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Bridge Command
– Review, Vauxhall, London

Set phasers to stunned - Bridge Command is an interactive, fully immersive starship experience that will blow all your expectations away!

As a child, everyone dreams of space travel. Okay, I admit that’s a bit of a blanket statement, but if not everyone, most of us dreamed of space travel. “What do you want to be when you grow up, Timmy?”… “An astronaut!” And you Jemima? “An astronaut” – at which point the parents would pat them on the head and remind them of the limitations of being British, and that their sights would be better set on something realistic, that anyone with half a brain could be, like Prime Minister.

Thanks to the brains behind Parabolic Theatre, and some seriously geeky investors who also dream of space travel, your childhood – and for many of us adult – dreams can now come true with Bridge Command, the greatest immersive space experience you could never imagine, and a permanent new fixture in Vauxhall, London.

Now, I am a huge fan of Star Trek, so I was bound to be excited by the idea of being part of a crew in an immersive starship experience, BUT I brought along my wife who is not interested in Star Trek at all, so you could benefit from both our opinions. End of review spoiler alert – it’s freaking awesome and we loved it.

After putting on our UCS jumpsuits, we were whisked into a matter transfer device (basically a transporter) and our molecules sent to the space station Navarino to get a nice drink – in a space flask – before our mission. Drink strapped to us, we were ready to board the UCS Havock, our home for the next hour forty-five or so.

We were introduced to the ship by a crew member from the space station, our temporary acting Captain, who gave us a tour of the ship and then helped us choose our roles. There were seven of us, all assigned different tasks. I, naturally, ended up on comms duty, while my wife – who, let’s be honest, may have found her true calling – was assigned to weapons. Our mission? To escort a freighter carrying important cargo through dangerous space while keeping it safe from pirates. Easy, right?

From the start, I was hooked. As comms officer, I had control over hailing ships (either diplomatically or by typing insults to the pirates), setting waypoints for our navigator, and even hacking enemy systems to mess with their engines. Meanwhile, my wife was gleefully preparing the ship’s weapons for battle.

The level of interactivity was incredible. The ship felt alive, and every role felt essential to the success of the mission. The engineering officer next to me kept rushing off to maintain the ship’s systems, ensuring nothing overheated, while the incoming pirates and having to act fast against them made the tension feel so real. At one point, the engine started to overheat, and smoke billowed from the console beside me, adding to the chaos (and the whole Star Trek feel). The attention to detail was so good that there’s even a porthole in the toilet, which you can look out of and see the action unfolding – an unnecessary but awesome detail. Talk about immersion!

The highlight? Well, apart from the entire starship experience, my wife (sub-lieutenant Elise, from now on) launched a nuke that destroyed an enemy warship, saving the day and countless lives. Needless to say, she was promoted and I’ve never been prouder of her (okay, making my kids was pretty cool too, but this was a close second)!

Bridge Command is unlike anything else I’ve experienced. Whether you’re a die-hard sci-fi fan or Trekkie, or just someone looking for an unforgettable, immersive adventure, this is the closest you’ll get to flying a real starship. You’ll laugh, you’ll panic, and you might just come out of it with a new UCS rank to show off. We succeeded in our mission (thankfully), and I’m already planning my next trip aboard. To Vauxhall, and beyond!

Book your tickets now at www.bridgecommand.space

Words by Nick Barr

Photography by Alex Brenner