Star Trek: Legacy - Gameplay

Gameplay

Players control a squadron of between one and four 3D modeled starships, and engage in battles against other starships. Starship movement is controlled with pitch, yaw, and forward propulsion (as well as a straight-line "warp" capability for rapid movement across a map environment). Movement occurs in a fully 3D "pizza box" shaped environment. The player operates a single starship at a time, controlling weapons fire, movement and repairs, and can switch between each of the starships in their squadron. Players also have the ability to change from a 3D display to a top-down 2D tactical display where you can issue specific commands to ships within a task force; for example, a player is able to order a ship to warp to a specific point for defense of a station or ship.

Viewpoint is controlled in several ways, with players able to "lock" onto an opponent to ensure that the opponent is always centered in the screen, to look straight forward, or to rotate camera around the selected ship. Starships are classified according to weapons strength and maneuverability, and assigned a set number of points that roughly corresponds to the strength of the ship. The player earns 'command points' through performance and progress through the missions, and can select new ships to add to their squadron by spending these points.

In addition to the linear campaign, there is a customizable skirmish mode. Players select the 'map' on which to play, the number of ships per squadron, the number of command points allowed, the race and allegiance of each AI player, and the make-up of their own squadron of ships. Players can use this effect to host a range of battles outside of campaign mode, extending to controlling ships of different races faced in the campaign from all generations, including the Borg, Klingons and Romulans.

The PC version has a few modifications & tools. Commonly known mods include the U.U (Ultimate Universe) Mod, which allows players to utilise a mass armada (with both sides' ships chosen out of a list of 450+ starships across all races), or just battles with pre-determined ships for both sides. U.U adds a new mode called "Historical Battles", in which players may fight famous battles from the Star Trek series, from multiple points of view. A noticeable mode included within non-modified and improved upon versions of the game is the "coop wave" mode, in which a player (with up to 6 other "squadrons/fleets" from allies of races selected) guards a station from assault by increasingly harder-to-defeat enemy fleets, increasing in gradual waves. Bethesda has released a Mission Editor tool allowing users to freely customize missions, available for download on the Bethesda website.