Bethesda's bounty: starships, pirates, and Johnny Depp

Bethesda Softworks may be hush-hush about Fallout 3 this year, but the company still has a ton of things to say about its upcoming titles, Star Trek Legacy and Pirates of the Carribean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. TV and movie tie-ins tend to be mediocre at best, but these two games just might earn the coveted title of Surprisingly Good Licensed Games. Pirates of the Carribean: TLoJS might seem like a standard pirate-theme hack-and-slash game, but that impression lasts only until Captain Jack first opens his graphically rendered mouth. Johnny Depp himself lent his voice to this game, reprising his role as the cynical, flamboyant rogue Jack Sparrow. This is no short speech at the beginning, either (I'm looking at you, Patrick Stewart in Oblivion); the game is focused around Jack telling tall tales of his feats as a pirate, giving Depp plenty of lines as the good buccaneer.

Star Trek Legacy is also on the way, described by the developers as the biggest Star Trek game to date. Legacy spans all periods of Star Trek, includes dozens of ships, and uses some of the most intricate starship models to date. It doesn't have big-name voice talent (still looking at you, Patrick Stewart!), but it's shaping up to be a nerd-pleaser of the highest order. Also on the way to portables is Star Trek: Tactical Assault. It's not as big as Legacy, but this original series/movie-era tactical starship battle game includes plenty of missions and different ships, as well as the opportunity to play as the Federation, the Klingons, or even the Gorn. ST:TA will have versions for both the PSP and the DS. The two versions will differ in only touch-screen control and graphical ability; they'll have the same ships, the same missions, and the same basic gameplay.

Pirates of the Carribean comes out for the PlayStation 2 and the PC this summer, alongside Star Trek: Tactical Assault for the PSP and the DS, while Star Trek Legacy comes out for the Xbox 360 and the PC this fall.