Cryptic Announces New Borg Content For Star Trek Online – Details, Video, Screenshots + more

The new massive multiplayer game Star Trek Online is only 10 days old, and Crytpic have just announced the first big addition of new content for the game, and it is all about The Borg. New episodes are being added to the game for higher level players to take on the collective. We have details, concept art, screenshots, video and ‘intel reports’ below.

 

Are you ready for the Borg?

Cryptic will be releasing new Borg-themed Episodes for high-level players, which will explain what has occurred within the Borg civilization in the time between “Star Trek: Nemesis” and 2409, the year in which STO occurs.
Previously, the Borg were thought to be severely weakened by the actions of Captain Janeway and the USS Voyager. But in 2409, the Borg have regained and even surpassed much of their old strength. Episodes in the Borg Update will add more substance to that portion of STO’s story. Players will eventually face off against the Borg Queen, the leader of the Collective, but the road to her lair is a very dangerous path.

Some upcoming Episodes (designed for players at level 43) include:

  • The Cure – A planet has been completely taken over by the Borg. Players will fight them for control of the planet.
  • Khitomer Accord – Travel back in time and uncover and participate in the events that led to the release of old Borg players encountered in the Tutorial Episode.
  • Into the Hive – Track down a missing Starfleet captain and come face-to-face with the new Borg Queen.

Expect a lot of contact with the Borg in Star Trek Online. An entire “season” of Episode Missions is dedicated to combating the Borg and managing their influence on the universe. In addition to squaring off against the hive mind, you’ll also have to contend with other factions that attempt to utilize or work with Borg technology to achieve their own ends. You may even find yourself making friends with enemies to work against the great threat the Borg pose.

This new content is a good example to explain why MMO games like Star Trek Online come with a monthly fee. Unlike traditional video games, MMOs are constantly evolving and adding new content. You can pick up a copy of Star Trek Online now from Amazon, discounted to $39.99, and your first month in the game is included in the price.

Borg Faction Video

 

Intel Reports
Cryptic have provided us with ‘intel reports’ on the Borg, from both the Federation and Klingon perspectives.

Borg Collective – by Cmdr. Bradden, Starfleet Intelligence

The Borg are an implacable force. They are, or were, one of the greatest threats the Federation has ever faced.

To call the Borg a race would be inaccurate. To call them a plague upon existence might possibly be understatement. They are cyborgs, biological life “enhanced” with technological advancements. They target and assimilate other races they deem of worth. Sometimes they choose their victims because of a technology they want to get their hands on. Sometimes they target interesting biological traits. Always, they target any race they consider a threat.

Assimilation entails a complete loss of self, of individuality. It destroys entire races. The assimilated become a part of the Borg Collective. Among the Borg, there are no individuals and the Collective rules all. The only possible exception to this is the Borg Queen. It is unclear whether she rules the Borg hive mind, or whether she is merely an instrument of the Collective.

The lack of distinct identities makes the Borg an uncanny opponent. They have no personal fears, no emotional weaknesses. They are also quite willing to sacrifice tremendous numbers of their own, because there is no true loss. Add that to their vast amounts of technology and they become nearly undefeatable. Nearly.

We almost lost the Earth in their first fully fledged attack against us. Since then, we’ve faced them several more times. The starship Voyager in particular came into contact with them repeatedly, thanks to having been stranded in the Delta Quadrant, which we believe to be where the Borg originated.

Thanks to the work Voyager did, we have far more information about Borg technology. It may be that Voyager also damaged the Borg and their transwarp hub severely enough during their last encounter to destroy the Borg. Or, at the very least, set them back several centuries.

Certainly that was the reasoning behind dissolving the Borg Task Force in 2385. I find myself less sanguine about this conclusion than many of my peers. Recent information leads me to believe that the Borg are not so quiescent, and that we may soon have cause to regret our complacency.

Borg Collective – report by Cmdr. Korak, Klingon Intelligence

The Borg are a plague. Pasty white bastards, with their Collective. They have no bravery. Where there is no self, no burning desire to live, there is no courage. If you don’t even know what fear is, then you cannot conquer it!

They also have no honor. The Borg may offer their hands in treaty, but never doubt they shall turn on you should it benefit them!

