Just not as big as it could have been!
Let's leave the textures aside for a moment. As you start your journey...your in with the birth of the Federation and in the NX-01 with Jonathan Archer. Cool. As you expect, the first few missions are not that hard as you learn to pilot and the controls. Yet before you know it...that era is done, and you swiftly move on to TOS. Which is really the meat of the game. Or so you think. A couple missions later your in the TOS refitted Enterprise-A era (TMP). Which is nice to see, but your not there that long at all. As you jump straight to TNG. Well right before it, as you have one mission in the USS Stargazer (the dreaded Asteroid Level). Not bad, though this level really takes a hit in the points you get to spend, so spend wisely before this level. Once you get into the true TNG and the Galaxy Class Enterprise, your quickly moving on to the Sovereign Class...which takes you to the end of the game. Don't get me wrong, I liked it...I just wished we could have stayed in certain eras longer. I felt rushed through. Of course you can hang in certain eras while online through multi-player. But I just wish that the game itself took it's time to tell the story rather than rushing through.
Which brings me to the story. If you are a die-hard ST fan...who is really a stickler for canon. I wouldn't play this game if I were you. It's a nicely plotted story that interweaves the eras together. Hearing Kirk mention Jonathan Archer's missions, gave me goosebumps. But just be prepared for a little creative license when Kirk fights the Borg...and ultimately learning of the "new" Borg Queen.
As a fan, I want to sit here and glow all over one of the best Star Trek games on any system...ever. It is. But I have to be honest...it's not worth a 9.0, it's not worth an 8.0. There is just too much that could have been with this game to go any higher than I did. It's the 360, dang-it. Push the envelope a little. It feels like a game that had a good premise, and was pitched correctly...but then got hurried through the process to hit the shelves on time.
It's a story that weaves, Archer, Kirk, Picard, Sisco, Janeway...all together in a nice story that does make sense...though a little canon rearranging here or there.
I will say it is annoying to have your fleet warp ahead of you right into danger getting plastered by a Borg Cube, when your stuck behind a planet trying to catch up. But that is a small consolation. Though it makes up to be able to warp around in a cloaked Bird of Prey for a mission.
All in all...the textures, the rushed along missions (finished the game in roughly 12 hours), skipping from era to era too quickly...just brings down what could have been something very special. If you have friends that share your love of anything Trek...multi-player might be the only reason to buy. Flying around as a Borg Cube isn't bad either.