“Star Trek: Bridge Crew” Now Available For Non-VR Gamers

When Star Trek: Bridge Crew was released earlier this year, the biggest obstacle the game faced was the relatively small install base of VR headsets across the globe. The game was designed to be a social experience where you and your friends could get together and work as the command crew of a Federation starship. While the game had an online multiplayer component where you can could match up with other players, finding three other friends who also owned headsets was somewhat difficult. Bridge Crew publisher Ubisoft is addressing that issue by issuing a patch which will make the game available in a more traditional form. The patch is available now for the PS4 and PC.

From Ubisoft’s press release:

Star Trek: Bridge Crew challenges four players to work together to pilot a Federation starship through dangerous missions, but until now, it’s only been playable through VR hardware. That changes with the latest Star Trek: Bridge Crew free update, which removes the requirement for a headset and opens the door for non-VR players to join in and boldly go where no one has gone before.

Using a controller or a mouse and keyboard, players with and without VR headsets can be seamlessly matched together to pilot the U.S.S. Aegis (or U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701) as Starfleet officers, or play alone as captain. The update also includes enhanced Windows Mixed Reality support, adding more options for players to explore uncharted space.

We have written extensively about the game since it was announced, and those articles can be found here, including a video where we went to Ubisoft headquarters in San Francisco to take the game for a spin.

The game’s Creative Director, David Votypka, promises “additional cool things” coming for Bridge Crew (we’ve heard rumors about an Enterprise-D bridge), so stay tuned…

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No comments? That’s a comment in itself lol

YES! God thank you yes!
MERRY EFFING CHRISTMAS!

Sorry :D I am just so happy about this :D

I’m with you! I wanted this game, but am not willing to get VR for it. Now I don’t have to!

Oh I was willing to… my wallet just didn’t agree with that assessement :D

VR seems like a gimmick at the moment, though I have not used it.
Is it really that good?

I own the Playstation VR system and bought Star Trek Bridge Crew when it was first released.

With regard to your first comment, VR is still very much in its infancy but even now it is not a gimmick. One of the things STBC let me to is sit in the captain’s chair of the NCC 1701; because of VR I was not looking at the bridge on a screen, I was ON the bridge. You really can’t appreciate the difference between seeing something on a flat panel display and actually being inside it until you’ve tried it and I’d suggest you check it out before dismissing it. Playing games like Skyrim and Doom in VR is light years beyond playing them on a TV.

In terms of gameplay, STBC was very dependent on how familiar the people playing were with the controls. I was in some pretty amazing missions where everyone was into it and the rush of successfully completing a mission was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. I was also in games where the people had no clue how to play the game; you can imagine how that went.

It’s great that more people will be able to experience this, but playing it in VR with a pair of hand controllers is the way to go as the sense of immersion and tactile feedback is what sells the game. It’s one thing to press a button on a controller to scan a ship, it’s quite another to actually feel like you’re sitting at a console on the bridge of a starship and using a pair of virtual hands to interact with that console in front of you to scan the ship.

Couldn’t agree more. PSVR is amazing– you’re there *in* the game.

VR just isn’t good enough yet. I have PSVR and it was fun at first, but after awhile, it felt like a hassle to wear the headset all the time. The graphics are considerably degraded compared to playing on the television.

I’m happy I now have the option to play Bridge Crew without VR.

Out of curiosity, other than STBC, what PSVR games have you tried?

Skyrim VR, Eve: Valkyrie, PS Worlds and the Demo discs.

I find the immersion mitigates the drop in resolution but Skyrim’s graphics are definitely on the coarse side. Eve and VR Worlds look very good to me though; you wouldn’t mistake the visuals for a 1080p display but they never take me out of the experience. Are you playing on an original PS4 or the Pro? I find the Pro improves the visuals; it’s not a night and day difference but it definitely makes games patched to support it look a lot better. Eve Valkyrie was a blurry mess on the original PS4 but looks quite sharp to me on the Pro.

Honestly I feel sorry for mums and dads out there. Every other year, the next must have games console or what not…

Actually, with VR I find the average age of the user to be much older. The younger set doesn’t seem as interested while longtime games seem to like it a lot more.

Why feel sorry? As a parent, you learn to “just say NO”. Children aren’t entitled—and too many parents don’t know how to set limits.

That doesn’t mean you can’t give gifts to your children. It means not giving because it’s expected.

Meanwhile me and my xbox…..

dammit Jim, i now got to buy a PlayStation

so this means that the game is doing pretty good.

It could also mean not enough people have bought the VR game!

No love for Xbox? Ugh…

This needs xbox sooo bad! I just got one for Christmas. Damn now I wished it was a Ps4. Oh well I am not forking out for a pS4 just for this. Most Trek games are not that great anyhow :( I wonder how long this will last.

I think the reason this is not available for Xbox is that while the game supports cross-platform play (ie: PC and PS4 users can play together) Sony does not allow PS4-Xbox cross-platform play. Ubisoft would need to revise the Xbox version to only do cross-platform with the PC and avoid the PS4 and they either can’t or don’t want to invest the resources to do that yet.

I think it was more the fact that XBox currently does not have a VR Set available and therefore was left out.

That was the case but is no longer a factor since the game is now accessible to non-VR players on PS4 and PC

It is unfortunate that VR isn’t a priority for Microsoft on the console side. The Xbox One X is more powerful than the PS4 Pro by a comfortable margin so it could easily handle some compelling VR experiences. VR seemed to be one of the hooks for the Xbox One X before all discussion was suspended; hopefully MS will take note of the enthusiasm Sony’s headset has generated as of late.

I would go so far and say until there are proper companion peripherals (Gloves not controllers for example, those “running cages”) are developed and commercially viable VR stays little more than a gimmick.
Although, as I said above, I was willing to buy VR just for this.

However, I would go so far and say… Keep VR to PC until everything works as it should and doesn’t cost around half of my entire PC.
So I completely understand MSs hesitation, I mean they are also not going anywhere with Hololens recently.

The Touch controllers that are available with the Rift and MS Windows headset are specifically designed for VR; I believe Rift’s controllers can even track individual finger movements. Playstation VR’s Aim controller has a gun-style peripheral called the Aim which is outstanding for first person shooters and even the old Move controllers work surprisingly well as virtual hands. VR is still evolving but in terms of hand controllers at least there are a lot of very good devices out there already.

However not a single “Glove only”… all have those clunky extras and boxes with them with a shitton of buttons.
I really dislike it, because that really takes you out of the game, given that instead of actually grabbing the apple you see, you push a button…

Thanks to this update, I bought the game for my regular non-VR PS4. I tried it today, and it’s murderously tough to learn using the PS4 Dualshock controller. The visuals are geared to VR, so it’s a little odd to get used to looking around, but nothing tough.

It’s definitely multiplayer-oriented, with each station having enough controls and decisions to be complex and engaging.

I’ll try it again later with my PS3 Move controllers, which are supposed to work, to see if that is easier to control.

I’m glad I bought it, but I think the VR experience is needed to really appreciate this game fully. We’ll see.