We have not seen the Borg in many, many years. But we do not delude ourselves. Never trust an enemy is gone until you have shattered his bones in the wreckage of his own home. Besides, I have heard things. Rumors, if you will, that they are infiltrating the Alpha Quadrant. They’re cunning. Cunning and untrustworthy. If they are here, and I have no reason to believe they are not, it will be a grand fight to destroy them.

 

Borg STO Concept Art

More STO Borg Screenshots

 

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Soooo the Queen is Anorexic? :D

kool

Q?

Not only is she anorexic but she also comes fully equipped with parts that are not necessary.

Can anyone tell me why the Borg Queen needs to look like a pinup model? And what is the point of her having barely covered breasts? Is that how she controls the collective now?

I like the environment design but some of the characters (and ships) are a bit to “fanboy” for my tastes.

i rather play the star trek game for my atari system lol

Is that Q?
Oh hell yeah!!!

Now if only I had a gaming capable PC I’d be set.

In First Contact why would the Borg only send 1 cube and go into the past to change a different time line/reality?

If the Borg wanted to conquer the alpha quadrant would they not send at least 10 cubes? This is the only flaw/plot hole I did not like in First Contact.

Problem with dealing with enemies that want to destroy/conquer you is you have to wipe them out to succeed, they do no listen to reason or adhere to peace treaties. It is wiped or be wiped.

Oh man, I’m loving the Borg designs and adding Q into the mix is just frosting on an already awesome cake!

What does “for high level players” mean?

I have the game. Even though I suck, I paid the same price for it as everyone else.

High level players are those who have put a lot of time into the game and/or those who have played well enough to advance through several ranks…probably anyone over Commander.

THE MUSIC SUCKS

puLease, get the license to incorporate original Trek music into the game

#7 I always assumed it was just the Borg arrogance and not wanting an insufficient use of resources. If the attack failed (and without Picard’s intervention, it looked like it was going badly) then they just had to send the one sphere back in time so, presto, only one cube needed.

Now? If they want to be “realistic” in STO? If the Borg attack Earth, they should send, like, 20 cubes and get it over with.

I’m noticing the Borg Queen has some hints of SHODAN in her design. I dig it.

The Borg are looking nice and freaky. Goodonya, Cryptic!

I actually find that the Borg are possibly the only Star Trek aliens that really benefits from more of an insane Cyber-Punk art style. I was always super bummed at how simplistic and cheap the TV special effects were for them. After all … ultimately, they had to go over a complete human via rubber suit and attachments.

Not unnatural looking enough. These I like. Freaky. Not too freaky. They could use more hoses and wires and hydraulic lines. I like the Cyber-Punk elements, but it’s important to make them look very Industrial as well. Industry is great personification for “antithesis of natural life”.

Q!

Finally some end game content and reason to progress/explore/raid, kudos.

whoa whoa whoa Q!!!!!!!!!!!

#7 and #12

Read the “Destiny” series of ST Novels, and your questions will be answered.

#11 OLLEY OLLEY OLLEY

I agree that the music can get repetitive. It’s not bad per say, I just feel there is not enough of it. However, instead of waiting for Cryptic to license the original Trek music, I took matters into my own hands. I have all the Trek soundtracks (movies and shows) in my music collection, so I use the STO media player control and I use that music instead. It really makes it feel more authentic.

#19

Those books aren’t canon though eh?

First Contact was good, but it had the potential to be bigger. Would have been cool to see the Borg homeworld in that film not just a cube/sphere and a few borg/contrived queen.

Q? Wow. I would love to play this game…but I just don’t have the time! Maybe next year…

#7 Just ignore the Voyager Borg episodes and it will no longer seem like a problem. Humanity is a much smaller cog instead of an obsession. And if you wonder how Seven made it on board just say a Wizard did it.

Actually, this version of the Borg has more of an H. R. Giger feel than ever before. It’s creepy, and deliberately so. The Borg is (are?) the TNG’s most successful villain race, and remains one of the worldbeaters among antagonists in modern popular SF.

#23

Yes Best of Both Worlds was my favorite Star Trek episode(s). That and of course Yesterdays Enterprise, and All Good Things…pity Q never starred in a TNG film, that would have been epic.

