Star Trek Online has become a game that many Trek fans love to play. It’s one of the better Trek games on the market and considering it’s been around since 2010, it’s fair to say the game has had some success. Part of their success comes from being able to implement features and storylines into the game that cater to their core fanbase; Star Trek fans.
They released A House Reborn recently, which brought back several key Klingon characters from all across Star Trek, while also adding Sam Witwer in a new voice role.
Yet, there’s another reason to pick up the game once again; a new class of ship. The Janeway-Class.
The Star Trek Online developers (via Trek Movie) explained the ship and its backstory;
"In a distant future timeline, Federation starships have undergone a number of interesting evolutions of both technology and aesthetics. Some still reflect elements of their original lineage though, as is true with the Janeway-class Command Science Vessel. Drawing its original inspiration from the Intrepid-class starships of the late-24th century, this ship has been updated to focus on speed and maneuverability in local space, without sacrificing its scientific capabilities. Unlike classic science vessels, this ship focuses its power output on hull integrity rather than shield capacity, and has also been specifically outfitted to serve as a fleet command vessel."
"For Star Trek Online, each ship needs its own class name. It’s not an Intrepid Class for the sake of communication. It doesn’t have the same stats, doesn’t share costume pieces. It has no more in common than a Constitution [Class] has to a Galaxy [Class]. We simply cannot offer 2 completely different ships that have the same name. So we worked with CBS and landed on calling it the Janeway Class. It is pretty clear what we are referring to. It honors its lineage while communicating what to expect. If you want to get technical with the lore, one could argue this ship is a recreation of the one seen on screen. A reverse-engineered version of the 32nd-century Intrepid using 2411 technology. Therefore, it has a different class name. But the reality is we needed a way to distinguish the original Intrepid from this new ship."
For me, I like the design to a point. The sharp edges really stand out and help define it in a way that both follows the standard Starfleet design of most ships, as well as incorporating aspects of Captain Janeway’s iconic ship, the U.S.S Voyager.
The ship has the same fundamental design but instead of the Voyager’s more rounded edges, and connected nacelles. The Janeway-Class ship seems to have three independent parts, making it completely impractical but stunning nonetheless. It’s also more pointed, and not rounded, looking more like the Voyager’s evil twin.
The big issue that I and maybe many others may have with the ship is how it’s connected not through a standard structure like every other ship in Star Trek but through some type of scientific accomplishment.
It feels like the ship is one power-outage away from just floating off into pieces. It looks stunning but maybe it’s best that it’s reserved for the online gaming types and not the television series.