Klingons Are Playable in Star Trek Online

With Champions Online released and playable, Cryptic is shifting its development team to work on its next project, Star Trek Online, the MMO set to arrive in 2010, allowing gamers to take on the role of Starfleet captain in a distant future when the Khitomer Accords have broken down and the Federation and Klingon Empire are at war and fighting each other all over the Alpha quadrant.

The most recent surprise that Cryptic announced is that when the game ships, players will be able to unlock the ability to play as a Klingon captain in addition to Kirk or Picard and commanding a Federation ship.

This does not just mean that there are some Klingons that have been Academy trained and joined the Federation ships but that there are a separate evolution system and gameplay rules which govern how Klingon captains will advance through the game.

Craig Zinkievich, who is the executive producer on Star Trek Online, told Eurogamer that “We plan on shipping with the ability to play as Federation and play on the Klingon side. The Klingon gameplay is going to be drastically different to the Federation gameplay. It's going to be a lot more focused on PvP; their advancement is a little bit different - it is not a full-on story-driven game like the Federation.”

The producer even said that post launch, probably in a couple of months and depending on the reception of Star Trek Online, other races could be added to the MMO in order to spice up the way players interact with each other. The basic gameplay of traveling through space, exploring planets and fighting other ships will be kept but specific mechanics for players who choose to be Ferengi, Cardassian or even Romulan will probably be interesting to see in action and experience.