I never played a game so broken in 20 years. Its a shame that CBS will never care about the franchise to avoid cheap and crappy companies like pwe/cryptic (who avoid completely quality control and bug fixing, and they keep releasing broken content as a regular rule), as long as they care only about $$$. The worst part is, the community of this game. Filled with rich kids and fanboys that keep giving pwe/cryptic money without even expecting a minimum quality control on the product. Ridiculous. I will never recommend this game to anyone, unless it is my worst enemy. lol. The only positive aspect of STO is that it has a great free to play model, but everything else.. oh my, run from it like a plague, seriously.… Expand
  20. dmathismathis
    Oct 2, 2015
    1
    WARNING! this game (Star trek Online) has massive amounts of bugs in it. The game is constantly crashing computers/pc's, logging off players, missing items, support staff or lack-there-of not being of any help. EVERY week, there are issues w/ the game. At least once a week. The game becomes too repetitive due to the fact that its memory fails, so you will have to repeat the sameWARNING! this game (Star trek Online) has massive amounts of bugs in it. The game is constantly crashing computers/pc's, logging off players, missing items, support staff or lack-there-of not being of any help. EVERY week, there are issues w/ the game. At least once a week. The game becomes too repetitive due to the fact that its memory fails, so you will have to repeat the same missions, over and over again in order to advanced. Do not spend your money......I doubt these issues are going to get fixed anytime soon. Furthermore, do not play on a laptop. A fellow gamer made the mistake of playing Star Trek online on his Laptop and burned out his video card. Due to certain episodes being un-neccessarily long. Unfortunately, Arc/perfect world is running this franchise. Unless you absolutely need your Star trek fix, don't bother w/this game. Im beginning to regret ever starting it. Star trek online is more trouble than its worth… Expand
  21. jamess1
    Aug 4, 2017
    1
    Long time star trek fan...watched the original series as it came out,and really loved DS 9 20 something years later.

    This "mmo" is an insult to star trek.Its easily one of the worst MMO's in the last 20 years.Its actually worse then matrix online was.Its actually worse then Pirates of the Burning sea....I think even star wars galaxies AFTER the NGE was better than star trek online....    Long time star trek fan...watched the original series as it came out,and really loved DS 9 20 something years later.

    This "mmo" is an insult to star trek.Its easily one of the worst MMO's in the last 20 years.Its actually worse then matrix online was.Its actually worse then Pirates of the Burning sea....I think even star wars galaxies AFTER the NGE was better than star trek online....

