Cryptic Studios has released a new Star Trek Online timeline video, exploring the events that lead up to the current conflict between the Federation and the Klingons in the upcoming spaceborne MMOG.
A brief recap: As we discovered last month, all is not well in the Alpha Quadrant. The Romulan Empire has been riven by a civil war, leaving it open to Klingon attack; a border dispute between the Klingons and the Gorn has erupted into all-out war as well. Trying to restore peace, the Federation leaders talked and talked and talked; but nothing could stem the avalanche. It was a pretty intense build-up and certainly piqued my interest in the game.
The second video doesn’t have quite the same zing to it but it does employ an appropriately Star Trek-ish plot contrivance (which I will leave unspoiled) to draw the Klingon-Gorn war to a close, bringing the two races along with the Nausicaans and Orion under the banner of the “Greater Klingon Faction.” With the Gorn situation finally wrapped up and their warrior blood still burning, the Klingons decide to try their luck with the Federation, ultimately sparking the conflict that awaits players when they sign up for the game.
I’m not entirely sure how all this fits with Star Trek canon, nor what my less nerdy friends will think of me for actually saying “Star Trek canon” without a hint of irony; questions about the other major galactic players, like the Borg, the Cardassians and whatever remains of the Romulan Empire, also hang in the air. But the Klingons and the Federation are finally throwing down and at the end of the day, isn’t that what really matters? Star Trek Online is currently scheduled for release in early 2010.
Source: GameTrailers.com