Spider-Man for the PlayStation 4 is one of the many games that have come out in the last few years that really validates your system purchase. This amazing game based off of many’s favorite Marvel super hero, is not only a system seller, but it may be one of the greatest superhero video games ever made; even rivaling the top dog, the Batman Arkham series. The Dark Knight got many things right with Arkham City, and Spider-Man took many pages out of the playbook of said series. While the ingredients will seem automatically familiar, the execution of these recognizable mechanics are masterfully implemented.
Spider-Man games have a polarizing legacy, and the quality of the games run the whole spectrum. With this entry we get one of the better experiences as Spider-Man that the gaming industry has ever had. Not only do we get incredible moments as the hero, but you will step into the shoes of costume-less Peter Parker, running his daily life, as well as Mary Jane, who is now a reporter for the Daily Bugle.
Being able to tell these more human sides of the story really build out the emotional narrative that is at play here. Make no mistake, this story goes to some heart pounding, and breaking, places. The narrative is elevated by interesting characters, some familiar, some entirely new.
The real stars are the incredible voice cast, Yuri Lowenthal as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Laura Bailey as Mary Jane Watson, and Stephen Oyoung as Martin Li, to name a few. A story is only as interesting as its character, and characters are only as interesting as their voice actors. Take a breath of relief that Spider-Man is firing on all cylinders in these regards.
New York is always as big of a character as Spider-Man is, and this game delivers one of the best seemingly one to one creations of New York. Real and fictional locations alike are on full display here, with many of the fictional locations being some very awesome Easter Eggs. I don’t even want to spoil any of them here, besides the one we have seen in trailers, the Avenger’s Tower. The real magic is naturally finding out what’s hidden among the city, as I had plenty of moments where my fanboy jaw hit the floor when I found some greater Marvel Universe nods. There is a bigger world here just waiting to be explored in future sequels or spin offs. The possibilities of what could be are nearly endless. New York feels like a living breathing city, with plenty of NPC who love to walk up and interact with you. Giving pedestrians a high five and taking selfies with some fans never gets old, and it brings life to this open world map.
No open world game is equipped without side content and collectibles, and this is sadly where the game starts to show some of its shortcomings. There are collectibles to acrue in the form of backpacks, which are very cool little tidbits of Peter’s past, and some excellent world building you can glean from the items. While those type are welcomed and don’t seem too intrusive, other collectibles are a bit of a grind, and come off as just fluff content. Collecting pigeons comes immediately to mind. While you get a good story with the quest giver, the act of collecting the birds themselves, leaves a lot to be desired.
Side content also lacks variation. There are crimes to stop in each district of NYC, and while a cool concept in theory, there are only a few variations of these crimes. Ultimately you are just stopping a getaway vehicle, stopping a robbery, stopping a drug deal, or stopping a kidnapping. And every crime pretty much ends in fisticuffs. While these crimes lack variation, it is a minor complaint, as they are never boring to do because the mechanics are just so wonderfully executed.
Speaking of mechanics, they are just about as perfect as can be. Swinging around New York has never felt better, and while it is easy to do, it take a bit of time to fully master. There are a lot of mechanics to be utilized while traversing the city, and as you gain locomotion through your countless moves and abilities you will find yourself swinging around at breakneck speeds. I have never felt more like Spider-Man in my life!
Our friendly neighborhood arachnid does hit the ground at some point though, and usually that means, hitting some bad guy face. Let me tell you all, hitting faces feels pretty damn good in this game.
So while we’re on the subject, let’s just address the elephant in the room. Spider-Man’s mechanics are heavily inspired (and heck, even borrowed) from the Arkham series. Some will think this is a rip off, but in reality, this is just a case of taking a great working combat system and retooling it for a new game. In Spider-Man, you are aiming to get your combo up as high as possible, why using reactive dodging in large crowds of bad guys. While multiplying your combo, you are filling up a focus meter which allows you to use instant take-downs. Also, the player can use a various amount of gadgets to crowd control the enemy. So yes, if this sounds like Shadow of Mordor or the Arkham games, you are right. But I have to point out that its this execution that makes the game so worthy. Though I concede to the point that others might feel like this is a reskin, I would encourage those who do to realize how perfect this combat system works for Spidey, and how it really nails his acrobatic nature and use of cool gadgets.
