EVE Valkyrie Goes UE4, Picks Up Battlestar's Starbuck

I've played EVE Valkyrie at so many events that, last time I climbed into its virtual cockpit (GDC), I immediately decided I'd try and break it. Mostly, this entailed me standing up and seeing if my "head" would pass right through the cockpit's glass, and - much to my surprise and elation - it did. Sadly, I did not immediately die of explosive decompression. Oh well. But I guess what I'm saying is, we really haven't seen much of this game's, er, game yet. Just the same tiny war, waged eternally, its cadre of wind-up toy soldiers none-the-wiser. There will be more to it, though. That's why CCP is bringing on Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff - aka, Starbuck - to voice Valkyrie's lead pilot in missions. And it'll all happen in Unreal Engine 4, because the gaming industry has forgotten other engines exist.

CCP made both announcements at this weekend's EVE Fanfest in Reykjavik. Then that perfect moment was turned into a press release, as all things should be.

“The first time I played EVE: Valkyrie I immediately knew I had to be a part of it,” said Sackhoff. “Even with the roles I have played, it is the closest I have ever felt to being a real spaceship pilot. It is a truly transformative video game experience.”

“Katee is the perfect actor to bring Rán to life,” added Owen O’Brien, executive producer for EVE: Valkyrie at CCP. “Not only does she have a track record in bringing strong female characters to life, but also once she had played Valkyrie I was delighted to see that she was as excited and enthused about the project as we are.”

Blah blah blah, etc. People are doing things and pretending to be space ship pilots and they're excited about it yeah.

This is pretty cool news, though. For one, it implies that Valkyrie is going to have some kind of semi-robust storyline, and for two I really liked Battlestar Galactica until the last season imploded on itself. I could do with a little more Starbuck in my life if CCP decides to take that route with Sackhoff's character.

EVE Valkyrie still doesn't have a concrete release date, though it's pretty safe to assume it'll be launching with the consumer version of the Oculus Rift. So either late this year or sometime in 2015 is probably what we're looking at. Are you ready to shoot some Cylo-- er, space ships?