Unless you enjoy hand cramps and frustration, avoid this extremely disappointing title.
STAR TREK video games are either really good or suck ass. There seems to be no in-between. Both editions of ELITE FORCE were great first person shooters that took the STAR TREK universe and enhanced it to make an enjoyable game with a great storyline featuring the Borg, a new alien species and more. On the other hand, BRIDGE COMMANDER kept you confined inside the bridge of your ship and forced you to go through the motions of commanding the ship as if you were literally the captain. While intriguing for virtual life, gameplay wise, it blew.
STAR TREK LEGACY had such great promise, take all the captains from every television series and give you control of them in a real time simulator format with all the ships from all the series and some that are new to everyone. Unfortunately, the enjoyment of LEGACY ends with its promise.
After loading the game you encounter the first problem, you can’t adjust any of the controls to fit your own specified needs – I never quite understand why programmers never factor this into their programming, it should be one of the No.1 priority for these developers.
The second problem begins as you start the first mission as Captain Archer on board the original Enterprise. And that problem is the control themselves. If finger cramping became an Olympic sport, they would use this game in order to practice. You must arrange your hands in such a way that you can only stand it for so long before you realize it is a short trip to carpal tunnel syndrome. Without being able to reconfigure the controls and without any support for a joystick you are stuck using these controls they have assigned the game.
Then there is the non-ability to save the game whenever you want but only after you accomplish your task. If you fail, you gotta start all over. Another poor planning and half baked idea not to include a better save game system. Again another amazing fault at how many developers do not include this feature in their games when people obviously always want this ability.
If you are expecting tips or help with the controls from the manual, think again … it is a mere pamphlet that contains virtually nothing of help. And then there is the multiplayer capabilities – that only work if you download the patch for the game. Even then, once you have downloaded a patch, the multiplayer is incredibly limited and quickly becomes a yawner.
The best part of LEGACY is the ships. They look amazing and the damage that they take is realistic and awesome – much the same as the damage seen in THE WRATH OF KHAN that was so pronounced and amazing. The space environments are also well done with Nebulas and different planets that really bring a nice scope to the places you travel.
The other nice thing about the game is the voice over acting which is top notch with Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, William Shatner and Scott Bakula giving as best as they can. Little did they know what a craptacular game they would be contributing to.
"There are things in the Universe billions of years older than either of our races. They are vast, timeless, and if they are aware of us at all, it is as little more than ants and we have as much chance of communicating with them as an ant has with us. We know. We've tried and we've learned that we can either stay out from underfoot or be stepped on. They are a mystery and I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the Universe, that we have not explained everything. Whatever they are, Miss Sakai, they walk near Sigma 957 and they must walk there alone."
Ambassador G'Kar
