Void Crew lets you live out your space fantasies with friends | Hands-on preview
Void Crew is out now in Early Access on Steam, and the likelihood you’ll miss this one is high, given the wealth of other releases on the market. The thing is, I’ve not had this much fun online for a while, and going in with friends offers plenty of laughs, even when the enemy is on your tail. There’s always something to focus on when keeping your spaceship afloat, whether that’s gathering resources, jumping through space, repairing the hull, or blowing away the enemy known as the Hollow.
Fans of Sea of Thieves will be right at home, as you’ll have to work together to maintain your spaceship. It’s not difficult to get to grips with the fundamentals, but in order to do so it would be wise to play through the tutorial. Here, you’ll learn how to power the ship, ‘void jump’ through space, and further bits and pieces needed to get started. Once you have a basic understanding, this is where the fun begins. A lot of my enjoyment came from playing around with various panels, turrets, and machinery on the ship, pulling levers and turning cranks and valves just to see how things worked.
In one of my earlier (and not so prouder moments), I decided to play around with the airlock. Of course, I didn’t have my ‘spaceship 101′ guidebook to hand, and in hindsight, I certainly won’t be touching door release and pressure modification buttons without knowing how things work, and I will always remember to put on a jet pack so I don’t get blown into the furthest recesses of space. It was a great learning curve, and as funny as it was, watching my two friends and fellow crew members continue to speed off in space as I shot across the cosmos was something that never happened again. [Editor’s note: Chris’ negligence with airlocks ultimately killed us all due to being frozen from him leaving the door open].
It’s great how you naturally fit into your roles within the ship, and controlling the vessel isn’t particularly difficult. One of you sits in the cockpit and utilises the wheel, while the others can either keep the ship maintained (as power and pressure can cause circuits to break and fires to start) or jump on one of the turrets to fend off enemy attacks. Communication is key, and when you’re all working together whatever the goal, it’s incredibly satisfying to see the spoils of your success.
Various cargo can be blown up to receive alloy, which can then be used to fabricate various items, such as metal plates for repairs that require more work. This can be gathered from inside your ship, or if you’d prefer, a quick (and safe) trip through the airlock allows you to fly out and gather it manually. Outside of the ship, it’s freeing when you have a jetpack on your back, but it’s also important to mend any damage to your hull, which can only be done from the outside.
You feel vulnerable, which is made even worse when a bunch of Hollow appear from out of nowhere and start shooting at you. I remember being on the gun turret trying to blow them into dust as Adam drifted across my periphery, trying his best to get back inside the confines of our craft. It’s only in Early Access at present, but after our first session, we were all eager to jump back in. Void Crew offers up to four-player co-op, and there’s always something to do as you complete whatever objectives are put in front of you.
Void Crew is loads of fun. There’s plenty to manage and you’re never short of something to do. The sense of camaraderie plays through everything, however, when the urgency of war or ship damage comes knocking, you better hope you have a good team by your side. Luckily for me, the guys on the team were more than up to the challenge. The fact they forgave me for the airlock incident tells you everything! [Editor’s note: we didn’t, and haven’t!]. I’m looking forward to play more during the Early Access period, and I think people are going to thoroughly enjoy the co-op gameplay when they jump in.
Void Crew is in early access on PC now.
