Parabolic Theatre’s new immersive starship simulator delivers an exhilarating and unique experience for visitors that rewards exploration and, above all else, good communication. Our review of Bridge Command...
Photo: Alex Brenner
Bridge Command, the latest immersive experience from Parabolic Theatre, officially opened its sliding doors in Vauxhall this past week. A reworking of the company's 2019 production, the show places visitors in charge of their own spacecraft, allowing them to navigate the vastness of the galaxy, engage in combat and negotiate with enemy factions. It's one of the most technologically advanced immersive shows to open in London in recent years and takes the decision-focused, responsive style of immersion Parabolic Theatre has always been best known for to new heights, far exceeding anything they've previously produced in terms of both complexity and scale.
Back in 2019, Parabolic launched the original version of Bridge Command at COLAB Factory in Borough. Produced on a shoestring budget, using whatever props and set dressing they had lying around, the show was, by their own admission, pretty rough around the edges from a set design perspective. Appropriately, the show’s budget had instead largely been invested in the technology and backend systems that powered the experience, enabling them to produce a show that guests loved and found incredibly engaging. Allowing people to pilot their own starship and set off into the vastness of space made it the fastest-selling show in the company's history at the time. During this run, Bridge Command attracted the attention of investors, who helped fund the reworked, supersized version of the show now open in Vauxhall.
Photo: Alex Brenner
Warp forward to 2024, and in the few short months since the show soft-opened in March, it's clear Bridge Command has developed a loyal fanbase. Outside the venue, attendees introduce themselves to each other and connect over discussing their previous missions aboard both the UCN Takanami and UCN Havock. More than perhaps every other immersive show open in London right now, Bridge Command demands you get to know everyone else is in your group in order to succeed, with an upcoming mission to space serving as a pretty good icebreaker...
Once inside, you're instructed to select a flight suit to wear for your mission. Everyone taking part in the experience is offered either a Bridge Command jumpsuit or bomber jacket to wear, which has room set aside for everyone’s current rank and ship name to be velcroed onto. First-time visitors sport the patches denoting that they’re Ensigns, the lowest rung on the United Confederation Navy ladder, while more experienced guests can have higher ranks and other patches denoting specific achievements. This is the first introduction to the multi-level progression system that Bridge Command has built into it, which is designed to reward repeat visits and encourage exploration of the show world.
With everyone suited up, you're ushered into the teleporter, a huge white circular room that takes you from 2024 Earth to 2180 Space in a matter of moments. We won't reveal what tricks are being used here, but it's a wonderfully designed transitional space that makes it clear Parabolic Theatre isn't messing around when it comes to delivering on the promise of a high-budget immersive space experience.
Photo: Alex Brenner
Emerging in The Mess, the UCS Warspite's on-site bar, which is decked out with interactive terminals and relics of previous UNC missions, you'll find yourself alongside fellow pilots, engineers, and communications officers eager to celebrate their recent successes or calm their nerves before being deployed.
In total, there are four different mission types on offer within Bridge Command: Diplomacy, Intrigue, Military and Exploration, all of which will see guests acting on behalf of UCN in one of the numerous Officer roles visitors must select from. Ranging from Helm to Weapons, Radar, Engineerings and Comms, as well as, of course, Captain or First Officer. All of them are important in their own way, and things can easily go wrong at any one station, leading to a knock-on effect across the ship.
For our visit, we were taking on an Intrigue mission that on the surface sounded simple enough. All that was required of us was to deliver a military officer onto a nearby ship nestled inside a cluster of asteroids, assist them in retrieving a datapad, and then leave the area without being seen. Given Bridge Command takes inspiration from episodic sci-fi series like Star Trek, and dropping someone off at a ship just to take them home would be a very dull episode of TV, it's little surprise that things got a bit more complicated and action-heavy as our mission progressed, with alarms blaring, sparks flying and enemy ships coming at us from all directions.
Both the UCN Havock, and UCN Takanami have complex systems that need constant attention and careful resource management. Besides the touchscreen consoles at every station, the crew must interact with numerous physical elements to keep the ship running smoothly. If the ship's overall energy levels run too low the Fuel Cells need removing and replacing, the Crystal Resonators that maintain the ship's shields can become destabilised, leaving the ship defenceless, and the Overcurrent Protectors may also need swapping out. With resources being used up faster in situations like combat and travelling at warp speed, it's a delicate balance to manage them all.
Photo: Alex Brenner
On paper, all of this may sound incredibly overwhelming. Thankfully for first-time visitors, there’s time set aside for explanations of every role before things kick off in earnest. You won’t be experts in your roles by any means, but the UCN seems to encourage on-the-job learning and embracing your mistakes - even if your crewmates might not. While the added pressure of knowing that if you can’t respond quickly and do what is needed, you may well become the weakest link ramps up the tension as you begin your mission, all of the roles are manageable and on the right side of challenging to stay on top of.
As previously mentioned, one of the biggest parts of Bridge Command, and honestly the hardest thing to stay on top of, isn’t the numerous consoles, terminals, and screens, but the communication between players. When your crew is all on the same page and the group's instructions to one another are clear, progressing through the show's story is an exhilarating experience. Information and updates will fly across the room constantly as everyone operates as a cohesive unit, and obstacles like enemy ships are soon little more than debris.
On the flip side, these moments can easily spill over into disaster if communication falls apart. At one point during our visit, we collided with a large asteroid despite numerous shouts of 'Asteroid!' from all corners of the bridge. On this occasion, it took too long for the Helm to react, and our ship's hull took such a large amount of damage that the Engineering team had to leap into action to mend it. While it was drilled into us in the briefing that everyone’s actions will affect what happens in our mission, this collision with the asteroid confirmed that point in a very real way.
Photo: Alex Brenner
Parabolic Theatre has always focused on creating experiences that give audiences agency and respond to visitors' decisions. These decisions - both good and bad - have lasting impacts on the narrative, with the show designed to respond and bend around players' decisions, however left-field they may be. While in previous Parabolic shows, most notably with Crisis? What Crisis? and For King and Country, this was largely confined to each individual visit. In Bridge Command, these decisions have longer-lasting implications.
Each mission within Bridge Command has no set path to follow and gives visitors a huge amount of freedom to decide how best to approach any situation. The show then responds to those choices on the fly, meaning every version of a mission can have wildly different outcomes. All of this information is logged and will later inform what happens in subsequent visits. If, like us, you decided not to hand over important intel to UCN Intelligence at the end of your mission, that decision may well have consequences in the future for both you and your team.
Photo: Alex Brenner
Additionally, the show's individual progression system allows you to rise up the ranks of UCN over time. While we remained Ensigns with single-stripped shoulder patches after our first mission, those in the same position will in time progress to higher ranks based on how much time they spend aboard the ship and how well they perform while on the bridge. During our mission debrief, our Radar operator received their first promotion, prompting cheers and applause from the rest of the crew - it was a surprisingly emotional moment for not only them but the rest of the group that they’d just worked alongside.
For fans of interactive storytelling and sci-fi adventures, Bridge Command is an essential experience. With a level of freedom that is almost unparalleled, there's little else out there anywhere in the galaxy that comes close to what Bridge Command offers. We'll no doubt be reporting for duty again in the not-too-distant future to continue exploring the outer reaches of space and get the promotion that's so far eluded us...
Photos: Alex Brenner
★★★★½
Bridge Command is currently booking until 31st January 2025 in Vauxhall. For more information about the show, and to book tickets visit bridgecommand.space
For more reviews of shows like Bridge Command, check out other recent immersive reviews here.
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