#20

One starship at a world of 20 BILLION Borg is kinda cheesy!!! Plus according to TNG/Voyager Seven of Nine and Data would make comments suggesting that because the Borg are of a collective mind they no longer have a homeworld per say. More like a nation without land in a sense. Still I love the new design but wish they would retain a little more flesh because even Picard and Worf said they need it to survive. Guess they haven’t figured out positronics yet!

Q=cool, but the way they’ve done the Borg looks horrible. They look about 95% machine now which isn’t really scary. Its more like a bunch of androids than cyborgs. I always thought the Borg should be used sparingly, but of course they’re gonna spam the game with them. Makes me feel not as bad about not playing. Would be nice to see the Borg again on TV if it were done right, though, but the way this game seem to portray them, epic fail.

“Scorpion” and “Dark Frontier” are the only good Borg Voyager episodes in my opinion. All the TNG episodes that featured the Borg were great.
I think Voyager removed a lot of the mystique from the Borg. Too much expanatory dialogue in regards to how the collective operates and assimilates. Not only that, but the Borg became easy to defeat. That is why I am glad “Regeneration” was made. It returned the Borg to their “roots”. And even though those Borg were defeated at the end, the fact that they sent a message to the Delta Quadrant was a nice continuity touch. In fact, “Regeneration” is sort of an “anchor” between the prime timeline and the new timeline. “First Contact” is still going to happen.
And if the Supreme Court do decide to use the Borg for the third movie (the sequel will feature Khan, Klingons and or another TOS villain,guaranteed) it would be a perfect way to feature Scott Bakula in a cameo as Admiral Archer. And before anyone says the Borg don’t belong in Kirk’s time, that might be true in the “old” timeline. But that’s the beauty of it. New timeline. New possibilities. Plus, imagine Kirk going up against the Borg. Or Spock becoming fascinated by the cold mechanical effeciency of the hive mind. Or Dr. McCoy making a sarcastic comparison to Spock and to an unconscious Borg lying in sickbay.

Spock- “While I do not wish to become a part of the collective, I am fascinated by their ability to experience no fear. Their ability to acquire and process information is most effecient. The odds of making errors are kept at a minimum. In many ways, they are the pinnacle of biological life.”

Bones- “You do realize they are half-mechanical?”

Spock-“Yes, of course, Doctor. But as a scientist, I admire their ability to improve themselves in a most efficient manner through technological means”.

Bones- “Well, I shouldn’t be surprised to hear that from someone who is cold, emotionless, and drone-like. You’d make a great Borg Mr. Spock!”
(Sarcasm)

Spock-“Why, thank you Doctor!”

Bones-“You believe this guy, Jim? I insult him and he takes it as a compliment!”

Kirk-“Gentlemen,…..”

As for the art work, I like it. The new issue of “Star Trek Magazine” has a lot of artwork for the game. But hopefully Titan Books publishes an “Art Of” book like they did with the new movie.

#9 – ‘High level’ means players level 43 and over (Rear Admiral).

Why is the destiny arc ignored in STO? The borg are supposed to have been incorporated into the Caeliar Gestalt. And for anyone saying that the books aren’t cannon… Explain to me why the uniform designs in STO are similar to the designs in the comic prequal to star trek XI

29) That’s what I’ve been thinking all along.

The Borg shouldn’t exist, they’re gone so why are they back?

And noone can doubt the canonicity of the novels because on the Galaxy map you can see “The Great Bloom” which was named in the Titan novel “Taking Wing” so therefore those books are canon. Are Cryptic going to explain how the Borg return?

Anyway is this game even canon?

Why did the Borg send one cube? That was the original cube Picard encountered with Q. It kept coming. Remember the Enterprise originally lost to that cube and the Borg are about efficiency. Why send another when the first beat them so easily?

Neither the books nor the games are canon, and both take place in different continuities.

STO just picked a couple of names and concepts from the novels that it liked and could fit into its “EVERYONE WANTS TO KILL EVERYTHING” story.

Having read the ST novels leading up to the Destiny trilogy, I’m quite pissed at Cryptic for bringing the borg into STO, especially when they first announced that they had the license, they said that they were going to follow the novels closely, yet almost immediately, they chose to ignore them entirely.

Didn’t take long for this comment area to turn into a Whinery.

Great game so far Cryptic and other than the .01% flamers who go online only to have a bad time and whine about it, i look forward to the new content and hope you have done as good with the new storylines as you have with the ones so far.

#20, STO is not canon either. There’s no reason to imply one continuity is any more “real” than the other (it’s all fiction after all).

@ 34

Wasn’t meant to turn into that. Don’t get me wrong, STO looks amazing!! Point is, that several STO-novels are to be published, that are supposed to fit in with the current continuity, which they’re undermining now. That’s a bit of a shame. Unless they come up with a good story as to how the borg came back :D

Those debating STO and how it ties into the Novels –

This mission soudns familiar: “Into the Hive – Track down a missing Starfleet captain and come face-to-face with the new Borg Queen.”

Maybe the missing “captain” is Janeway, and she IS the new Borg Queen?

personally, I think the Borg queen was created for the sole purpose of interacting with life forms with Heirarchical governments. In ST:TNG they were fascinated with out governmental structure, And on their first invasion took Picard and mad Locutus. I see the queen as an extension of that tactic. So naturally they would make her look like a pinup model. =)

And as for the Borg becoming easy to defeat, I think they assimilated to many negative qualities from races. :)

…oh, and as for Q and the Borg not being part of Kirk’s reality, imagine this: Q appears..
Kirk: Who the devil are you.
Q: Oh contrair, it is you who are the devil.
Kirk. What do you want?
Q: I want some company. After all, it’s your fault Picard never exists. Now what would be a proper punishment for killing a friend. I know!

Q snaps his fingers and voila, encounter with Borg (again)

These Borg look Super! I will let pass the fact that the Borg are no-more according to the books for Game enjoyment sakes. However I’ve had it with those who say that the books aren’t ‘canon’. They are written in strict accordance with the Star Trek ‘Bible’, used by the series and movies creators. And since there are no more movies (in the continuity timeline that is) or series being made then it is logical to assume that the books ARE in fact the ONLY real canon left, since Paramount and the owners of the franchise are OK with it. That was my point and opinion. I’m certain I’m not alone with it.

34) Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “flamer”, I’ve become pretty addicted to Star Trek Online.

However I think there could be more explanation and I was glad when Destiny got rid of the Borg because quite frankly I’m sick of them. I haven’t liked seeing them since Scorpion because they became weak pantomime villains and I was far from impressed by their appearance in the tutorial, they didn’t even adapt to weapons which was one of the things that made the Borg so menacing in the first place.

I think that there are better things to be doing than constantly rehashing the Borg over and over again.

That’s just my thought though, what does everyone else think?

Very happy with this game! It is very obvious that a lot of time and good work have gone into it! Can’t wait to get into the higher levels to encounter the Borg, but I have a feeling that it is going to be a while for me. I’m an MMO noob.

I support Cryptic in bringing the Borg back, if that is what they want to do. I am of the camp that places the moves/tv series in one continuity, the novels in another, the comics in yet another and finally the game/s in others. This is just another universe, which may or may not happen depending on new movies or series being made.

@4 Indeed, in a species which is based on scientific logic and reasoning (a machine mind), and thus has no sense of sexuality, why does the Borg Queen need to cover her ample breasts at all?

On a more serious note, the new Borg designs are very good: a fantastic example of what they would be like if the TV budgets were insane.

Q!

#11 – in the mean time, just buy the music yourself. There is an in game music player. Playing the soundtrack to First Contact or the new movie has made the experience a little better. For me anyway.

Send BorgWorld sandwiches quick! Perhaps all the Feds need to do is wait. They seem to be starving to death.

Fantastic! To everyone that is questioning why the Borg are back… Maybe when the Transwarp Hub was destroyed in the events of Endgame, there are still other Borg ships out there. Heck, a good chunk of the collective is still out there. You never know if there is a redundant backup to rebuild if Unimatrix 01 was destroyed. Even then, the Queen is still among the voices in the hive mind. Lets just get her a new body and BAM! problem solved. Because in First Contact, Picard recognizes the Queen as being on the cube that exploded in the Best of Both Worlds p2. So if they can bring her back for the movie, why not bring her back in STO… So at least that is my hypothesis for why they are back and reaching closer to perfection.

By the time Destiny was published, Cryptic were too far into the development of STO to change the Borg aspect of the game.

Plus the Destiny novels kinda suck, i mean cmon…borg that absorb pluto?

COME ON!