This week, ZAM continues our beta preview coverage of Star Trek Online, taking a closer look at "Away Mission" gameplay and combat mechanics.

Last week, ZAM continued our ongoing beta preview coverage of Star Trek Online by offering readers a glimpse of ship combat and space gameplay. In this week's installment, we take a closer look at the other side of the MMO; the more-traditional, third-person gameplay carried out in away-missions (or when players are, for example, off-ship and docked at a space station).

Also dubbed "avatar combat" or "avatar mode" by the community, this gameplay style is similar to what most MMO fans are used to seeing; a third-person view of their character, with a familiar UI including action bars, unit frames and a mini-map. However, Star Trek Online employs a team-based "tactical" element, offering players control of the entire away team as well.

As we noted in our preview of ship combat gameplay, players will begin STO's tutorial and "starting zone" area in avatar mode. The first 20 minutes of the beta-version tutorial is your standard fare; acclimating players to universal mechanics like movement, interaction, UI functions and combat (and of course, the game's own specific "brand" of these mechanics, some of which greatly differ from other titles).

STO's avatar mode "feels" remarkably familiar to Champions Online's gameplay—which shouldn't come as a surprise to many players, since both games were developed by Cryptic Studios. In fact, based on our initial impressions of its graphics and gameplay, we would hazard to guess that STO's avatar mode was developed using the same engine as Champions Online (or many elements of it, at least). The settings offered in the video menu are nearly identical, and the third-person character interaction feels noticeably similar.

However, that's not to imply anything negative about STO's third-person gameplay. Aside from the opinion shared by some players that Cryptic's latest graphics engine could have been optimized a little better (its "scalability" on lower-end systems, that is), the client offers a solid third-person gameplay experience with impressive visual and shading effects. Cryptic succeeded in re-creating the classic interior design of spaceship hallways and corridors that 'Trek fans have come to know and love throughout the years, while supplementing the environment with its own artistic vision of futuristic motifs and décor.

Unlike most fantasy MMO settings with dozens of distinct zones, the Star Trek universe doesn't accommodate much diversity when it comes to the inside of a space station or ship. If you've watched even a handful of Star Trek TV shows or movies, you've probably noticed that every hallway, bulkhead, turbolift and cargo bay looks virtually the same. But Cryptic's artists did a great job with the material they had to work with. They kept the 'Trek-inspired design of the endless corridors and cargo bays intact, yet staved off visual fatigue with subtle splashes of color and intricate modeling.

While some of the interior locations of the Star Trek franchise might be limiting, the complete opposite is true with regard to the exteriors. Not only does the design team have a wealth of fantastical alien landscapes and wildlife to draw from, it has near-limitless potential (within the bounds of what most hard-core Trekkers will accept) to create new material. Unfortunately, the closed beta still restricts access to the majority of exotic worlds and locations that will be unlocked at launch, so we didn't have the opportunity to explore much beyond mining colonies and Federation base camps. From what we've seen in official screenshots and video trailers, we can't wait to set foot on worlds like Kronos (the Klingon home world), though.