With such a cinematic story, you need a comparable cinematic score. The composer, John Paesano (known for his composition on the TV series Daredevil and The Defenders, and in video games with Detroit: Become Human and Mass Effect Andromeda) really nails all the right notes. He brings in so much immersion with his music, From the cheery tunes that play the moment you start swinging, to the more emotional moments that take place in cut-scenes, he really knows how to capture tone.
Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4 looks great, but the real spectacle happen on the Pro. With great draw distances, crisp graphics, good looking character models, and a pretty consistent frame rate, it really makes for a beautiful experience.
Across my 30 hours of playtime, I only had 3 hard crashes which sent me to the blue error screen and ultimately back to my home PS4 screen. I also had one moment where my character fell through a building and I was stuck there until I reloaded a checkpoint. Listen, its an open world game. These types of things are going to happen in all of them, and while no one ever likes to see a game crash, I have played many monumental and titanic sized games that had much worse issues with performance. Some fare better than others and I would say Spider-Man is one of the better performing open world games at launch that I can think of in recent memories.
At this point, the PlayStation 4 is home to many must have exclusives, and you can add more more on the list…possibly near the top of the list, because this is one of the generation’s greats. After this year’s amazing God of War release, I was worried no other games would compare or even match up to it. Fortunately, Spider-Man maintains the quality of gaming that God of War showcased earlier this year, and while everyone has a personal favorite, I can see Spider-Man being a heavy contender for Game of the Year Awards.
Spider-Man is a must play experience, and with mechanics so tight, a story so unforgettable, and production so high quality, you would be doing yourself a serious disservice by skipping out. Did you enjoy Spider-Man? Notice anything we missed? Tell us about it on Twitter! Want more reviews out from the underground and into your feed? Find more at Sub Cultured!
ASTRO Gaming, a leader in premium video gaming equipment, today revealed additional details surrounding the studio’s highly anticipated official Nintendo Switch™ A10 Headset. ASTRO Gaming confirmed the upcoming headset will feature The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild, celebrating a critically acclaimed title within one of the most iconic franchises in videogame history. ASTRO plans to reveal the new headset at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, June 12-14 (MR-307) with availability coming later this year.
“With our new wired headset for the Nintendo Switch, we celebrate the iconic gaming experience that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild delivers to a new generation of gamers,” said Cris “Soup” Lee, head of licensing & partnerships, ASTRO Gaming. “We worked closely with Nintendo to create a stylish, uncompromising audio experience, with a special new chat adapter designed specifically for the Nintendo Switch. With the Nintendo Switch Online smartphone app, players can chat with their friends while playing compatible games at home or on the go.
ASTRO Gaming’s development of the new Legend of Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch headset stems from an exciting multi-year agreement with Nintendo announced in April. As part of the deal, ASTRO Gaming will develop a variety of special edition headsets, speaker tags and accessories celebrating some of the most iconic characters and franchises, including The Legend of Zelda™, Super Mario™ and more.
The Far Cry series has been going strong since 2004. It has gone through some changes over the years, but finally hit a really well working formula with the 2012 entry, Far Cry 3. With Far Cry 5 now out, in a Montana setting and a similar formula, does it do enough different to keep players engaged?
Far Cry has taken us to many different places, like the islands of Micronesia, Africa, it has given us animal powers, we’ve checked out some Pacific islands, headed to the Himalayas, and it has even brought us back in time to the Stone Age. Heck, the series has even taken us to a 80s themed future where you kill giant dragons. The Far Cry series does not hold back when it is picking its setting.
Hearing that Far Cry 5 would be set in the United States in the state of Montana was surprising, and for a lot of people not in a good way. How do we go from so many exotic locations, to just some random midwestern state? Well, I am happy to say that these people are just plain wrong and the setting is just as engaging as previous entries. Montana is a beautiful sate, and the development teams at Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Toronto put so many interesting locations and things to do that I never felt bored.
The setting brings more than just pretty trees, beautiful rivers, and mountains. We also get a healthy number of vehicles. In past games, you are usually driving some old and decrepit vehicles, but in Far Cry 5 you are behind the wheel of weaponized eighteen wheelers, trucks, and cars that you would normally see on the roads of America. If ground based traversing is not your style, then there is a large assortment of helicopter sand planes to fly, a fist for the series if you don’t count the gyro-copter in Far Cry 4. Take your trek by boat if you need to as well! Parachuting and wingsuiting are still around and as fun as ever. You are not without an assortment of ways to get across the map in any way you see fit.
