Star Trek: Legacy

If you’re as nerdy as I am, then Star Trek: Legacy might very well be your dream game. Combining strategic combat with stunning visuals and massive starships, Star Trek: Legacy will certainly appeal to both Star Trek fans and strategy lovers.

You’ll take the role of a Starfleet Admiral, choosing the ships, equipment and captains that will make up your task force. You’ll have four ships at your command at a time, along with the ability to easily rotate between them for direct control, or simply give them orders to follow out on their own. While you’ll only have direct control over four of the ships in the fleet, there will be plenty of other ships participating in the game’s epic space battles. These battles will feature dozens of warships and will take you to all corners of the galaxy!

Hardcore Trekkies will be pleased to know that the game spans the entire Star Trek Universe. The single player Federation campaign will allow you to control ships from Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Original Series. However, the multi-player campaign builds even further on the Star Trek experience, including the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.  In multi-player, you’ll even be able to command ships from the Klingon, Borg and Romulan races. As you win battles you’ll be awarded with points that can be used to purchase new ships or upgrade an old one. All in all, there are over sixty different ships at your control, all beautifully rendered and distinct. This is by far the best looking Star Trek game I’ve ever seen.

Fans familiar with Star Trek: Armada II on the PC may find some similarities between it and Legacy: both are strategy games based in the Star Trek Universe and both were developed by Mad Doc Software. However, the similarities pretty much end there. Everything in Legacy is on a larger scale, from the ships to the regions of space that you’ll explore. Combat won’t be as frantic as in many strategy games, as you’ll only have to worry about a few ships at a time. It’s not about having battles filled with hundreds of units… it’s about bringing the Star Trek experience to life. Mad Doc wants gamers to get a look at what it’s like to have massive starships dueling in space, ripping each other to shreds with each blast. The traditional overhead camera view of Armada is gone, increasing the intensity and bringing gamers even closer to the action.

I had the chance to watch a few battles in action at E3, and I must say I was thoroughly impressed. The damage modeling on the ships looks great, and each bit of damage inflicted is evident on the ship’s hull. Damaged ships will break apart and spew sparks, scattering debris as they’re hit. Weapon effects are stunning, and the environments, filled with nebulas, wormholes and stars, look gorgeous! We were thrown right into the middle of a battle between Federation and Romulan forces. As the battle raged on and the Federation forces were gaining the upper hand, we were surprised by the sudden appearance of a Borg Cube! Realizing everyone’s life was now at risk, the Federation and Romulan forces joined together to battle the Borg.

You’ll be able to take the action online with Xbox Live on the Xbox 360. There will be matchmaking, stat tracking and player ranking. There will be a variety of games types available, from small-scale engagements to all-out war.

The last I heard from Bethesda, they were in the works of trying to secure vocal talent straight from the Star Trek series’. I was also told that a major Star Trek writer was going to be signed on to work on the game’s story. However, the details of the vocal and writing talents are yet to be revealed.

The game should be out in time for Star Trek’s 40th anniversary this fall, and will be available on both the PC and Xbox 360. Star Trek fans and gamers who are looking for a unique strategy experience should keep their eyes open!