This week marks fifteen years since the launch of whats become Star Trek’s most consistent and longest reigning video game, Star Trek Online. Developed following the relaunch of a new movie franchise, STO told the other side of the story. While NEro went back in time and created the Kelvin Timeline offshoot, STO focused on the galactic politics following the collapse of the Hobus Star. Customising your player character, you begin at the Academy, get yourself a star ship and rank up as you balance exploration, politics and shooting a lot of things!
Over the years the game has changed and developed with expansions, new additions, rotating Executive Producers – and now new owners! – using multiple guest appearances into the mix for story mission while allowing group events, developing annual traditions and generally letting us all play with cool starships for hours on end! As a combat based MMO, there is of course a lot of combat based mechanics, but it’s not all firing at will and shoot to kill; there’s a lot more fun to the game to be had under the surface that has let us fall deep into a new expanded alternate lore as we lead the future generation in the 2410’s…
Midnight
When they set up shop, Star Trek Online had full rights to everything on the table from the Star Trek Universe and they leaned in hard. Early missions set the galactic stage catching up with Klingons, Romulans and Cardassians in various episodes that got us up to speed with how things had changed between the collapse of Hobus to the new game timeline in 2409. But they needed an original baddie, one that was barely touched in the canon so it could become a huge focus. Enter the Iconian’s; an ancient species never seen with only remnants of their technology left over by the TNG era. After teases, battles across the galaxy and a lot of cool new designs, the story ends with Midnight. It was a vital point in how the game progressed it”s story, allowing the main character to becoming a meaningful element in the wider picture that brought all the warring factions together with…. well, a surprise or two. Without going into spoilers, it’s one of the key points int he gamer that makes a huge effort to entertain, enlighten on what led tot he epic stakes and where it feels like th eplayer is a key role and not just a spectator.
Romulan Story Arc
This is a bit of a cheat. Some of its good, some of its bad. But collectively the whole story is one of the most intriguing for entering the game. Your main choices for creating a character are as Starfleet – an obviously popular choice and core of the game, or Klingon – which is kind of like picking the renegade option in Mass Effect. In the middle is the first expansion, the Romulan Republic. Eventually you pick a side to align with of the two main factions (a trend that carried on with other expansions such as the Jem’Hadar) but on the way ther eyou explore the life of a Romulan and their path to the captains chair following the collapse of the Empire. It’s a new beginning for the Romulans and while all the main players are still around, it offers a unique perspective from a narrative viewpoint that adds a lot more to the game than other routes to the big chair.
Beyond the Nexus
Guest stars have always been around in STO, from Leonard Nimoy offering congratulations every promotion as Ambassador Spock to Denise Crosby reprising her role as Sela as an antagonist in the Romulan arc. For Beyond the Nexus the game brought on board Geordie LaForge himself as LeVar Burton not only reprised his role, but accidentally brought back the Enterprise way before it was cool in Star Trek Picard’s final episodes. The entire episode is a bit of an excuse to bring the Enterprise D sets into the game in fairness, usinog them as backdrop for some ground based combat as you retake a Galaxy Class ship. But it’s short, sweet, has LeVar and you get to prance around the comfy casual bridge of the Enterprise-D. Whats not to love?
Sunrise
Star Trek and the idea of combat based MMO’s has always been a bit of a balance. It’s a franchise that idolises peace and understanding, but of course the big deal here is maxing out your ships combat skills as nearly every interaction needs a payoff to work with. Following the Iconian War arc, which is just as shoot em up as it sounds, the game leaned into a more Trek-ish theme instantly with Sunrise. Sure, there’s combat. Of course there’s combat. But as a contrast to war arc after war arc, Sunrise leaned into Starfleets core mission in showing an science investigation where the core of the fight is protecting the locals from a natural (ish) disaster.
Quarks Lucky Seven
Admittedly, DS9 is my favourite of all the Treks so when STO decided to completely revamp their DS9 map to be more screen accurate while hosting a mini-reunion of the cast, it was already a winner. A few years on and the internal DS9 set reconstruction is still some of the best work in the game when it comes to on screen reproductions and having the chance to mingle with nearly the whole cast is extra fun on top. But the most fun of the story arc comes with a bit of an unusual twist in Quarks Lucky Seven.
Occasionally STO will throw you into another character or ship for a mission or two, whether that be lumbering around as one of the Tzenkethi or flying the Dyson Cruiser as an advert to buy the premium ship. When that happens, it can be painful and dull. When it happens in the Seven mission, it’s oddly a lot of fun. A tongue in cheek follow up to The Magnificent Ferengi, the player takes over several of the group as Quark leads a mission to find the lost Sword of Khaless with Brunt, Nog, Leck, Leeta and Rom. Compared to some of the more thoughtful episodes, it’s technically nothing special. But considering it uses a non-player perspective and balances a lot of silliness, it’s just a ridiculously fun way to spend an hour!
