As a life long lover of Star Trek and a big fan of other MMO's (like WoW, RS and ESO), I'm honestly surprised it's taken me this long to give Star Trek: Online a look. By doing so though, I've had an absolute mountain of great content to play through that's kept me thoroughly entertained. (With many famous characters from the TV shows popping up, voiced by their respective real world actors.)

Everything has been created faithfully and the developers have done a brilliant job at working with the recent retcons to established lore that Star Trek: Discovery has created. The ship designs are fantastic and varied (with a decent amount available without the need to spend real money, though the best ones for late game content are P2W) and the game has that classic MMO approach to leveling and obtaining gear.

The best part of the game (in my opinion) are the space battles, for me this is where ST:O really shines. There's a surprising amount of depth and complexity to the kind of builds you can create for your ship and how you go about obtaining / setting up abilities. The game still has that classic ground action that will be familiar to those who've played other MMO's and the game takes a fairly equal focus to both 'boots on the ground' action and some truly massive space battles.

There's a decent amount of customisation when it comes to your ship, with many of the free ones being modular, so you can mix and match parts to make your ship unique. You can also change details like ship colour, window design and even the interior of your ship. (Which you can enter and navigate, with some of the paid for ships having facilities like banks and access to the exchange on-board.) There's also a good selection of customisation's for your character too. Though a lot are locked behind the games paid for currency (Zen), I've played for over 100 hours and been quite happy with the customisation's I've unlocked for me and my officers just by playing and leveling up. (Max level is 65, though you continue to earn skill points after to spend on specialist skills.)

To summarise, here's a list of pro's and con's.

Pro's:

- Entertaining, well written campaign and side missions with some great voice acting.
- Everything in terms of story content / dungeons / patrols are available to all F2P players. (Easily hundreds of hours worth of content to play through.)
- Around 20 ships available for F2P players. (Which with time and effort can be kitted out for higher tier content.)
- Treats the Star Trek established lore with respect and expands on it greatly.
- Engaging combat system with a great level of depth.
- Multiple factions to play as, with ability to make a completely custom alien character.
- Large amount of customisation in terms of character / ship builds.
- Can obtain the games paid for currency (Zen) through in-game means. (Though requires extensive grinding to get an amount substantial enough to buy anything decent.)
- Game feeds you a good amount of equipment / weapons etc as you progress through the story.

Con's:

- Most of the best ships in the game are locked behind the games paid for currency Zen.
- Although the game features PvP, it's nigh on impossible to find a game.
- Encountered several glitches throughout the 120+ hours I've played so far. (None game breaking, but a few janky animation glitches in some cut scenes that although funny at times, can also take away from the immersion.)
- In order to comfortably play the games high tier end-game content, you'll inevitably need to spend money to obtain a decent T6 ship. (With more money to be spent if you wish to upgrade it via a token purchased in the games store.)

Overall, I'm 123 hours into my time with Star Trek Online and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I've only spent £30 of real money (which I got through selling an old skin in CS:GO anyways) which has gone on buying a nice T6 ship, along with an upgrade for both it and my ground character. If you're a fan of Star Trek I'd highly recommend giving ST:O a try. And even if you've not really watched any Star Trek but enjoy MMO's, it's certainly worth a try. There's more than enough free content to keep you busy for hundreds of hours.

As a life long lover of Star Trek and a big fan of other MMO's (like WoW, RS and ESO), I'm honestly surprised it's taken me this long to give Star Trek: Online a look. By doing so though, I've had an absolute mountain of great content to play through that's kept me thoroughly entertained. (With many famous characters from the TV shows popping up, voiced by their respective real world actors.) Everything has been created faithfully and the developers have done a brilliant job at working with the recent retcons to established lore that Star Trek: Discovery has created. The ship designs are fantastic and varied (with a decent amount available without the need to spend real money, though the best ones for late game content are P2W) and the game has that classic MMO approach to leveling and obtaining gear. The best part of the game (in my opinion) are the space battles, for me this is where ST:O really shines. There's a surprising amount of depth and complexity to the kind of builds you can create for your ship and how you go about obtaining / setting up abilities. The game still has that classic ground action that will be familiar to those who've played other MMO's and the game takes a fairly equal focus to both 'boots on the ground' action and some truly massive space battles. There's a decent amount of customisation when it comes to your ship, with many of the free ones being modular, so you can mix and match parts to make your ship unique. You can also change details like ship colour, window design and even the interior of your ship. (Which you can enter and navigate, with some of the paid for ships having facilities like banks and access to the exchange on-board.) There's also a good selection of customisation's for your character too. Though a lot are locked behind the games paid for currency (Zen), I've played for over 100 hours and been quite happy with the customisation's I've unlocked for me and my officers just by playing and leveling up. (Max level is 65, though you continue to earn skill points after to spend on specialist skills.) To summarise, here's a list of pro's and con's. Pro's: - Entertaining, well written campaign and side missions with some great voice acting. - Everything in terms of story content / dungeons / patrols are available to all F2P players. (Easily hundreds of hours worth of content to play through.) - Around 20 ships available for F2P players. (Which with time and effort can be kitted out for higher tier content.) - Treats the Star Trek established lore with respect and expands on it greatly. - Engaging combat system with a great level of depth. - Multiple factions to play as, with ability to make a completely custom alien character. - Large amount of customisation in terms of character / ship builds. - Can obtain the games paid for currency (Zen) through in-game means. (Though requires extensive grinding to get an amount substantial enough to buy anything decent.) - Game feeds you a good amount of equipment / weapons etc as you progress through the story. Con's: - Most of the best ships in the game are locked behind the games paid for currency Zen. - Although the game features PvP, it's nigh on impossible to find a game. - Encountered several glitches throughout the 120+ hours I've played so far. (None game breaking, but a few janky animation glitches in some cut scenes that although funny at times, can also take away from the immersion.) - In order to comfortably play the games high tier end-game content, you'll inevitably need to spend money to obtain a decent T6 ship. (With more money to be spent if you wish to upgrade it via a token purchased in the games store.) Overall, I'm 123 hours into my time with Star Trek Online and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I've only spent £30 of real money (which I got through selling an old skin in CS:GO anyways) which has gone on buying a nice T6 ship, along with an upgrade for both it and my ground character. If you're a fan of Star Trek I'd highly recommend giving ST:O a try. And even if you've not really watched any Star Trek but enjoy MMO's, it's certainly worth a try. There's more than enough free content to keep you busy for hundreds of hours.