On January 17th the Star Trek Online massive multiplayer game is getting a reboot by moving to a "free to play" model. In anticipation of that event, Cryptic has created a new cut-scene, which introduces the back-story of the game. The new version again uses a voice over from Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. Watch it below.
New Star Trek Online Opening Cutscene
The opening cutscene tells the story of what has happened in the Star Trek universe between the era of the Next Generation and the setting of the game in the early 25th century. It also incorporates elements of the 2009 Star Trek movie. It is all narrated by Mr. Spock. (The new scene uses an edited version of the narration Leonard Nimoy provided for the original version)
This scene is an improvement over the original cut-scene using a slightly different version of Nimoy’s voiceover. Here is the previously used cut-scene.
For more on the new Free To Play version of Star Trek online, visit http://startrekonline.com/f2p.
Did they ever explain how Spock prime knew about anything that went on after he got sucked into the Black hole, being that he’s in the JJ alternate timeline?
Nimoy voiced the intro a long time ago. They only updated the scenes…
He also voiced mini-intros for each space sector block (they each have their own storyline/campaign)
@ 1
LOL. Plot-holes galore !
Clearly, at some point in the future ( even from Spock Prime’s P.O.V. ), he has returned to the Prime Universe to discover the devastating state of affairs following his disappearance into the black hole…
How did the Dominion return to the alpha quadrant?
@1 and 3
Its a literary device called “Suspension of Disbelief”. You already use it with out realizing it, its how we are able to enjoy science fiction like Star Trek and Star Wars, and enjoying other things that would not other wise be possible in real life.
LIke all cut-scenes…. “blah blah blah, blah blahdy blah, blah BLAH blah!”
Except made worse by NImoy’s bad dentures. Geez man, you’re rich and they REALLY affect your speech, get them fixed!
#4 per Cryptic while the Dominion left, they also left behind the Alpha Quadrant Jem’Hadar, their ships, their shipyards to make more ships, etc. and the Federation and Klingons left it all intact for them to use after the war ended.
Cryptic makes low quality products, then they actively screw over those who buy them.
I thought Janeway destroyed the Borg.
Well, while I have nothing but goodwill for the game as a whole, and will almost certainly try the game out when it goes free-to-play, I have to say I’m very, very glad the storyline is non-canon.
Having another Klingon-Federation war is a tired retread of what DS9 already did better and then put to rest. And the Federation made every single Dominion base and soldier leave the Alph Quadrant as part of the treaty.
@1 I think he probably reconfigured his tricorder using 1930’s copper wire & fuses, so he could use it to view newspaper headlines from the future.
So is this something that was so bad that they are now giving it away free?…or have I picked this up wrong?
Is it just me, or would that be a great show?
when there were rumours about a new trek movie in 2004 or 2005 i imagined if they ever did a big budget movie of star trek directed by Bryan Singer or whoever and set post Nemesis in the prime universe and given it the 150m budget wed have probably got something like that (or BringBackKirk.com) – an all encompassing Trek film taking into account the entire history of Trek – with an extended Nimoy cameo (as in the 2009 movie), Patrick Stewart and various other TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT actors popping up in supporting roles/cameos, but with various film and familier genre stars taking the lead roles as a new ‘movie crew’ on the new Enterprise F (e.g. Eric Bana as Captain, Karl Urban as riker like 1st officer, Winona Ryder as a Troi like Betazoid, Bill Paxton as the doctor, Lance Henrikson as a vulcan officer etc)….maybe even worked in a Shatner as Kirk cameo via a flashback scene or timetravel
#1 Its an alternate universe so things could have gone different in Kirk’s era. Also some things could be different in TNG’s time we just can’t see it because those shows have already been filmed. However if their are changes in TNG’s time after Romulas and Remus were destroyed they could show those in the game.
I played STO for 3 months before giving it a wide berth….. Whilst it definately looks pretty ok, it really really sucks as a game. So repetitive. Once you have shot one Klingon or blown up one Orion ship…….. Yawn!
#12 they’ve switched from an ARPU play to a volume play – which in the various games that have done this has been more profitable.
The game is definitely good enough to try it out, but once you get bored don’t keep grinding in the hopes that it gets better – it doesn’t.
Yeah…I played STO a while back. Basically I set myself the goal of getting my Character to the rank of Captain. Once I did that…all motivation to play ended.
7. Odkin – December 9, 2011
LIke all cut-scenes…. “blah blah blah, blah blahdy blah, blah BLAH blah!”
“Except made worse by NImoy’s bad dentures. Geez man, you’re rich and they REALLY affect your speech, get them fixed!”
Have you ever made a positive comment? If so, brighten the day – re-post it, please. Give a little balance to the exaggerated human parody of Eeyore you offer.
Maybe having lower and upper dentures and being 80 makes it impossible for some people to speak exactly as they used to, but I still love that baritone and hope to have something positive to offer others when I’m 80.
