Trollhunters: Season 1 Review

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Note: this is a spoiler-free review of Trollhunters' entire 26-episode first season, now available on Netflix. I'll discuss basic plot and character details but avoid getting too much into story specifics.

We're at the point where it's worth maintaining a Netflix subscription solely for their lineup of original content. Sure, being able to stream Captain America: Civil War and all the CW superhero shows is nice, but not as nice as having shows like Luke Cage, BoJack Horseman and Orange Is the New Black at your fingertips. And it's not just older viewers that these original projects cater towards. Trollhunters is may be geared towards a more all-ages audience, but it also happens to be one of the best new additions to the Netflix library in quite some time.

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The Mick: Series Premiere Review

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Do you like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? More specifically, do you like Kaitlin Olson on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia? Then Fox's midseason comedy The Mick, debuting January 1st, is definitely made for you.

The series follows Olson as the brash, outspoken, blue-collar Mickey, a.k.a. alternate timeline Sweet Dee, who finds herself living the life of a wealthy suburban housewife when her tax-evading sister and brother-in-law flee the country and she's stuck caring for her spoiled niece and nephews.

Remember that episode of It's Always Sunny where Dennis and Charlie briefly move to the 'burbs? It's a little bit like that, but instead of going slowly insane, Mickey decides to rebel against the Stepford wives and perfect children that inhabit the rich Connecticut town and make their existence a little more exciting in the process.

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Vikings: "All His Angels" Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

As Vikings shuns the idea of a winter hiatus, even during this holiday bookended week, "All His Angels" offered up a shocking, sobering chapter that worked to shift the entire series in a new direction. In fact, you can read my interview with showrunner Michael Hirst about the episode here.

Though Vikings has given us its fair share of impressive battle sequences, most notably the two Paris raids, it's always been the quieter moments of pain that have landed with more of an impact. It's here where the show excels. Watching Ragnar suffer through his drawn out beatings and burnings this week, while not submitting a blink to King Ælla, reminded me of one of the show's first standout episodes, "Blood Eagle."

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Iron Man's Fate Revealed in Civil War II Finale

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The final chapter of Civil War II reveals the ultimate fate of Tony Stark.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Civil War II #8!

Several post-Civil War II comics have strongly hinted that Tony Stark died in his final battle with Captain Marvel. The truth, as it turns out, is a little more complicated than that. Carol did defeat Tony in one-on-one combat, destroying his massive armor and leaving Tony in a severely injured and comatose state.

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Civil War II #8 Review

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There are clear comparisons to be drawn between the execution of Secret Wars and that of Civil War II. Both were major event crossovers that fell significantly behind schedule. Both fell further behind schedule thanks to the decision to expand the story with an extra chapter. And in both cases, Marvel elected to delay the series and allow the original creative team to finish telling their story, even after the rest of the Marvel Universe had already moved on. The difference is in the payoff. Secret Wars #9 served as a beautiful finale to Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic's sweeping superhero saga. The fact that it arrived months after the start of the All-New, All-Different Marvel relaunch scarcely mattered. Civil War II #8 doesn't have anywhere near that impact. This issue merely serves as a dull, unremarkable finale to an event that's struggled to justify its very existence.

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Star: Series Premiere Review

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Star and Empire, Lee Daniels' musical soaps, share plenty of DNA. But while Empire is a slick look at the big problems that come with big success in the music industry, the creator's newest series, which has technically already debuted with a preview airing in December -- but will move to its regular Wednesdays at 9pm timeslot (a.k.a. the Empire hour) on January 4 -- is a grittier look at how one makes it to the top.

While both series feature regular musical numbers (Empire's are usually in-context performances, but Star goes the traditional musical route - any time, anywhere), Empire is full of glitz and glamour and the many furs of Cookie Lyon, and Star is full of three wannabe R&B star teenage girls who aspire to one day have a wardrobe worthy of Cookie Lyon.

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Doctor Who Christmas Special Review

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Full spoilers for the 2016 Doctor Who Christmas Special follow.

We’ve been in a bit of a Doctor Who drought with the decision to push Season 10 back to Spring, 2017, and in fact it’s been a full year since the last new episode aired -- 2015’s Christmas Special “The Husbands of River Song.” And while it’s great to finally get a new Twelfth Doctor adventure with this year’s Christmas Special, “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” is a just O.K. return for the character.

In fact, “Doctor Mysterio” is a sequel to “The Husbands of River Song,” albeit in a roundabout way. But its most effective moments land with the few brief times when it connects to that tale or the Doctor’s past, with the rest of the superhero-themed segment feeling slightly detached and less relevant, particularly when the River Song connection is revealed at the end of the special.

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Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum Review

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Editor's Note: IGN is going to be reviewing a lot more GPUs, gaming mice, keyboards, and other hardware in 2017. We're kicking off our renewed tech coverage with deep dives into some of 2016's staples. Hit up the comments below for more details, and to give your feedback. We want it.