Celebrating 15 years, Star Trek Online is available to play now with new story missions ongoing! STO is available on Playstation, XBox and PC. To find out more visit playstartrekonline.com and download the game for free! (Some premium purchases may apply, but are not necessary)
About the author
[Retro Review] The Doomsday Machine
Responding to a distress call from the USS Constellation, the Enterprise race to the rescue but they arrive too late to save the day. Coming under fire from an alien entity, the Constellation has been heavily damaged and with only one survivor within it's charred shell; Commodore Matt Decker... Still in shock from the attack, Decker isn't able to say if it was an alien ship, or a creature that tore his ship apart. It doesn't take long to track the aliens flight path. It's not from around these parts, entering the Galaxy and on course towards populated areas that would undoubtedly be next in it's devastating path. Beaming on board with an away team, Kirk aims to try and get whats left of the ship back up and running while getting Decker to safety. But during the transit, the […]
Under Pressure: ‘Orders Of Magnitude’, Strange New Worlds S4E08
Boarding as a hero and legend, Admiral Joe Reeger arrives, take command and leaves Pike stranded as he leads the remaining Enterprise crew on an urgent mission. With a visiting (again!) James Kirk picked out as first officer, Reegers mission and motivations come into question and puts Kirk's leadership to task... Writers: Alan B McElroy Director: Sharon Lewis One thing about season four that's been a highlight through some uneven episodes is how it's guiding it's characters form our first contact with them in this series, and how we originally met them sixty years earlier. While it's been more obvious with Spock's pivot towards being closer to his logical side, we've had Chapel make the choice to become a permanent part of the Enterprise and Scotty's move towards being the 'miracle worker'. Even Pike seems to be on the […]
Days of Our Unreal Lives: ‘Like Chronitons Through The Hourglass’, Strange New Worlds S4E07
Waking up in sickbay with a comical bandage on his head following a shuttle accident, Pike quickly notices things are a bit off. The lights are too bright. The medical staff are behaving oddly with dramatic pauses aplenty. And he's fairly certain space madness isn't a genuine diagnosis. As the hour continues with devious secret siblings, dramatic feats of medicine and family drama aplenty, Pike is drawn further into the strangest of all worlds; the soap opera. Writers: Dana Horgan and Bill WolkoffDirector: Anna Dozoka Soap opera's are mental. And for a theme it's even more mental than it seems. But considering soap opera's are basically just overly dramatic premises with long lost relatives you'd never before heard of, absolutely insane scenario's that make Maggie Simpson shooting Mr Burns seem normal and plot twists so insane you genuinely have to […]
Star Trek Day 2026: Celebrating 60 Years of the Final Frontier!
Sixty years ago the world was introduced to a sci fi series that planted a seed of adventure, imagination and inspiration that would blossom into a juggernaut of media. After launching with the Man Trap on September 8th in the United States, the series would later grow into a pop culture icon spawning 9 Live Action Series, 3 Animated Series, 13 Feature Films & more including Streaming Events, Shorts and a huge amount of offshoot media across games, comics and books. With generations of fans discovering new era's and new adventures for decades, today we celebrate not only that first flight of the USS Enterprise and it's original crew, but an entire franchise that continued to grow, evolve, building a world of adventure, inspiration and hope for a better future! As we celebrate Star Trek at 60, we'd love to hear how […]
Away Team, Assemble! The USS Tesla Set To Beam Down to Epic Comic Con!
Returning to Glasgow this September, the Tesla Crew are once again in action at Fan Frontiers Epic Comic Con in the SEC Hosted by Fan Frontiers, Epic Comic Con has been one of the core places to meet the crew of the Tesla since it’s origins as Acme Comic Con and has become a firm part of the diverse and welcoming fan centric communities hosting everything from Rebel Legions to Ghostbusters! Taking their regular spot once again the Tesla crew will have Star Trek props and collectables on display as the team get ready to share the wonders of the final frontier! With possibly the biggest and most intriguing line ups to date, Epic will be hosting some surprises including Lord of the Rings' hobbit Duo Billy Boyd & Dominic Monaghan, What We Do in the Shadows Star Kayvan Novak, […]
60 Year Mission Celebrations!
This month Star Trek celebrates 60 years since the continuing mission launched and this year we've decided.... one Star Trek Day isn't enough. We're having a whole month of celebration! With plans including virtual meets, Europa chats, competitions and more, we're inviting the whole fleet to jump on board, get involved and join the fun of celebrating sixty years othe final frontier! Virtual Meet Sunday September 6th 8pm Starbase Europa 60 YEAR MISSION Meet the Fleet in Celebration with an evening of catching up, sharing stories, maybe a few bad jokes and general shenanigans! As we open a month of celebrating one of sci fi's most enduring franchises, grab a drink, pull up a chair and have a few laughs to begin the month! Discussion Sunday September 6th All Day Starbase Europa STAR TREK DAY 2026 From dusk 'till dawn, […]
Related
A Fistful of Undercover Operations
Occasionally when exploring the wonders of deep space, our heroes of Trek have been summoned to - or by sheer accident - become another person to fulfil their mission. Whether it's O'Brien mixing with gangsters or Picard becoming a mercenary, Star Trek's filled with episodes where our favourite explorers have to become someone else to save the day.... FACE OF THE ENEMY The Next Generation Season 6 Waking up on the Warbird Khazara, Deanna Troi finds herself in a bit of a pickle. Kidnapped and surgically altered to take the place of a Tal Shiar Commander she finds herself led by her handler, N'Vek, to lead a secret mission after the Commander had been killed. Out of her comfort zone, Troi has to convince the crew she's the real deal despite the ships skipper knowing something's not quite right.... In […]
A Fistful of Down To Earth Adventures
Warping through the stars always searching for the next adventure, it's rare that Star Trek ever comes home to Earth. Through all the series, and highlighted in Enterprise, the third rock from our sun is kinda important in the grand scheme of things but our eyes are always far beyond the stars. So for no particular reason at all - certainly not any recent new series launching - we're taking a look at Trek's more Earthbound moments.... Homefront/Paradise Lost Deep Space Nine Season 4 The Founders said they were everywhere. Now we know they're on Earth. Recordings revealed a founder during the bombing of a Federation meeting on the home-world and Sisko is recalled. His knowledge and experience with the Dominion is vital to securing Earth against the inevitable war. But while the Dominion may be the enemy, they aren't […]
A Fistful of ‘Spirk’
We've been spoiled with Spock in the past few years with Discovery introducing a younger iteration of the character long before he became the refined man of logic that made him famous, and continued that story through Strange New Worlds and his time under Captain Pike's command. As Strange New Worlds continues, giving more history to the original series line up and the early meetings of Spock and Kirk as it makes way for the beginning of the Kirk era, we thought we'd look back at some moments that made the partnership one of the most popular combinations in science fiction. JOURNEY TO BABEL TOS Season 2 Spock's got a bit of an issue with sharing. Secret brother who was shunned. Secret sister who's fate was classified. And despite trusting the Enterprise crew with his life, it was clearly only […]
A Fistful of O’Brien
Entering the Star Trek world as an unnamed extra with a few bits of dialogue, O'Brien soon became a fixture on the Enterprise D as it's transporter chief before moving to Deep Space Nine to head up engineering and operations on what was thought to be a backwater outpost before it became one of the most strategically important stations in the quadrant!As the only enlisted or non commissioned officer to feature in the main cast of any Star Trek show to date, O'Brien stands as the only working class hero in the Star Trek universe with a vast and varied career taking from the front lines of the Cardassian war as a soldier, to the front lines of the Dominion War as an engineer, retrofitting DS9, keeping the Defiant from blowing itself apart, and even sniping Dominion troops. All in […]
A Fistful of Justice
Although it's one of the worlds most legendary science fiction shows, Star Trek has always dabbled with format and genre's, all dressed up behind deep space adventures. Whether using the holodeck for a touch of fantasy, or diving into the horrors of war through Deep Space Nine's run, the variety of story telling never seems to fit one mould. But out of all the different tales told in the wonderful world of Starfleet, one that always promises to deliver is the court room drama. This month we're diving into the most captivating of Star Trek's courtroom drama's with a Fistful of Justice! AD ASTRA PER ASPERA Strange New Worlds, Season 2 One of the most modern examples of Strar Trek's court room drama saw Pike's own Number One, Una-Chin Reilly, under court martial for a serious breach of Starfleet regulation […]
A Fistful of Sisko
In the past few years, Star Trek has made several nods to it's past. But while The NExt Generation and Voyager had their continuations, Deep Space Nine continued to 'black sheep' of the family with it's history and name drops being few and far between. Until Academy when we had an entire episode based around the legend of Starfleet's most complex captains. Starting his show as a widower and single parent, Benjamin Sisko started his time in Star Trek as a reluctant hero turned religious icon who's become a prime figure in Bajoran history, the Federation-Dominion war and much more. If you missed his series, first of.... why?! And also, if you want a quick intro - here's our Sisko top five to see what the fuss is all about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzBkvzPoofQ IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT Season 6, Episode 13 Lets […]
