sci-fi | Superior Realities

I keep wanting to call this episode, “Trek Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself.”

So the speculation was correct: Following a malfunction with the spore drive, the Discovery has arrived in the Mirror Universe. This puts not only the ship in danger, but all of the Federation, as Discovery is the only ship with the intel needed to defeat Klingon cloaking. Desperate to return home, the crew hatches a daring scheme to infiltrate the Terran Empire and gain information crucial to finding a path back to their home universe.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Tyler’s mental state continues to deteriorate, putting the mission in jeopardy.

I was a little suspicious of Discovery going to the Mirror Universe so soon in the series, and it seems I was right to be concerned. Really, is rehashing old TOS plots all this show can do?

More importantly — and this is a weird thing to say, but it’s true — Discovery is way too dark to make the Mirror Universe work. Yes, it’s the evil universe, but it’s always been the goofy, cartoony vision of evil. The Mirror Universe is supposed to be Star Trek at its campiest. It’s a silly “what if” with no consequences. It’s just for fun.

Discovery’s grim tone sucks all of the fun out of the Mirror Universe. Its lost its all its colour and personality.

But the problems don’t stop there. “Despite Yourself” is a great summation of everything wrong with Discovery.

First, we got plot holes. Of course we have plot holes. It wouldn’t be Discovery without them. Sure, Stamets can’t run the spore drive in his current condition, but what’s stopping them just bio-engineering someone else to pilot it? Yeah, there’d be risks, but is it any less risky than going deep cover in an empire you know next to nothing about?

And why didn’t Discovery just transmit its findings on the cloak to Starfleet? And why is Tyler still on duty despite his obvious mental instability?

Next, we’ve got Discovery continuing to treat its non-white crew members as expendable. This show started with a great diverse cast, but at the current rate it’ll soon just be Burnham lost in a sea of white people. Nice infinite diversity you got there, Discovery.

The next issue is a big one, and it’s a spoiler, so if you haven’t seen the episode yet, you may want to skip the rest of this review. Though at this point you can hardly call it a surprise.

This is a dummy paragraph to give you time to leave if you don’t want to be spoiled.

Okay? Okay.

So, yeah, Tyler’s a Klingon.

Damn it.

Let’s enumerate all the ways this is a terrible idea, shall we?

Well, first, it completely ruins all of Tyler’s character development to date. He was one of Discovery’s more layered and compelling characters, but now he’s just a villain with some screws loose. Either he gets killed off later, or he gets somehow redeemed and goes back to being a part of Discovery‘s crew, which would make no sense on any level. Either way, it’s a waste.

Also, his seeming sexual abuse at L’Rell’s hands is now revealed to be a lie (albeit a lie he himself believed for a time). Considering how actual victims of sexual assault are continually doubted and accused of lying, this is a deeply problematic decision, and breathtakingly tone-deaf in the current climate. It’s stupid, it’s insensitive, and anyone with half a brain should know better.

And oh, yeah, let’s not forget that the only character of South Asian descent has turned out to be a sinister sleeper agent from a violent religious sect. I’m sure that kind of narrow-minded stereotyping is exactly what Roddenberry had in mind.

Frack me.

As for good news? Well, there isn’t much.

Tilly is still a delight. She is the only one evoking some of the traditional lightheartedness of the Mirror Universe as she attempts to impersonate her ruthless counterpart, “Captain Killy.”

Also, the art design continues to be impeccable. Those Mirror uniforms are sexy as all hell. CraveTV has improved its video quality since last I used the service, too, so I can now appreciate Discovery’s sumptuous visuals without it looking like I’m viewing the show through a thick fog. That’s nice.

I am a little curious who the “faceless emperor” turns out to be. It’s kind of reminding me of the Imperial stories in SWTOR, actually. Wouldn’t it be fun if it turned out Valkorion was leading the Terran Empire? I’d feel much better about this arc if that turned out to be the case.

I really wouldn’t past the slimy bastard, honestly. What are the barriers between realities (and sci-fi franchises) to one such as he?

Someone needs to write a fan fic of that. Should include Burnham shouting “KNEEL BEFORE THE DRAGON OF ZAKUUL” at least once.

