Ten years ago, if you were to ask the average sci-fi enthusiast if they were more of a Star Trek fan or a Star Wars fan, eyes would roll faster than you could ever believe. Sure, some would flash up the Vulcan salute and mumble about living long and prospering, but a majority would swear to Lucas's side, mocking the corniness of the original television series and overabundance of spin-offs and films. A lot can change in ten years. Now, the original trilogy has raped and pillaged childhood memories of Star Wars, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot has exposed a new generation to the journey of the USS Enterprise. Cryptic didn't know this when they announced Star Trek Online last year. When they began work on Star Trek it didn't have the following it had today, it was a much, much smaller niche. A lot can change in ten years.

At this year's Penny-Arcade Expo, Cryptic gave the first hands-on demonstrations of Star Trek Online, exposing gamers and press alike to their own personal Star Trek. Just as the game itself is planning to be, the demonstration was nearly split down the middle, with half of the time devoted to space combat and the other half being on the ground. The character creation tool, which allows players to create their own alien race, wasn't on-hand at the event, to the dismay of many. Still, I was prepared to beam up, and excited to see what Cryptic was ready to show.



I started off in command of a ship, floating slowly through the darkness of space. The ship was a pre-made build, though Cryptic said that they would be highly customizable - something they'll be going into in more detail in the coming months. Immediately, out of instinct, I held W to move forward. The ship remained stagnant. I looked around the keyboard and held down forward on the arrows and, again, nothing happened. "No, no, it doesn't work like that," the developer said, pointing at the small sheet that gave a rundown of the controls. "It's based on thrust, so you need to give power to the engines." I did as he said, and watched as the ship slowly began to move into the darkness. I tooled around a bit with the controls, learning how to shift power from one aspect to another and steer the flying machine.

It doesn't control like one might expect at first, but it likely flies exactly like it should. These are massive constructs, not tiny jets, they fly like boats, not dog fighters. This became important once I found myself close to some enemies, which began to engage me in combat when I was within range. The boat analogy I used earlier comes into play again for weapons, as some of the ship's weapons can only fire from certain distances and angles. I lobbed some lasers and torpedoes at enemy ships, occasionally using special upgrades granted to me by different members of my crew, and cleaned up the foes. Space combat wasn't insanely complicated or entertaining during the PAX demo, but showed potential to become both later in the game. Being able to shift power from shields to weapons mid-fight will likely lead to strategic battles in space, but it didn't really affect the small skirmish I took part in.



After finishing up the enemies on screen I received a distress signal from a damaged ship, and was given the option to beam to the deck and investigate the problem. At this point, my captain and a few crew members appeared in person, and the controls became much more reminiscent of a traditional MMO. Clicking different numbers fired, and my character had a melee attack that could knock down a foe. It wasn't anything special, but it really doesn't have to be as long as it works, which it did. I wandered around the ship engaging in combat that felt like it could have been in any other MMO, eventually finishing the final few enemies and ending my time with Star Trek Online.

There was nothing mind-blowing about the ship combat. There was nothing special about the ground play. When mixed together, however, Cryptic might be on to something. The promise of a near 50/50 split between the two aspects of Star Trek Online is what keeps me interested, and unless they truely botch something between what I saw and launch, there's little chance that I won't be playing the game for some months to come. It's currently scheduled for an early 2010 release, and I'll be keeping my eyes on the skies in prepration.