    ...free to play (install)...hell, they should have to pay people to play it.    … Expand
  22. Camalus
    Sep 28, 2018
    1
    Would be a much more fun game if there wasn't a network of botters using the game as a place to make money by selling in game credits on the black market, not only do they lower prices on the exchange by offering prices well below cost, they have multiple accounts, old accounts are sold for cheap and people can pretend to be your friend while trying to mine you for info, and whatever theyWould be a much more fun game if there wasn't a network of botters using the game as a place to make money by selling in game credits on the black market, not only do they lower prices on the exchange by offering prices well below cost, they have multiple accounts, old accounts are sold for cheap and people can pretend to be your friend while trying to mine you for info, and whatever they can beg from you. I had one of these people shadow me for 8 months and Its really very disgusting what people are capable of while hiding behind the internet.. Its a free to play business model so there is no entrance barrier which allows for ultimately infinite accounts for any given player. Heres how this works, they bot the dilithium the in game currency that can be traded for zen, the paid currency, they then use the zen to buy lockbox keys and sell them on the exchange for EC (electronic credits) the in game currency that cant be traded for paid currency. They then bundle the EC on sites like ebay or sites they set up themselves and sell it for pennies on the dollar basically. They not only sell EC they sell the starships, keys, whatever else they can get their hands on. The game is more of a farm for thieves so beware there are a bunch that like to hang out in Earth Space Dock and you will never know which fleet leaders are botters just looking for your free dilithium contributions. Best advice I can give is stay away from this game at all costs there is no way to know who's who in a game that has no entrance barriers and old accounts are used to fake tenure (as new accounts have a number added after them, old accounts do not have a number). Steer clear its a trap. the game is fun but you are best to avoid it entirely.… Expand
  23. Ricewynd
    Mar 10, 2019
    1
    Star Trek online is a sad, abused relic of a dying age. A creation followed with much interest during its initial announcement back in 2005 had the unfortunate curse of being born during the great MMO craze in which every online game was "like World of Warcraft but......" followed by some gimmick a marketing company had sworn was the real reason behind WoWs success.
    Star Trek Online was    Star Trek online is a sad, abused relic of a dying age. A creation followed with much interest during its initial announcement back in 2005 had the unfortunate curse of being born during the great MMO craze in which every online game was "like World of Warcraft but......" followed by some gimmick a marketing company had sworn was the real reason behind WoWs success.
    Star Trek Online was therefore born devoid of any true originality as much of the new and experimental concepts behind it were dropped in favour of the same bland safe option being pumped out by every other MMO at the time.
    Nine years of development and now within a market to which WoW is no longer King, would expect to see some of these older concepts realized as many other MMOs experiment with gameplay and features in an attempt to keep themselves relevant. Star Trek Online has proven to be unique is doing the exact opposite.
    Nine years of development have not been kind to Star Trek Online and the game now represents a Frankenstein's monster of star trek-ish concepts lumped together into a game so riddled with bugs it makes Fallout 76 seem a well-polished game by comparison.
    The game is unapologetically top heavy, with end game users expected to shell out up to $120 for high tier ships and ship packs, some of which are only obtainable through a loot box system, in order to stand a fair chance vs the end game enemies or compete in PvP and PvE tournaments and events.
    That said, the premium end game content is accessible to anyone and though users who opt to keep their free ship may suffer a nail-biting frustrating experience each time they are forced into combat, it does showcase an array of masterfully created maps, photorealistic characters and well-written dialogue that is only let down by the voice actors themselves (more on that later).
    This is in stark contrast to the games early and mid content in which first-time users can immerse themselves into an experience so laden with bugs, graphical glitches and popping artefacts one could be forgiven for believing they were playing a pre-alpha build.
    The graphics of the early content is more reminiscent of the PS2 era, missions and quests are frequently bugged and often have to be replayed multiple times in order to complete, several cutscenes are either missing or distorted beyond all recognition, NPCs frequently switch between bad lip sync and static mouths depending on camera angles opting instead to simply bob their heads to the words as if they were rocking out to a particularly heavy metal anthem.
    The remainder of the game represents a rollercoaster of ham-fisted bugged experiences overlayed by consistent connection issues with at least two disconnections per hour considered the average.

    Various characters from the Star Trek franchise are shoe-horned in without context, in several cases replacing previously existing NPCs to which the players bridge crew will still often refer to, the dialogue never having been changed due to, what I can only presume is, laziness on part of the developers. Such issues are often frequent and NPCs throughout the game will frequently refer to events that have not happened, characters that do not exist or referring to the player character as the wrong faction, species and gender.
    The addition of characters from the television series, as voiced by their original actors, is designed as a nostalgia fest for fans, but comes over more as a rather cringy attempt worthy of a fan film, with the only real difference being that fan films typically have higher production values than Star Trek Online.
    Players are forced into missions which revolve entirely around these characters, the most significant example being the Dominion player opening quest line which features a who's who of characters both main and re-occurring from the Television Series Deep Space Nine, most of these characters feature little relevance to the plot other than to deliver exposition to the player and many are clearly phoning in their performances.
    That said special credit must be made to LaVar Burton who's ham-fisted performance where he delivers each line of dialogue in such a monotone way you could be forgiven for believing him to genuinely be on the other end of a phone reading off a card. His special mission encompasses exactly 5 minutes of gameplay and during its debut STO ran an add campaign showcasing a series of podcasts LaVar Burton was in, in which he proclaimed his character 'Geordi La Forge' was gay and it was only because of "the oppression by white men" could the audience not see this.

