I must admit that I was very tempted to buy this game as soon as it came out. I had been wanting a good Star Trek game for a while, and Legacy looked promising. Thankfully, I did not pre-order and waited for the reviews, so that when I finally bought it I knew what I was getting. At this point, I would not recommend that anyone buy this game. Wait for the next patch (1.3). The game is missing some key elements that should have been included. However, if you decide to go ahead and buy it, it can be made rather enjoyable with a XBox 360 controller and some mods. Still, the best advice is to wait and see what the developer and modders do next before buyiing.
Gameplay: Right off the bat, the gameplay is very awkward with the default keyboard and mouse controls. The real shame is that these controls cannot be remapped, which is rather inexplicable. The game was made to be played with a 360 controller which greatly enhances gameplay. If you are one of these PC gamers who thinks gamepads are beneath you, then pass on this game. However, with a controller plugged in, you're in for a treat. The ships handle pretty well and the camera (controlled by the right stick on the 360 gamepad) lets you rotate in every direction. Much of the combat--the whole game is based in space--is cinematic, as if it were directly from the movies. Your adrenaline will get pumped in a number of fights as you play with and against the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, and the Borg. Moreover, Legacy is easily the best looking Star Trek game to date and certainly the most immersive.
The game comes with a fairly interesting single-player campaign of 15 missions. However, it has a problem, a big problem. There is no in-mission save system. The game autosaves between missions, but you're on your own during the mission. This is a huge problem because some of the missions are quite long (over an hour) and any slip up means you're have to start from the beginning. It's an inexcusable oversight on the part of the developers that just doesn't make any sense. Before starting the campaign, I would strongly suggest downloading the Community Mod (0.4 is the most recent version) that adds an unlimited save feature, easier access to the map-making tools, some additional maps, and some nice textures. I couldn't imagine trying to play this game without this fan-made mod loaded, given how frustrating some of the missions can be. The mod also opens up all of the missions so that you can play them in any order anytime.
The skirmish mode is lots of fun, but it, too, suffers from a huge design flaw. You can have up to four sides with four ships, but you can't select the AI enemy ships and have set-piece battles. Thus, no recreating the Khan vs. Kirk battles of Star Trek II or the battle royale against the Borg cube at the beginning of Star Trek: First Contact (although there is a mod available). This omitted feature alone greatly damages the replay value of the game. Also, the lack of other gameplay modes besides death match is disappointing. I hope that the developers will patch these options into the game, or some enterprising modder will at least unlock the AI enemy selection option. Again, I have no idea why this feature was left out.
Graphics: Generally, the visuals are stunning. The ships are all finely detailed, and other objects (planets, stars, nebulae, etc.) look really good. Many fights look like film footage from movies and are worth taking screenshots of. The only sore spot in the graphics is the explosions, which can be downright ugly. Borg ships are the worse and sometimes show blank square panels as they break apart. It's really a shame since the other parts of the game are so attractive.
Sound: Everything, thankfully, is in order with the audio. The orchestral soundtrack is suitably "Star Trek" in feel, and the voice acting by the 5 captains is good. Sound effects are done well, too.
Technical issues: The game does not have any major technical issues beyond the missing features, but there are glitches. The game manual is inaccurate in places and is obviously a carryover from the XBox 360 version of the game. The default control scheme cannot be remapped, and you cannot replay a skirmish game without dropping to the main menu. The game crashed about a dozen times during the campaign, usually during heavy engagements. On an up-to-date computer, this game should play smoothly and look very good.
Replayability/Value: While the campaign is good overall (though frustrating in places), the replay value of the game will not be decent until the option for selecting AI enemy ships in skirmish mode is added. Although I don't play online, I suppose the multiplayer experience can be good if you can find a game. Ultimately, Legacy is the shell or promise of a good game, not the reality of one. It's for a niche audience of Star Trek gamers who have the time and patience to wait for the official patches and the fan-made goodies (including texture mods, new maps, new missions, etc.) that will make this game really shine. The poor folks who bought this game within the first week of release (or even worse, pre-ordered) and the people who are not interested in mods will suffer the most from this purchase. Of course, it's not right, and the publisher (Bethesda) and developer (Mad Doc) should be ashame. However, I predict that in two years from now this game will be like Bridge Commander and Starfleet Command 3; that is, an out-of-print, heavily modded cult classic with used copies selling on eBay for $100 each. If you can just wait for the great mods to come out and more patches, this game will likely be worth the asking price. If you are looking for a great Star Trek game out of the box, look elsewhere.
Overall, I rate this game a 6 out of 10. If you play it with an XBox 360 controller, add one more point (7). And if you add some choice fan-made mods to the game (start with the Community Mod), add a little more to this score.
Pros:
--Graphics (especially ships)
--Sounds and voice acting
--Cinematic battles
--Decent campaign (with Community Mod save-game feature)
--Convincing Star Trek atmosphere
--Fun battles (with XBox 360 controller)
Cons:
--Goofy default controls
--No in-mission save feature
--No ability to select AI enemy ships in skirmish mode
--Ugly explosions
--Limited gameplay modes
--Poor manual
--An overall lack of polish
--We should have gotten much more for the 40th anniversary of Star Trek
Create an Account
Member Login