This time around, the player is fighting a religious cult. Many people assumed that the development team was trying to make a statement in a post-Trump America, but in my time with the game, I noticed that they main focus was creating a fun time rather than attempting to make any political or righteous proclamation via their game’s story. While it would have been interesting to see the game plant it’s feet into the ground with a statement, it was very refreshing to not have them do that, as we get plenty of politics out here in the real world. That is not to say that politics have no business in video games, but rather it was refreshing to see them not take a stance and focus on why we play games, escapism and fun. One thing is for sure, killing cultists IS fun, and our main bad guy, The Father, is very interesting. He makes quite the impression in the first moments of the game. Nobody will ever be as memorable as Vaas, but The Father holds his own in a series with pretty memorable villains.
The gameplay is solid, and upgrading and equipping the right loadout is a fun feedback loop. To help in the carnage you now have a gun for hire mechanic. Across the game map are random NPCs and fully fleshed out characters that you can recruit to your squad. You gain the ability to have two guns for hire, which changes things up in some big ways. Need some air support? One character will follow you around in an airplane and make passes at the enemy with some killer air support. Headed into an outpost, and need a silent partner? Perhaps your dog Boomer, a cougar named Peaches, or a silent bow huntress can help! There are so many options and ways to team up and get the job done.
Now sure, a lot of this sounds like your basic, everyday Far Cry, and that’s because it is. If you were hoping for a complete overhaul of the formula, then you might be disappointed. You are still hitting points of interest, taking down outposts, doing missions and trying to take down the big bad. The way you gain access to these missions and points of interest are different though, which brings some refreshing mechanics into the mix. Gone are the radio towers that populate your map with an assortment of locales and things to do. If you want to find stuff on your map, you better do it the old fashion way and explore. You can also talk to random NPCs in the world and they will suggest places of interest for you. It is very much like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in that regard. In fact this series has very much been a Skyrim with guns type of game, but now even more so.
Another smaller change is the way your character progresses and grows. Experience points are no longer given with kills and liberating outposts. Instead, you get perk points for completing challenges and missions, and you use those perk points on a very standard skill tree, shaping your character into the way you want him, despite by game’s end you having enough points to spread across almost everything. No more hunting is required to further expand ammo and item slots, which to me is kind of a bummer. Hunting is almost completely unnecessary now, unless you are trying to make a quick buck on the pelts. Hunting has now been rendered to a side activity that is only good for making money.
One last change is in mission progression. You won’t see story missions on your map regularly. Some side missions and other quests will populate on your map, but the main goal is filling up an action bar to try and get the boss of the area to come out of hiding and face you. The action bar has sections and each section filled grant you a main story mission. The thing is these missions do not populate on your map. They just happen randomly to you once the section of the gauge is filled up. Often times I would find myself driving or fighting in the world only for my screen to go blank and a story mission automatically unfolding. They give you context for why it happens so suddenly as well, so while it feels jarring it actually makes sense. One example is I was does with a drug called Bliss, and I began a very psychedelic journey that was not unlike other drug based scenes in previous games.
These changes do not make a completely new experience. They change the very standard Far Cry formula in small ways, but in the end this just feels like another Far Cry game. To be honest, I don’t think that is a bad thing. They have a very specific flavor, and what can I say I dig the taste and I don’t know if I want it or need it to change much. Enough is there to make things feel refreshing, but not too much has changed where it suffered an identity crisis. This is not a series we get yearly entries of; so I don’t think we have hit that saturation point yet with the series.
Co-op is back, and you can enjoy the game from start to finish with a buddy…but I found this to be rather pointless if your goal is to progress into the story. If you jump into a friend’s game, and unlock a bunch of map locations, do some quests and progress the story, none of your progress follows you back into your game, except money made and guns earned. Now I understand this in some ways, as it would not make sense to skip some of the story in your game if you played a bit further ahead in somebody’s else’s, but I feel more should have came over with you. Is it so hard to have map locations, side quests, and other little activities transfer over? In all honesty it made me never want to play with a friend. Sure it is a lot of fun causing chaos together, but the end just did not justify the means, and I found myself ignoring co-op requests when friends would reach out to me. I will say that doing simple activities like fishing and racing was a lot of fun with a partner though.