    The rest of the game is Star Trek by name only, it is sad to see the game in such a sorry state as it has become clear the developers are only interested in pursuing the creation of end-game content and over-powered 'premium' pay-to-win packs for the small percentage of players who will buy them.
    Recommend you avoid.    … Expand
  24. StarDustDrake
    Mar 4, 2020
    1
    While I initially liked the game because of the overall gameplay mechanics in space battles and I have nothing to say against ground base combat mechanics, mainly because I really don't care, I uninstalled the game only 60 hours in. Out of that 60 hours, only 2-3 hours went to progression in campaign, the rest of those hours went to restarting missions because of bugs, doing same thingWhile I initially liked the game because of the overall gameplay mechanics in space battles and I have nothing to say against ground base combat mechanics, mainly because I really don't care, I uninstalled the game only 60 hours in. Out of that 60 hours, only 2-3 hours went to progression in campaign, the rest of those hours went to restarting missions because of bugs, doing same thing over and over again to get a chance to advance only to find out that during the delta quadrant voth campaign you get stuck on ridicelously hard mission. and thats hard on normal, not elite. without a tier 6 ship you might as well not attempt that mission. it's insane.

    Oh and guess what? t6 ships are fleet only, but all the fleets are big guys so you can't actually contribute to them, or zen only, which again you have to farm months just for 1 ship. that alone won't quarantee your passage through the mission, as youtube guiodes all show that it takes enourmous amount of time just to be able to actually get some progress on the mission.

    At this point it's only factors ledft are PvE, PVP arenas and patrols. oh...and guess what: you start a patrol, they add some random guy with you . you can't kick him. and if you leave you will be kicked from map. so you end up contesting for exp and loot. hell no.

