StarFleet sets off for battle
Star Trek: Legacy is an ambitious strategy/action game that fuses the three Star Trek eras (Star Trek: Enterprise, The Original Series and The Next Generation) into one mammoth campaign. ‘Trekkies’ will be frothing at the mouth to discover that the game not only features dozens of playable vessels from the series, but also voice acting from all five captains of the TV shows, including William Shatner as James T.Kirk and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard. Throw in a script written by the original Star Trek writer, D. C Fontana (and chums) and you’d expect the latest Star Trek videogame to be as good as it can get for Star Trek’s legion of obsessive fans. Unfortunately, when something appears to be too good to be true it often is; Star Trek: Legacy falls firmly into that category.
In Star Trek: Legacy you take the role as an Admiral of Starfleet. Vulcan High Command set you off on your first mission in search of a missing scientist where you encounter the first of many space battles against the Romulan aggressors. This brief and simple starter mission introduces you to the numerous commands that will be at your fingertips and, from this point forth, you command and fly dozens of vessels, from small scouts and light cruisers to fearsome battleships, as you battle your way through numerous search and destroy missions, escort objectives and a myriad of dull space battles. All of the action in Star Trek: Legacy is ship-based and focuses on real-time combat; albeit with a fair bit of tactical gameplay thrown in to spice things up. Disappointingly, the action never really takes off and Star Trek: Legacy’s lengthy campaign becomes a frustrating journey of repetitive, drawn-out missions.
Click for larger imageDuring the campaign missions you can command one capital ship and up to three support vessels. Switching between vessels is an instinctive reaction as you quickly become adept at spotting where the action is taking place. You’ll be eager to jump in the driving seat of the primary attacking ship to get a slice of the action and we were soon switching from one craft to the other in order to repair them and issue specific commands. From shooting phasers and photon torpedoes using the left and right triggers to more complicated manoeuvres such as grouping together your fleet by pressing the d-pad and the ‘A’ button simultaneously, there are several commands and two-button combos to master. The variety of commands on offer and the way your ship responds to them is impressive. For example, click on a planet and they’ll automatically fly in formation towards the target or summon them to attack an enemy and they’ll set up position around the opposition vessel and blast them until they crumble into smithereens; both the friendly and enemy AI react well in battle, attempting to escape when outnumbered and switching targets when they spot a weaker vessel.
Click for larger imageThe tactical element of the gameplay is also fairly well implemented and you’ll juggle tasks, between spells of fighting, such as repairing your ships or issuing cover and retreat commands, but despite the abundance of options available we couldn’t help thinking that the game would work so much better on a PC where there are more keys at your disposal; the Xbox 360 controller just doesn’t do the job well enough.
