That story cuts to the core of Trek history, and in a way that's bound to stir up controversy with the sort of Trek fans who can rattle off stuff like Spock's age (in Vulcan years) or the fact that Martin Landau (Mission Impossible) was originally offered that classic series role. Basically, writers Fontana and Chester have come up with a way to meaningfully link the Borg through all three eras (including Archer's and Kirk's) vis-a-vis a Napoleonic Vulcan scientist. She discovers the Borg in the Federation's early days, and, well, to say more would be telling. Suffice it to add that much speculation involving Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the enigmatic "V'ger" probe is finally expounded in a way that colors prior gray areas starkly black and white. The eras through which the narrative unfolds break into Enterprise, the original series and The Next Generation at five missions apiece, with the latter including both Deep Space Nine and Voyager material. Over the course of the story you'll encounter a healthy dose of Klingon Birds of Prey and Romulan Warbirds as well.

The game plays out strictly in space, usually with a few planets or wispy nebulae to navigate around (nebulae disrupt electronic equipment) on what's essentially a flat "lateral" 2-D plane with just enough "vertical" leeway to facilitate limited omnidirectional maneuvering. You control up to four Federation ships by wiggling the thumbsticks to bank and pitch or pan the camera, and pull the left and right triggers to fire phasers or torpedos. Switching ships is accomplished by tapping the D-pad, and the computer automatically manages whoever you're not, responding to basic commands you can issue like "go here, escort that, or gang up on these." You can also set impulse engines (full, half or quarter speed); juggle various energy-based subsystems to boost engines, weapons or shields; and issue repair commands to five subsystems. Completing missions yields "command points" that can be used to purchase better ships, all the way up to Picard's Sovereign class NCC-1701-E. If you're up for multiplayer, the game supports two- to four-player skirmishes—each player can purchase four ships apiece, which means up to 16-ship battles—and offers control of Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Borg vessels.

A legacy that could use a rest

The trouble with Star Trek Legacy isn't that it trots out the Borg like a kid that can't keep its hands off the candy platter, or its lamentable voice work by beloved actors who sound like schoolkids woodenly reciting lines out loud from the book of the week to fill class time. No, the problem with Legacy is simply that it reduces the essence of a TV series about sociopolitical dynamics to unabashed shoot-ups, then fails to evolve even those basic mechanics beyond rudimentary naval maneuvers that fail to distinguish one ship from the next. Every battle feels like the battle you just fought, sandwiched between spurts of autopilot narration.

Initially the game engine is something to behold. It captures the ambience of each era's visuals, including the films if you opt to mess around with the U.S.S. Enterprise movie refits in solo skirmish or multiplayer mode. On a high-definition television, you'll probably be amazed at the visual fidelity developer Mad Doc brings to each vessel. It's stunning enough that some have posted comparison shots pulled straight from the show, and the images frankly favor the game. That's impressive.

It's tragic, then, that such an able engine ends up slaving for such a generic tactical taskmaster. Obviously Mad Doc was aiming for accessibility, and Legacy is without question an easy game to pick up. But it's also much too easy to master, because once you've managed a few battles you've pretty much managed them all, and the only thing that changes is weapons and energy system ratings, which inch modestly up as you hop from era to era. The game's idea of mission variety is to have you follow narrative imperatives such as escorting ships and scanning planets, but we're talking actions as complex as this or that button click, which triggers a scripted narrative event, then ultimately falls back on full-contact brawling.

If the tactical combat actually evolved, it might be something—say, different ship abilities, weapons or access to alternate energy management systems. But Archer's fledgling Enterprise is merely a weaker version of Janeway's Voyager. All the fundamental attributes—warp engines, shields, phasers, torpedos—are the same, and combat proceeds in unvaried "advance-flank-fire-repeat" fashion. It's certainly not enough to fault the game for having an "arcade" vibe, but when it literally plays like the same level over and over, well ... at least there's the OK story, even if it's likely to confound Trekkers with its canonical liberties or outright confuse novitiates with its in-group references.

Don't count on multiplayer to make a mediocre game mediocre-plus. As of this review, hunting for matches tends to end in sync problems and outright hangs, which lead to reboots, which lead to fist-waving. If you want a quick battle, it's safer to go it solo against the computer in skirmish mode, though again, after a half-dozen battles with any of the ships on all sides, you've pretty much played them all.

Do you want a Star Trek game at all costs? If that's the case, Legacy ranks a hair's width better than the usual franchise flub-ups, and it's certainly worlds better on the 360 than the PC (the latter shipped with disastrous bugs and an awful control scheme). But if you're more into Trek for its characters and away missions and morality lessons, all you're getting here, really, is "cowboys in space" wearing remarkably convincing costumes.