REVIEW | Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova

LifeisXbox’s Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova review | Trekkies are having a good time lately with all the new Star Trek content. I don’t consider myself a Trekkie but I enjoyed watching Lower Decks and Picard on Disney Plus. There is another currently running series around Star Trek named Prodigy, this animated television series (or is it a cartoon?) is from Nickelodeon. Yes, there’s another animated series besides Lower Decks, I was totally unaware of this too. Anyway, Prodigy is now turned into a videogame for the younger audience by the developer Tessera Studios and family-friendly publisher Outright Games. With PAW Patrol and Dreamworks Dragons they already have a few heavy hitters that parents can buy for their kids. I believe that this title has the most potential to do well though, sales-wise. It will lure gamers who know what Dif-tor heh smusma means and the younger audience. Want to know if Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova is any good? Our review will be the answer! And for you dear reader, I already say peace and long life.

ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series X | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion of the writer.

What we Liked!

• Wait… is that Captain Kathryn Janeway? | As you figured out by the introduction I didn’t know about Star Trek Prodigy before playing this game. So imagine my surprise when out-of-nowhere Captain Kathryn Janeway appears as a hologram, I’m even more surprised as the voice is Kate Mulgrew. The actress plays the Captain of the USS Voyager in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. I’m not a Trekkie but this gave me goosebumps! The voice might be the same but the actual character is far different. Gone is the somewhat arrogant and disciplined character and she’s turned into a helpful and warm artificial intelligence that helps the crew of young aliens.

• Great voice-acting | Great news for fans of the series, the entire official voice-cast makes a return for Outright’s game. It is easy to say that Kate Mulgrew is the most memorable performance but the real surprising talent is Ella Purnell as Gwyndala. In real-life movie performances, her eyes steal the show but here it is her emotional voice that gives great depth to the alien character. Overall, all voiced performances are superb. Not something I expected from playing previous games from Outright Games.

• Dal and Gwen’s combat & abilities | You have two playable characters and a few support characters that teleport in and out for special abilities. There is a small difference between Dal and Gwen, so players will eventually have a favorite. Mine was Gwen, not for Ella Purnell’s eyes or voice but for her superior melee combat. You can charge a powerful and multistriking attack that devastates the robotic enemies. That doesn’t mean Dal is useless though, he has a much stronger and longer use of ranged weapons. This mix of fighting styles will come in handy against the Watchers, they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Ever since Gears of War 4’s introduction of robotic enemies, I’m a bit cautious about these kinds of foes. Luckily Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova managed to exceed my expectations with enough variation and fun combat elements. One of them is the appearance of non-playable support characters that deal extra damage to enemies or buff up the two-player party. there’s even more difference between the two lovely characters when it comes down to the puzzles. Both of them have other move sets that require teamwork, they spice up the game just enough so it doesn’t become too repetitive.
  
  
• Find yourself a player-two! | Switching between Gwen and Dal is done by a simple press of the A-button. You can amusingly finish the game alone but it is clear that the game was created with two players in mind. Puzzles take far less time when you have a friend and combat is much more enjoyable. There’s even some competition in place, when you finish a level you’ll see several stats showing player one vs player two. Enemies defeated, collectibles found, times killed, or specifically earned medals. A very clever touch by the developer if you ask me.

Mixed Feelings

• Visual performance for the Xbox One console | Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova doesn’t look bad in any way but nothing that will trouble the Xbox Series X|S. This one is clearly made with last-gent in mind and looks decent enough to be on par with other games made for the Xbox One. The characters look exactly like the animated series but the environments are rather empty and troubled by a very short draw distance. It does manage to impress sometimes with good-designed alien worlds and the inside of the Voyager. I can’t speak for the Xbox One but on Series X it plays smoothly with a perfect frame rate. One other thing worth mentioning is that this game is a perfect example of too-clean textures, that are often reused too. Simply look at the rock structures and you’ll immediately notice the copy/paste work without any effort in making them unique with dust, cracks, or slightly altered structure.

• Story | I’m not calling it an elephant but instead Borg in the room. You really need to have watched the animated series to understand some parts of the story that unfolds. I understood the large picture but some of the character introductions and small chats require more understanding of the entire Prodigy series. A decent but one-in-a-million story experience was my overall opinion while playing this game, your ‘borrowed’ ship crashes and they have to race against time to rescue Jankom Pog, Rok-Tahk, Zero, and Murf while fighting the Watchers. All while racing against an inevitable destructive supernova from a dying star. Chit-chat between Gwen and Dal is the strongest point but again, I felt that I missed more understanding by not having access to the animated series.

What we Disliked

• Sound often glitches and isn’t mixed accordingly | Damn, this really annoyed me a lot as it ruins the performance of the voice actors too. Parts of the environment are way too loud and voices are nearly muted so you don’t really understand what they are saying. Combat sounds are regularly stuck in a never-ending loop forcing a checkpoint restart. I’m aware this can happen once or rarely but having the same bug frequently isn’t okay. Music is stellar but faces the same issues of strikingly bad sound mixing. And please… when doing a Star Trek game make sure that your freaking phasers sound accurate and not like guinea pig farts.

How long to beat the story | 6 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | 10 hours

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