Review: Star Trek Discovery Brings a Classic Twist

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Full spoilers follow for this episode.

And finally, Spock!

After teasing him for half a season, Star Trek: Discovery finally gave us Ethan Peck’s Spock this week… though he’s not really the Spock we remember and love. No, this rambling, mentally disturbed version of the iconic character is certainly different, impaired apparently by his interactions with the Red Angel. And alas, in this form he’s also dramatically inert and uninteresting, which makes for an anticlimactic debut for this version of the character.

Michael Burnham’s reunion with her brother is half the story here, and the rest of the episode is centered on Captain Pike and Tyler dealing with some timey-wimey stuff in the wake of the Red Angel’s departure from Kaminar. There’s some fun to be had in that B story for sure, but it also feels like it never hits the heights that, say, last season’s Groundhog Day-esque outing “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” did. The result then is an episode that, like several of Discovery’s recent outings, offers plenty of individual joys and nice moments, but doesn’t quite come together as efficiently as one would hope.

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Cooler Master MK850 Mechanical Keyboard Review

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Cooler Master has a new new flagship keyboard, the MasterKeys MK850 (See it on Amazon). Though it looks like a standard gaming keyboard with its per-key RGB lighting, dedicated media keys, detachable wrist rest, and dedicated macro keys, it has an ace up its sleeve in the form of the company's Aimpad depth-sensing technology. It promises the smooth analog control of a gamepad without the need for a controller.

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Ape Out Review

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Ape Out is Hotline Miami on an intense diet of bananas and Buddy Rich records; a top-down simian splatterfest set to a superb soundtrack of jazzy drums and crashing cymbals, bundled into an extremely elegant and cool package. Blending elements of old-timey film and vinyl with a sharp, bold 2D aesthetic and bucketloads of blood, Ape Out is striking to look at and properly addictive to play.

The premise is simple: The apes are in, and they need to be out. That’s where we come in, steering these simians to an exciting escape through four short but regularly tough chapters, plus a fun epilogue with a slight twist. The location might be a shady research lab or a labyrinthine container ship and its nearby port, but the objective is constant: sprint to the exit, smash anything you can, and slaughter everyone in the way.

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Marvel Gives Kraven the Hunter His Groove Back

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Corporate-owned superhero comics are what they are, and there's little use complaining about the cyclical nature of these stories or the revolving door of death that persists in the Marvel and DC universes. Still, there are some characters one can't help but feel would have been better off staying dead. Kraven the Hunter is one of them. Sergei Kravinoff was given a terrific sendoff in 1987's "Kraven's Last Hunt," and Marvel has never really built on his resurrection in a compelling way. What purpose does the original Kraven serve that his various successors couldn't? Fortunately, that's a question writer Nick Spencer seems to have firmly in mind as he sets the stage for the upcoming "Hunted" storyline.

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DC's Heroes in Crisis Brings More Great Character Drama

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The cover to Heroes in Crisis #6 asks, "Who's behind the massacre?" That's a question every reader is asking, but not one they should expect to see answered in this chapter. Sure, there's a scene that seems to implicate a certain character in the slaughter at Sanctuary, but why bother taking any of these teases at face value at this point? As much as ever, the appeal with this issue is the opportunity to take a deeper dive into the troubled psychology of DC's heroes.

Like issue #3 before it, Heroes in Crisis #6 serves as a transitional point between acts and flashes back to the days leading up to the Sanctuary massacre. This issue doesn't have a great deal new to add to the origins or purpose of Sanctuary. It sheds a bit more light on how lifelike holograms are used as a form of active therapy for Sanctuary's patients, but otherwise the formula remains consistent. This issue follows three characters (Harley Quinn, Wally West and time-displaced Neanderthal Gnarrk) as they grapple with their respective traumas. And once more, this character-driven approach carries the day.

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Shadow Ghost Game Streaming Box Review

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Game streaming services like, Parsec, Shadow, and NVIDIA’s GeForce Now all aim to bring the graphical beauty of PC gaming to your other devices, even if they don’t house gaming-caliber hardware. Shadow’s $139.99 Ghost (See it on Shadow's website) box, in particular, aims to replace your gaming PC by allowing you to play any game on a tiny, low-powered box—with GTX 1080-level graphics.

