We took to the long road home at this year’s Gamescom 2022, jumping on board the USS Protostar to get hands on with Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova.
Star Trek has something of a mixed history with video games. It’s a franchise that, much like its TV incarnations, has something of an odd even success rate. When we were invited to take on a strange new world at Gamescom 2022, we weren’t sure if we’d walk into a copy of Star Trek: The Motion Picture or something a little bit close to the long running MMORPG. It turns out that this time, we got something totally unlike either of these.
First hitting the headlines back in April and based on the brand new Star Trek Prodigy animated series Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is a game that fills a niche that plenty of titles find difficult to drop into. Accepting that Talking Tom has its limitations and some growing science teams need a little more action adventure, Publisher Outright Games took the latest crew of the Federation Starship Protostar out for an adventure. Crashing down between seasons 1 and 2 of the TV series, this isometric platformer finds captain and crew stranded in an uncharted system, after an incident that we won’t discuss too much. Now, the Protostar is in a state of disrepair, the crew are scattered, and it’s up to Dal and Gwyn to start piecing the ship and crew back together.
Borrowing plenty of style tips from the established on screen aesthetic, young fans of the Prodigy series will find themselves instantly at home in this new solar system. They’ll be able to take control of ither Dal and Gwyn, transporting from the bridge of the damaged Protostar across a series of planets, all acting as their own very unique overworld. Despite a range of desert plants, new technology, and interesting artefacts, this still looks like Prodigy at its core. The central characters all make an appearance, including holographic Janeway, and they all come rendered in a bright CGI veneer that matches what we’ve come to expect while escaping the clutches of the Diviner.
The isometric 3D visuals of each map, and the central hub of the Protostar, is likely to delight fans of the series. As this connected entry in the ship’s log extends onto solid ground, new architecture, a range of environments, and devious puzzles stand between Starfleet’s newest and various parts of the Protostar that must be recovered. Whether it’s a landing team of one, or co-op with a friend, players can pick from both Dal and Gwyn as they try to piece together the mystery of the crew’s latest predicament. The majority of the logical gymnastics in this title are easily telegraphed and sit on the easier end of platforming mechanics. If you’ve taken on Biped or early levels of Portal, then you can expect more of the same. Despite the alien outlook, there is plenty of pick up, push, jump, and lever pulling to unlock, unblock, and open passages. It’s all a solidly average level of difficulty and bearing in mind this is squarely aimed at younger audiences, it provides an ample opportunity to engage your own cadets.
For any future security chiefs and tactical officers, Supernova offers up a little action into the mix. Scattered among the wreckage and ruins of the three planets we had the option to visit, were faceless enemy critters out to stop us and nab the Protostar’s technology. This doesn’t mean that the big bad here happens to be the Diviner’s minions, but they definately looked a lot like Watchers to me. There’s a whole new set of aliens in the mix this time, but we’re not going to ruin the discoveries that await. Instead, the skittering problem in front of us during our hands on facilitated a slightly less diplomatic approach to problem solving as they scrambled around the isometric environment. Thankfully both central characters handle well. Aside from leaping out the way, they have their own fighting style. Just as you might expect, Gwyn is more of a melee combat fighter, thanks to experience with a certain Vau N’Akat heirloom, and Dal is far better with phasers. None of this is particularly taxing, but enough to keep young trigger fingers engaged and craft a casual play session. Even if it’s all a bit overwhelming for wannabe Brad Boimlers, all that Suupernova will do is set you back a little if things fail to progress. There’s no concrete fail state.
We’ve already made it very clear that this Star Trek title is charting a course to give the intended Prodigy audience another adventure with this hit show and a new, and it seems to manage this perfectly. It encompasses the action and adventure of the TV series without going full Kirk on anything alien. Challenges are difficult enough that they will still need to be addressed without punishing players, and the core gameplay cycle of explore, unlock, and attack crams in enough content to keep one or two players engaged. More than this though, the wonderful visual translation of the Protostar’s crew, the ship, and the voice actors involved into this title make it a must play for regular viewers of the show who are waiting on Season 2. Just, remember not to wake holographic Janeway before her coffee, we don’t know quite know accurate the team behind the title made the recreation of the Protostar bridge. You can find out more about Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova over on the official website, before it warps onto PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch, and Stadia soon. Check out more on the official website now.