It can be a bit bewildering trying to decipher Logitech's mouse lineup since it's so vast, but one thing is clear: the G502 Proteus Spectrum ($59 on Amazon) is its top-of-the-line wired gaming mouse for right handers, and it's got more features than most home appliances. It's a replacement for the G502 Proteus Core, with the word Core being ditched in favor of the word Spectrum since this version has RGB lighting (naturally). It also features the company's most accurate sensor, 11 programmable buttons, and you can customize its weight as well. It's expensive at around $60 but considering its dizzying list of features the price matches its performance.

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Forza Horizon 3: Blizzard Mountain Review

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Those of you who’ve played Forza Horizon 3 might remember spotting a snow-covered peak thrusting up into the sky, deep in the distant background. You couldn’t drive there; it was merely a decorative tease.

Well, it isn’t anymore. Forza Horizon 3’s first paid expansion, Blizzard Mountain, has arrived, and has brought with it a driving experience like never before seen in the series.

And it’s very, very good.

The differences between Blizzard Mountain and Forza Horizon 2’s equivalent Storm Island expansion are immediate. Storm Island features wilder and windier weather than the standard inclement conditions in Forza Horizon 2 but the environment itself is largely similar to the main game. It’s really more of the same, with the rain going sideways.

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Venom #2 Review

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Say what you will about the symbiote itself, but Venom has never been short on interesting hosts. From OG Peter Parker to jealous Eddie Brock to Agent-turned-Guardian Flash Thompson, much of what makes Venom tick comes from his relationship with his vessels. And that’s what makes this new incarnation so hard to get behind. Despite some solid symbiote action, the book’s paper-thin narrative and lack of strong characterization ultimately translates to more slobber than bite.

Continuing to flesh out the not-so-meet-cute presented in his debut, Mike Costa initially does a solid job of furthering the new dynamic between Venom and his new human host, Lee. With Venom having always been in control, by either host willingness or direct force, painting Lee as the man in charge opens up some unexpected roads. Costa’s explanation for Lee’s dominance is a bit thin – particularly given that Flash Thompson possessed an assumedly similar skill set and training – but it nonetheless allows Costa to approach his tale with a different mindset.

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Vikings: "In the Uncertain Hour Before the Morning" Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

Vikings excelled tonight with a thoughtful, emotional episode featuring the death of a major character and a hostile-turned-playful reunion between Ragnar and King Ecbert.

As it turned out, Lagertha's confrontation with Queen Aslaug was rather brief and to-the-point. Aggressively "viking," if you will. Aslaug walked out, probably knowing she was done for, and remained graceful in the face of a hostile takeover. She even managed to walk about thirty feet away from Lagertha before she got taken down by an arrow.

Now, normally, shooting someone in the back would be considered fairly despicable, but I'm not sure what the culture dictates here. I seems to me like Lagertha's move was fine when you consider all the tricks and sneak attacks the vikings usually employ to gain any and every advantage over their opponents. Being "honorable" in battle doesn't seem to be a top priority for them.

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MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X 6G Review

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Being first to market has obvious advantages, but being second to market can also give you time to prepare your offensive strategy a bit. Such is the case with the GTX 1060 ($200 - $270 on Amazon), which is designed to go head-to-head with the AMD’s Radeon RX 480, which launched first.

You see, for this new generation of GPUs, Nvidia followed tradition and led with its high-end GTX 1080 and 1070 cards first, while AMD decided to launch with a midrange GPU instead. This allowed both companies to launch their new GPUs into unclaimed territory. Later Nvidia answered AMD's mid-range entry with one of its own. And that’s the GTX 1060. It is the first affordable Pascal GPU to spring forth from Nvidia and uses an all-new slab of silicon named GP106.

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Gamora #1 Review

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At this point, every member of the current Guardians of the Galaxy have had at least one solo series to their name exact one, Gamora. That's despite the fact that this incredibly old, incredibly feared assassin probably deserves her own comic more than any of them. But at long last, Marvel is ready to make up for lost time, and Gamora is shaping up to be a worthwhile read for those who want to learn more about his she earned her reputation as the most deadly woman in the galaxy.

One of Gamora's big selling points is the fact that it's written by Nicole Perlman, one of the screenwriters of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Whether intentionally or not, the book could just as easily function as a movie prequel as it does an addition to Marvel's comic book universe. That certainly makes it accessible, though at the cost of playing a little fast and loose with Marvel continuity. It can be frustrating to see long-running Marvel franchises spontaneously re-align to mimic the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and that seems to be what's happening when it comes to the depiction of the Thanos/Gamora/Nebula family dynamic.

