Void Crew

In the crowded galaxy of cooperative multiplayer games, Void Crew, available now on Steam, feels like an easy sell. It beckons potential players with promises of grand adventures, tightly coordinated teamwork, and the thrill of manning a spaceship as a scrappy crew on daring interstellar missions. 

What awaits brave players venturing into Void Crew is a unique mix of hilarious shared exhilaration and repeated - and often disheartening - frustration. After spending hours navigating Void Crew’s treacherous void with colleagues, strangers, and even solo, I emerged with a singular conclusion: this game can be a riot - but only if you can assemble the right team and keep them assembled. In some ways, Void Crew reminded me of the Ubisoft VR game Star Trek: Bridge Crew. That game had less running around and floating in space, but still relied on communication and cooperation to succeed in an ever-escalating series of space missions. It also frequently ended with your ship going “boom”, which is how most of my missions in Void Crew concluded.

Void Crew casts players as clone-ish astronauts working together aboard a customizable starship to tackle increasingly challenging missions. The premise is straightforward: complete objectives, fend off enemy raiders, and manage your ship’s many systems under heavy duress. Over the course of the game, you'll earn XP for a job well done (or even kinda close to well done), which results in some nice customization options, both cosmetic and mechanical.

The ship’s systems are wonderfully interactive, and easy to understand and navigate. Shields require monitoring, weapons need to be aimed, shots and reloaded, and repairs often demand players run around the ship like headless chickens, bouncing from one crisis to the next. But the actual interactions with these systems are simple and intuitive, often just requiring a few quick button presses. Still, communication is vital, as even simple tasks - like aligning the ship to jump to the next objective - can require both debate and coordinated effort. The moments when everything clicks and your crew hums like a well-oiled machine are deeply exciting.

But that’s assuming you ever reach that level of synergy. For many teams, including our group of Gaming Nexus stalwarts, success proved nigh-impossible. During a lengthy play session, we were unable to complete even the game’s “easy” missions. And that’s where Void Crew separates the spacefarers from the stowaways. At Gaming Nexus, we are strictly in the latter category. No, worse than stowaways. We are space bums.

Players can specialize in a specific position on the ship, though it is possible to pivot elsewhere in times of need. It took a few shakedown cruises before the various members of the GN team identified where we best fit. I primarily focused on being a gunner, sinking every skill point I could into shooting faster and further. But other folks gravitated towards piloting the ship, or engineering (fixing stuff). And poor Jason somehow got relegated to the role of “guy who goes floating through space without a ship and gets shot by baddies”. (Side note to gunners: bail on your controller if you were using one as soon as you sit in the gunner seat. You want a mouse for this.)

If you’ve ever played cooperative classics like Overcooked or Deep Rock Galactic, you know the rush of working in harmony with friends. Void Crew channels a similar energy, but the difficulty curve is far steeper. Unlike those games, where players can stumble through early levels while learning the ropes, Void Crew feels like trial by fire from the outset. We crashed and burned, crashed and burned, and then crashed and burned again.

Our first mission devolved into chaos as raiders overwhelmed us, systems failed faster than we could repair them, and our ship succumbed to an unceremonious explosion. We quickly realized that Void Crew demands not only teamwork but precision. There’s no room for passengers in this game; every crew member needs to actively contribute, understand their role, and react to emergencies in real time. Unfortunately, that level of coordination is hard to achieve without a dedicated, practiced group.

When our sad crew admitted defeat after maybe five swipes at the game, I decided to brave the void solo. I don’t recommend it. Playing alone in Void Crew is technically possible, but it strips the game of its core identity. The joy of the experience lies in coordinating with others, not in frantically running between stations like a one-person band trying to put out fires (sometimes literally). Missions designed for four players don’t scale down in difficulty, leaving solo players hopelessly outmatched.

Frustrated but undeterred, I ventured into the multiplayer queue on and off over the past week to team up with strangers. I was delighted to see that there were plenty of active players online; it was easy to find a group to drop in on, and a nice filter even culled those that were far higher in rank and only presented other lowly noobs as partnering options.

When I landed in a group with players who communicated and worked together, Void Crew came alive just as it did with my Gaming Nexus group. The sense of accomplishment while we attempted to defend our ship and complete missions was palpable. But when paired with silent, disorganized players, the game quickly descended into frustration, though this was rarer. It seems that most people in Void Crew have actually come to play, which is nice.

This variance makes Void Crew a tricky recommendation. Unlike Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood, where even random players can usually muddle through thanks to forgiving mechanics, Void Crew leaves little margin for error. Without a reliable, communicative team, failure is almost guaranteed. And even if your pick-up team is raring to go, you still don’t know each other well enough to function as a team. Imagine meeting a group of enthusiastic guys at the local park basketball courts and then trying to play the Knicks. You are gonna eat shit, and quickly.

Where Void Crew truly shines is in its unique take on cooperative gameplay. The game invites comparisons to titles like Sea of Thieves and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, both of which task players with managing ships under duress. Like Sea of Thieves, Void Crew relies on emergent chaos and shared stories to hook players. But while Sea of Thieves offers a more relaxed, exploration-focused experience, Void Crew is laser-focused on high-stakes missions that rarely give players a moment to breathe.

This level of challenge will appeal to hardcore co-op enthusiasts who thrive on overcoming adversity with friends. Casual players, however, may find Void Crew’s relentless difficulty off-putting, especially without a full, committed crew.

For all its frustrations, Void Crew is undeniably compelling. The game’s core mechanics are solid, and its emphasis on teamwork creates moments of genuine excitement. Surviving an enemy onslaught or repairing your ship just in time to escape a deadly asteroid field feels incredible.

The visuals, while not groundbreaking, effectively convey the desolate beauty of space. The ship designs are detailed and functional, and the explosions are satisfyingly dramatic. The sound design, too, deserves praise; my team got a great kick out of the way the audio echoed in the hold of the ship, and the directional fade of players moving away from you works like a charm.

Yet, the game’s punishing difficulty and reliance on teamwork mean it’s not for everyone. The lack of difficulty scaling for smaller crews or solo players feels like a missed opportunity, limiting the game’s appeal to those with reliable gaming groups. Additionally, the steep learning curve and chaotic nature of missions may alienate new players before they can experience the game’s best moments. If you can’t get through even the first mission, eventually your crew is going to peel off and go play something where they can succeed.

Ultimately, Void Crew is a game that knows exactly what it wants to be: a challenging, teamwork-driven space adventure. If you’re up for the challenge and have a few friends willing to commit to regular missions, this is a game that will deliver unforgettable stories and pulse-pounding action. Just be prepared to fail—a lot—before you finally find success.

Void Crew is a stellar co-op game for the right group of players. For everyone else, it’s a brutal reminder that teamwork is needed to survive in space – and without it, you’ll be left floating and frozen like Tim Robbins in Mission to Mars. Or Jason. Jason does that “frozen floating” thing too.