Star Trek Online is being hyped considerably thanks to its status as the first Star Trek MMO and Cryptic's continuation of a formerly-dead project. However, all this hype can be dangerous. Champions Online received quite a lot of hype before release, and ended up not living up to expectations. It's debatable how much Cryptic has learned from Champions Online, and one can only hope that mistakes made with that game will have no bearing on Star Trek Online.

The story of Star Trek Online pulls the franchise back into conflict with the Klingons, one of the most memorable villains within the continuity of the franchise. This is interesting, given that the Klingons have been (reluctant) allies of the Federation for years. The revised timeline certainly lays down some interesting events during the intervening years between Nemesis and Star Trek Online, but it's still a little hard to believe how quickly the Klingons went from allies to enemies of the Federation. This is given a partial explanation by the infiltration of a warlike chameleon species into the races of the Klingon Empire, but it's still bothersome. We'll see how Cryptic moves the story forward with content updates.

The ship combat in Star Trek Online appears to be similar, albeit more simplified, to the game Starfleet Command. This model has already been used in another MMO: DarkSpace. It allows for a lot of strategy compared to the more action-oriented combat of games like Freelancer or Earth & Beyond. In contrast, the more dynamic space combat of those titles also allows for some really intense and entertaining fights. Cryptic appears to be merging the two styles together to fit a more standard MMO gameplay scheme. It's definitely a good thing, if it can be pulled off correctly.

The ground-based combat pulls heavily from Cryptic's Champions Online, and this is perhaps the strongest element of Cryptic's previous game. The only major addition that we can see is squad control, which allows you to bring down many members of your crew onto an away mission. While this is an excellent concept, we're wondering if it will be pulled off well. After all, Cryptic is not exactly known for their stellar AI, which is absolutely essential for squad-based action like this. Regardless, if you enjoyed Champions Online, it looks like you'll enjoy the ground combat of Star Trek Online.

While the videos and press releases hype up the game as being unprecedented in terms of customization, the reality underneath it all seems to be simple. You have ships, which amount to the normal gameplay in another MMO, and the away teams, which amount to a game similar to Mass Effect. The developers even announced three specific ship classes for the Federation: Cruisers, which are tanks; Escorts, which are the DPS class of normal MMOs; and Science Vessels, which are similar to support and healer classes. At the moment, there's no clear indication on other players being involved in away teams, but there's a good chance that there will be player cooperation between away team squads.

The stratification of gameplay is simultaneously the most interesting part of Star Trek Online and potentially the biggest issue. Balanced and executed correctly, the division between ship combat and ground combat could be truly engaging and entertaining, especially if the two can be mixed (such as in a board action on an enemy ship). However, there's been no real indication of strategic complexity in either system, which is concerning to say the least.

Star Trek Online will probably be a good game. Much like Champions Online, it will most likely be released with some major issues and content problems before Cryptic buckles down and fixes the design and content discrepancies in the game. Given the performance of Champions Online in and around launch, this is probably not a game you will want to pick up on launch day. Rather, wait a few months for Cryptic to fix the major issues and make the world seem more alive, then come back. Despite any of our naysaying, however, this is hardly a final verdict. Star Trek Online fully has the potential to blow us away, and we hope it does.