Star Trek Online: Undiscovered will kick off the first part of the video game’s revised Klingon story arc, tapping into the talents of Robert Picardo as The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager to do so. The new episode, revitalized by Deep Space Encounters, and other additional new content head to Windows PC today, followed by a release on consoles later.
We sat down with Star Trek Online executive producer Thomas Marrone to learn about what players can expect when they jump back into their captain’s chairs.
“The Kuva’magh” reboots a major storyline with The Doctor and Miral Paris
Fellow Voyager actor Lisa LoCicero will join Picardo in “The Kuva’magh,” a reimagined first part of a multi-part story arc that’s as old as Star Trek Online itself. LoCicero portrayed an adult Miral Paris, daughter of Tom and B’Elanna, in Voyager‘s series finale “Endgame.”
“Star Trek Online: Undiscovered is the realization of something we at the team have wanted for a long time, and we know you’ve been asking for it,” Cryptic said in a press release that detailed the glowed-up content.
Lisa Locicero as Miral Paris in “Endgame.”
“Return to the time of the Klingon War, and experience an updated and reimagined story,” Cryptic’s press release continues. “This classic STO storyline was once a crucial part of the Federation and Klingon storylines, and now it returns for you to experience with new graphics, an updated story, exciting cut scenes, and more.”
Speaking with me for a large, in-depth preview for Stevivor, Marrone said that Cryptic originally planned to “touch up” the Klingon story arc, which first launched in 2010 and was amended in 2016 to incorporate added LoCicero’s voice and likeness.
“As we started talking through it and thinking about it, [we] realized that to do this right, it really had to be a brand-new episode with new cut scenes,” Marrone said. “We decided to double down on that because this is so important to the history of Star Trek in our game, and it’s something that players have been very vocal about wanting for a long time.
Picardo first reprised his role as The Doctor within Star Trek Online‘s 2014 expansion Delta Rising, and has since starred in the same role in Paramount+‘s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
L-R: Robert Picardo as The Doctor and Tatiana Maslany as Anisha in season 1, episode 10 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+
Marrone called the old-but-new mission “a love letter to the history of Star Trek Online and Star Trek.” He added, “The very first thing we did when we started [developing this new content was to] play those old missions. They were produced under very tight time constraints with a very limited set of tools. We’ve come a long way as a team and a company since then. I hope that people can see that.”
Marrone was tight-lipped about what to expect from the story of “The Kuva’magh,” though Augmented Gorn will make an appearance; he also said that those who’ve played through Star Trek Online‘s original Klingon story arc will recognize similar story beats.
Undiscovered provides multiple ways to obtain the new K’Vort Klingon Bird of Prey
In addition to a brand new ground kit — the ability to pick up and throw giant boulders just like Star Trek Online‘s Gorn frequently do — just by playing “The Kuva’magh,” the game will now provide more opportunities to earn larger rewards like the new Klingon K’Vort Temporal Flight Deck Raptor.
Like in other seasons, The K’Vort starship can be earned by completing a number of daily event markers. With Undiscovered, and in addition to missions and Task Force Operations, players can earn progress towards this goal by completing newly revamped Deep Space Operations.
Pulled from Star Trek Online much like the Klingon story arc was — their “quality was too uneven,” according to Marrone — the new Deep Space Operations will provide some low-effort gameplay that’s meant to channel the types of missions Starfleet captains would undertake between episodes of a Star Trek TV show. Completing three operations in a day will not only add to your event progress, but provide you with another way to earn Endeavor XP.
The default appearance of the K’Vort, in a Lower Decks style. (Cryptic)
As for the K’Vort itself, Marrone said the ship has appeared in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Lower Decks, but almost by technicality. The K’Vort is a way to explain how the smaller Klingon Bird of Prey as seen in The Search for Spock suddenly grew in size compared to The Next Generation‘s Enterprise.
“It was just like the same studio model, shot to make it look larger. Composited to be bigger,” Marrone said of the ship. “I think [the TNG episode] ‘The Defector’ is one example of this, and then ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’ is another big example of this.”
While never directly named, Cryptic has based its K’Vort on a new, larger, and visually distinct Bird of Prey as commanded by Relga in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Those who earn the ship in Undiscovered can then use the in-game tailor to match either Search for Spock or Lower Decks version of the Bird of Prey, benefitting from the K’Vort’s new abilities and consoles.
A full look at the TNG-style K’Vort. (Cryptic/Thomas Marrone)
If you like what you’ve read about this new content, you may be interested in reading my larger preview over on Stevivor. From there, if you’re ready to continue or start to play Star Trek Online, a “Welcome Back” guide has been designed by Cryptic for that express purpose.
Star Trek Online is currently available on Windows PC, Xbox One, and PS4, also playable on Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5 through backwards compatibility.
Steve Wright is a longtime Trek fan, an experienced Australian-based games journalist, and the editor-in-chief of Stevivor.com, the country’s leading independent video games site.
Keep up with all the Star Trek Online game news and updates here at TrekMovie.com.