Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My son has been eagerly anticipating this game for nearly a month (the release date was actually on our calendar), and I was loathe to disappoint him. I drove clear across town to the only EB in the phone book that had it in stock (two days AFTER the release date, BTW. That is, the release date that was announced after the previous release date, which was pushed back from an earlier release date, but is stilll a week before the OTHER release date, of the xbox version, that is...explain THAT to a ten year old who just keeps obsessively reciting the words "Captain's Stardate 2905.2 etc". It has not been a good week. But I digress...) Anyway, we finally have it. So, naturally, it turned out to be a complete turd. Granted, it's a very attractive turd, all shiny and encased in lucite, but still a turd. The ships look great, but the overall game feels rushed, with sparse features and awkward controls. The box contains the usual brochure masquerading as a player's guide...I've received bigger pamphlets for free just standing around downtown. Maybe they should just start printing the instructions on the inside fo the box lid, like Milton Bradley does? I'm sure they could do it with this game, which has all of the depth of a California blond named Candy. I suspect it may be a better xbox game, but the PC game is unplayable, owing to a finger-cramping keyboard-only interface that cannot be reconfigured to a more rational layout without knowledge of the arcane art of XML, and it does not support a joystick without the use of third-party software. This alone is a show stopper. I have two game-crazy kids that played games like Starfleet Command 2 and 3 for hours on end who gave this game less than ten minutes of their time before giving up in disgust. You have to patch it immediately if you wish to play multiplayer(oh, yes, there is a patch already), and these skirmishes are very limited in scope. But that's OK, you'll be too busy pondering the need for the game developers to include every Nebula, planet, comet and asteroid in the galaxy all within fifty feet of eachother. It looks like the Hubble threw up. I think they found all that missing dark matter. Turns out, it's pink. Who knew? The only nice thing I can say about it is that the ships are pretty, and the installer never prompted me for a serial number. This makes me a bit suspicious as to just how they have DRM'ed it, but until my computer suddenly beams itself to Mad Doc software in the middle of the night, I'm not going to worry about it. Anyway, skip this one unless you have an Xbox, or at least wait until the modders have their way with it. Out of the box, it's a train wreck of a game.