Star Trek Legacy is the newest Trek game to hit shelves, this time for both the Xbox 360 and PC. Published by Bethesda Softworks and developed by Mad Doc Software, Legacy puts the player in control of starships from the days of Star Trek: Enterprise, to The Original Series, up to The Next Generation and features the voice acting of all five captains.

Graphics:

Starship variety and design is very accurate and detailed. Ship designs from different eras and races give a variety of sizes and styles. In skirmish mode, flying Captain Archer’s Enterprise against a Next Generation era Romulan Bird of Prey and you’ll feel the difference in might before any torpedoes are launched.

While ship design is a strong suit, we are left with some glaring weaknesses. Most notably is the lack of any graphical representation of any characters, instead hearing voiceovers while the camera hovers over the appropriate ship. While it’s fun to hear Kirk talking it feels tacked on when it’s all as a narrative showing an emotionless starship.

The background is black and sparse as one would imagine space to be. Legacy does add some flair to the cold darkness of outer space with various nebulas and planets, though in the end you are flying around in a black canopy. Not that you should want something else in a Star Trek game, but it is worth mentioning.

Gameplay:

Once you get past the initial wave of glee in flying a Federation starship on the Xbox 360 it is time to buckle down and save the galaxy. Starship controls feel clumsy and unresponsive on the larger ships compared to a smaller more maneuverable starship where controls pick up considerably.

It can be a bit daunting at first to grasp the impulse drive, warp, phasers, torpedoes, fleet controls, targeting, and ship repairs. Fortunately after a few missions the controls with feel intuitive enough and not become a burden, though after several hours I still found myself cranking on the wrong button to bring up the helm control. Overall ship functions are solid though not amazing.

Unfortunately it seems that all the strong points have to do with the starships to the exclusion of the rest of the game, namely the presentation and ambiance, which in turn damages the gameplay. This is something for the Fun Factor but bears mentioning here. Additionally the game tends to become repetitive quite quickly to all but the most die hard of die hard Trek fans.

Sound:

One of the major selling points is the availability of all five Starfleet Captains with Archer, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway lending an air of awesome air of authority to Legacy as a Trek game. Unfortunately, while it’s quite cool to hear them, the sound loses something by not having the visual representation.

Beyond that, the sound effects are what you’d expect to hear, torpedoes firing and phasers blasting, tractor beams… tractoring. There’s nothing above and beyond that leaps out at you, but it is more than serviceable.