Bethesda stardates Trek games

Today, Bethesda Softworks shipped out the first of a trio of forthcoming games based on the iconic Star Trek television and movie series. First out of the gate was Star Trek: Encounters, an E10+-rated PlayStation 2 game developed by 4J Studios. The "arcade style space combat game" will let players engage in interstellar battles taken from all five Star Trek television shows: the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.

On October 24, Trekkers can boldly go where no gamer has gone before while on the go. That's when Star Trek: Tactical Assault will ship for the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS. Developed by Quicksilver Software (Master of Orion III), the E-rated game is a real-time space-combat sim that pits Federation starships against a series of foes, including the Romulans and Klingons.

Last but not least, Bethesda also announced that Star Trek: Legacy will warp into stores on November 7 for the Xbox 360 and PC. Developed by Mad Doc Software, the still-unrated Legacy is a space combat sim that will cast players as a Starfleet admiral commanding a task force of vessels, and it will feature more than 60 vessels culled from the entire Trek timeline (AD 2151 to 2376).

Legacy will also sport the likenesses and voices of all five actors who played captains on the Star Trek shows. William Shatner will reprise his role as Star Trek's swaggering Captain James T. Kirk, while Patrick Stewart will once again polish off the pate of The Next Generaton's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Avery Brooks will return as Deep Space Nine's Captain/Commander Benjamin Sisko, Kate Mulgrew will don the unitard of Voyager's Captain Kathryn Janeway, and Scott Bakula will make the quantum leap back into the uniform of Enterprise's Captain Jonathan Archer.