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20th Century Women Review

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It’s 1979 in Santa Barbara, CA, when the entire American people are suffering from a crisis of confidence (whether they know it or not) and the world is on the brink of entering into an entirely new decade, unaware of the many problems it will offer, while still left haunted by those of the 1970s. At the same time, a mother and her 15 year old son watch on in confused horror from a grocery store window as their family car burns, the same one they’ve had for years, and the last constant remnant of her ex-husband and his father in their lives.

While sitting on the edge of a fire truck in the grocery store’s parking lot and wondering what the hell to do next, she laments about how much they loved that Ford Galaxy, expecting a similar reaction from her son, who instead remembers the car for how much it broke down and overheated on them. “It was old,” he says. “It wasn’t always old,” she replies, “it just got that way all of a sudden.”

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The Autopsy of Jane Doe Review

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2016 has been an inarguably great year for horror films, from chilling arthouse outings like The Witch and The Monster (both, interestingly enough, came from A24), all the way to horrifying studio films like The Conjuring 2, Don’t Breathe, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. By all accounts, this will likely go down as a milestone year for the genre, which has already been on a steady climb back to greatness over the past few years, and with just a few more weeks to go until 2016 is over, the year still has one great horror tale to fill our nightmares with.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a single-location film that at times, feels just as much like a supernatural horror story as it does an engrossing, blood-filled mystery. Starring Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch, the film centers around father and son duo, Austin (Hirsch) and Tommy (Cox) Tilden, who work feverishly as their Virginian town’s go-to coroners out of their family’s underground, labyrinthian morgue. Both experts at deconstructing dead bodies and determining cause of death, the two are just about to call it a day when the film begins, before agreeing last minute to examine the body of an unidentified Jane Doe, delivered to them by the blunt Sheriff Sheldon (Michael McElhatton).

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Dragon Ball Super: Episode 71 Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

Episode 71 wastes no time informing us what we’re in for. The death of Goku is at the forefront of the show and we spend our time seeing the build-up to this. Although some good moments exist, death in the Dragon Ball franchise has lost almost all of it’s meaning which ruins the emotional impact of the episode.

While not all parts of Episode 71 are great, certainly the stand out is Hit. The assassin from Universe 6 has an air about his character that few villains have had in Dragon Ball. In fact, what makes him so appealing is that he isn’t even a villain in the strictest sense, but is a neutral party working for hire. His calm, cold demeanor add a sense of mystery to him while his lethal efficiency showcases just how wildly powerful he is. It’s this mysterious nature that makes his character so compelling and we hope going forward that it’s something that isn’t tampered with too much.

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The Amazing Spider-Man #22 Review

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Warning: this review contains spoilers for The Clone Conspiracy #3!

Clone Conspiracy readers haven't necessarily needed to be following Amazing Spider-Man to appreciate this latest Spider-Man event, but that may change with the release of Amazing Spider-Man #22. This issue offers some much-needed background and context to the surprise twist in The Clone Conspiracy #3. Marvel might as well have labeled this one "The Clone Conspiracy #3.5."

This issue picks up exactly where The Clone Conspiracy #3 left off, with a flabbergasted Peter coming to grips with the revelation that Ben Reilly has been masquerading as the Jackal. What follows is a lengthy recap of what Ben has been up to since his apparent death at the end of the Clone Saga. Writers Dan Slott and Christos gage use this issue to answer various practical questions like "How did Ben survive turning into a puddle of goo?" and "Why didn't he resurface before now?"

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Batman #13 Review

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"I Am Suicide" has showcased this young series at its best and worst. Batman #13 wraps up the story arc somewhere in the middle, with a conclusion that wraps up this conflict on a fitting, if slightly predictable note.

Not until issue #12 did the true significance of the arc's title become apparent. This chapter builds on that as it chronicles the long-awaited showdown between Batman and Bane. Hearkening back to "Bane broke the Bat, but the Bat broke him right back" idea Gail Simone established in Secret Six, Tom King suggests that each character serves as the other's monster. After so many years of seeing Bane portrayed as a mindless bite, it's very refreshing to see this villain given the respect he deserves again.

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Star-Lord #1 Review

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The Guardians of the Galaxy didn't fare too well in Civil War II, losing their ship and basically becoming stranded on Earth. That new status quo forms the backbone of Brian Bendis' final arc on the main GotG series, and it's also the basis of the relaunched Star-Lord comic. Writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Kris Anka immediately gel as they begin exploring this latest (and most pathetic) chapter in Peter Quill's spacefaring career.

Zdarsky and Anka lean heavily on the notion of Peter as an unloved, little respected hero. Between being marooned on Earth, breaking up with Kitty Pryde and losing his position as Emperor of Spartax, Peter has pretty much ruined every facet of life recently. All of that fuels an enjoyable first issue as Peter struggles to acclimate to his new surroundings.

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Justice League vs. Suicide Squad #1 Review

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Now that the initial novelty of DC Rebirth has worn off, the time has come for DC to publish something that can both keep the momentum going and start furthering some of the many loose ends left over from DC Universe Rebirth #1. Justice League vs. Suicide Squad serves both of those purposes at once. It's the first major crossover event of the DC Rebirth era, and the next big step along the road to whatever the climax of this relaunch will be. And judging from this first issue, it'll satisfy fans regardless of what type of story they're looking for.

At its core, Justice League vs. Suicide Squad is a pretty straightforward crossover. Batman and his allies are none too keen on the idea of Amanda Waller running a covert assassination squad comprised of their enemies, and they've decided to put a stop to Task Force X. Naturally, Waller's team aren't keen on being ordered about by the costumed do-gooder crowd, so fighting quickly ensues. Writer Joshua Williamson quickly settles in with both teams. His script especially shines in the Suicide Squad-focused segments, playing the various personalities against each other and making solid use of new addition Killer Frost.

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Live by Night Review

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Live by Night opens in L.A. and New York City on Christmas Day and expands into wide release January 13, 2017.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Ben Affleck reunites with Gone Baby Gone author (and fellow Masshole) Dennis Lehane for the period crime drama Live by Night, an ambitious but unwieldy adaptation of the latter’s novel of the same name. Live by Night is arguably director Affleck's first merely good film instead of a great one, which means he still has one hell of a batting average among actor-directors.

This sprawling saga follows World War I vet-turned-criminal Joe Coughlin (Affleck), who is carrying on an affair with Emma Gould (Sienna Miller), the moll of an Irish mobster at war with Boston's Italian Mafia. When that all goes violently awry, Joe finds himself in the employ of mafioso Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone), an act of submission Joe never thought he'd commit again after following others in the Great War.

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Space Hulk: Deathwing Review

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Space Hulk: Deathwing made me feel like one of Warhammer 40K’s elite Space Marines in the same way that the renaissance festival made me feel like a knight when I was called up onto a stage as a kid to be dubbed by a fake king. The first-person hall-crawling and Tyranid-zapping through a massive, abandoned ship graveyard works well on a basic level, but you don’t have to look very closely to see through the trappings to the shallow experience beneath. And like realizing that stately king was an actor getting paid to wear goofy clothes on the weekends, it left me with a sense of disappointment.

To its credit, Deathwing offered me several brief moments of outright, fanboyish glee. Clunking around in Terminator armor while cleansing a hallway of dozens and dozens of enemies, using an autocannon of a caliber that is normally reserved for vehicles, and literally wading through the corpses of the dead toward an objective marker in the near distance that read simply: “Purge”, I was ecstatic. It’s what playing as a Space Marine should feel like. It had me convinced that a first-person shooter was the ideal way to present this particular fantasy.

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PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 470 Review

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Editor's Note: IGN is going to be reviewing a lot more GPUs, gaming mice, keyboards, and other hardware in 2017. We're kicking off our renewed tech coverage with deep dives into some of 2016's heavyweights. Hit up the comments below to give your feedback. We want it.

When AMD unleashed its Polaris architecture GPUs on the world, its opening salvo consisted of its RX 480 (Around $249 on Amazon), which was a VR-capable GPU designed for 1080p gaming at maximum settings. It then quickly followed up on the success of the 480 with a slightly detuned version dubbed the RX 470 ($170 - $200 on Amazon), with the logic being that an even more affordable Polaris GPU at $180 would allow more gamers to enjoy the fruits of AMD’s labor.

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The Walking Dead: A New Frontier Review

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For two seasons of Telltale Games' venture into the apocalyptic wastelands of The Walking Dead, we have experienced the life of survivor Clementine as she has dealt with unimaginable loss and strife in a world overrun by walkers. Whether together with others or alone on the road, Clem (and, in turn, us as players) have kept alive through sharp intellect, honed instincts, and wise tutelage. But for Season 3 of The Walking Dead: A Telltale Game Series, everything is changing. Here, you find a new family of survivors, and a new playable protagonist named Javier. Here, you will be tested to make choices that will affect not just people you know and trust, but those bonded by blood. Here, you will discover A New Frontier. And here, no one can be sure to get through what awaits and come out alive...

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Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Review

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Developer WayForward is pretty well dialed-in when it comes to the secret science of making a strong 2D platformer, and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero benefits greatly from that understanding. Shantae has a wide array of forms and magical abilities, and yet levels are designed to accommodate her talents in a surprising number of ways. And even if the gameplay weren’t as well-tuned as it is, then the toe-tapping soundtrack, plucky protagonist, and beautiful hand-drawn animation probably would have been enough to win me over anyway.

Right from the start, Half-Genie Hero disarmed me with super-saturated colors and Saturday-morning-cartoon charm. Even ostensibly mundane stuff like the stage-select screen or running around town to talk to NPCs carries an air of unashamed, childlike fun and silliness. And Shantae herself is the force driving it all. Even when you put the controller down, she stands there bopping jovially to the beat of the music, and it's hard not to join in.

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The Walking Dead - A New Frontier Episode 2 Review

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An immediate follow-up to episode 1, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier Episode 2: "Ties That Bind Part II” takes Part I’s solid start and runs with it much faster than a walker ever could. The episode feels more tied to both the familiar trappings of Walking Dead and Telltale Games' plot structures. Yet by building on the foundation of the last episode and the two seasons before it, the conclusion of this two-part opener sets up an intriguing rest of the season — one that makes me feel like my choices actually matter (even if that’s likely an illusion).

Picking up from Part I’s dramatic final moments, “Ties That Bind’s” second half forces Javi to learn the true cost of surviving in this world for the first time since his introductory flashback in the season premiere. It’s easy to see how many dialogue choices and actions only matter in the moment, but I continued to care deeply about how Javi reacted to every blow to his family and his world. I fought to keep Javi’s hope and determination alive, even as the world around him actively worked to shake him of that resilience.

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The Walking Dead - A New Frontier Episode 1 Review

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Both a continuation of the last two seasons and, as its name suggests, a fresh chapter in Telltale’s ongoing saga, The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series - A New Frontier kicks off with a tightly paced, engaging premiere episode that has me excited for what lies ahead this season. “Ties That Bind Part I” is not a complete departure from what made previous seasons work, but it does feel like an attempt to correct some of the series’ wrongs; and so far, it’s succeeding.

Episode 1 starts off  with on just the right note by introducing a new playable protagonist, Javi, in one of the series’ best-directed sequences. Set during the initial zombie outbreak, the opening sequence plays out like a tense, well-shot indie horror film, with stylish editing and directing that delivers substance (in the form of Javi’s family) to match.

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AMD Radeon RX 480 Review

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Editor's Note: IGN is going to be reviewing a lot more GPUs, gaming mice, keyboards, and other hardware in 2017. We're kicking off our renewed tech coverage with deep dives into some of 2016's heavyweights. Hit up the comments below to give your feedback. We want it.

The Radeon RX 480 ($175 - $250 on Amazon) is a watershed GPU for AMD, as it marks the arrival of the company’s all-new and much-anticipated Polaris architecture; it’s first ever built on a next-gen 14nm “3D” FinFET process. This is the platform the company will be using for at least the next two years, and is a massive leap forward in terms of performance-per-watt for AMD’s GPUs, with the company claiming it’s good for a 2.8x increase over the previous generation of cards.

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Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for Ash vs Evil Dead's second season follow...

Kelly: "That is horrible, and also awesome."

Ash: "Which is everything that I do!"

Though not without a few stumbles, Ash vs Evil Dead's second season was a definite improvement over its freshman year run. Not that Season 1 wasn't fun and ferocious gooey gory goodness, but it didn't quite have a handle on Ash, as a character, like Season 2 did.

Last year, Ash seemed to bounce back and forth between total doofus and a more earnest sort of hero who was in the midst of a transformative arc. What was needed -- and yes, it's tricky -- was a blend of the two. Ash needed to become less of a reluctant savior while still being fundamentally, you know, Ash.

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Assassin's Creed Review

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Assassin's Creed, the first film to spin out of Ubisoft’s popular action/adventure franchise, has high aspirations. Director Justin Kurzel has reunited with the stars of his last project, 2015’s Macbeth, to create a project that is just as serious, just as weighty, despite at its core being about the quest for a magical apple through advanced virtual reality. Though it’s bolstered by some glorious action sequences and a stellar cast that really gives us their all, the lack of any levity whatsoever in Assassin's Creed amounts to a soulless experience that wastes its potential.

It starts promisingly, with some succinct historical backstory outlining the nefarious Templars’ ongoing efforts to retrieve The Apple of Eden and the Assassins’ ongoing efforts to stop them. Modern rock shreds as we cut to young Callum Lynch in the ‘80s, our unwitting protagonist whose world spins into chaos after his assassin ancestry catches up with him. It’s quick, confident exposition that efficiently condenses the notoriously convoluted lore of Ubisoft’s series.

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The Man in the High Castle: Season 2 Review

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This is a spoiler-free review for all 10 new episodes of The Man in the High Castle, which is now available on Amazon Prime.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Season 2 of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle is lighter than its freshman year run, because it most certainly has its fair share of grim scenarios, but it does allow for more nuanced character moments - prioritizing them, in fact, over some of the heavy-handed world building of Season 1.

Perhaps I'm just remembering back to how the second episode of Season 1 dealt with the unjust execution of Frank's sister and her kids, which was an out-of-the-gate gut punch that almost acted like a litmus test for viewers. As if to say, "This is a dark and overtly morbid show so you need to figure out right now if you want to keep going."

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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Founder’s Edition Review

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Editor's Note: IGN is going to be reviewing a lot more GPUs, gaming mice, keyboards, and other hardware in 2017. We're kicking off our renewed tech coverage with deep dives into some of 2016's heavyweights. Hit up the comments below for more details, and to give your feedback. We want it.

When Nvidia announced its all-new GPUs based on its Pascal architecture, the GTX 1080 ($600 - $700 on Amazon) stole all the headlines with its flagship specs, but its less-expensive baby brother­­ – the GTX 1070 ($400 - $450 on Amazon) ­– stole everyone’s hearts. That’s because the golden rule in the GPU world is that the top card always comes with an exorbitant “fastest card” tax, while the model right below it is usually only a bit slower but much less expensive (this same rule also applies in the CPU world too).

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Silence Review

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What is it to have faith? What is it to keep one's faith in a time of difficulty? What is the cost of faith? Silence, Martin Scorsese's film about Portuguese priests in Japan in the 17th Century (based on the novel by Shusaku Endo) is, by and large, an examination of those very questions. It is fitting then that for much of the first hour of the two hour and 40 minute movie the audience must take it on nothing but faith that the movie is indeed headed somewhere interesting.

To be certain, Silence is beautiful throughout, offering green mountainside vistas, darkened caves, small villages, and scenes on the water, but after quickly establishing the premise—Fathers Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garrpe (Adam Driver) are on a search for a lost priest who has reportedly apostatized (given up his faith), Ferreira (Liam Neeson)—the whole thing stalls. The two priests arrive in Japan in a small village only to decide to… do nothing. It is too dangerous, they believe, to go anywhere. They know Japan is dangerous before they leave on the mission, at the time the country is torturing Christians, but upon actually arriving they all but abandon their mission for no particular reason save "danger" and minister to the hidden Christians they have found in the village.

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Werewolves Within Review

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Werewolves Within takes the popular party game ‘Werewolf’ (or Mafia) and transforms it into one of the only remarkably welcoming, social VR experiences available. It’s a successful "port" of an already very tactical and thought-provoking game of deception, but being hosted in a virtual world offers unparalleled accessibility. Unfortunately, it also comes with some very inhibiting technical issues that mar it considerably.

Werewolf, the social game that Werewolves Within seeks to replicate, is about a werewolf trying to hide their identity amidst a group of villagers, while the villagers try to discern who among them is the monster. Werewolves Within facilitates the social setting you need to play it in, with an interesting variety of fantasy-inspired worlds. Without VR, it usually takes a social event and a willing group of people to play, but being able to opt in online with the PSVR makes it wholly accessible, even for friends or family living miles apart. Jumping in through the Quick Start option either immediately puts you in a virtual lobby with other players, or has you observe other matches while you wait to play - it feels organized, and easy to get into the madness.

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Netflix's The OA: Season 1 Review

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Knowing details about Netflix's newest sci-fi mystery series, The OA, before watching it won't ruin the mystery. In fact, as with any respectable entry in the genre, the more you learn, the more questions you'll have. But knowing more than a few basic facts will certainly make each successive revelation a lot less fun - so know that the following paragraphs will contain as few spoilers as possible to preserve the

of learning that the key to

is

. Trust, you'll appreciate it later.

Here's what you should know going in: The OA is an eight-part series from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the duo responsible for the indie thrillers The East and Sound of My Voice. Directed by Batmanglij, it stars Marling as Prairie Johnson, a blind woman missing for nearly eight years who returns to her hometown with her sight completely restored. She's got mysterious scars on her back and refuses to open up to the FBI (or even her family) about what happened while she was gone.

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South Park: Season 20 Review

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Warning: full spoilers for South Park's 20th season follow!

One of South Park's greatest strengths is its ability to lampoon pop culture and current events at a speed no other animated sitcom can match. The only downside to that is that the show tends to miss a lot of worthwhile material during those long gaps between new seasons. 2016 will go down in history as one of the most interesting, bizarre and upsetting years ever. South Park may have missed the majority of 2016, but it certainly made up for lost time when it did finally return.

South Park has shown a gradual shift towards more continuity-driven storytelling in recent years. It started small, with characters suddenly referencing the events of the previous week's episode. Then Season 19 came along, offering a loosely connected, season-long narrative involving political correctness and the town's efforts to become a more progressive place worthy of Whole Foods. With Season 20, South became more continuity-driven than ever. These episodes didn't just reference one another; they combined to form one giant saga. It was as if earlier three-part epics like "Imaginationland" or "The Black Friday Trilogy" were stretched into 10 episodes.