I also think the game story would make a good movie. I hope the court will recognize the need not only to build their characters this time around, but also to inform the viewer what the new universe, in which these guys operate, looks like.
SIGH.
Why is Star Trek, as soon as it come in game or movie form, reduced to war?
@19
Shatner and Nimoy are awesome.
Gene Coon was a genius.
Grace Lee Whitney is adorable.
Happy now?
This is what the next star trek series should be about, give it another five years for its big 50TH aniversary.
@22. Wasn’t so hard, eh? You did make me smile – Thanks.
@ 9
They killed the queen many times, but they keep on coming back.
@ 23
I’d rather a TV series followed the backstory being created in the novels/ In particular Destiny and the Typhon Pact
Destiny would make an awesome mini series
@ 9 & 25:
The Borg are gone in the treklit verse but STO doesn’t follow that path, it is a slightly different late-24th century after Nemesis.
Wait a sec.
The Klingons.
The Romulans.
The Borg.
Even the Dominion.
All against the Federation.
So, when do we surrender?
… Surrender is not an option.
We have an ally. The Q.
Nimoy’s voiceover seems almost a waste since they drowned it out with so much music and battle sound effects. Poor editing at least.
Klingons, Romulans, Borg, Oh My!! The Alpha Quadrant sure seems like a dangerous place these days.
I think the new intro is a vast improvement. Also any opinions based on or the months after launch should be re evaluated. This game has improved exponentially. This is a great time to come back!
This is the downside to video game driven episodes. Week in, week out, nothing but open warfare.
He’s breaking the fourth wall by talking to the viewer and you’re worried about how that speech fits into continuity?
(Don’t try to pretend he’s talking to your character. He’s talking to the gamer.)
I really enjoyed that TNG computer game “journey’s end” and “bridge commander.” I think that the non-warfare components of those games could be melded into STO for a better experience.
Now that it’s free to play there needs to be console versions ported over.
Geez cant anyone just enjoy a game without nitpicking it to death??
not everything will be the way people want it to be, everyone can be so closed minded when it comes to remakes, reboots and so on
JUST ENJOY IT !!!
I know there’s a lot of hate for this game, but is it really all that bad? I’ve played it for a while now and like all Trek; TV shows, movies, books, comics and now lottery tickets, there is good and bad in all of it. Sure it gets dull, but then so did Star Trek: The Motion Picture (after you’ve seen it once or twice). Sorry, but there really is no reason to be so negative.
As far as the new intro, I think they did a decent job. As I’ve said I’ve played for a while now (currently taking a break to play Mass Effect for the first time) yet it still managed to excite me a bit.
Uh…thanks for listening.
@9 she destroyed the hive and the transwarp corodore but not the whole collective.
Well, for those who are curious, they did add something of a text puzzle game for more non-war oriented gameplay.
Basically, you can manage your duty roster of non-bridge crew in what is effectively a better version of Starship Creator Warp II that runs in the background while blowing stuff up. You could level (slowly) doing nothing but allocating crew to chart anomalies and plotting out the entertainment for diplomatic banquets from around level 10 on. And once out of the tutorial, you could level solely by doing things like taking a trivia quiz at the Academy, albeit slowly.
Understand that “free” is a tricky term. They’re going to be big on enticing you to spend money. Right now, they’re raffling off captured Jem’Hadar ships for real money that have been “mysteriously appearing.”
Remember that Jem’Hadar fleet that Sisko made the deal with the Prophets to get rid of? Well, the next big plot in STO is that they’re coming back. After that, they’re rolling out the Enterprise-F.
As for the Dominion already in game, the concept is that Laas (the other changeling sent out in DS9 like Odo) maintains a peaceful Dominion presence in the Alpha Quadrant but that his Jem’Hadar and Vorta, no longer religiously devoted to the Founders and working with some rogue Founders, have been mutinous and cooperating Cardassian fundamentalists who are trying to block Cardassia’s entry into the Federation. (Basically, Cardassia has most of the votes and is a democratic society but there are extremists filibustering while a terrorist rebellion of former Cardassian military works to shatter that peace.)
Also, the war isn’t so much everyone vs. the Federation anymore but comes in phases. The Romulans (who are splintered) are a threat in the game until Sela gets taken out. The Dominion is getting antsy but the ones you fight are an offshoot. The Federation and Klingons are at war but they engage in a ceasefire and actually team up wherever the Borg are present, now led by Alexander’s son, Worf’s Grandson, as the allied military commander against the Borg.
It’s fun to play around with and worth playing for free or a bit of cash. Just be aware with with a Free to Play model, that means they will try to hit you with as many optional payments as possible.
Basically, the more serious you get hooked, the more tempted you will be to spend more money and there are some who have spent hundreds in the last month alone.
But if you just want to play with some friends and take in the new storyline stuff, which is getting better and better (from an admittedly weak starting point) then it’s good.
You can also create your own storylines, staging characters, props, dialogue, and events for people to play using Cryptic’s Foundry tools.