Take control in Star Trek: Legacy where you have reign over not only your command ship but often several others.
Star Trek: Legacy
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platforms: Xbox 360, PC
Rating: E – Everyone 10+
Game type: Strategy/action
*** 1/2 (out of 5)
• What’s the premise?
The command of the U.S.S. Enterprise is yours. Which one?
Three generations’ worth as you lead Jonathan Archer’s ship from the TV series Enterprise, James T. Kirk’s model from the original 1960s Star Trek series and Jean-Luc Picard’s Next Generation vessel in order to solve a mystery that spans the centuries. Oh, and Captains Sisko of Deep Space Nine and Janeway of Voyager are in the mix too, as all the actors who played these famous characters lend their voices to this game.
• This game is most similar to…?
Some Trekker’s wildest mind-meld fantasy.
• Can I let my kid/kid brother play it?
Since you never actually see anyone’s face in this game — just a lot of ships and displaced voices — it’s not likely to freak them out when they waste some Romulans. Arm the photon torpedoes! Fire phasers!
• One player or more?
The co-op wave mode allows you and a pal to take on scores of enemy ships — including traditional Trek baddies such as the Klingons, Romulans and Borg. The bulk of this game is just you, your fleet and the vastness of space … the final frontier.
The (not-so) secret to success is…? Take command. You don’t just control your command ship, but sometimes several others as your fleet takes on piles of enemy vessels. Make sure each of the other members of your star fleet know what they should be doing and you can take a lot of heat off yourself.
• What’s missing?
Having the voice acting talents of legends like William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Scott Bakula, Kate Mulgrew and Avery Brooks is pretty awesome, but the game could have used a few cut scenes where we could see the likenesses of their characters instead of the constant voiceovers.
• And in the end?
Legacy will blow the socks off any Trek fan with a generation-spanning story and scores of inside stuff. Take away the power of the name, however, and it’s just a pretty-good strategy/action title.
JONATHAN P. KUEHLEIN/metro toronto
