Star Trek fans were in for a big treat when Ubisoft Red Storm Entertainment senior creative director, David Votypka, came up on stage at the Ubisoft E3 Press Conference. The publisher has been experimenting extensively with different VR projects such as Eagle Flight, and now ready to boldly go where no VR game has gone before with Star Trek: Bridge Crew.
To announce the game, Votypka played a video featuring himself playing the game alongside popular actors from different Star Trek shows and movies using Oculus Rift headsets. Participants included Levar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), who also narrates and stars in the game as Captain Geordi La Forge of the starship USS Aegis. Other crew members included Karl Urban (Star Trek Beyond) and Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Voyager), and all the actors are seen going wild about how amazing and realistic the experience of being on the virtual starship bridge is.
“We have been waiting in anticipation for so long for the technology of virtual reality to catch up with where we imagine we should be and where we all want to go,” said Burton.
Up to four players can join in to pilot the space vessel, taking the role of engineer, pilot, tactical officer or captain. Burton joined host Aisha Tyler on the Ubisoft live stage to talk about Star Trek: Bridge Crew and how it compared to being on an actual Star Trek television show. Burton stated that the actors had to rely on imagination when on the set of the show, but you don’t have to imagine while playing this game. Players are in a fully rendered environment, and they truly feel like they are in control of a starship.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew releases this fall for all major VR platforms, and the E3 demonstration is on display this week at the Ubisoft booth.
