We’ve spent more than enough time telling you about how ship combat works in Star Trek Online — now it’s time to show you.

We’ve been harping on the space combat in Star Trek Online for quite some time, and now Cryptic gives you a look at what we’re so excited about. It’s possibly the best video game representation of Star Trek space battles so far, and utilising bridge officers as special powers and abilities during combat is rather brilliant.

Once again I must point out that the space shots look incredibly pretty, and the on-foot bits not-so-much. It almost looks like you’ll be playing two different games when Star Trek Online launches in February. I’ll be sticking to the space lanes as much as possible, thanks.

Star Trek Online is Cryptic’s massively multiplayer stab at the Star Trek franchise, but it won’t take a system from 400 years in the future to run it. A PC with 1GB of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo of 1.8Ghz or higher, and a NVIDIA GeForce 7950 or ATI Radeon X1800 or better should do nicely. Those are pretty modest, all things considered. Hell, my toaster requires 2GB of RAM to burn a piece of bread, so this is downright child’s play.

Of course, if you want the game to look good you’ll have to step up from System Requirements to Recommended Specs, in which case you’ll want a faster Core 2 Duo, enough RAM to power my toaster and a beefier video card, but I’m sure you’ll make due.

Check out the full specs below, and be sure to read AJ’s preview to see how she felt about the game’s mix of ground-based and ship combat.

System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32 or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz or AMD Athlon X2 3800+
Memory: 1GB RAM
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 / ATI Radeon X1800 / Intel HD Graphics
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM
Recommended System Configuration

OS: Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32- or 64-bit)
CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 5600+
Memory: 2GB RAM+
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3850+
Sound: DirectX 9.0c Compatible Soundcard
DirectX: Version 9.0c or Higher
HDD: 8GB Free Disk Space
Network: Internet Broadband Connection Required
Disc: 6X DVD-ROM

So forgive me if I can’t come up with enough Star Trek quips or effectively weigh in on the Kirk vs. Picard debate. I can, at best, recite the lines from the J. J. Abrams film and shout out “Khan” when somebody cuts me off in traffic. Also, I can tell you about this here Star Trek MMO that’s been something like six years in the making.

What Is It?
Star Trek Online is a massively multiplayer game previously under development at the now-dead Perpetual Entertainment. Cryptic Studios picked up the aborted project in 2008 and started almost completely over for the game we have now.

What We Saw
I saw a quick demo of a space combat and ground combat before being turned loose on the mission “Stranded in Space” which combines elements of the two.

How Far Along Is It?
The game is due out February 2, 2010.

What Needs Improvement?
Canon Clarity: Licenses are a funny thing — so much so that the developer couldn’t exactly articulate to me what Star Trek Online can and can’t do as far as incorporating stuff like the Borg and Space Lincoln. They did say that the MMO should be treated as canon since it takes place in the prime timeline (the non-J. J. Abrams one) and that canon things like the Borg might show up. However, there was some confusion about the alien races that players can customise right down to the skin colour. As Cryptic seems to understand it, if a custom-made alien race gets really popular, it could become canon if enough people download it. The possibilities are heady and all; but it’s kind sad to think somebody could put a lot of work into building an alien race of their own that then magically winds up in a new Star Trek movie and they don’t get any credit for their creation.

No Catchphrases/Bridge Banter (Yet): Currently, the only talking that goes on between non-playable characters and the captain that you take the role of happens in text boxes. There’s no free-flowing banter between bridge crewmates and no way to click on individual NPCs during away missions just to chat them up. Cryptic says they’re currently looking into adding the catchphrases we’re used to hearing from the series during space combat (”Warp speed”, “Reroute power to the shields”, “Great shot kid, don’t get cocky”, etc.) — but at the moment, it’s all silent and somewhat stilted.

What Should Stay The Same?
Space Isn’t Slow: I was afraid the space combat and travel would be too much like Eve Online — where you have to wait ages for anything to happen. Instead, I was pleased to see somewhat snappy movement and reasonable physics to account for the fact that you’re manoeuvring a huge starship, not a tiny fighter craft. And while the game confines the 360 degrees of space to just forward, back, left and right for the shields, you have the full range of 360 degrees to use in movement so you can evade fire and break line of sight (and tachyon blast) by getting behind asteroids and stuff. Also, the game gives the player the ability to throttle more or less power between the four sections of the shields. This comes in handy when you’re too close to a ship about to explode and need to absorb the shock on your aft shields.

Ground Isn’t So Bad: It’s totally not regulation for a captain to take half the bridge planetside with him as an Away Team (that’s what Red Shirts are for!), but the game lets you do it anyway with your three favourite bridge crew members. While in space, these members have special abilities and buff/debuffs depending on their class (Science Officer, Communications, etc.) — but on the ground, you can outfit them with whatever weapons and equipment you like and either let the AI drive them around, or command their every move. The Away Team will still bring some special abilities with them planetside like Harvesting or Diplomacy stats you can use. But if you don’t feel like making room for them, you can always leave ‘em on the ship and meet up with other real-life buddies on some planet to shoot at stuff.

Set Phasers To Vaporize! During ground combat, when people are shooting NPCs, you’ll sometimes see a yellow icon pop up on a disoriented enemy. Pressing the secondary fire on a certain gun vaporises that enemy and it’s pretty neat. Who needs a stun function, anyway?

Final Thoughts
I wasn’t so wowed by the ground combat, but space blew me away. If this were a singleplayer game, I’d still be happy with it. But I guess with so many Trekkies in the world, it’d be a waste not to turn Star Trek into an MMO for the masses to enjoy.

Star Trek Online is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game based in the near future, or at least the near future of the Star Trek universe. Players become high-ranking Starfleet officers, customising their ships and boldly going many different places, both in space or planet side. Beta testing is now underway, and will likely continue until the game’s newly-announced February 2 North American release date.

“Star Trek Online is poised to become the ultimate Star Trek gaming experience,” said Jim Wilson, CEO of Atari, Inc. “Throughout the last four decades, Star Trek has been a mainstay in pop culture, influencing legions of fans through television, film and more. Star Trek Online opens a whole new chapter and expands upon this incredible universe in 2010.”

While I am excited by the concept of the game, the more stats-based side of me is even more interested in seeing how many Trek fans take to the game. It could become the new online destination for Trek fandom, or it could wind up one of those deserts where the crew of the Enterprise tends to run across the odd megalomaniac robot.

It’s strange. I don’t remember Star Trek Online looking this pretty when I played it at PAX last month, but it was pretty early on the first day, and I was still getting my show legs. Perhaps I was too busy destroying Klingon ships and raiding the planet below to pause and take everything in. Or maybe someone on the Cryptic crew takes a damn fine screenshot.

Star Trek Online Video Talks About the Timeline, Shows Space Battles [GameVideos]

The Blu-ray releases of the original Star Trek come packed with extras, as well they should, because when you make something very old very clear it generally makes it look even older than it is. Along with rare pilot episodes and various other bells and whistles, Star Trek: The Original Series season three on Blu-ray comes packed with a special code that will unlock an Admiral costume for your character to wear in Cryptic’s Star Trek Online.

“For a limited time, sets will include an exclusive free offering in Atari’s Star Trek® on-line game. Each set will include an insert that includes a unique code that will allow game players to outfit their avatar in an exclusive Admiral’s outfit available only with this offer.”

That’s certainly one motivational extra for fans of the series and serious MMO fanatics. I just hope they keep things authentic, so when players don the Admiral outfit they suddenly find themselves trapped behind a desk, desperately trying to give orders to starship captains who have no respect for authority – for example, all of them.

The third season of Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray ships in December.

Star Trek News [TVonDVD.com via Big Download]

What Is It?
It’s the the future of the Star Trek universe as a massively multiplayer online game. Romulus is destroyed, the Klingons hate the Federation again, but they are still boldly going all over the place.

What We Saw
I got to take a spin in the generically named U.S.S. Light Cruiser, journeying to the Penn’Arc VI system where I did battle with several Klingon Bird of Prey squadrons before taking the battle to the planet’s surface with my away team, fighting my way to a certain iconic talking time gateway.

How Far Along Is It?
It’s hard to tell how far along it is at the moment, as this was obviously a special demo created just for the show. They’ve just announced registrations for the closed beta test, so obviously Cryptic is far enough along that they are getting ready to begin allowing people into the universe to try things out.

What Needs Improvement?
Ground-Based Combat: While the starship combat portion of the game felt pretty satisfying, something about the ground-based combat didn’t feel nearly as polished. Perhaps the fact that an NPC away team accompanies you on ground missions threw me, as I’m more used to being one avatar in a world of other avatars. It just seems like there’s a great deal going on that I had no direct control over. It could take some getting used to.

What Should Stay The Same?
Ship-Based Battles: Cryptic has chosen an interesting route to maintaining the Star Trek look and feel in space combat. Rather than go with full 3D ship movement, vessels move on a plane, able to climb and descend without ever actually going inverted. One would think it would be limiting, but it it helps the combat feel tactical and less chaotic…and definitely more Star Trek. How many times have you seen an upside-down shot of the Enterprise?

Crew Support: Having members of your ship’s crew act as powers during space combat is a brilliant idea. Through combat you level your various officers, who appear with buttons next to their faces in the use interface during ship combat. The officers have different skills that are represented as skills during battle. One might be particularly good with energy systems, allowing you to regenerate shields faster than normal, while another allows you to empty all of your torpedo tubes in one large burst. It marries the standard MMO skill hot keys with the Star Trek universe in a rather ingenious way.

Ships of the Line: I spent several minutes at the beginning of my hands-on simply panning around the U.S.S. Light Cruiser, admiring the 3D construction of the vessel. Close attention has been paid to making sure that the ships in the game, both established and new, maintain the classic Star Trek look and feel. customisation options are there for those wishing to make the experience a little more personal, but strict limits keep players from going overboard. Don’t worry – there won’t be any pink Federation starships. Yes, I asked.

Final Thoughts
AS a Star Trek fan for far longer than I’d like to admit, I was pleased with what I saw of Star Trek Online, to a point. Cryptic has displayed a great deal of respect for the property, which shows in the graphical design, interface elements, and some of the odd design choices they’ve made in order to keep the feel of the franchise intact. I just hope the away team mechanic doesn’t end up being an example of how their reverence for the series backfired.