    thats the point i uninstalled the game. was stuck, tired of bugs(skipped half ther missions because they got stuck at some point or you couldn't even start them), and quite frankly when you take out the story, the game is so linear it's not even worth a try.    … Expand
  25. LazaroR
    Mar 8, 2010
    0
    If you like the concept of City of Heroes in space, then go for it. Otherwise don't bother. Check their or the steam forums, they're full of all the issues this game has. I played for 30 days only to realize there was next to nothing to do once you hit the level cap. Add to that the lackluster way they inform you of what your skills actually do. And if your not psychic and you If you like the concept of City of Heroes in space, then go for it. Otherwise don't bother. Check their or the steam forums, they're full of all the issues this game has. I played for 30 days only to realize there was next to nothing to do once you hit the level cap. Add to that the lackluster way they inform you of what your skills actually do. And if your not psychic and you by accident put points into the wrong skills.....too bad for you, there is NO WAY to respec your skills.… Expand
  26. MarkS.
    Mar 14, 2010
    0
    Sadly, once your get past the eye candy what you are left with is a game troubled with mediocrity, at best, and outright disdain for gamers, at worst. Yes, the rabid fans of STO will defend it to the end but the simple truth is that we have been offered a shallow, poorly constructed, shell of a single player game. Perhaps it can be saved but I highly doubt it. If you read their forums Sadly, once your get past the eye candy what you are left with is a game troubled with mediocrity, at best, and outright disdain for gamers, at worst. Yes, the rabid fans of STO will defend it to the end but the simple truth is that we have been offered a shallow, poorly constructed, shell of a single player game. Perhaps it can be saved but I highly doubt it. If you read their forums things have gotten so bad that they are banning "I quit" threads. The question to ask is if this is for the benefit of the community are a desperate attempt to impede opinion. Thanks Cryptic for putting the final nail in the coffin of Trek games.… Expand
  27. JakeB
    Mar 2, 2010
    0
    This has got to be one of the worst MMOs ever created. Even the term "MMO" doesn't apply since it's so over-instanced that it might as well be a single player game. What little content actually exists in the game is bland, boring, shallow and extremely repetitive. The ground combat is an utter joke. Space combat is also trivially easy and gets boring very quickly. Furthermore This has got to be one of the worst MMOs ever created. Even the term "MMO" doesn't apply since it's so over-instanced that it might as well be a single player game. What little content actually exists in the game is bland, boring, shallow and extremely repetitive. The ground combat is an utter joke. Space combat is also trivially easy and gets boring very quickly. Furthermore the utterly disrespectful way in which the developers are treating their customers is enough for anyone (no matter how much they love Star Trek) to quit instantly. This game is a definite no-no even for hard core Trekkies.… Expand
  28. mattw
    Mar 3, 2010
    0
    This game is so incomplete. You have 3 missions, all with a different skin on it. You have 3 ship type to choose from. There is a complicated amount of weapons/equipment that have stats that will mean nothing to most people. Ground combat, ai, the enviroment are all in need of reworking. Looks worst then other older mmos looked on the planets. This game has nothing new to offer, and This game is so incomplete. You have 3 missions, all with a different skin on it. You have 3 ship type to choose from. There is a complicated amount of weapons/equipment that have stats that will mean nothing to most people. Ground combat, ai, the enviroment are all in need of reworking. Looks worst then other older mmos looked on the planets. This game has nothing new to offer, and without the star trek name would probably not have made it past testing.… Expand
  29. Jason
    Feb 26, 2010
    0
    50 dollars, for a game that takes 5 days to complete. NOT WORTH THE MONEY. all the weapons have almost the same damage, or the same. Ground combat is about the worst I have ever seen in a game. if you can even play it. Alot of the time your guys beam down 2 a planet inside the grpound and cant move. triggers for completing missions offten dont work, so you will find yourself do the same 50 dollars, for a game that takes 5 days to complete. NOT WORTH THE MONEY. all the weapons have almost the same damage, or the same. Ground combat is about the worst I have ever seen in a game. if you can even play it. Alot of the time your guys beam down 2 a planet inside the grpound and cant move. triggers for completing missions offten dont work, so you will find yourself do the same mission 3 times to activate the trigger for completion. 2D plain in space, where there is a floor and ceiling, really... WOW, cant get worse than this..?? right? Wrong. The PvP you will spend more time waiting than playing.. ALOT more. I waiting 2 hrs. once to get into a PvP..Then it stated, 35 people vs me alone. I died in about 30 seconds. Was that worth the 2 hr wait. not even close. This is probley one of the worst games I EVER played. We all know now why the life time membership, was pre-order only. This game deserves to be in the 5 dollar bin at your local Walmart.… Expand
  30. tardacus
    Feb 25, 2012
    0
    STO is now F2P so i gave it a try for 4 weeks.
    The first 3 weeks of gameplay was interrupted by daily patches and daily server shutdowns to fix the broken patches.
    leveling was extremely fast,and boring doing the same cookie cutter missions over and over at each level.I reached the level cap in 1 week and thats when the real boredom started.After reaching the level cap there is nothing    STO is now F2P so i gave it a try for 4 weeks.
    The first 3 weeks of gameplay was interrupted by daily patches and daily server shutdowns to fix the broken patches.
    leveling was extremely fast,and boring doing the same cookie cutter missions over and over at each level.I reached the level cap in 1 week and thats when the real boredom started.After reaching the level cap there is nothing to do except a few STF missions which you need to do hundreds of times each in order to try to get the good gear that you need to participate in pvp.
    The game seems to be a typical low budget cash cow game. The community forums require a cash payment in order to gain access to them. some of the mission rewards called mystery boxes require a cash payment in order to open the box and receive your reward for completing the mission.
    A never ending stream of bugs and glitches seems to be the major features of this game.
    STO makes the same mistake that many other F2P games make, they seem to feel that since it is F2P that all the user can be treated as,and used as,beta testers to weed out and report the bugs and glitches that infest the poor quality patches and updates.If I want to be a beta tester I`ll go play a beta game. when I play a live game,either F2P or P2P, I don`t want to be the lab rat that tests the poor quality patches and updates.If they can`t be bothered to do a quality job creating and testing their patches and updates why should I have to be burdened with finding and reporting the bugs and glitches in their patches and updates.
    overall the gameplay reminds me of some cheap knockoff of an old NES type game.
    As with many other F2P games the customer service in this game is dreadful at best and non existent at it`s worst. This game is hardly worthy of the Star Trek name, I expected much better.
    If your just looking for another pointless low budget,generic grindy, cash cow game then you`ll love this game.Personally I wasn`t the least bit impressed with it.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
9
#9 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 34
  3. Negative: 3 out of 34
  1. GameWatcher
    80
    This is as fine a[n] homage to one of Sci-fi's great franchises a[s] you can get in an MMO format.
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  2. Eurogamer
    60
    Despite all of these complaints, those hordes of starship captains are quite happy. They may not have many different things to do, and the missions and UI may be rather buggy, but there does seem to be enough content to sustain them - at least until the endgame - and even at its worst that content is knockabout fun with more instant appeal, and more suitability for casual, short-session, low-commitment play than most MMOs.
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  3. Vandal
    85
    It is one of the worthier options among the titles which try to compete with WoW, and the one that has convinced us the most to date.
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