Mad Doc Software's Star Trek: Legacy has finally arrived in the hands of consumers and reviewers to rather mixed reviews that have generally praised the graphics and audio but expressed some frustration with the gameplay itself.

"Legacy felt like it was rushed out the door and a lot of the promised features got brushed to the cutting-room floor," said a review at IGN, which praised the story and "exceptional narration" - particularly Archer's battle with the Romulans, at which players must triumph to move on to the other eras - but said that the game would likely only appeal to "hard-core Star Trek fans" and it was very frustrating that one could not save games in the middle of a mission.

Though it was exciting to have all five television captains participating in one game, some of them gave stronger performances than others, according to IGN. "The bottom line is that this is just another one of those 'okay' Star Trek games, not the one we've all been waiting for our whole life. Well, mine at least!" concluded reviewer Robert 'Apache' Howarth, who gave the game a rating of 7.6/10.

Comments on fan bulletin boards were often more extreme both in their praise and in their expressions of disappointment. "With all of the pretty screenshots that Bethesda has dribbled out over the last few months, and breathless talk of how this game would 'revolutionize' Trek gaming, a lot of us had very high hopes that finally the license was with a developer who 'got it' and realized you had to do more than just produce a mediocre space shooter with Trek ships," wrote CaptJimboJones at the TrekBBS.

blaXXer recommended visiting LegacyUniverse.net for mods, which many fans expected to greatly improve the game as they did with Bridge Commander. The first update is already available at Fragland, released by Bethesda Softworks to fix a "small hiccup in the multiplayer code."

At Bethesda's own review forums in the official game thread, comments were more positive. "It took some getting used to. However, after playing for awhile, with much patience, I have really really started to enjoy this game," wrote NeoShadow. "Don't go in thinking it's another SFC or any other Star Trek game for that matter. It's a new title, new engine, new design...there's a learning curve with any new game."

Star Trek: Legacy can be ordered for Xbox 360 or Windows now from Amazon.com.

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