"Star Trek: Infection": VR survival horror for Trekkies with strong nerves
As a Vulcan officer against an unknown force: the VR game "Star Trek: Infection" focuses on horror and a story about loss of identity.
Star Trek fans need strong nerves: the new VR game "Infection" will be a scary trip for Trekkies.
(Image: Played With Fire)
With "Star Trek: Infection", Played With Fire and Broken Mirror Games surprisingly announced a VR game during Gamescom 2025 that transforms the familiar sci-fi cosmos into a psychological survival horror scenario for the first time. According to the developers, the story will not only focus on external dangers, but also on the player's own identity.
Physical and emotional horror
Players take on the role of a Vulcan officer on a secret mission aboard the abandoned U.S.S. Lumen. The crew has disappeared, the ship is infested by an unknown life form and the protagonist himself is also infected. The alien organisms not only change the body, but also the mental stability. According to the developers, loss of control, hallucinations and emotional destabilization play a central role: something on board recognizes the player's fears and uses them against him.
One focus of the game is on the physical experience in VR: players see their limbs, observe mutations and have to decide whether to fight the infection or use their newly acquired but unstable powers. Familiar tools such as phasers, the Vulcan nerve grip and the tricorder are also used.
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No comparison to "Bridge Crew"
Infection is only the second VR game with an official Star Trek license after Ubisoft's Star Trek: Bridge Crew from 2017, but it is fundamentally different: instead of cooperative spaceship management in a team, the focus here is on a single-player experience. It remains to be seen whether fans of the first VR Star Trek will also be able to get to grips with a focus on isolation, body modification and loss of control.
For the Polish VR studio Played With Fire, "Star Trek: Infection" is the third VR title after "Stargaze" (2020) and "Mixture" (2023), but is stylistically very different from the previous, more artistic releases. Publisher Broken Mirror Games was founded in 2024 under the umbrella of Bloober Team and specializes in psychological horror titles. "Infection" therefore fits perfectly into the portfolio. Bloober Team itself already has the next iron in the fire after the excellent "Silent Hill 2 Remake": "Cronos: The New Dawn", another new title for fans of sci-fi horror, will be released in September.
The release of "Star Trek: Infection" is planned for this year on Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S as well as SteamVR. However, the PC VR version will be released after the Quest version.
(joe)