Far Cry 5 is a beautiful game. On a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X you will see the game really come to life in its 4k, HDR display. Few games capture nature like this game does, and hearing the sounds of the flora and fauna layered underneath the chaos and gunplay of the gameplay really creates a nice orchestra of different sounds and effects. Seeing the complete random nature of the world in these graphics have just been a breathtaking experience. In one situation I was hunting a very mad bear all hoped up on the before mentioned Bliss drug. The bear was quite the bullet sponge as it took many of my rifle rounds, only to run straight towards me, right past me, into a small fire, catching it on fire, only for it to run towards a nearby outpost, into the enemy filled area, and right up to an explosive barrel that 4 guys were standing next to, killing them and liberating the outpost. I was not even planning on taking down that outpost at this time. These random happenings are not foreign to the Far Cry series, but I have found that they happen more regularly, as if there is a chaos code in the background that just randomly generates unique moments that leave me audibly voicing my surprise or excitement.
These teams did a wonderful job with Far Cry 5. I experience was a meaty one with plenty to do, leaving me with plenty of Owen Wilson style “wows” to be said. While it does not do much to change the standard Far cry formula that began in Far Cry 3, I changes up enough to not make it feel like a reskinned experience. Far Cry has never looked or felt better, and if you are a longtime fan of the series, this should be a no brainer purchase. However, if you are looking for a complete reinvention of the series, you may find yourself disappointed. There are not many games that offer up an experience quite like Far Cry delivers, and if you like open worlds and shooting bad guys, then you might want to saddle up for this trip into Montana.
Adventure stories for children starring children will never go out of style. From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to The Neverending Story to Goonies, there’s a great thrill in young ones being able to see themselves as the protagonists in exciting situations. The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais is one such tale in which a trio of boys find themselves in the thick of a secret world of strange and wondrous creatures, but how does it measure up to some of the classics?
With some writing help by Jonathan Garnier, The Lost Path is written and illustrated by Fléchais. The book opens with a fairy tale of an older couple whose spirits are trapped by the forest before it quickly transitions to boys playing a scavenger hunt in the forest. They get lost and as the night grows darker, they find their situation growing stranger as they move deeper into the forest.
The story itself feels heavily influenced by Where the Wild Things Are, a notion that is supported by the Maurice Sendak quote that proceeds the book. The boys interact with the creatures, not understanding the world that they’ve arrived in, and with no understanding of the dangers they face. In addition to this, I find a lot of influence from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the way the plot revolves around the forest guardian and the quest for the crown. Both of these are ideal stories to draw inspiration from for a children’s book of these sorts as they are seminal classics, but I don’t think Fléchais really handled the interpretation of the themes properly.
The problem with the story is that the boys don’t do anything. They’re simply reacting to everything that happens around them. They don’t learn any lessons, they don’t affect the world in any way. Their only purpose is to witness the events and they, and by extension the reader, don’t get the chance to see anything through to the conclusion. That’s one of the major shortcomings of the book, in that the story doesn’t really matter. (We don’t even discover the outcome of the scavenger hunt.)
One of the things that turned me off most about The Lost Path was its abrupt ending. While the kids’ journey is an interesting one, the characters they meet are far more intriguing, but Fléchais never dives into any of them. I wanted to learn more about the fox and his supersonic bike, or the moose and how he got the bowler hat, or even what the deal was with the hat. Unfortunately, all of these characters are just incidental, there to give the boys a sense of wonder. Since the story is told from the perspective of the boys, once they are out of the woods, we lose all connection to these strange and wondrous creatures. Their tales are never finished and that’s just a shame.
The book’s art is breathtaking. The illustrations by Fléchais are magnificent and really bring her world and characters to life. Her style suits the creatures she’s created and I love the spin she gives the look of the humans. Each of the boys is unique and easily decipherable at a glance. I also loved the sparse use of color in the book. Most of the pages are black and white, rendered in great detail, but every so often readers are treated to a page of full, vibrant color, which makes the scene more dramatic when juxtaposed against the monochrome panels.
The art also does a great job of slowing down the reader. The Lost Path has a very fast paced story, with so much happening in so few pages that it’s easy to breeze through the whole thing, but the highly detailed art forced me to pause and pour over the details in the minutiae on page, which helped me to digest the story better.
The Lost Path is beautiful visually but doesn’t pack much originality. I would have preferred to spend more time with the Guardian, learning about her kingdom, or some of the animals in the forest. It was slightly disappointing that Fléchais gleaned over all of these interesting situations and themes, instead focusing on the boys finding their way home. I understand her decision, though, as this story felt aimed for children. All in all, it’s a good story for those who are interested in child adventure stories but doesn’t offer much depth.