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Devotion Review

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Some horror games offer little more than cheap jump-scares and buckets of gore, but Devotion is the kind of psychological horror with the potential to keep you thinking for weeks after you've beaten it. It's expertly-paced and doesn’t stick around long enough for its mechanical simplicity to overstay its welcome, but in that three hours delivers a powerfully unsettling story. And it does it all without ever having a single fully animated character on screen for more than a few seconds.

In Devotion, you take on the role of screenwriter Du Feng Yu as he experiences a surreal journey through the past in order to unravel the threads of what happened to his wife and daughter. Similar to other first-person horror games, like P.T., Devotion mostly takes place in the family’s modest apartment home. It’s a choice of setting that makes room for excellent character development as you discover mementos and items across multiple years within the home, effectively telling the family’s story.

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HP OMEN X Emperium 65-inch 4K HDR Gaming Monitor Review

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Back at CES 2018 Nvidia announced a new type of massive gaming monitor; the Big Format Gaming Display (BFGD). They are essentially fully loaded 65" gaming TVs with NVIDIA G-Sync and Shield, and HDR, built by some established manufacturers. Now the first one has actually arrived, and it's the HP OMEN X Emperium 65 (See it at Amazon). It’s a 4K HDR high-refresh rate display with NVIDIA G-Sync and a fully-integrated NVIDIA Shield. With its included soundbar it’s everything you need to pair with your console and computer for some truly epic gaming. The price tag is also epic at $5,000, making it easily the most expensive gaming monitor ever. So what is it like to game on this sucker, and is it worth it? Read on to find out!

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SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

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SteelSeries took its Rival 600 Gaming Mouse, cut the cord and added a battery to create the SteelSeries Rival 650 Wireless mouse (See it on Amazon). Like the Rival 600, the Rival 650 Wireless boasts two sensors (one for tracking movement and another for detecting lift-off from your mousing surface) seven buttons, eight-zone RGB lighting, and an adjustable weight system. So, what’s different other than the lack of a wire? For one, the battery required to power the mouse adds a not insignificant amount of weight to the mouse.

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Trials Rising Review

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I’ve long since stopped physically leaning into my turns while playing racing games, but something about the Trials series still has me twisting and jumping in my seat as if doing so will just give my rider that little bump they need to get over an obstacle. The nail-biting reaction time and delicate finesse required to get through the hardest courses Trials Rising has to offer makes them as thrilling to overcome as ever, driving me to return to them to crash and burn and improve my times endlessly. Counterproductively, though, it works against that urge with some tweaks and new additions which take the focus off of that loop of self-improvement and put it instead on repetitive challenges and discouraging PvP competition.

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Green Book Review: We Panned the Best Picture Winner

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We're republishing our review of Green Book, which won Best Picture at tonight's 91st Annual Academy Awards.

Green Book is a sentimental road trip buddy picture about racism and classism and snobbery in the middle of the 20th century, starring Viggo Mortensen as an Italian-American working class joe, hired to chauffeur one of the most celebrated artists in America through the South on a multi-city tour. That artist is Dr. Don Shirley, played by Mahershala Ali, and along the way both men have heck of a lot to learn about racism.

They bicker, they bond, and in one scene they fawn over Kentucky Fried Chicken so much that the company is probably furious they had to change their name to “KFC.” They also encounter virulent hatred, corrupt police officers and dehumanizing business owners. It’s a cavalcade of opportunities for Mortensen and Ali, two of the finest actors working today, to build an enchanting bond on camera, and explore it as much as they possibly can.

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The Walking Dead: "Bounty" Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

"Bounty" keeps the nice momentum of this back half of Season 9 flowing with a tense standoff between Daryl and Alpha at the gates of Hilltop and a lighter, looser-than-usual Kingdom side quest to a monster-filled movie theater.

The Kingdom's return to the season brings with it Carol, Ezekiel, the fair, and Michonne's charter (which we hadn't seen since before the time jump). It also gives this chapter a touch of levity, which his something The Walking Dead rarely indulges. In between modest shenanigans (COBRA STRIKE!), Carol and Ezekiel are able to ruminate about actual important things (the fair, the charter, the idea that the Kingdom may not survive after all, etc) while Jerry and Diane (who actually had a handful of lines and fun moments this week) quest for a

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How to Get 2,150 Apex Legends Coins for 99p

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How to Get 2,150 Apex Legends Coins for 99p

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Find out how to get 2,150 Apex Legends Coins for 99p, 4,350 for £17.99, 6700 for £34.99 and 11,500 for £64.99.

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Doom Patrol Introduces Cyborg in Bonkers Episode 2

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Warning: Full spoilers for Doom Patrol Season 1, Episode 2 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review of the series premiere.

I suddenly find myself feeling much less bummed about the prolonged absence of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Doom Patrol scratches a very similar itch. It also takes a deep dive into the DC Universe, celebrating the company's misfits and oddballs over the more iconic heroes. It too has a wicked sense of humor, though one marked by both a darker streak and a greater sense of self-awareness. Above all, it's one of the most purely enjoyable superhero shows you'll find. None of the show's initial appeal is diminished in its sophomore outing.

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How to Get 2,150 Apex Legends Coins for 99p

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With the number of players jumping into Apex Legends sky-rocketing, it's only natural demand for new skins and unlockables to increase. It's possible to earn new cosmetics simply by playing, but purchasing Apex Legends coins is a fast-track way to getting extras (although you're not guaranteed to get what you want).

Apex Legends coins are only used to unlock cosmetics, characters and weapons - they do not provide any actual advantage in the game, so it's not 'pay-to-play' via the currency.

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Asus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OC Review and Benchmarks

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Nvidia has finally done it; released a Turing GPU without ray tracing and DLSS, and it's aimed directly at the mainstream with an MSRP of $279. Asus sent us its flagship ROG Strix model, which has all the trimmings as well as a $50 premium, making it a $329 GPU. It's based on an all-new chip not used in previous GPUs, for obvious reasons, and it's targeting 1080p gamers with vintage GPUs looking to upgrade. There will not be a Founder's Edition card, as this time around it's just partner cards, and surprise – it should be available to purchase as you are reading this.

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Stellaris: Console Edition Review

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If you asked me what traditionally PC-centric genre would be least likely to work with a gamepad, a complex grand strategy game of Stellaris’ breed would be near the top of the list. But much to my surprise, the team behind the Console Edition of Paradox’s space opera sandbox have managed to do a really admirable job translating the controls. Coming from the PC version, however, I can’t help but notice that they’ve ported a long out-of-date version of Stellaris that’s still full of major gameplay shortcomings that have been solved for a while now on that side of the fence – and man, is it hard to go back.

If you’ve never even looked at Stellaris before, there are plenty of reasons to get excited about Console Edition. It’s one of the most ambitious and innovative space 4X games to come out in the last decade. You’re given fine control over designing your empire’s government and primary species using a variety of flavorful and impactful trait choices, allowing you to be anything from an iron-fisted dictatorship of bloodthirsty turtles to a peaceful technocracy led by some sort of worm creature whose underlying biology I don’t even want to guess at. The portraits you can pick from include enough weird, memorable, and sometimes hilarious aliens to fill the Mos Eisley Cantina a few times over.

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Discovery Review: Saru's Predator Race Revealed

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Full spoilers follow for this episode.

Escaping the interminable May storyline of recent weeks like a starship going to warp to avoid being sucked into a black hole, Star Trek: Discovery gets its groove back in "The Sound of Thunder." The episode sees Saru returning to his homeworld to finally confront the nasty predator species that haunts his kind… and the systemic oppression of the Kelpiens that is a classic Trek metaphor, and one that can be parsed on several different layers.

Along the way, the mystery of the Red Angel continues to develop… slowly to be sure. But it does feel like some headway is made in this department this week which helps us start to figure out what the creature (is it even a creature?) just might be all about. Seemingly benevolent, is the Red Angel also… a time traveler?

