Zat Earthshatter
Ghosts Of Ourselves
348
   |
Posted - 2013.07.25 03:17:00 -
[1] - Quote
I've had some experience with that MMO back in 2012, may go back into it while I wait for PS4, but i'm not sure.
Here's my thoughts for that time:
>ground combat uses a pseudo-TPS reticule to hide its WoW-like hotbar combat. We all know that's not why you would sign on to the game.
>Space has a very pirate-like feel, which mostly consists of hammering weak shield facings while popping your special attacks (dictated by the bridge crew). There are small gunships that can dictate the battle, cruisers that rely on tough hulls, and science ships that buff your crew abilities. Although it sounds complex, you really just fit the best gear for your level and plug away at the weakest side of the enemy.
"fleets" (read: guilds) are a strong point, as even in 2012 it was an effective mechanic.
>For starters, fleets can build a starbase and upgrade it by completing "fleet projects"
>In most cases, these fleet projects required large amounts of crafting-type resources and vendor trash, enough so that you needed multiple people to contribute.
>Completing these projects upgrades your starbase, adds banks, vendors, and allows the purchase of special Fleet ships and equipment.
The two strongest features of this game - what set it apart - are:
>Very good free-to-play model. Premium "Z-coin" (is this correct?) currency can either be bought for RM through the dev (it changed hands from Cryptic), or exchanged between players for "dilithium" - a resource that is limited per-day, but can be readily gathered through daily quests and a mining minigame. As a result, one can enjoy all the benefits the premium accounts get... for free!
NOTE: all of the game's premium currency is sourced from the devs - when you have a Z-coin in STO, there's always someone who bought that coin with real money, even if you didn't.
>Mission Editor. I am unsure of how the editor works, as it was offline while I was playing, but the available missions had the quality expected from emergent content. Many were meant to accelerate one of your dailies (see above point), but a few gems were far superior to any main-story quest the devs put in.
Now for the weak points:
Grindy - especially at endgame, you basically farm your way up.
Writing - the main-story missions failed to capture the spirit of the source material, feeling like generic MMO fare. Thankfully, the player-made missions made up for this, but this point is based on what the devs made.
Lockboxes - few things kill an MMO's mood like getting lots of items that are downright useless without spending premium currency. Although the whole Dilithium scheme alleviates this to an extent, I still consider lockboxes one of my major F2P pet peeves.
Limited Exploration - Although the game is by no means linear, there really isn't much to offer in terms of exploring. Yes, you have "uncharted sectors" that you use to farm crafting materials and dailies, but it's really the same batch of mini-missions in randomized outdoor environments. Once you finish the mission, you never see that system again, which means you can never make a real claim on a nice find. For lake of a better word, it's fake exploration
Although deep exploration rarely happens on any MMO, we are talking about a Star Trek MMO here - we boldly go, but we've been here many times before.
I hadn't tried PvP (the game has a strong PvE slant), but my end review is this:
Tl;dr review score (style stolen from IGN's review system)
6.8/10 (overall, okay, somewhat better than the droves of other video games)
+ Guild system
+ Tactical space combat
+ Crew-based ability system
+ very good free-to-play model
+ Mission Editor
- Thinly disguised WoW-like ground play
- lots of grind at the top
- (small) lockbox money-grab
- Fails to capture the spirit of source material
- Exploration is a facade for repeatable quests |