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Let it Die Review

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Let It Die is essentially Dark Souls reimagined as a free-to-play roguelike, with a monetization scheme that sounds incredibly predatory on paper. And yet, for many hours at least, it never really threatens to empty your wallet. It's got clunky combat and a nebulous sense of progression, but it initially showers you with premium currency and wraps it all in a enticingly weird and violent package. The appeal wears off in time, but in its chaotic first dozen or so hours it achieves something like magnificence.

The bizarro setting is partially to thank for that. Let It Die embraces the increasingly popular view that the world could go down the toilet in the next few years, specifically after some tectonic cataclysm in 2026. On an island outside of Tokyo, the Babel-like "Tower of Barbs" shoots up to the skies, ringed with skyscrapers and populated by baddies with dreadfully poor AI all trying to reach the top. Others shoot through underground tunnels in subway cars while hooked up to skin-piercing tubes straight out of The Matrix, and you start off by choosing whichever one of these lab rats suits your fancy.

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Westworld: Season 1 Review

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My apologies, this Westworld: Season 1 review is going up a few days later than planned thanks to some scheduling conflicts!

The review will eventually go into full spoilers, but there will be a warning beforehand if you haven't seen the season yet.

The TV landscape is so crowded these days, it’s hard to get attention with a new series, and there are plenty of quality shows that are overlooked. Even HBO has had trouble replicating successes on the level of The Sopranos and Game of Thrones in recent years – The Leftovers is one of TV's best shows, but it often feels, unfortunately, like no one is watching it. That being the case, it was notable when Westworld managed to truly resonate this fall, with a ton of attention paid to the series, as it quickly gathered a passionate, highly involved fanbase.

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Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

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It’s rare to find a game that excels in the pillars of mechanics, storytelling, and art as consistently as Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. It has its share of blemishes, most prominent of which being camera controls that made me want to flip an entire hibachi table. But its needle-sharp stealth systems, cast of memorable characters with diverse abilities and personalities, and an uncommonly grounded saga set in a stylized feudal Japan left me with a sense of true accomplishment and a role in a well-told story.

Each of Shadow Tactics’ five characters has a particular set of skills that make them suited to different sneaky deeds, like hunkering down in bushes, isolating and executing enemies, and hiding the evidence before anyone notices. There were clearly times that called for Mugen, a samurai who can take out a cluster of enemies in a katana flurry, and times when it was a job for Yuki, a young thief who can lure solo enemies into traps. Other times, using them both in tandem allowed me to achieve what neither could alone, which created some great “Eureka!” moments.

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Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition Review

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Editor's note: IGN is going to be reviewing a lot more GPUs, gaming mice, keyboards, and other hardware in 2017. We're kicking off our renewed tech coverage with deep dives into some of 2016's heavyweights. Hit up the comments below for more details, and to give your feedback. We want it.

The launch of the GTX 1080 ($600-$700 on Amazon, depending on the manufacturer) isn’t some nuanced affair about balancing price and performance. This card was launched with the tagline of being “The new king,” making its intent quite clear; it’s designed to dominate, plain and simple. It’s the first GPU from Nvidia made with its all-new Pascal architecture, which promises a quantum leap in performance instead of the incremental gains we’re used to seeing from one GPU series to the next.

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Justice League Action: Series Premiere Review

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Note: this is a spoiler-free advance review of Justice League Action, which will premiere on Cartoon Network on Friday, December 16 at 6pm EST.

At this point, many DC fans probably suffer an involuntary eye twitch whenever they hear the phrase "Cartoon Network." The station has played host to some of the finest DC-based animated series ever crafted, including Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Beware the Batman. And yet, all three of those shows were quietly and unceremoniously canceled by a network more concerned with ratings and toy sales than critical acclaim. Cartoon Network's newest DC project, Justice League Action, speaks to that more kid-friendly approach to superhero storytelling. It's light, enjoyable and sure to sell a boatload of action figures. But those who demand deeper stories and character drama in their superhero cartoons should probably look elsewhere.

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Fences Review

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August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences, is one of unwieldy power and prose, telling the story of a black man living in 1950s America, struggling with the continually changing race relations in the country at the time, all while forced to come to terms with the decisions he’s made in his life while raising his family. Denzel Washington, after acting in the play several years ago to critical acclaim, has now brought it to life on the big screen this year, with most of the same cast members he acted with on Broadway, and unsurprisingly, Fences remains an incredible play in this film adaptation, but that’s also its biggest problem.

Directed by and starring Washington, who’s reprising the role he won a Tony for in 2010, Fences is an admirably faithful adaptation of Wilson’s play, which all too often feels out of place on the big screen because of it. Instead of letting the visual versatility that cinema offers help to expand Wilson’s story, or offer a more immersive version of the source material, Fences unfortunately ends up feeling too constricted by its original format and structure.

