There are people who hear “MMO moving to console” and feel a pang of fear deep in their soul. I’m not one of those however; every MMO I’ve played on console has honestly been pretty great: FFXI, FFXIV, Neverwinter Online, these were all a lot of fun to play with a controller and STO was no exception. I suppose the big part that people worry about are controls. And I will admit, the PS4 version of Star Trek Online’s ground controls really made me confused until I sat down and you know. . . read the screen with all the buttons on it. Something I should have probably done at the outset, but you know. Things happen. The ground was probably harder to prepare for anyway, since there are so many bloody buttons in this game! They redid the entire UI and control scheme for the console version, since they had to work with far fewer buttons. But I have to say, the amped up graphics, and the new control scheme made it a lot easier for me to play and enjoy. However, it made me wish I had a spare keyboard so I could chat with people easier. I imagine having friends on PS4 to play with would make it easier so you could voice chat though. I liked it on PC, sure, but I loved playing on console. It’s so pretty on my PS4, and I played as a different faction [RE: Second best faction beyond the Ferengi], the Romulans. I was delighted to see their story is so much different from the Federation while also teaching you everything you need to know about getting started.
And while I was grumpy that I had to do the tutorial again, what I know about the game from playing on PC did not help all that much as far as button placements went, so yeah! I was glad to do it in the end. I just hate tutorials in general. I want to get in there, damnit! But I will say this: Ship. Combat. Is. So. Much. Better. SO MUCH BETTER. Being able to fly with twin sticks made it a snap, and once I had unlocked Full Impulse in the tutorial I was happy. Because normally my ship is so damn slow even at maximum speed, but Full Impulse gave me the speed I needed to cruise and obliterate my enemies. Originally my favorite part of the game was running around and disintegrating people with my blaster, but on PS4? I’d rather be in space firing photon torpedoes, no question. This is the definitive version of Star Trek Online without having to think about it. I love the graphical overhaul to the UI, the game looked like it belong on this generation console. Yes, it’s an older MMO, but I was all too glad to play on PS4 and will continue to play through the Romulan storyline. I wish I could have started this earlier, but Pax comes first! I realize that Star Trek Online is on the older side of the PC MMO list, I think this will be a pretty great way to pull new people in who love Star Trek but didn’t know they could command their own ship and affect change onto the galaxy.
I’m still waiting on a Borg story though. . .
