A star is about to explode in front of me. Survivors are stranded after their ship was destroyed. Klingons are attacking. And all I can do is hope the rest of the bridge crew next to me on the U.S.S. Aegis work alongside me to make sure we warp away safely.

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That cuts to the core of the experience playing Ubisoft's new VR title, Star Trek: Bridge Crew : teamwork is everything. Each of the four players in the game's titular bridge crew have a specific job to do, and all you can hope is that everyone is going to hold up their end of the game. It also makes you want to be an expert in all four of the options: the captain's chair, engineering, tactical and helm."The bridge crew is the heart of Star Trek," Red Storm Senior Creative Director David Votypka explained during an E3 demo. "It's about the dynamics between these people, their relationships and how they survive together, and that is what the game is about."Even if you aren't a diehard fan of Star Trek, Bridge Crew has an easy point of entry. There's a simple tutorial of your role at the beginning of the game, but no need to "go to Starfleet for three years to learn how to operate your station.""We want it to be a lighthearted social experience. We want players to have fun," said Votypka. "We don't want to create a complex tactical simulation."Those are the four player options for Bridge Crew, which is slated for a fall 2016 launch date. Sitting down alongside two peers in the press during my demo, we relied on a Ubisoft demoer to lead us through our Aegis mission from the captain's chair.I volunteered to take the tactical seat; my job was making sure survivors and enemy ships were targeted, our shields were raised and lowered as necessary and I was raining phasers and torpedoes down on those pesky Klingons. But it was up to the person at the helm to make sure we were within range of those targets, and the engineer had to direct power to the right parts of our ship, while our captain was responsible for making sure we were all working together as a team.And it really is a great social experience. Since I only was able to do one runthrough from the tactical chair, I only received instructions for how to play in that role. I had to rely on the abilities of my teammates to make sure we made it through the mission successfully, and when the person at our helm started having difficulties, our fight against the Klingons and the ticking time bomb of the star explosion made things get pretty hairy.Though there are four seats to fill in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, you don't need to play with three other people to enjoy the game. Any time you're short some friends to play with, you can swap in AI allies. Everyone also can play from their own living rooms, and honestly, that might be better as it gets confusing having someone talking from the right of you while the headset mic has them coming from a different area of the starship bridge. It's definitely better to have a solid grasp on each role to better work together alongside teammates."We want players to live a Star Trek fantasy," Votypka explained of the elements of immersion in Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and that attention to key details made my brief time on the U.S.S. Aegis a delight. Bridge Crew will be available on PlayStation VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, and the intention is to keep expanding the world. Beyond story missions, there will also be a random mission generator -- and might eventually be more roles to fill than the four at launch."We have a lot of interest in doing more with the brand," Votypka said.

Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz