Con SuiteThe Reactor

The Reactor Game Review – Star Trek: Bridge Crew

By: DRWHO42

During Star Trek: Mission New York I had the opportunity to play Star Trek: Bridge Crew. This is a new Virtual Reality (VR) game from Red Storm, an UbiSoft studio, scheduled for release on November 29th, 2016 for PlayStation®VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. imageAs a person who has traveled near and far to play VR games since they first started to appear in arcades – kind of dating myself here – I was surprised how far the technology has come along since those days. Bridge delivers in creating an environment where players can actually play as an officer on the bridge of the Federation Starship U.S.S Aegis.

Ubisoft held a panel during Mission New York to discuss the game and also had a booth on the exhibit hall floor for demonstration sessions. Here’s the audio for the panel:

The gaming experience for Bridge Crew was immersive from the moment I placed the Oculus Rift on my head. Combined with the hand controllers hand tracking was very accurate and the full-body avatars brought additional realism to the gameplay. Click here to view the video of the hand controller demonstration. 

Bridge Crew can be played either solo or as co-op. In solo game mode, the play assumes the role of Captain and gives orders to the bridge crew. In co-op mode, each player takes a station – Helm, Engineering, Tactical, or Captain – and has an assignment to fulfill during the mission. Every action and decision you make together will determine the fate of your ship and crew.

The key for success in Bridge Crew is teamwork. Similar to any crew in the Star Trek universe, and in real-life, each position has to work together in order to succeed. When I played the demo I played the Engineer’s station. My role included controlling the transporter and power levels between weapons, shields, & propulsion.

LeVar Burton, Karl Urban, and Jerri Ryan playing Star Trek Bridge Crew
LeVar Burton, Karl Urban, and Jerri Ryan playing Star Trek Bridge Crew

Click here to see the trailer for the game and see the reaction of Trek alums who played the game.

Ubisoft highlighted some of the main features as follows:
DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP FOR VR
Star Trek: Bridge Crew was developed specifically for virtual reality. Hand tracking with full body avatars and real time lip sync allow players to experience what it’s like to serve as an officer on the bridge of a Federation starship.

OPERATE AS A CREW
Make strategic decisions and coordinate actions with your crew to complete the mission. In co-op, players can form a crew of four to serve in the roles of Captain, Helm, Tactical and Engineer. Each is crucial to the success of the varied missions you face and the safety of your crew and ship.

A UNIQUE SHIP FOR A UNIQUE MISSION
The U.S.S. Aegis is the first ship of her kind. Whether plotting courses and analyzing scan data or hacking enemy shields and targeting vulnerable ship subsystems, you’ll have Starfleet’s cutting-edge technology at your fingertips. The Aegis’ unique design makes her ideal for the dangerous mission in The Trench.

A SHARED GALACTIC ADVENTURE
Star Trek: Bridge Crew offers a compelling and engaging co-op experience, with an unmatched sense of reality. You’ll need more than just individual skill to overcome the challenges you’ll face with one another; communication, trust, and close crew coordination are the keys to victory.

MISSION GENERATOR
In addition to a dynamic storyline, Star Trek: Bridge Crew features an “Ongoing Missions” mode, procedurally generating missions for countless hours of Solo and Co-op adventure.

After playing the game myself, I was impressed and captivated. Personally, I could envision myself playing this game for countless hours and based on the demo I played I am will be purchasing Star Trek: Bridge Crew for my PlayStation as soon as it is released.

Alyssa from our blog team played the game during the Star Trek: Mission New York con and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. She summarized the game as:

While I am not currently a huge gamer, I have been know to enjoy real-time strategy games and have dabbled in older first person shooter games. I loved Star Trek: Bridge Crew. The VR environment is very immersive and interactive. The interaction between the VR controls and where I thought my body should be was seamless. The graphics certainly weren’t to movie CG standards but this is the first generation of consumer VR. Regardless, my disbelief was suspended and I indeed felt “on the bridge of a star ship”.

Quick note to folks that wear glasses, the Oculus Rift system is accommodating for glasses.

 

DRWHO42

Kevin aka "DRWHO42" watches a lot of TV and avoids spoilers like the plague. He is an avid Whovian, Trekker, fanboy, gamer, traveler, planner, self-professed gym rat, and Starbucks espresso loyalist. When not plotting out his schedule for the next tent-pole movie or watching his favorite shows he is on the hunt for pop-culture TV & Movie media news. More importantly he is a frequent attendee of San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) and New York Comic Con (NYCC). Follow him on Twitter @kevinDW42 @FoCCBlog