Anilrgowda

It seems a line has been drawn in the sand since around 1977. On one side sits the Star Trek fans that have been enjoying TV shows and movies since 1966. On the other hand are Star Wars fans, many of which have been bragging about the original trilogy for twenty-plus years now.

Even though both titles share the word “star”, don’t be fooled; there’s usually little shared enthusiasm for both intellectual properties. Exactly why is still a mystery to me to this day. I know from personal experience the faceless tribble scared me away from being a die-hard Star Trek fan, but I have enjoyed a few of the movies and the new series since some of the craziness in the original series.

Star Trek may have the upper hand in TV presence, but Star Wars has the distinct exposure advantage when it comes to the video game medium. There are close to ten Star Wars SKUs out just for the Microsoft consoles, and I know of at least one more in the works. Star Trek? Uh, one pretty bad shooter known as Star Trek: Shattered Universe, and the Xbox 360 game we’ll take a look at today: Star Trek Legacy.




Star Trek Legacy is looking to right the star ship in the eyes of gamers, and finally provide something that a trekkie can be proud to load into his or her console. In scope, Star Trek Legacy will be a success in any Trek fan’s eyes. We’re talking about forty years of sci-fi spanning three cycles of the Star Trek saga. Deep Space Nine? Check. Voyager? Affirmitive. Next Generation? All systems are go. The races, personalities, and general grandeur of the series over the last forty years has been crammed onto Star Trek Legacy’s silvery surface.

Of course the actual gameplay of Star Trek Legacy has to be pigeonholed into a specific genre so as to not overwhelm the newbie trekkie. The “legacy” they chose to concentrate on is that of the starship. We rarely see space battle games on consoles (which is odd since so many titles are sci-fi-skewed), but epic fights with 40+ years of Federation vessels is surely appealing.

In the single player campaign, you’ll play as Federation Captain in the throws of a D.C. Fontana-penned saga designed to stand alone as a Trek episode. In fact, the complete production value set has been designed around creating an experience that should remind any Trekkie why they fell in love with this IP in the first place.

When it’s time for the first mission - a search-and-rescue for the Vulcans - you’ll begin piloting from the Enterprise era, and along into the later series. Star Trek Legacy is a third-person-view space battle game, so basically you’ll be piloting an aircraft while looking at it from behind. Default settings have the elevator controls reversed like an actual aircraft. Pitch the left stick up and the vessel will nose-dive. Left and right on the left stick controls vessel roll like the ailerons on a plane.The right stick is for looking around. You can scan 360 degrees around your vessel, with a quick click of the stick centering the view back to tail-on. The controls seem easy enough on paper, and really are like 99% of the flying games out there, but there is a definite learning curve here. The expansiveness of the space backdrop gives few reference points. You’ll be like a Cessna pilot flying inadvertently upside down in the fog for awhile, and perhaps for your entire tenure as a Star Trek Legacy Captain. I would have preferred a flying system a bit different from the standard plane controls here, but maybe that would have confused gamers even more. Just plan on getting lost and discombobulated on a regular basis.

To aid with the aforementioned issue of getting “lost in space” (I just had to), a nifty Command View clearly lays out mission objectives. You can send a single ship or a fleet to a specific spot on the map with an easy waypoint system. Waypoints can also be set in-game for targets that are in view; simply aim your reticule at the intended target and the autopilot does the rest.




There are a host of speeds you can choose when traveling towards the set course, including the ultra-cool Warp Speed. The Warp mode is a slick form of transport which must be re-charged before it is used again. A fully charged Warp can be unleashed with a press of the Y button, but can’t be engaged in close proximity to planets or nebulas. For the ‘"signature” moves of Star Trek spacecraft, I expected Warp Speed to look a bit cooler. The minimatic of warp looks like something out of a cartoon, and the third-person, in-game effect is like fast-forward with a few lines there to depict speed.

Normal “impulse speed” is more believable in its appearance due to the overall pace of the animation. Full impulse is default set at the press of the B button, while the speed menu (press and hold B) can chop up acceleration into half impulse and one quarter impulse settings (or full stop for those that like to be a sitting duck). It’s pretty much mandatory to use the slower speed options when battling as a larger ship, as this greatly increases maneuverability.