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Super Mario Run Review

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Super Mario Run asks you to surrender some direct control of Nintendo’s mascot, but what it gives you in return is a stylish, addictive platformer you can play with one hand. Slick new moves and highly replayable stages make Mario’s iOS debut feel like a parkour collect-a-thon loaded up with Nintendo charm. Admittedly, Mario games have looked better on Nintendo’s own platforms, but Super Mario Run’s elegant mechanics and great level designs kept me coming back in search of hidden coins to grab, and scores to topple.

At its core, Super Mario Run is an automatic runner that utilizes simple touch controls to perform all kinds of actions. You can extend the duration of Mario's jump, delay his fall mid-air, or somersault off of foes to reach high places. Like any solid game, these smooth moves are easy to pull off but difficult to completely master, and there's plenty of open screen space towards the bottom, so my fingers were never obstructing my view. I always felt like I had enough room to react and pull off a slick maneuver, even though I couldn’t stop Mario’s constant forward movement.

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Passengers Review

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At the heart of Passengers is a moral question that has largely been kept out of the movie's marketing. As much as the film is about two people meeting and connecting after being awoken on a colonization spaceship decades before their planned arrival, there is a human dilemma that drives the conflict of the film.

It's necessary to discuss that moral question when talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the movie, though it may constitute a spoiler for those who wish to avoid the question all together.

Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence star in Passengers

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Hawkeye #1 Review

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Whether you consider her the “other” or the one and only, Kate Bishop has made her mark as Hawkeye. And yet, where Clint Barton has more than a few solo titles tucked in his quiver, Kate is often left on the outside guest-starring in. That alone makes Marvel’s new Hawkeye #1 an immediate draw, as everyone’s favorite wisecracking sharpshooter at last gets the solo reins. It also helps that she’s brought one heck of a creative team with her in Kelly Thompson, Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire. Fast, fun and oh so pretty, this is a debut you won’t want to miss.

This isn’t Kate’s first time in Los Angeles, but it still impressive just how seamlessly the character adapts to her new digs. Thompson’s Kate is assured from panel one, and believably so, her characterization immediate and magnetic. There are certain similarities to other titles in the opening issue –much of the trademark snark of Matt Fraction and Jeff Lemire’s respective runs carries over, and there’s a definite Alias vibe (and reference) to her start—but overall Thompson’s Kate is as fresh as she is familiar.

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Rectify: Series Finale Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

Sundance TV's Rectify calmly and comfortably closed up shop with the extra-long, double-wide "All I'm Sayin'" - a beautiful final chapter that provided the perfect amount of soft closure.

Truth be told, most of this season's phenomenal heavy lifting was done back in "Pineapples in Paris" and some of the other middle chapters. "All I'm Sayin'" was mostly about final goodbyes (well, for us) and a few hints as to what the future might hold for all these wonderful characters. Was it ever guaranteed that Hanna's killer would be found? No. Would Daniel wind up with Chloe and her baby? Well...

On most other shows, we'd probably be given a more concrete finish. Maybe even a "Two Years Later" card and a quick addendum showing us everyone with a happy new life. But the wonder and poetry of Rectify would never allow the show to be that blunt. It was just enough that Daniel dreamed of Chloe at the end. It was enough that he now had hope - that he had expectations for what his life could be. He had things he wanted. So we can feel just like Daniel felt when he spoke to Tawney over the phone. We can feel "cautiously optimistic." We're free to imagine whatever future we'd like for them.

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Optimus Prime #1 Review

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IDW is using the aftermath of the Revolution crossover to offer readers fresh jumping-on points for every book in the shared Hasbro universe. Optimus Prime, naturally, focuses on the titular Autobot leader as he attempts to lead earth into a bold new future. But between increasing human backlash to the Transformers and Prime's demons coming back to haunt him, that future isn't entirely a bright one. But it is one that makes for a worthwhile jumping-on point for curious readers.

Writer John Barber does delve pretty heavily into past and present Transformers lore with this first issue, but it remains pretty accessible regardless. Prime's narration goes a long way towards illuminating his current frame of mind and how the past weighs heavily on him. Barber paints him as nothing if not a conflicted leader, one who questions his own authority and actively seeks the input of his followers, not all of whom are 100% loyal.

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Vikings: "Two Journeys" Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

"Two Journeys" actually juggled three journeys and handled them very well - each arc filled with its own twist, ranging from small-but-meaningful to epic and show-changing.

For Ragnar and Ivar's shipwrecked tale, the turn was Ragnar's decision to separate from the ingrates that made up his raiding party and just hoof it alone with his son. Through this, Ragnar was able to bond with his Ivar and appreciate him in ways that Ivar was able to cherish. Of course, we can presume that Ragnar was only able to truly appreciate Ivar's obstacles because he himself had been humbled and disgraced. He now knew what it was like to have others think you're out of favor with the gods. Previously, in his glory, Ragnar was totally unable to see Ivar as anything but a blight.

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