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Reviews
Manifest (2018)
Meh. Cool concept to begin with, quickly lost steam.
Like my title suggests, it was a cool idea to begin with, getting on a plane and for some reason, it doesn't touch down for 5 years. After they get off the plane, some of the passengers start getting visions, or "callings", because calling them "visions" is just too mainstream.. but then the show just latches onto this term and does not let go! "Did u have a calling??", "I'm getting a calling!!", "why don't i get the calling?!" I've literally lost count of how many times I've heard this stupid term in the show, it's almost like one of those Seinfeld episodes where they pick a favorite word and drag it out for the entire episode, such as yada yada yada!! It was taking way too long to get to the point, and having the word CALLING drilled into my head, I quickly lost interest. It seems like they were trying to be the next LOST, but failed.
DC Universe Online (2011)
A newer review from a player with his Year 1 cape ;)
As my title suggests, I've been playing this game since the year it came out and I've got my Year 1 cape to prove it! This was my very first MMO and it still holds its own 12 years later. Much has changed since it first came out, for instance you can now own multiple lairs which you can decorate with different base items and amenities such as access to your bank or mailbox. With armories, you can have display your different outfits and swap between multiple builds. I myself am mostly a tank but thanks to armories, I can jump back and forth between tank, DPS, or even PvP (but it does mean carrying around your other gear pieces in your inventory). For those who have never played, the level of customizing your character is almost endless and now with the addition of iconic gear pieces such as Batman or The Flash, you can now look like your favorite DC superhero! But it doesn't end there, the creativity of people, going as far as making Marvel characters, Dragonball Z characters, I myself created looks based on Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Shao Khan, Noob Saibot and Raiden from Mortal Kombat to name a few.
This game still receives updates every month or so with new Episodes, new open world areas like the current Dakota City and Death Metal Washington D. C., new alerts and raids as well as new set styles. If you're new to the game, you can visit the House of Legends where you can purchase "catch-up" gear sets which helps take the grind out, making it easier to get your Combat Rating up higher quicker than the old days. When I first started playing, gear sets were divided into Teirs, T1 - T5 then came T6 and I believe it was at that point, they revamped the whole system, which is where the Combat Rating came from. Back then, max was around 200+, with this latest episode, the highest CR I've seen was 416 so there's plenty to do.
But the game isn't perfect, it can get a bit tedious doing daily missions and waiting for the reset so you can do them again, I'll admit to taking periodic breaks from the game, the grind can be a bit much. Some boss fights can be annoying as many of them come with multiple one-hit moves that can wipe an unaware group which can trigger mass nerd-rage in the chat (c'mon, it's comic video game, doesn't get much nerdier!) The monthly membership can be costly at $19.99/month (CAD) but the perks of having it are definitely worth it.
All-in-all, this is still one of my favorite games, which one final note, it is cross-platform PC and PS, as far as I know, the game doesn't exist on XBox but correct me if I'm wrong. If you ever need help, feel free to look me up! (SWIITCH)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Abandoned (1994)
Eh..
Although this was interesting to see the growth process of the Jem'Hadar and their accelerated aging, I'm not a fan of this species, just another race that only wants to fight. I suppose in order for a show to work, there does need to be some form of conflict, an antagonist so none more ruthless than the Jem'Hadar, other than Delta-quadrant-dwellers such as the Borg and the Hirogen. And though I'm not a huge fan of the Jem'Hadar, I find the 3-way structure of the Changelings, Vorta and Jem'Hadar to be interesting.
My main issue with the episode is Jake Sisco and his mommy-issues. Now although the actress is only 2 years older than Cirroc, she is supposed to be older in the show. Last time I checked, a 20 year old dating a 16 year old is not only creepy, but illegal. It only gets worse in a future episode where, under the influence of Lwxana Troi's projected Betezoid abilities, he starts chasing after Major Kira. I never really liked Jake as a character and I find his obsession with older women to be creepy when he's still just a teenager.
Aside from the creepiness, this was also a good episode for Odo. We get to see him work with the young Jem'Hadar which serves as good character development for both Odo and the Jem'Hadar as a race.
Definitely worth a watch!
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ship in a Bottle (1993)
Hmmmm
Ok I'll just keep this short! Unlike most of the people I see in reviews, I actually like most of the holodeck episodes but in this episode, I've got to say "What the hell, Starfleet?!". Their primary mission is to seek out new life. Well, in season 2, the words were uttered "create an opponent that can outthink Data." and in doing so, created new life. And so what do they do with him?? Lock him in eternal nothingness and completely put him on the back burner for 4 years! It's not until he's driven to the point to take over the ship that they actually care enough to do something about it! And yes, Moriarty is supposed to be the villain, but he doesn't seem at all evil and more genuinely curious about the new century he's in. Even though they were not successful in getting him off the holodeck, they were able to come up with a solution, it's just sad they didn't do it sooner and without the threat of force!
Castle: Linchpin (2012)
Just ehhhhh...
* SPOILERS *
My first and foremost complaint about this episode is just all the clichés in it. Especially for a show about a writer who is often mentioning clichés in their other cases. A mole in the CIA, like we haven't heard this a billion times. The whole, I've-got-my-gun-pointed-at-you-but-I'm-going-to-sit-here-for-5-minutes-and-explain-every-detail-rather-than-just-killing-you conversation. I was just waiting for Castle to say "and I would have got away with it too if is wasn't for you mettling kids!" again. Which feeds into the next cliché: rather than just shooting Beckett and Castle, Sophia has to explain everything (with a stupid smirk on her face the whole time), which buys just enough time for them to miraculously be rescued at just the right moment. Oh, I also love how the CIA sits in a dimly-lit basement using Matrix-like graphics. (Insert eyeroll here). All in all, not the worst episode but not their greatest either.
Mortal Kombat (1995)
Eh
Let me start by saying I've been playing MK ever since the first one came out when I was 12 years old and have played EVERY version since. I gotta say at the time this came out, I was hyped. Looking back on it now that I'm older, and with the release of the new MK movie, I gotta say this one is meh.
What I liked: I loved the costumes, especially Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile, fairly accurate to their first costumes other than the colors of their masks. I like the fact that the incorporated moves from the game, Sub-Zero's ice ball, Johnny Cage's split-punch, Lui Kang's Bicycle Kick, etc. Goro was well done for the time, I still prefer his overall look compared to the new movie, even though the former is a mechanical suit and the latter is CG. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is still my favorite person to play Shang Tsung and when they incorporated him into MK11, I damn-near lost my s**t!! Trevor Goddard did such a phenomenal job as Kano that they actually changed Kano's background in the game from a person of Asian decent to an Australian. Josh Lawson is freaking hilarious as Kano in the 2021 version, but they didn't give him the metal plate on his face like in the game and in this movie.
Now for what I didn't like: there wasn't too much that I didn't like, but the one thing that killed it for me and why my score is so low is Scorpion's spear. Like, what the actual ****, this is what happens when you get a team who has NO CLUE about the lore, and rather than spending the 30 seconds to research it, they just make up the own (lame) version. I get that the original MK's graphics were faaaaaar from stellar but c'mon, any idiot can tell you its a rope. What you choose to add to that rope, well, have fun with it, Scorpion's gone through several variations of kunai but none of which were FREAKING LIVING creatures SMH! Even though I hated it, it was cool to see it emerge from his hand, the one thing that's always been a mystery is where the rope dart actually comes from and to have it as a part of his body is cool. I actually found it funny when I spotted two easter eggs in MK11 that reference this movie, in the krypt, you can find a statue of Reptile in his reptilian form, and when customizing Scorpion's spear, you can equip a version that looks similar to this movie (but it's not alive!!!) I did not like their version of The Pit either, it was cool that it looked like the logo, I guess, but it would have been nice to stay true to what it actually is.
Bottom line: this is still a decent movie worth watching at least once. But I still prefer the new version!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Soldiers of the Empire (1997)
Good episode but...
Dax is an annoying Klingon know-it-all, she's such a damn try-hard, she might as well ask Dr Bashir to transform her into a Klingon permanently! She spends more time talking about Klingons than her own people, the Trill. And what the hell, Kira said she needs Dax to take over Worf's duties while he's gone, so what's Dax do? Goes to her friend Benjamin to get permission to go with Worf, leaving Kira even more short-handed.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: A Quality of Mercy (2022)
Awesome Episode
This show's episode concepts stay pretty true to what Star Trek is all about! A disease spread by light, an telepathic alien who brings the consciousness of a girl to life, these are all ideas we could have seen in TNG and the others, much better than Discovery which this show was spun off. My only issue with this episode and correct me if I'm wrong, but are the vessels not called a Klingon Bird of Prey and a Romulan Warbird as per TNG and DS9? I'm an 80's kid so I did skip most of TOS so maybe the Romulans had Bird of Prey vessels as well, but as far as I know the Bird of Prey belonged to the Klingons not the Romulans. Very Kirk-ish to bluff the Romulans with a bunch of mining ships!!
Defiance (2013)
Innovative.
So judging from what I've read, it seems that most these reviews are only aware that Defiance existed as a TV show. Most video gamers know that Defiance also exists as a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) video game that went hand-in-hand with the show. While the show takes place in St. Louis, the game takes place in San Francisco. Each week with a new episode of the show, came new missions in the game which were loosely tied to events of the episode. Characters from the show would periodically make appearances in the game while characters from the game would periodically make appearances in the show. While DC and Marvel have their crossovers and spin-offs, never has a TV show and a video game crossed over in such a way before. This was an innovative idea for sure! I get that not everyone plays video games but you're missing half the story. It's like writing a review about Harry Potter after only reading books 5, 6 and 7.
Now that I've sung the high praises about the concept of Defiance, let's mention the elephant in the room. Gamers know the developers rushed the game to be in-sync with the production of the show. The game could be pretty buggy at times which eventually lead to it's being taken over by another developer and rebranded. Even with all it's bugs and broken bits, it was still a game I enjoyed playing!
For the actual show itself, most of the acting was great, Grant Bowler and Stephanie Leonidas are hilarious together. He's clearly not the parenting type and he couldn't be more over his head with a crazy, rebellious alien! They made such a great team. This show had a "small community" feel to it while it still provided much action. Tony Curran and Jesse Rath play a convincing father and son butting heads over just about everything. His relationship with his mom is a bit creepy but it's a Casthithan thing I guess??
Overall it's still a good watch without playing the game, most of the important story points are touched on in the show but having a game that played out with it just makes the show that much more interactive.
The Flash: Masquerade (2021)
Could you rip off Ocean's Twelve any harder??
It's like the writers sat and watched Ocean's Twelve the night before writing and decided "hey, wouldn't be awesome if instead of a middle aged French guy in a black shirt and pants, we take a young American girl and stick her in the tightest leather outfit we can find?! And instead of a cool Mediterranean beat, we can play some really lame classical music?! If we change the lasers from blue to red, no one will suspect a thing!!"
C'mon guys, if you've reached the point where you need to steal ideas, here's a crazy thought... steal ideas from the hundreds of Flash comics that exist!!
The rest of the episode is meh, with Wells and now Cisco gone, there isn't much keeping me watching this.