The weapons system of ships in Star Trek Legacy includes a primary and secondary weapon. Primary weapons are of the phaser or disrupter variety, and are meant to break down shielding systems. Secondary weapons are projectile-based, and are meant to complete the kill. The right and left triggers handle primary and secondary weapons respectively with the aid of a targeting and lock-on system. Lock-on is either automatic when the vessel’s main reticule is aligned with the enemy, or you can choose from a list of enemies by taps of the right bumper button.

Once your reticule is in the general range of your weaponry, a large, box-shaped reticule will slowly close in on the adversary. A large blue box is for primary weapons, and a smaller red box is for secondary munitions. The tighter the reticule, the better the target is locked, which equals more damage. If you get a really good lock on an enemy, the reticule turns into a rotating circle. There’s also a subsystem targeting mode that can be accessed when in full-lock by pressing in on the left stick. This allows something other than the ship’s hull to be targeted when you feel like having a heart. The reticule lock-on system looks pretty cool, and does a good job of rewarding gamers for being more accurate in the tracking of an enemy ship. Having both primary and secondary weapons being locked at the same time can get a bit confusing, but it does pay off for advanced gamers looking for an edge, not to mention something aesthetically pleasing when blowing baddies to bits. But there are some drawbacks to the weapon aiming system utilized in Star Trek Legacy. If the hulking ships aren’t hard enough to control, now you have to try and keep tabs on enemies flying in 3D space all around you. Add on to this cluster-fest weapons which fire from all parts of the ship, and you have total mayhem every now and again.

In most flying games, the weapons are forward-firing, so it’s a bit easier to just point the nose of the vessel in the general direction of the enemy. You can do that in Star Trek Legacy, but it’s much easier to get off of the nose-forward path since weapons can be effective from many directions. There really needs to be a system similar to Blazing Angels’ follow-cam in place that keeps an enemy somewhat in front of your vessel at all times. Many times you’ll find the enemy passing overhead while you are sitting there a sitting duck; out of the range of your weapons and at a slow Impulse Speed. I know cat and mouse chasing with huge vessels is not the most accurate of scenarios, but it would help stave of the feeling of never knowing for sure what is going on every battle sequence.

In addition to the Campaign mode of Star Trek Legacy is a Skirmish area which is basically an action-only single player affair. The good thing about Skirmish is that you’re not stuck commanding the Federation ships that are sometimes outmatched. Klingon, Borg, and Romulan ships from every era are available in single player death match or co-op battles versus bots. Multiplayer action via Live features up to four human opponents, with race and fleet assembly in the hand’s of each gamer. You can team-up for Wave action versus bots, or play adversarial in Death Match. Even though the player count isn’t high, the action is pretty hectic since each player can assemble a fleet of four vessels. The same issues as the Campaign crop up here of course, with the controls leading toward bouts of frustration. It’s pretty fun when you’re actually blowing up ships, however.




There aren't many compliments I can give Star Trek Legacy from a graphical standpoint. Granted, space games are hard to pull off since there’s so much dead “space”, but things are just too bland overall. The particle effects are uninspiring, the ship models look somewhat cartoon-y, and the background objects like space stations and planets appear like pasted-on clip art for whatever reason. The extras like the reticules, battle map, and H.U.D. items are nice, but the rest of Star Trek Legacy doesn’t really scream ”next-gen”, which it should since it’s a futuristic, sci-fi title.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is tres next-gen, with an outstanding orchestral mélange. The voice acting is really pretty good too (helped out by a well-written story), even outside of the five captains that are real-deal Trek cast members (including Shatner). The sound effects are dandy too, which ties well into Star Trek Legacy’s biggest strength which is its overall faithfulness to the forty year history of Star Trek.

With strong ties to the history (or legacy if-you-will) of Star Trek, it’s obvious that Star Trek Legacy will make a worthy addition to any Trekkie's game collection (which should contain at least two games regardless of how good or bad they are). Players just looking for action in the final frontier known as space may want to come back down to earth and search for flyboy action within our atmosphere. In Mad Doc’s defense, space flyers are very hard to pull off correctly. I can’t say this one was pulled off enough for me to recommend it to those that a





Full discombobulation ahead sir. Without a horizon as reference, the plane-like controls of Star Trek Legacy create havoc. Targeting system needs tweaked. Star Trek production feel has been nailed.






Too basic for a next-gen game representing 40 years of sci-fi history.






Inspiring symphonic soundtrack. Above average sound effects and voice acting.






Online play helps, but lack of save points may lead to premature engine failure.






At times, like a model ship suspended by strings in front of a black background.