Grade: B-
I have been a longtime fan of the Dynasty Warriors series. Developer Omega Force, and publisher Koei Tecmo has always relied on retelling the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Since the first game in 1997, the property has always been about slaying giant forces of soldiers and making you feel like a god on the battlefield. While Dynasty Warriors 9 is no different, it stumbles plenty which keeps it far from being the best entry in the series.
Dynasty Warriors 9 puts story in the driver’s seat. The tale of how the kingdoms of Wei, Wu, and Shu rise, fall, conquer and be concurred, is the propelling force that guides the experience. Long gone are the pre-battle menus and preparations, traded in for an open world and a sense that the battle never stops. While putting the story of each faction in the spotlight is a good move, making the switch to open world has a plethora of shortcomings.
The open world is empty, soulless, and just plain boring to traverse. There are materials to collect, towers to climb, surrounding areas to scout, and animals to hunt. Using materials acquired in the open world allows you to craft new weapons and items. However, none of this feels good, and none of it is in any way interesting or entertaining. The ability to fast travel to previously visited locations on the entire open world map of China is a nice feature, but it almost felt like a death sentence when a fast travel point was not near to my next desired battle. I should not feel like it’s a chore to simply ride a horse across a map.
The combat has been changed, and while it works and functions well, I had to unlearn about 20 year of Dynasty Warriors mechanics to learn these new ones. Gone are the two button combos, traded in for a less interesting system. Playing on the PS4, I had to utilize the Square button for regular attacks, and then hold down R1 and then choose a face button to do a specific attack, such as a launch, a stun, a special, or the likes. I can’t emphasize enough that the combat works, and when you get the hang of it, it is efficient, but I just prefer the old style system; it felt like it flowed better.
Combat changes and open world issues aside, the story itself has many good things going for it, but just lacks in overall execution.
Leaning about each faction, the characters in the family, and how they impacted the dynasty are all on display. A lot of the history is pretty spot on, which really elevates an overall boring experience. Leaning things like Sun Jian of Wu being a descendant of Sun Tzu was such a delight, and it is just one of many examples. While not 100% historically accurate, the information they do use paints a pretty good portrayal of the events that transpired during these warring times in China.
I put about 25 hours or so into the campaign. There are 13 chapters overall in the arcing story of the war, but there are many side stories and arcs such as Lu Bu’s battles. Seeing the “bad guys” perceiving themselves as the “good guys” was pretty entertaining. I was able to complete the entirety of the Wu story, and unlocked the final two chapters that exist only in the Shu story. The game lacks no content, because I could easily dump another 40-60 hours on completing each faction’s story and arc. While the narrative is interesting from a historical standpoint, the execution is just poor, specifically the voice acting being absolutely horrendous. I am talking the worst in any game in recent memory. It has been a while since a numbered entry of Dynasty Warriors has had English voice acting, and while it’s nice to know what people are screaming about in the heat of battle, it is almost offensively bad in terms of quality. Character animations in cutscenes are also awful, and the lack of effective writing really holds the interesting parts of the historical story back.
Graphics are a huge issue here as well. How does this world look so poor? How do characters look so bad? Are we sure this is a 2018 game? I know Dynasty Warriors has never been known for its graphics, but this was a time for them to show us what they’ve got. While it is the best looking game in the series, the experience is completely marred by pop in of textures, character models, and mission objectives. So while it is the best in entry in the series, their best is many developer’s worst.
The other big drawback is the actual quests and objectives. Every major battle is appointed a level, and you can bring down that difficulty level by engaging in side activities or quests. What’s cool are these quests have context for the changes they will have in the main battle. What is not cool is that every mission is basically go from point A to point B, and kill the thing. This would be less offensive if the main quests were any different…but they aren’t. In the end you can run straight to that main battle, without having done any side missions, grapple over the walls of the castle you are to infiltrate, run past every enemy and officer and right to the commander, and kill him. Nothing is stopping you from doing this due to the insanely easy difficulty. I was taking posts 10-20 levels higher than myself with extreme ease. So the stakes just felt low, and I never felt any incentive to actual fight my way to a commander.
