Star Trek Bridge Crew VR

Originally down as a PSVR launch title, as a Star Trek fan this was one game that was definitely high on my list.

So it came as a huge disappointment to see it delayed till now, and I was eager to find out if the wait had been worth it.

Star Trek is a VR game that you play as one of four roles, Captain, Helmsman, Tactical or Engineer, which ever role you choose, the other roles are filled by either AI or other players online.

Your first task is to choose an avatar, pretty basic, the only real choice is male or female, with a few hairstyles and colours to choose.

I chose captain as my first role, and decided to play a tutorial mission on my own, I also chose the Enterprise from the original series, Not a good decision for a first try.

I found myself on the bridge of a ship I had grown up with, all the stations faithfully recreated, and I couldn't help but smile at finally making it onto the bridge of the Enterprise.

My excitement however was short lived, I had various buttons at my command, and using the move controllers you could move your hands and press whatever you felt was right, however putting my hand down to press one meant my hand was pressing against the seat of the sofa, but with a little adjustment I was able to press a few random buttons.

I read my mission, I knew where to go but the rest I had no clue, with my AI crew waiting patiently for my input, I could bring a list up of what the buttons did, but it was of no help whatsoever, other than setting off red alert, I was achieving absolutely nothing, My crew though remaining as patient as ever.

I gave up and thought I would have another look when I had more time, that was today, and instead of the tutorial I decided to give the online a go, I was soon meeting up with some random crew as we decided our roles, with me explaining I had no clue what I was doing, and asking for their help which they were happy to provide.

So I became a Helmsman, or Helmswoman, as my Avatar was now female for some reason, having a pair of breasts and wearing a short skirt was an interesting experience, but as far as my mission it made no difference, so Helmswoman I became, and I was soon looking at my new panel with as much confusion as I had as captain.

Thankfully the other crew showed amazing patience explaining the controls as best they could from memory, and eventually I got the Starship Aegis moving, although there was a few laughs at my expense.

This was not the Enterprise, that is only available from the original series, no this was the Star Ship Aegis, and was a far more modern beast, with controls far better suited to VR and the Move controllers. (Buttons spaced apart better)

The mission itself was nothing dramatic, I did crash into a rather large rock floating in space, but soon got the hang of choosing a destination and using Warp, impulse or thruster controls to take us where we needed to be, with tactical scanning for survivors or firing phasers at floating mines.

The engineer doing his best to optimise power to our systems to maximise efficiency, with the captain updating us with mission info as it was needed.

All in all an enjoyable enough experience, although at the end of the mission, I was suddenly thrown back to lobby room to choose your next mission. I would have much preferred to have been able to have flown to our next mission (with the captains help) but it wasn't to be ( maybe there is a way? not sure yet)

So we played another mission, I stayed as Helmswoman, and was far more confident in what I was doing, not proficient but confident, and I soon had another successful mission tucked under my belt.

I decided to call it a day and said goodbye and thanks to my new friends and left it for a few hours, to return this time as captain to try a mission with an AI crew, I had far more idea how things worked, and eventually figured out what I was doing, ordering my crew to move to that planet, scan this vessel, raise shields and fire phaser's, all which they were more than happy to do, with them acknowleging my requests had been understood and fulfilled.

I actually quite enjoyed it, I really was the captain and they were following my orders to the letter, with human crew there was a lot more initiative being taken, which although increased efficiency, does undermine the role of the captain.

I have a way to go before I am proficient with all the controls, and I haven't even looked at tactical or engineering roles, but a reasonable first attempt.

As a Star Trek fan I was always going to enjoy this game, engaging Warp is a dream come true, the games potential is massive, away missions, (possible using the aim controller) combat with other multiplayer ships would be amazing, but for now I will settle with roaming the galaxy and meeting new friends.

AND BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN OR HELMSWOMAN HAS GONE BEFORE.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjGk9cpLb5I