I feel compelled to write a review for this game because there has been a lot of negative feedback. I can't compare this game to the PC version because I don't have it, but I understand that the PC version is much more difficult to control than the 360 version.
First off, the graphics are absolutely amazing. I do not understand why some people are complaining about the backgrounds during missions. They are realistic and do not appear static or repetitive to me at all. I agree that the planets are sized incorrectly and the fact that you just bounce away from them instead of being able to approach them is somewhat annoying. However, it's a trade-off: you don't need to land on a planet, so it doesn't need to get bigger and bigger (and fill the screen) as you go through the atmosphere. If you were able to go through the atmosphere...then what would you expect to happen? I think the designers approached this correctly, since the concept is "space battle". However, an indication that you are too close to a planet and are about to be ejected would be nice too.
The explosions are acceptable, if not stellar. I agree that enemy ships explode oddly, but it's realistic enough and it gets the point across. I'm just happy when I actually get to destroy a ship, because it's so hard to do so sometimes. Which leads me to the controls...
The controls for this game are seriously complex. Some of the buttons perform double-duty, and then there are combinations of buttons that perform specific duties. After first getting the game, I played at least 10-15 skirmish sessions just so I could get familiar with the game controls. You'll need the manual near you, turned to the page that describes the controller functions! The manual doesn't provide much detail about HOW to control certain things, you just need to stick with it and keep practicing. Yes, it can be frustrating at times. However, as a positive, I'm certain having all the controls in your hand (in the form of the 360 controller) is much better than trying to manipulate everything using a combination of keyboard and mouse, and possibly a joystick/joypad if you were playing on a PC.
Once you play several skirmishes, you won't be disappointed with the campaign.
The campaign begins with a tutorial -- which is really important. It actually helped me identify some things that I was doing wrong in the skirmishes. The game camera will actually track an enemy once you target it, so you don't need to control the camera. Unfortunately, you'll eventually want control of the camera, and doing so breaks the lock. However, pressing the "target" button (RB) will allow the camera to track the enemy ship again. Sometimes the camera angle isn't great -- for example, I need to be able to see the tractor beam when I lock it onto a ship, and sometimes the angle selected by the AI isn't perfect.
Each ship moves differently. You will quickly identify your favorites, especially when playing a skirmish game. Some respond very quickly, while others are painfully slow. Surprisingly, the biggest aren't always the most powerful. My suggestion is to give up on your favorites from the shows (Voyager, Enterprise, etc.) and pick an odd ship -- you'll get better performance in most cases. If you choose to battle as a Borg ship...good luck figuring out which side of a ship is "forward"...then again, do they have one? However, there are many, many ships available, which adds to the difficulty and also to the replay value.
The music is good, if somewhat repetitive -- music I would expect for something "Trek". Some of the soundtracks remind me of those from Star Trek II and III, while most of it sounds like Next Generation-type music. The voice acting is great, but the cinematic sequences are slow -- ships in space, ships in dock, etc. I would have preferred animated renditions of each of the characters.
The objectives for each mission are reviewable during play -- but not clearly defined up-front when the mission begins. It also lacks a mission progress indicator, so you can't tell how much further you need to go. There's no manual save option either, so once you start a mission, you're pretty much committed to completing it or starting it over again. At the very least, I would expect it to save progress after each objective is met. However this depends on personal preference: I wouldn't want the system to save my progress if my ship was terribly damaged for example. Additionally, not everybody is trying to complete a game in 10-15 hours, and if I need to replay a mission several times, so be it.
Regarding the Xbox 360 achievements for this game -- I was glad to earn 45 achievements with only a couple hours of play. However, the achievements for this game seem extremely complex, with some of them geared specifically toward online gaming. The achievements, from my perspective, are not very "rewarding".
Bottom line: this is a game for those who love Trek, and those who have a lot of patience! It's a logic game, requiring you to make the right moves to reach the goal. The graphics are great. The sound is great. The controls are OK -- but they fit the Xbox 360 controller almost perfectly. I think it has a lot of replay value, especially if Xbox achievements are your thing. It's a big game, much bigger than most have reported.
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