Ahem, anyway…

In the end this is a very disappointing episode. I’m really starting to think Discovery’s writers just don’t understand anything about what Star Trek is supposed to be, and if I hadn’t just paid money to watch the rest of the season, this might have been the final straw for me.

Overall rating: 4/10 It seemed okay while I was watching, but the more I think about it, the less I like it.

I really wish they hadn’t cancelled the DLC for Andromeda.

The story of Warframe is an interesting one, and I think other game developers would be well-advised to study it. A smaller game from a relatively unknown studio, it’s clawed its way into the public spotlight with little more than a slow build-up of positive word of mouth.

That positive word of mouth was enough to finally convince me to give the game a shot. I’d long ignored it for any number of reasons that now seem silly (I think I somehow had it in my head it was a PvP game for a while there).

Before we go on, I’d like to note again that I’m not a big shooter fan. I don’t hate shooters — indeed, some of my all-time favourite games have been shooters — but all things being equal I prefer a good RPG or RTS.

Also, much like bhagpuss, I’m going through a phase of wanting to stick with more familiar games rather than chase the next big thing, and I decided to try Warframe more out of a sense of professional obligation than any genuine desire for something new. So I may have been predisposed to judge it more harshly than it deserves.

So keep all that in mind, but if I’m being honest, I greet Warframe with a hearty “meh.”

The trouble with shooters is that they all end up feeling kind of samey, at least to me. This whole post could just read “it’s pretty much like Destiny,” and that would tell you most everything you need to know.

Of course, there is the element of being able to switch between different warframes (the game’s equivalent of classes), but I didn’t get far enough in the game to have access to anything but my starting warframe (it’s never a great idea to put your game’s defining feature behind a grindwall).

Instead I need to look to more subtle elements that set the game apart. Like the fact the enemy AI is dumb as a bag of rocks (I’ve gotten stealth kills on enemies that were ten feet away and looking right at me), or the fact it has way too much loot, to the point where I seem to spend more time cracking open crates than doing anything else.

On the positive side, I do like that Warframe offers some weapon choices that are fairly unusual for a shooter. My arsenal consisted of a staff, throwing knives, and a bow.

Man, I loved that bow. Accurate, lethal, and with just enough arrow physics to grant verisimilitude without being too much of an inconvenience. It’s the closest I’ve ever seen a game come to capturing the beauty of archery in the real world.

The frustrating thing about playing as many MMOs as I have is that there’s always at least one feature in all of them I wish I could import to my preferred titles. It would be so amazing if archery in ESO felt like it does in Warframe.

Beyond that, the main things to set Warframe apart would be its setting and art style, both of which are rather… strange.

Warframe’s visuals — especially the warframes themselves — are certainly different, I’ll give it that. And I hesitate to be too harsh, because the world does need more games with unique art styles, and from an objective standpoint, I admire Warframe’s originality.

Subjectively speaking, though?

Dis game ugly.

I’m especially baffled by all the effort that’s spent on different ways to customize your warframe, none of which stop them from looking utterly bizarre and awkward. You can have any look you like, as long as you like being a technicolour robot space bug monster from a bad acid trip.

(To be fair, the Plains of Eidolon are gorgeous.)

As for the lore, it’s very much a game that throws you into the deep end and expects you to swim, which makes it a bit hard to judge from the small part I’ve seen.

It’s definitely a unique-feeling setting, and it’s clear that a lot of love and effort went into the world-building.

The trouble is the game doesn’t give you any reason to care. Your character is literally faceless and voiceless, so it’s very hard to get invested in them. Or anything else, for that matter. There are no characters to care about; there’s nothing to fight for.

So while I think Warframe’s lore could prove pretty interesting if you invest enough time in it, I lack the motivation to get that far.

And that’s about all there is to say. For all the negativity in this review, it’s a pretty solid game, and it plays well enough. But it’s just lacking any special spark to make me care.

But that’s fine. I needed another MMO to play like I needed a hole in the head. Maybe I’ll give Warframe another try if I ever really need something else to play. For now, it’s back to the old favourites.

Superior Realities

Tag Archives: sci-fi

Review: Star Trek: Discovery, “Despite Yourself”

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