A flurry of press this week heralding Star Trek’s first foray into virtual reality gives us a glimpse of what’s in store when the game arrives on May 30th. There are also new details along with videos and images for the game, including the first in-game footage of the recently added bonus content for the original USS Enterprise bridge.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew, from game publisher Ubisoft and developer Red Storm, is set in the Kelvin Timeline and allows players to take command of the USS Aegis (NX-1787), a prototype vessel tasked with finding a suitable planet for the Vulcans to colonize after the loss of their homeworld in Star Trek (2009).
Would-be Starfleet officers can assume a variety of roles: Captain, Helm, Tactical, and Engineering, each with a unique control interface. The game is designed to be a social experience that rewards teamwork, so working with your colleagues and acting as part of a larger group is vital for success. If you don’t have enough friends with VR gear (which is still a relative rarity) to crew your ship, fear not – the computer can fill in any missing positions.
I played the engineer in an earlier version of the game last September, and you can read about my very positive experience here.
No bloody A, B, C, D, or E…
Developer Red Storm has also crafted some very exciting bonus content: a painstaking recreation of the Enterprise bridge from The Original Series, which will be playable in the game’s “Random Missions” mode, which, as the name suggests, randomly creates new missions. The lack of an intuitive interface (colored buttons, anyone?) promises to make this version of the game a bit more challenging to master.
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Armchair adventures from across the web
A few video game sites were fortunate enough to get a hands-on demonstration of the latest version of the game. UploadVR, a site dedicated to all-things virtual, shared their thoughts about the game and demonstrated what playing a mission looks like.
IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey also had a crack at it, saying it “might be the most fun I’ve had in VR yet.”
***UPDATE*** – The UploadVR crew have posted a video detailing their adventures aboard the Big E:
New Screenshots
Ubisoft has also released some new screenshots of Bridge Crew. Click the thumbnails below to get a closer look.
USS Aegis
USS Enterprise
Warps in next month
Star Trek: Bridge Crew will be released May 30th on the Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, and HTC Vive platforms for $59.99. The game will be playable cross-platform, so if you and your friends all have different VR gear, you can still play the game together. For more information, surf on over to the game’s website.
Check back regularly for more news about what appears to be the most promising Star Trek game in many years.
You can pre-order it at at Amazon.
Looks cool! The phasers fired form the wrong spot on the Enterprise saucer but I’m glad they built in the 20,000v control panels that blow up in your face!
Stupid crap. I spent over a 100$ for a nice occulus vr but because it’s only on Rift I can’t play it.
Uh, the Oculus is the Rift. And it’s being released for all major VR platforms.
What are you talking about? Oculus makes the Rift. The game will be compatible with all major VR platforms (Oculus Rift, Vive and Playstation VR); as long as you have any of those you’re good to go.
Looks very good indeed. Fingers crossed it lives up to the hype and is well supported after release.
Wow. I never thought about that particular jewel-buttons problem. Did we ever see a super close up of the control panels in series — could the function of the button be displayed within the button, such that you’d see it while working the panel, but the home audience wouldn’t in those shots? Otherwise, each color and each shape would have to speak to function — and I’m not sure the layout in this game is entirely logical. Regardless there would still be an amazing amount of memorization which would be ridiculous.
This alone speaks to how ridiculous the need to adhere strictly to canon when it comes to visual parameters, that hard core fans insist is necessary for any new production.
When the TOS bridge was recreated for Enterprise (In a Mirror Darkly) the graphics team created labels for each button because they felt it more realistic. Even in relatively close HD shots, they could not be seen on screen. So it is not clear from a canon standpoint that the original buttons didn’t have labels, or that they weren’t “soft” keys with changing labels.
Oh thank god! I vote labels. That interface they created in this simulator is just dumb!
Looks cool, but I’m unlikely to be able to play with others – I know it has a single player component, but I’m dubious about how well it works, as the main focus on the game seems to be the multiplayer.
Why? You can play over the internet just like any other game.
Some of us old farts do not like online multiplayer. I game occasionally but never online. Old fashioned single player is what I prefer. Heck, I play Madden in single player mode only!
My God. If I had this I would lose my job, my wife, my house and all my friends.
Lots more vids have gone up on YouTube this past couple of days. This game has heaps of potential.