Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Versions I own: Xbox, PC

Well, a proper reviewing series of BioWare would not be complete without a review of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  For me, this game is probably my favorite BioWare game, if not one of my favorite games period.  In fact, I originally purchased an Xbox to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic after seeing the positive review at saber-scorpion.com.  Also, this game was also the very first game I played on my Xbox.  And to tell the truth, it lived up to its reviews.  I simply love this game.  The graphics are great, the music surprisingly great, the characters are fleshed out, complex storyline, and much more.  Plus, who doesn’t love making a Jedi in your image?  Unlike many game designers who try to rip off an already-successful franchise, BioWare actually added to the success of the Star Wars franchise.  For one thing, this RPG is on a galactic scale.  Though not being able to go to quite as many places as in Mass Effect, the site you are allowed to travel to contain many stories in the form of side-quests.  These side-quests can literally add many, many hours to your playtime if you take the time to play through all of them.  So far, I have played through this game completely 3 times, and I am working on my 4th play-through.  Because of the amount of decisions you may make, there are tons of different ways to play this game.  SW KotoR:  first on my Xbox, first in my heart.

Sciborg: 97

Metacritic: 94

GameRankings: 94

Jade Empire

Versions I own:  Xbox, PC

Well, after a erm, break, I have come back to reviewing BioWare video games.  I am currently going to post my reviews of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the sequel, the Sith Lords, until I find out if I can get a copy of the Sith Lords for the PC.  Until then, all 3 of you who read this blog get my review of Jade Empire.  After looking around the Internet, quite a few people (myself included) didn’t expect much from this game.  Now, I purchased it later, after purchasing Star Wars: KotOR.  However, I saw a copy at my local video game store.  After looking at the cover and the back, it didn’t look like much.  It looked to me like a beat-em-up game set in generic old Japan.  And then I saw BioWare logo.  So, I bought the game, still with expectations a little low.  Then I played it, and guess what?  I enjoyed it!  Though character customization is limited and some parts of the gameplay are also limited, I stopped caring about it after playing the darn thing enough.  BioWare once again used their skills to make a deep and immersing storyline.  So much so, I think Mass Effect actually has a less deep storyline than Jade Empire.  Though not as good as the Star Wars BioWare games, this game still makes the grade.  With cool setting, intricate plot, and surprisingly fleshed out characters, this game certainly begs to be played again.  Which of course I did, choosing the “darker” storyline instead of the “good” storyline in my first playthrough.  (In the game, good is the Way of the Open Palm and bad is the Way of the Closed Fist.  I think, its 2:05 am, give me a break!)  Plus, who doesn’t love a storyline where you can become Emperor?  In fact, I even bought the Special Edition for PC just a week ago so I could play on my laptop while on the go.  I don’t want to ruin the storyline too much, but lets just say BioWare gives their usual surprise endings like in all their games.  I would definately reccomend going out and buying it.  Next time on Sciborg: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.  Note: Since I do not own any Baldur’s Gate games and could not play through one in time for my review, if I do a Baldur’s Gate review, it will be later.

Sciborg: 90

Metacritc: 89

GameRankings: 89

Mass Effect

Version I own: Xbox 360

Now, I am not a fan of BioWare.  I am a BIG fan of BioWare, just below total fanboy.  In fact, I bought the Xbox to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic after seeing the review on saber-scorpion.com!  BioWare are the people behind the Knights of the Old Republic Series, Jade Empire, Baldur’s Gate, as well as other games; typically RPGs.  So when BioWare came out with Mass Effect for the Xbox 360, I knew I had to get the game.  To put it simply, Mass Effect definately lived up to expectations.  Where to start…  For one thing, the scope of the game is HUGE.  Though the Star Wars galaxy might be more in-depth, this game makes a new galaxy just as interesting as tried-and-true galaxies such as Star Wars and Star Trek.  Plus, unlike the KotOR games, you can go to many, many different planets on many missions and side missions.  For one thing, the second level is on a space station containing 12 MILLION people!  How great is that?  The character customization is pretty good, although you can only choose your charater’s first name.  This game is AMAZING with great graphics and a great storyline.  Sadly, the character dialogue is not nearly as good as the other games.  Still, this game is awesome, filled with new characters, an awesome rover called the Mako, and a whole new galaxy.  Plus, the Normandy is much better than the Ebon Hawk from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Sciborg: 93

Metacritic: 91

GameRankings: 91

Disagree?  Tell me in a comment!

TV Review: M*A*S*H*

Well, as mentioned previously, I have now begun to do even more reviews, now on TV shows.  Now, I know this is not sci-fi (since when has even half of this site been about sci-fi?) but I figured I would start this category with a bang, by reviewing M*A*S*H*.  If you are one of the unlucky few who have never seen this show, here is a quick recap.  In the Korean war, units were formed to transport wounded via helicopter to field surgical hospitals near the frontlines.  Hence, the M*A*S*H* units (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital).  These men and women worked around the clock to ensure wounded soldiers recieved the treatment they needed without being transported far away.  This show focuses and the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital operating in Uijeongbu, South Korea. (Do not ask me to pronounce that!)  Needless to say, with the show’s joke, wit, and seriousness compiled into neat half-hour episodes, the show is one of the most famous.  In fact, the last episode, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen”, holds the record for most views of a single episode: 106,000,000 Americans.  So does the show get a good review?  Absolutely!  In fact, the show won a total of 14 Emmys in its run.  To this, I give the almost-impossible-except-for-really-awesome-media 100% award!

Sciborg:  100

I couldn’t find any other reviews, so please leave your own!  Sorry for the sloppy post, it is 11:35 PM at my house!

Terminator: Salvation

Well, what can I say about this movie?  Like most movies nowdays, it would seem most movies opt for better effects than storytelling.  Now, I was quite excited about this movie, after seeing the flashbacks in the original movies, I was quite excited.  Not to mention I figured it would be a pretty simple story, considering most of the story was already told right?  Well…wrong.  Besides introducing some more plot twists, this movie is actually surprisingly lacking of plot.  That is not to say it is a completely a failure of a movie.  Far from it, if graphics are a factor.  Like most movies nowadays, the graphics are AWESOME.  Too bad they don’t make a movie great.  Note please though, the movie recieved (as of June 20, 2009) the movie grossed $282,083,000, with a budget of $200,000,000.

Sciborg: 60

Rotten Tomatoes: 33

Metacritic: 52

Disagree?  Submit your own review! (Image courtesy of  jakfrsh.wordpress.com, thanks!)

Star Trek 2009

Well, I finally saw the new Star Trek sequel, simply titled Star Trek, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Now, I am no trekkie, but I respect Star Trek for bascially giving birth to many other sci-fi works.  So of course I had to go see this new movie!  Now, I was actually expecting a semi-good movie, not an epic.  Why?  Well, recently most of the Star Trek sequels have been flops, and I figured this one might not do any better.  Of course, as soon as I saw that Bad Robot logo, I thought it might be pretty good.  Well, it did not dissapoint.  With amazing new graphics, and surprisingly detailed storyline, and more comedy than I thought possible in an action movie, this movie impressed me.  The ships looked amazing, from the giant Nirvana, to the good ol’ USS Enterprise herself, the graphics astounded me.  The only complaints I could find was the lack of the normally epic scale of the Star Trek universe; it just felt cramped instead of the great expanse of space.  Also, my only other problem was that it was an alternate-reality movie instead of in the general Star Trek universe.  However, these are only minor problems.  As a whole, Star Trek is a great movie.

Sciborg Rating: 91

Metacritic Rating: 83

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95

Hey, I’m Back! But where are all of you?

Well, after another incredibly long break (beginning to notice a pattern?) in reviews, I have returned!  Sometimes, we are swept away by our lives, and that is largely what has happened to me over these months.  So, sorry bout that, but I promise there will be more reviews this summer!  Coming up today and later this week are reviews for the 2009 Star Trek movie and Terminator: Salvation.  Also, up next are TV Show Reviews ZOMG!  Figure I will start with M*A*S*H* and the Battlestar Galactica remake series.  Plus, expect quite a few new video game reviews, including a BioWare marathon of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2, the RPG/Sci-Fi Shooter, Mass Effect!  So, expect more soon!  Oh, also I will (finally) introduce a rating system, from 1-100 based on what I think of the movie, not to mention what Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic think.  See all of you soon!

Safari 4

Well, the second web browser that I have chosen to review is the all new Safari 4.  Basically Apple’s competitor to Internet Explorer, Safari 4 was actually very surprising.  Now, I had previously used Safari 3 and, to say the least, was not very impressed.  My impressions changed once I downloaded Safari 4.  This new Safari is faster, looks better, is sleeker, and features some new cool gadgets to use.  One of my favorite is the picture to the right, what I call the website window.  This little feature displays your most-visited sites in an easy-to-use manner, and looks really cool while doing it.  Also, Safari 4 features the Ipod slider for viewing history, an easy way to recall forgotten web adresses.  This Safari is also just plain faster and easier to use than before.  Perhaps the simplicity is what makes it really cool.  I still use all 5 web browsers (I am actually using Opera to write this post) but Safari is a pretty big favorite.  That is about it, and next time is Mozilla Firefox!  By the way, I will compare all of the browsers in a different post later on after reviewing all the browsers.  Until next time.

Internet Explorer 8

Perhaps the most popular ways to explore the Internet, Internet Explorer is known the world over as “the little icon you click to take you to the Internet.”   Internet Explorer began in 1994 as a project by Thomas Reardon and led by Benjamin Slivka.  Launched in 1995, Internet Explorer 1 was shown as being easy to use and advanced for the time.  Quickly, more versions were released with new updates, buttons, and other such uses.  Internet Explorer 3 was actually what really brought the name Internet Explorer into most homes and offices.  Much more popular than its predecessors, this version took off like a rocket.  In facet, Internet Explorer is used by 67.51% of all Internet users.  But enought of the history, you (the reader) probably want an opinion over this browser.  Personally, I use Internet Explorer pretty heavily.  It is very easy to use, displays more HTML than other browsers, and just all of the doodads on it, IE8 is a very good browser.  Personally, I like it because of the numerous uses, updates, and such provided by many sites.  However, I have not had as much time to use other browsers as I have Internet Explorer, so perhaps I like it more because of nostalgia.  Anyways, the picture you see on the left is Internet Explorer 8 on my computer; as you can see the page is this very website.  I have the Msn.com toolbar dowloaded at the top with the Live Search toolbar.  I downloaded the browser from Msn.com if any of you wish to download it.  Just a note, I am using Windows Vista to view the page, so it might be different than if viewed in Windows XP.  Finally, this browser is a great one with tons of features, lots of downloads and updates, and just easy to use.  But is it the best?  We will see.  (Next up: Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and maybe ever Opera browsers!)

I’m Back!

After a very long lull in posting, I have finally decided to start posting, again.  For anyone who waited for a new post, I am sorry.  Anyways, I have some new ideas for some new reviews coming up as well as a totally new design of thesciborg.com, so don’t miss them!  The next review is going to be a 3-part series.  What will it be about?  Well, the Internet of course!  Yes, I will review Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome not just by themselves, but against each other as well.  They will be judged in several categories such as speed, usability, user interface, and so on.  Expect these reviews soon!