Console-ation Prize: Prodigy plays Supernova

With an initial £40 price tag on launch, Star Trek: Prodigy: Supernova was never going to be high on my list of purchases.

But the Black Friday sales just tipped the scales with a 50% drop that was too good to miss out on.

The last console ventures for Star Trek have been...ok. The VR-reliant Star Trek: Bridge Command and a prequel of types to Into Darkness back in 2013. Tying into the latest animated series, Supernova takes a tried and tested step into a third person adventure/puzzler.

With the option of playing as Dal or Gwyn you head out into a series of planetary landscapes to locate crew, parts, baddies or a range of collectibles. The show itself has a fairly broad target for its audience. Pitched at kids, it's easy for long-term fans to dive into thanks to its numerous franchise references and actually decent storylines and arc. The game on the other hand is most certainly designed with kids in mind.

Offering horribly basic controls, the trips through the levels, at least early in the game, are heavily dependent on moving boxes to complete or block power lines and blast away at Watcher drones. It's unfortunately repetitive as you hunt out parts for the Protostar which only comes into the game as a menu area and staging point to begin the next part of the story.  As you do progress through worlds there are slight changes. Objects can be transported, you can cloak Dal to pass by sensors but the core stays the same in its playability because you're told where to use these features even after a few levels.

Yes, you can upgrade weapons and abilities. Dal dual-wields phasers while Gwyn is more handy with her shape-shifting fretwork. Along the way they can become more powerful and experienced in these abilities, increasing their power and offensive options. There are also climbing and lifting abilities to discover (for example) as you progress which mean the two have to work together. This also allows for a two player experience otherwise you do chop and change between the pair. I've not really settled on a preference since Dal is better with phasers and Gwyn surpasses him on hand-to-hand combat. She can also block energy beams which, maybe, does give her an edge.

Problem is that there's no jump, no way to step outside of the allotted path, no chance to explore further. It's very much plotted out with a straight-forward path and little to deviate. Even the points where you need to push/pull, climb, lift or crouch are literally signposted on screen so you can't miss a thing - troublingly easy for the more mature gamer. 

The other members of the Protostar crew do step in as well to add bonus abilities when activated and can be selected for mission specific duties to beam down when required but that's the heights of their involvement. Jankom for example gets automatically called in to increase your damage level for example when you reach a certain "kill" achievement. Rok-Tahk assists by reducing enemy damage and also by unblocking paths.

It is a lovely game to look at although stylistically I was confused as to why the opening cut-scene story was rendered as a comic rather than using the graphics which perpetuate through both the series and the rest of the game itself. The voices are also those of the series cast including Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Janeway. She tends to appear to offer advice in painfully slow explanatory moments throughout. Annoyingly both Dal and Gwyn have set phrases when you change between them which become teeth-grindingly painful after about the second stage of the first world - as does the grunting when you dash. There's only so much "Let me take point" or "I'll show you how it's done" one person can take. 

That said, there are some neat touches in the story with wall art illustrating plot points but the ability to skip through sometimes annoyingly tedious talky parts in chunks (especially if you accidentally click to restart said talky bit) is a flaw that comes up quite a bit. You have to be in exactly the right spot to activate a feature (and I mean PRECISELY) and on the flip side its equally easy to replay something you don't need to.

Supernova does honour the show visually and ties in elements such as the Diviner and Drednok but the gameplay is far too A,B,C for a more mature gamer looking for an immersive Star Trek gaming experience. It's a good casual play and something to drop in and out of but I'm not feeling compelled to complete it or spend hours in front of the screen to get there. Fans do have the upcoming Resurgence to look forward to but I'll be honest, I'm more excited about new Attack Wing faction packs or Ascendancy.

If you want in depth then this isn't the way to go and I'd wait for Resurgence or grab a copy of Bridge Commander or something from times past. This one probably won't fulfil your requirements.