Star Trek VR Game is in Production!

The last Star Trek game can only be described as dreadful and even huge fans of the show couldn’t look past its atrocious AI, and weak gameplay. This release was a travesty for science-fiction aficionados and the game paled in comparison to classics like Star Trek: Elite Force and Star Trek: Bridge Commander. Despite this, it shouldn’t discourage developers from working on new Star Trek video games and the series still appeals to a huge audience especially since its successful reboot. Personally, I prefer to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but the new films are a pretty enjoyable experience. Media website Digitalspy  made a slight error and published details of the latest Star Trek game before removing their original post. Thankfully, Reddit user Heaney555 managed to collect the images and article text in a detailed post.

Apparently, Star Trek Bridge Crew is set in the JJ Abrams universe and revolves around the adventures of a new ship, entitled the USS Aegis. Your aim is to relocate the Vulcan population and find them a new  home. Interestingly, this game is being developed by Red Storm and published by Ubisoft. Additionally, the experience is designed for 4 player co-op and takes advantage of VR devices. As a result, you should be able to walk around the bridge and explore the Star Trek universe in a way never thought possible. David Votypka, Senior Creative Director at Red Storm explained:

“The Bridge Crew experience is highly social. That’s the type of VR we’ve been exploring at Red Storm – social VR,” ”

“Like with Werewolves Within, we really take the tech and apply it to this brand. The social element is already in the DNA of the Star Trek brand.”

“They rely on each other. They have to communicate and work together. That dynamic about the brand is like a perfect fit for this technology, where you have that presence. You feel like you’re there with other people, but you also get to do it on the bridge of a Federation starship.”

He also added:

“Pretty early on, we talked about how players, of course, would love to be on the Enterprise and fly the Enterprise – but, at the same time, this is a new technology that lets you immerse yourself in this world.”

“That was one of the reasons why we wanted to allow players to become a Federation officer themselves, for them to become the crew. So, in a lot of ways that made sense. If you’re becoming the crew, if you’re becoming the Federation officer – it’s about your career, your mission, your adventures [then] we should do a different ship.”

“Secondly, we wanted to do some narrative story missions as well. If you’re on the Enterprise, it’s immediately confusing. It’s like, ‘I’m on the Enterprise, but where are Kirk, Sulu and Spock?’ For those two main reasons, we wanted to create a different ship in a different area of space in its own setting and it’s own storyline.”

“I have to say, this was an extraordinary experience. It’s one thing to be on set and imagine a scenario like this, but it’s an entirely different beast when you are actually in this game and your adversaries are fully-3D rendered right [in front of you],” said Karl Urban after playing Star Trek: Bridge Crew.”

Here we can see the thoughts of many Star Trek icons including LeVar Burton and Jeri Ryan:

“I’ve sampled VR in various iterations of the technology. This [game], by far, is the best I’ve ever had the chance to play,” added LeVar Burton. “This is where we all hoped we were heading, certainly where gaming is concerned.

“The graphics are amazing, the art – it’s all terrific. But one of the things I love most about it is that they have really maintained the integrity of the Star Trek ethos – the values of cooperation are actually built into the gameplay. I think that’s very cool because Star Trek really is unique in that it is our hopeful look at the future.”

“It’s incredible. The things that you do and the way that you interact, everyone working together – it’s beautifully done,” said Jeri Ryan. “It’s not just blowing things up. You’re not just shooting. There’s a million games where you can shoot people. This is more than that. Star Trek was more than that because also you’re trying to rescue people and get them home. It’s really cool.”

“It was actually my favourite part of the experience,” explained Urban. “You learn to work together as a better team. You each have a specific set of functions to perform. If one of your colleagues fails to perform, it could impact the wellbeing of everybody in the game. There’s pressure there to get it right and do your job.”

“The ability to be in a virtual reality environment with your friends, that’s pretty cool. It’s absolutely unique and I can’t tell you how much fun it is,” said Burton. “You’re all in different locations, different cities, sometimes different countries. Imagine being able to actually have a physical representation of one another and be able to share a singular environment. That’s pretty cool.”

“I’d love to play this game with other members of the Next Gen cast. I think it would be an absolute blast. Playing with Brent [Spiner], Jonathan [Frakes] and Michael [Dorn] – it would be a gas! So much fun!”

This is an exciting announcement and I cannot wait to see the first Star Trek game designed with VR in mind.