When it comes to big IPs arriving in VR, The Boys landed last week for Meta Quest, making a rather big splash. Today we’ve got the release of Star Trek: Infection for Quest and SteamVR. But the two launches couldn’t be more different, with the latter barely making a ripple of interest up to now.
Has Star Trek lost its Lustre?
Star Trek has always been a massive sci-fi franchise, from those early TV shows through to the countless spin-offs, movies and, of course, the video games. But the franchise has seemed to lose its sparkle of late, with the latest entry, Star Trek: Picard, being fairly well received.
When it comes to video games (in particular VR) 2017s (now delisted) Star Trek: Bridge Crew was very well received. It gave fans a true taste of being part of the bridge crew in a Starfleet vessel, swapping between roles and completing missions together.
Star Trek: Infection is very much a solo adventure, but one that few seem to be talking about.
An Ominous Launch
Originally, developer Played With Fire (Mixture) had planned a December launch, but that date was missed with no reason as to why. A new March date randomly appeared for the Quest edition, but with no mention of Steam. Then last week, Played With Fire made the only official announcement we’ve seen, finally confirming the launch date.
For an officially licensed game based on a major IP, there doesn’t seem to be much excitement. Which never bodes well. This certainly won’t be a stealth launch, but with so little fanfare, it doesn’t bode well for expectations. Normally, if a game that should garner major attention is quietly released, it’s not that good.
However, we’ll reserve judgment until we’ve played it. Because Star Trek: Infection has a great premise.
What is Star Trek: Infection?
Star Trek: Infection is a horror survival experience. Yes, that’s right, it’s going to be scary. Maybe not quite Dead Space scary, but still very menacing for a Star Trek game. You take on the role of a Vulcan Starfleet officer tasked with boarding the U.S.S. Lumen to discover what’s wrong. Once onboard, you fail to locate any crew. Instead, something has infected the ship, and with you now wandering the dimly lit corridors, you’re infected too.
This infection begins to mutate you, granting special abilities whilst draining you of your sanity. Making it a race against time to explore the ship, keep track of your condition with the Medical Tricorder, craft tools, weapons and discover the darkness corrupting the ship.
Star Trek: Infection is available today for Meta Quest and SteamVR. Will you be boarding the U.S.S. Lumen later? Let us know in the comments.