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Anthem Review

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I’ve played far too many games like Anthem, an online RPG that only makes good on its promise of meaningful multiplayer gameplay and progression after you’ve labored through its long-winded and repetitive story quests. These pitfalls don’t have to be synonymous with shared-world shooters, MMOs, or online ARPGs, but here we are again. Anthem's endgame is surprising fun since its already excellent combat is reinvigorated by interesting loot and challenging gameplay later on. Unfortunately, there simply isn't enough of this kind of content to make it worth the wait, and what's here is inconsistent in terms of polish, clarity, and balance. Anthem, as it stands now, is an adventure best saved for a later date.

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How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Review

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(How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World was originally reviewed when it opened in Australia in January. It opens in the US this weekend.)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is a fantastic finale for the film franchise and a poignant farewell to this beautiful realm of humans and dragons. Seeing these characters evolve over the past two films to where they are in The Hidden World feels not only believable but deeply emotional and weighty as well.

The Hidden World takes place one year after the second film, which means there aren’t as many massive changes like the five-year jump between How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2. While the main characters are still massive goofs, they also feel more like burgeoning adults now. Everyone’s been riding, fighting, and living alongside their dragons for at least six years so they’re a more capable bunch now (well, most of the time). Meanwhile, their home, Berk, has grown into a ridiculously overcrowded viking/dragon utopia.

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Sharkey the Bounty Hunter Offers Shallow Sci-Fi Fun

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Most readers know what to expect from Mark Millar's comics at this point. On the plus side, there's always a strong elevator pitch, an irreverent sense of humor and an A-List artist as major selling points. On the down side, these projects too often come up lacking in terms of depth and nuance. Sharkey the Bounty Hunter is no exception. The first issue is an entertaining romp, but it doesn't dig in deep enough with its characters and setting to truly make a name for itself.

The title character may be this series' biggest problem right off the bat. Sharkey is an intergalactic bounty hunter who's good at his job but less adept at dealing with the mountain of debt he's accumulated. When the ultimate payday opportunity comes along, Sharkey sees an opportunity to end his money woes once and for all. That's about the long and short of it. He may look like a purple Freddie Mercury, but otherwise Sharkey is basically your textbook outlaw protagonist with a heart of gold.

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Batman and Flash Make a Great Team

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Even though "The Price" is basically putting Tom King's Batman run on a short hiatus, this story actually winds up working better as a companion to that run than it does a tie-in to Heroes in Crisis. This short crossover doesn't fit very organically into the events of Heroes in Crisis. It does, however, allow guest writer Joshua Williamson to address one of the biggest loose ends from King's work. That definitely counts for something.

The loose end in question is Gotham Girl, a character integral to the series in its first year but who all but vanished following Bruce's proposal to Selina Kyle. The fact that her one significant appearance over the past year involved her throwing her hat in with Bane only draws further attention to her absence. It's high time we learned how and why Claire has degenerated from troubled Batman ally to outright enemy, and that's where this crossover comes in.

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Razer Blade 15 (2019) Gaming Laptop Review

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Razer has updated the stellar Razer Blade 15 (See it on Amazon), but you wouldn't know by looking at it. As far as I can tell, there are two differences between this year's version and the 2018 variant I previously reviewed. The 2019 model is 0.02mm thicker and now uses the brand new Nvidia RTX 20-series GPUs.

For the past week I've been testing the entry-level Advanced configuration that includes an RTX 2060 GPU. Razer also offers the Blade 15 with an RTX 2070 or RTX 2080, or if you want to save some cash, there's still a model with a GTX 1060 available. Pricing for the Blade 15 ranges from $1,599 to $2,999 based on GPU, storage, and display (4K or touchscreen options are available) you want.

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Dirt Rally 2.0 Review

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Dirt Rally 2.0 is a first-rate return to the more serious side of Codemasters’ off-road catalogue. It may be hot on the heels of Dirt 4 – with a couple of tricks pulled from its friendlier stablemate – but make no mistake: Dirt Rally 2.0 reasserts this spin-off series’ reputation as the premier rally simulator of the modern era.

Dirt Rally 2.0 is designed primarily for hardboiled rally enthusiasts and returning fans, so new players may struggle initially. The original Dirt Rally was eventually augmented with a pile of tutorial videos in time for its jump from PC to console, and Dirt 4 features a fully-fledged Dirt Academy training mode set within the sprawling DirtFish Rally School – a real-life facility based in the US Pacific Northwest. But there’s none of that here in Dirt Rally 2.0. It’s a case of learn on the job or perish.

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Tetris 99 Review

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Tetris 99 is the "The is Fine" meme in video game form – only instead of ignoring encroaching flames, you have to keep your cool during an onslaught of gray garbage blocks piling onto the screen from any of 98 other players in the match, making each moment more panicked than the last. Sometimes it really is fine, and the right sequence of movements mixed with a little luck returns my grid to a nice, orderly structure. Other times the garbage is too much, and all that remains of my screen is a gray dumpster that signals an early exit from this frantic, pulse-racing spin on one of the most beloved puzzle games of all time.

I get irrationally nervous during a seemingly solid run; a palms sweaty, heart beating out of my chest, jittery kind of nervous. If I had a blood pressure cuff on during a top-10 run, my doctor would probably tell me I need to be on medication. When I make it into the top five, I feel like I can run through a brick wall. I also feel like I’m going to pass out. I’m 99 percent sure Tetris 99 is bad for my health. It’s a vice I will gladly live with, though, because the overbearing tension is also what makes it such a thrilling and ultimately fulfilling multiplayer experience.

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HBO's Folklore Review: 6 Terrifying Asian Horror Tales to Haunt You

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Over the past two decades Asia has gained a reputation as home to one of the most exciting and inventive genre film communities. From terrifying Korean horror hits like Tale of Two Sisters and Train to Busan, to Japanese classics like Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge, all the way through Indonesian game changers like V/H/S/2's Safe Haven and The Night Comes For Us, the rest of the world is still catching up with the continent's unique and terrifying genre output. HBO's new anthology horror series Folklore (now streaming on HBO NOW, HBO GO, and HBO On Demand) hopes to highlight other brilliant Asian horror directors with six new films from helmers inspired by local folk tales from their respective countries, and generally it succeeds.

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The Walking Dead: "Omega" Review

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Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

"I'm glad you and my mom are friends."

While not an action-packed, or even particularly intense, chapter, "Omega" is one of the best Walking Dead episodes in a long while. Several factors helped here, but first and foremost it's because Daryl is finally starting to shape up as a fully-realized character. It's sad that it took nine years, but there's no better time than the present, right? Especially if we're looking at him to take over as the new Rick. A notion that was rumored after Andrew Lincoln's exit, but one that feels even more concrete now after Danai Gurira announced she was also leaving.

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Crackdown 3 Review

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Because Crackdown 3's modes are so different (and we didn't get access to multiplayer ahead of time), I reviewed each of them separately. You can find the individual reviews below for my in-depth thoughts on each piece.

• Crackdown 3 – Campaign Review
• Crackdown 3 – Wrecking Zone Multiplayer Review

This final, full Verdict and score at the bottom covers the entirety of Crackdown 3, but is not an average of the two. Though the Wrecking Zone multiplayer is bad, it's such a tiny slice of the whole package that its presence doesn't weigh Crackdown 3 down too much.

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Crackdown 3 Multiplayer Review

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Editor's Note: Because Crackdown 3’s single and multiplayer modes are so different, and because the multiplayer was barely available ahead of time, we’ve reviewed them separately. This review covers my thoughts on the multiplayer Wrecking Zone PvP mode; you can find our Crackdown 3 Campaign review as well.

Crackdown 3’s Wrecking Zone competitive multiplayer mode delivers on the promise of wanton demolition, and that’s seemingly the whole reason it exists. Unlike the single-player, here you get to make entire buildings crumble thanks to Microsoft’s cloud-powered physics. And that is kinda cool. But with a scant two modes, no progression system, stone-aged party functionality, and woefully simplistic rules of engagement, even destruction can’t save it.

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The Dragon Prince Is More Epic in Season 2

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This is a spoiler-free review of the second season of Netflix's The Dragon Prince. You can stream all 9 episodes on Netflix on Friday, February 15. For a refresher, check out our Season 1 review.

In our Season 1 review, we described Netflix's The Dragon Prince as one part Game of Thrones, one part Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2 is no different in that respect, as the adventures of Ezran, Callum, and Rayla get more epic and more dangerous on their journey to Xadia. And with the newborn Storm Dragon prince - Zym - joining their fellowship, the stakes are much higher.

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Umbrella Academy Proves Netflix Doesn't Need Marvel

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This is a spoiler-free review of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, which is now streaming globally on Netflix.

Move over, Marvel - Netflix has a new superhero franchise, and if anything, it's even more twisted, bloody, and unpredictable than the street-level adventures of The Defenders.

Despite Netflix's decision to jettison many of its Marvel properties, it's somewhat unfair to compare The Umbrella Academy to the likes of Daredevil and Iron Fist - aside from their comic book origins, the shows are attempting to do very different things; The Umbrella Academy focuses on a dysfunctional family of heroes, who are drawn together by an eccentric and emotionally distant billionaire and tasked with saving the world from annihilation (with a healthy dose of time travel, dancing, and a talking chimpanzee thrown in).

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Doom Patrol Is a Must-Watch for DC Fans

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Note: this is a partly spoiler-free of the first episode of Doom Patrol. I'll focus first on basic story details and save spoilers for the marked section at the end. And Doom Patrol isn't the only streaming series about a bunch of misfit heroes debuting today - check out our spoiler-free review of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy.

Perhaps neither Titans nor Young Justice: Outsiders were enough incentive to convince you to subscribe to the DC Universe streaming app. Understandable. Titans got off on the wrong foot with a lot of DC fans thanks to that infamous "F*** Batman!!!" clip. And as great as Outsiders has been in the first half of the season, it's also a show geared more toward existing fans of the animated series.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2N6zQKh
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Review: Star Trek: Discovery Gets Trippy

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Full spoilers follow for this episode.

Dr. Hugh Culber is alive!

We’ve known Wilson Cruz would be returning to Star Trek: Discovery in some capacity -- beyond just as a helpful mycelial network phantom -- pretty much since his character was killed off in Season 1. That death was met with a bit of an uproar, as many viewers were not happy with the fact that the show’s producers had made such a big deal about featuring the first same-sex couple as regulars on a Star Trek series, only to then promptly end the relationship in tragedy. In the aftermath, the CBS All Access team immediately trotted out Cruz and Anthony Rapp, who plays Hugh’s lover Paul Stamets, who promised that the pair’s story was far from over.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2BzYGh6
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Russian Doll is Netflix's Best Show Yet

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Editor's note: We want to preface this mostly spoiler-free review by saying that the less you know going into Russian Doll, the more satisfying it will be - but if you need a little more context before you pull the trigger, read on for the basics.

By now, you’ve probably heard that Netflix’s Russian Doll — which dropped at the beginning of February and quickly took the Internet by storm — is the new Groundhog Day. But Natasha Lyonne’s inventive comedy has far more in common with the likes of Edge of Tomorrow or your favorite roguelike game, where different actions open up different story paths, but every time our main character dies (and it happens frequently), she’s transported back to the beginning of the story cycle.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2DJGzpg
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1MORE Spearhead VR BT Earbuds Review

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Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

1MORE prices its Spearhead VR BT in-ear headphones at $99.99 (See it on Amazon), a match in price and features with our recently reviewed Razer Hammerhead ANC set. The most notable difference is that Razer’s product is wired while 1MORE’s uses Bluetooth, but I care about sound quality before anything else, save perhaps fit and comfort. A $100 headset better chill my bones and rip my face off. So, in walks 1MORE with its stellar packaging, dual dynamic drivers, environmental noise cancellation, enclosure lighting, and a flexible neckband. Lots of goodies. But is it good? Well…grab your popcorn.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2SQy5pz
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What Did You Think of This Week's Comics?

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This week's comic book lineup included the debut of Wonder Twins, a new addition to the Wonder Comics imprint that puts a fresh spin on two goofy old favorites. Over at Marvel, Amazing Spider-Man #15 helped pave the way for the upcoming "Hunted" crossover.

Scroll down to check out our new reviews, and be sure to let us know your favorite books of the week in the comments below.

The Amazing Spider-Man #15 Review

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2DBGOm1
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Crackdown 3 Campaign Review

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Editor's Note: Because Crackdown 3’s single and multiplayer modes are so different, and because the multiplayer was barely available ahead of time, we’re reviewing them separately. This review covers my thoughts on the single-player campaign; check back soon for my take on the Wrecking Zone PvP mode.

Like a B action movie, Crackdown 3 is solely concerned with trying to deliver a hamfisted, high-octane, kaleidoscopically techno explosion-fest. And just like all but the best B action movies, it’s not stylish or substantial enough to pull it off. Outside of a few decent bosses, most of the eight to 10-hour campaign is the same rehashed lock-on shooting gallery across a huge but relentlessly bland city map. There’s some fun toward the end, once you’re effectively a superhero and springing around the lifeless world like Ang Lee’s Hulk. But even in co-op, it’s extremely forgettable – which is a damning thing to say about a game that tries so hard to be over the top.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2TWdOfy
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Far Cry: New Dawn Review

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I liked the ending to Far Cry 5. There, I said it. (Spoilers for the ending of Far Cry 5 ahead, though the existence of this game probably already ruined that for you.) It may be an unpopular opinion, but I appreciated that, for once, we didn’t vanquish the bad guy, save the day, and walk off into the sunset. Joseph Seed kind of won. So I’m a little bummed that the very silly developments of Far Cry: New Dawn walk back a lot of that bleak, dark finale. That said, the very familiar Far Cry gameplay formula is just as fun as ever in the post-apocalypse, and I had a blast clearing outposts, hunting for treasure, and absolutely brutalizing the Highwaymen who have seized control of what’s left of Hope County, Montana.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2DIBKw6
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Jump Force Review

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With Weekly Shonen Jump hitting its 50 year anniversary last year, Jump Force is meant to be a celebration of the many legendary anime and manga series born from its pages. And to its credit, this anime/manga mashup fighting game certainly looks the part on the surface, with flashy combat and a roster of 40 characters hailing from 16 different series, portrayed with a unique aesthetic that takes popular characters and places them into the real world. Unfortunately, Jump Force falters at just about every other point. Its weak story mode does practically nothing with its stacked roster, an all too basic fighting system gets old quickly, and a number of smaller issues add up and round out an altogether disappointing anniversary gift.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2Idw6rw
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Amazing Spider-Man Recreates an Iconic Moment

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1966's Amazing Spider-Man #33 may well be the most influential Spider-Man comic ever published. It features that iconic scene where Peter Parker, badly injured and buried under tons of rubble, taps into his deepest reserves of strength and overcomes the impossible. It's a defining moment that countless writers have tried to recapture in the decades since. Anyone who works on the series for any significant length of time is bound to deliver their own take on that moment. With Amazing Spider-Man #15, Nick Spencer has his opportunity. And this issue is successful in that area, even if it struggles in others.

Where issue #14 was a fairly lighthearted showcase for Aunt May and a handful of Spidey's rogues, this issue veers in a darker direction as our hero races against time to rescue May and other innocent bystanders from a collapsing building. The same basic framework quickly falls into place - looming danger, a ticking clock and the need for Spider-Man to push past his limits to ensure that those he cares about survive.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2GGANaX
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PNY GeForce RTX 2060 XLR8 Gaming Overclocked Edition Review

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The first RTX 2060 card from one of Nvidia's partners has arrived, and this time it's not one of the usual suspects but PNY. The company has been in the GPU game for a long time though, and sent us its overclocked version (See it on Amazon) that's $50 more than the Founder's Edition (FE). The main benefit to a card like this over Nvidia's version is better cooling and a different design. Let's see if it's worth the extra cash.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2TOZMwi
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DC's Wonder Twins Reboots an Old Classic

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DC's new Wonder Comics imprint has done a lot of good in a short span of time. DC has suffered from a dearth of great teen-driven books in recent years, with none of the numerous incarnations of Teen Titans living up to the classic runs. But just in the past two months, Young Justice has revived a venerated brand and Naomi has introduced a brand new teen heroine. Now Wonder Twins comes along to reboot two campy old favorites from the days of the Super Friends cartoon. The result is every bit as silly and enjoyable as you'd expect from this pairing of material and creative team.

Is there a creative team more qualified than writer Mark Russell and artist Stephen Byrne to reboot a property like this? Through books like The Flintstones and Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, Russell has established himself as a master of re-energizing old favorites through a mix of loving tribute and self-aware satire. This series doesn't serve as quite the dramatic overhaul Exit Stage Left was for Snagglepuss. Many familiar trappings from Super Friends are still in play, right down to the silly purple costumes. But at the same time, this series is more high school drama than it is superhero epic. It's more concerned with how two teenage aliens from the most straitlaced planet in the universe adjust to life as high school students and Justice League interns.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2V18V5n
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Logitech G935 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

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The G935 is Logitech's newest cross platform, flagship wireless gaming headset, replacing the G933 Artemis Spectrum. Aside from ditching the silly model name this time around, the G935 (See it on Amazon) has received a host of welcome upgrades including updated surround technology, larger drivers, and an upgraded mic, all at a lower price ($169) than the previous model. They're designed to work as a wireless gaming headset on PC and PS4, but can also be plugged into devices that require a 3.5mm headphone jack, such as an Xbox or mobile device.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2SJC0Vp
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Metro Exodus Review

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It turns out that what makes Metro – a series named and known for its dark, subterranean survival-horror atmosphere – work was never really dependent on being underground at all. The third game, Metro Exodus, successfully brings its lengthy single-player campaign to the post-apocalyptic surface without sacrificing any of the series’ signature tension.

In an era where most first-person shooters seem to be intent on constantly upping the tempo, Metro Exodus is refreshing in its demand that you take your time. This is not a run-and-gun experience; it’s a stay-low-and-go-slow crawl through some of the most atmospheric and detail-rich settings I’ve ever experienced in a story-driven shooter. With a storyline that sidesteps the supernatural themes of its predecessors in favour of focussing on a more affecting human experience, and level design that affords you significantly more freedom without giving you too much room to relax, Metro Exodus feels like the full realization of this series’ potential.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2SvtB8x
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The Flash's Groundhog Day Parody Doesn't Work

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Warning: Full spoilers for The Flash Season 5, Episode 14 below. If you need a refresher on where we left off, check out our review for Season 5, Episode 13.

If The Flash is going to do a Groundhog Day-inspired episode, it might as well be one that airs 26 years to the day since that classic Harold Ramis comedy hit theaters. Unfortunately, try as it might, this episode couldn’t replicate that film’s appeal. It failed to mine enough humor or drama out of its repetition.

Conceptually, this episode is sound enough. While Barry is off is off in the Speed Force making the Goober reach 100% Goober-ness more quickly, Nora is left as the sole speedster protecting Central City. That hasn’t worked out super well for ehr in the past, and it isn’t long before Cicada resurfaces and things quickly go south. We’ve seen what happens when Barry mucks about with time travel once or twice at a time. 52 timeline rewrites brings things to a whole new level of bad.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2DtQlLK
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Happy Death Day 2U Review

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Writer/director Christopher Landon's Happy Death Day 2U seems to relish in all its little incongruities. It's over-the-top slapstick slasher absurdity manages to land just about 80% of the time but when the third act rolls around it begins to feel like it's stuck in a time loop just like its cast of plucky college protagonists. Still, welcome overstaying and clunkiness aside, it manages to be a fun, funny genre-bender great for some solid laughs and clever gimmicks.

Picking up almost exactly where the original, Happy Death Day (2017) left off, 2U once again focuses on Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) as she's forced to relive a day in her life over and over again, each time ending with her brutal death. Only this time, we're clued in as to why it's all happening.

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from IGN Reviews http://bit.ly/2N1uvUo
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