The biggest offense of this game is the complete lack of co-op, be it online or couch. The series has a had a long time standing feature of couch co-op with a buddy…and yet it is missing from the most recent entry in the series. The online feature is less of a missed opportunity as it was never really the best. People however will still miss the online feature, as it is a pretty standard feature in most games these days. The only thing I wanted to do is run across the world with a buddy, split up, and take on different bases and missions…yet they didn’t even attempt to bring any of that into the fold.
I would feel like a criminal if I did not bring up the fun factor in not only this game, but the entire series. There is something so therapeutic about slaying thousands of enemies without having to really think or even be engaged. It is a very fun experience to see the ongoing battles that you are not even a part of, affecting the front line of battle, as forces push forward and back as they lose and win skirmishes.
Being able to jump from small battles to big battles is also a great way to keep the player in the moment. The fun factor alone is what makes this game worth snagging, especially if you are a long time Dynasty Warriors fan. Newcomers are probably less likely to enjoy this game, because it is showing its age and its lack of overall innovation. However, I do see long time fans being able to find the fun a bit easier, I still think they will recognize the many back steps this entry has taken when compared to previous entries.
I wanted to love this game. I wanted to be the champion of this game, screaming its fun from the mountain tops. Because while this title is fun, it is far from good. I don’t foresee patches or updates fixing the strong issues this game has, but if all you want to do is kill a bunch of melee weapon wielding warriors, this game will serve that up just fine. I just wish they had taken this time to do something more, something bigger… something better.
In popular culture, Star Trek has always been the thinking man’s sci-fi when compared to the more bombastic Star Wars. Obstacles in Trek are often overcome using logic and the inventive use of technology as opposed to the “shoot X to blow up Y” methods employed by Luke Skywalker and company. So it should not come as too much of a surprise that the Klingon war that has been the overarching plot thread of the Star Trek: Discovery season finale ends with a conversation rather than a battle. However, it’s hard not to feel disappointed. The series up until now has done a commendable job of combining the intellectual mind games of traditional Trek with the fast paced action of the more recent Abrams films. This more muted season finale feels strangely out of place, like a missing episode of the Next Generation.
The finale at times feels like it’s spinning its wheels with too little plot to fill its run time, much of it taking place in a Klingon market with quirky scenes demonstrating how the warrior race spends its free time gambling and frequenting strip clubs. Whilst this is a novel idea, highlighting that the Klingons are not morally black and white but instead various shades of grey just like the Federation, it feels out of place and takes away all the momentum established by the previous episode. It’s difficult to believe that Earth is in danger of imminent destruction when our heroes have time to enjoy kinky sex and hang out with space druggies.
Captain Georgio’s return also feels like a missed opportunity. Having such a ruthless wild card thrown into a war for survival should be a perfect recipe for drama, but instead the character is held back for what will be an inevitable season 2 appearance. It seemed as though the show had already played its best hand with the mid season reveal of Captain Lorca’s identity and has struggled to reach those heights again. Georgio had all the potential to surpass Lorca as the seasons most threatening antagonist but feels neutered by comparison.
Whilst its fitting that our main protagonist Burnham should find a peaceful solution to end the war which she initially caused, it does come across as rather easy and simplistic in execution. The Klingon war machine up until this point has been portrayed as unrelenting and cruel, so to have them so ready to stand down after a single (though potentially devastating) threat felt unearned. Despite this sudden turn around, its is still nice to see Burnham undergo genuine growth as a character and learn that there are sometimes alternatives to meeting aggression with aggression.
The main cast continues to shine, Sonequa Martin Green and Doug Jones’ evolution from comrades to wary opponents to close friends as Burnham and Suru has been a joy to watch over the course of the season, as has the developing maturity from Mary Wiseman as Cadet Tilly. It’s still a stretch to see Shazad Latif as the tough space marine that he is initially presented as but he consistently delivers whenever the scene requires him to show the mental trauma that Tyler has undergone.
The final scene of the Enterprise meeting the Discovery may feel hamfisted for some viewers but combined with the original series score it’s hard not to be nostalgic and excited for where Discovery can go from here. The season overall has been an entertaining ride with more highs than lows and hopefully can go from strength to strength next season, personally I cannot wait for season 2, I just hope the showrunners learn from season 1’s missteps and build upon its triumphs. The potential for a wider exploration of alternate realities or jumps in time provides the writers the opportunity to boldly go……oh, you know the rest.
Like our thoughts on the review? Got some points we missed? Let us know on Twitter @SubCultured!