Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova Review

Game: Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle, Action
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows), Xbox One/X/S and PS4/5)
Developer | Publisher: Tessera Studios | Outright Games
Age Rating: US E 10+ | EU 7+
Price: US $49.99 | UK £44.99 | EU € 49,99
Release Date: October 14th, 2022

Review code used, with many thanks to Swipe Right PR.

Captain’s Log. Stardate 28722.4. Our sensors have picked up a new puzzle adventure game based on the popular Paramount+ and Nickelodeon Star Trek Prodigy series. Starfleet has asked that I investigate Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova and report back.

Crash Landing

I have yet to watch any of the Star Trek Prodigy series, so I was curious to know whether a game based on it would be relevant to a wider audience. At first, the graphic novel-style introduction poses more questions than it answers (Tars Larmora? Stolen ship? Janeway?). However, the plot of Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova soon becomes apparent.

A Dyson Sphere, surrounding a planetary system’s sun, is draining the energy so quickly that the star is dying and becoming a supernova. The USS Protostar, caught in the gravitational pull of the collapsing star, is about to crash into one of the nearby planets. As captain, Dal R’EI orders Janeway to teleport the crew to safety, whilst he and Gwyndala remain on board to try to land the ship manually. Just before impact, our two protagonists beam to the surface.

Did the ship survive the crash? Are the crew alive? Your mission is to find the Protostar and reunite the crew. Oh, and if possible, stop the supernova from happening.

The Missions

There are 12 missions, spread across three planets. You start in Orisi looking for the USS Protostar, this first mission doubles up as a tutorial. You learn how to move Dal and Gwyn and how their individual weapons work. As well as learning about the collectables, and the enemies and getting hints about the puzzles. All whilst progressing through the first level.

There is little scope to get lost within the alien worlds, as you are guided through them, but your tricorder will give directions if needed. Come across anything new, and a quick tutorial appears on the screen. If you need to interact with an object then you have to wait for the prompt to appear. 

Journeying through the planets reveals more of the story. The crew discovered that Drednok, their adversary, is also on the planet. What’s more, he is responsible for causing the extreme power drain of the star through the Dyson Sphere. Why does he need that much power? The ancient civilisation, that initially saved Drednok, was imprisoned and then forced to share the secrets of the Dyson Sphere. Did any of them survive? Dal and Gwyn need to shut off the Dyson Sphere to slow down the star’s decay.

You Are Being Watched

The main enemies are watchers, metal bug-like things created to be Drednok’s army and workers. The battles are unavoidable and take place in a set arena. At first, the watchers are easy to defeat. However, as you progress they get stronger, more explosive, self-heal and throw bombs! So, it does get harder to fight without losing all your health. Luckily some enemies drop first aid canisters to partially revive you.

Throughout the missions, more weapons become available and once you rescue Jankom Pog, he can upgrade them for you using crystals as currency. In addition, a rescued crew member will join you on a mission, and they have their own special automatic attack ability. To learn about these new abilities and weapons, there are training sessions in the Protostar’s holodeck.

There are a couple of mini-boss battles as well as a final showdown, and they all require a little bit more skill and thought than the watcher encounters.

Follow the Energy

I found the puzzles really enjoyable. They are all about diverting or stopping the energy to disable force fields, open doors and make lifts to work. As well as routing/power cubes, there are switches, blocks, transporters and light sources to use and occasionally a power tower to destroy. Most of the puzzles are relatively straightforward, but their complexity increases as you progress through the story.

What Can I Collect?

You are introduced to the secrets/collectables early on in the game, chests, plants and relics are all waiting to be found. Collecting these will automatically customise the captain’s quarters on board the USS Protostar.

At the end of the mission, Janeway comments on your performance. Badges are awarded based on mission duration, surviving the battles and collecting crystals. Whilst achieving these badges aren’t crucial to completing the mission, collecting them all will unlock cheats.

Many games in this genre require a re-run of the levels to gather all the collectables, and Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is no different. Many of the secrets remain as such until you rescue your crew who can access different areas on the planets. So those cheats might make the re-runs a little less arduous.

Gameplay

In solo mode, you control both Dal and Gwyn, swapping between the characters to interact with objects as needed. Unlike some games, the other character doesn’t guess what needs to happen, you have to control the action.

You can also play in local 2-player mode, whereby each player controls one of the protagonists. Together you complete the missions, staying close by to one another on a single screen. Cleverly though, when the characters need to be in different areas to complete puzzles, the screen will split to allow separate movement.

Playing with a friend was great fun, although making sure you both keep up with each other did prove tricky at times, particularly during battles. Several times I got stuck behind a defensive wall, unable to move until my companion came to free me. Slightly frustrating, but nothing more than that. We also experienced some juddering, but again nothing to ruin the overall enjoyment.

Generally, the controls were intuitive, although I did end up dashing into things, rather than climbing or crouching. It’s all on the same button, so I just needed a little more patience and wait for the interaction prompt to appear. The camera position is fixed by the game, but, at no point, did I feel I was pointing the wrong way.

The loading time between missions and returning to the Protostar was really quick, sometimes too quick to read the helpful hint put on the screen.

Each mission is targeted to be completed in around 30 minutes, so you have a minimum of 6 hours of play, plus additional time for training, narrative and cut scenes. That said, I haven’t done any re-runs to collect all the bonuses yet and I’ve played for around 10 hours.

Voice Actors

Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova has both on-screen text and audio narration. It’s a great feature that the actors from the TV programme voice the game characters. This gives the crew so much more personality, as the actors know how the character would react in certain situations.

I do wish, though, the characters didn’t grunt when they dashed, it does become annoying to listen to. In addition, some of the narration is a bit tedious, and although you can click through it, it does disrupt the game flow slightly.

Conclusions

For some, the game might be a bit prescriptive. But it’s based on an animated children’s TV programme, so it needs to be playable and enjoyable for that audience. This would be a great introduction to the adventure puzzle genre for younger players. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. I didn’t need to know anything about the TV series to engage fully with Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova.

Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot