HyperX Cloud Flight S Gaming Headset Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The HyperX Cloud Flight S is the first gaming headset in HyperX’s stable with Qi wireless charging. It’s also one of the first over-the-ear headphones from any manufacturer with the feature. After reviewing the company’s first wireless headset, the Cloud Flight, last year and bemoaning the lack of virtual 7.1 surround sound, I was excited to see HyperX’s custom-tuned virtual 7.1 surround sound make the cut this time around. In addition to new charging and audio features, the Cloud Flight S also delivers some new and interesting design elements. Let’s jump in and see what this $160 wireless headset can do.

Design and Features

The Cloud Flight S is a refinement of HyperX's typically simple design. The red accents of the previous Cloud Flight have been replaced by plain white. The white “HX” logo on the outside of each earcup is the only color accent; the headset is otherwise all black. The previous Cloud Flight also had a red wire peeking out from the top of each earcup, and that flourish is gone for a cleaner look for the Cloud Flight S. Setting up the Cloud Flight S is a snap. Just plug in the included USB wireless transmitter and you are good to go. The USB dongle transmits via a 2.4GHz connection rather than Bluetooth, and the transmitter and headset are paired out of the box. There’s no 3.5mm audio jack for the headset, which means it operates only in wireless mode. There’s a USB cable in the box for charging if you don’t have a Qi wireless charger. Such a charger is not included with the Cloud Flight S; HyperX sells one for $60. Without a 3.5mm jack or Bluetooth, the Cloud Flight S does not work with phones and tablets or the Xbox One. It’s compatible only with PCs and the PS4. The Cloud Flight S is constructed mostly from plastic with a metal band that runs inside the headband. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope for metal forks to hold the earcups to the headband on a $160 headset, but the headset still feels fairly sturdy. Those plastic forks are the weakest link in the design and will be the thing that snaps should you toss the headset in anger after a tough loss. With soft, memory foam padding covered in synthetic leather on the earcups and underside of the headset, the Cloud Flight S sits comfortably on your head and against your ears. The fit is snug without being too tight. The earcups telescope 1.4 inches from each end of the headband to get the right fit on heads of most if not all sizes. And when you take a break, the earcups rotate so that they lie flat against you when you rest the headset around your neck – always an appreciated design touch. The Cloud Flight S is, however, on the heavier side of the headset weight spectrum – the coil needed for wirelessly charging adds a bit of weight. It weighs 318 grams with the microphone attached (308 grams without the mic). In comparison, the similar Cloud Flight weighs 293 grams with the microphone attached and 283 grams without it. With the Cloud Flight S, HyperX has introduced some new controls. You’ll find a volume dial on the right earcup and the power button and a button to toggle between stereo and virtual 7.1 surround sound on the left earcup – standard offerings. What’s new are four indentations spaced around the perimeter of the earcup, each a programmable control. By default, the two on the sides let you adjust the balance between game and chat volume. The top indent controls sidetone, and the bottom mutes the mic. You can reprogram the buttons using the free HyperX NGenuity app, but you’ll need to download it from the Microsoft Store. I first downloaded it from the HyperX website, and it failed to recognize the Cloud Flight S. The version in the Microsoft Store is newer (it is listed as a beta) and picked up the Cloud Flight S with no issue. The app is very basic. You can adjust the volume levels, toggle sidetone and 7.1 surround sound, and adjust the game-chat balance, but these are all settings you can control on the headset itself. The only reason to use the app is to customize what the buttons do on the left earcup and to check to see if 7.1 surround sound is on or off (since you are given no indication on the headset itself). The app would be a lot more useful if it added an equalizer so you could custom tune the sound of the headset. These four new controls are awesome, and I would be shocked if they didn’t start showing up on other HyperX headsets. They are intuitive to use and don’t detract from the overall design of the product. Also on the left earcup is the mic jack and micro-USB port for charging the headset at times when you aren’t within arm’s reach of a wireless charger. Next to the power button is a status LED that lets you know when the headset is powered on and connected. It also clues you into remaining battery life – it’s solid green when you are above 90% battery, blinks green when you are between 15% and 90%, and blinks red when you have less than 15% remaining. Like the Cloud Flight, the Cloud Flight S is rated for 30 hours of battery life. While it’s useful to know when the battery is about to run out, I wish the status LED also indicated whether you had 7.1 surround sound enabled. The audio drops out for a second when you hit the button to toggle between stereo and surround sound, but it would also be nice to know what setting is currently being used when you pick up the headset.

Performance

Like the Cloud Flight, the Cloud Flight S features 50mm drivers that deliver big, dynamic sound. With CS:GO, the difference between stereo and surround sound was striking. Not only could I better locate sounds using the headset’s virtual 7.1 surround sound, but the sound was so much more dynamic. I got such a better sense of space in 7.1 sound. The sound field sounded enormous and made the 3D space seem so much more realistic. By comparison, stereo sound was muddy and made it more difficult to understand every word among the chatter from my teammates. In Overwatch, I played with the game’s built-in Dolby Atmos setting with the headset in stereo mode, and then I enabled 7.1 virtual surround sound on the headset and turned off Dolby Atmos. Both scenarios deliver a huge sound field with enemy fire and effects easily located. In the end, I found that I preferred the sound of keeping Atmos off and using the headset’s 7.1 sound. The game sounded brighter and crisper with greater separation between low frequency explosions and the highs of gunfire. With both games, I did not experience any lag in the audio. It stayed locked in, even during the most chaotic battles in Overwatch. One area the headset didn’t stand out was the mic. I tested the mic by making a voice recording, which sounded average at best. My voice sounded a bit muddy and did not stand out against background noises.

Purchasing Guide

The HyperX Cloud Flight S is available on Amazon, Best Buy or direct from Kingston with an MSRP of $159.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2xDLdpn
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Panzer Dragoon: Remake Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Any Sega Saturn heads in the house? You kind of have to be to carry a torch for Panzer Dragoon, a 25-year-old cult classic 3D shoot-em-up series where people ride dragons like fighter jets, dodging and weaving past giant creatures and shooting down airships. That context is important when looking at Panzer Dragoon: Remake, the new visually heightened version of the 1995 original with modernized control options and reimagined environments that bring the world to life in new ways. The shooting, flying, and the enemies you face remain mostly preserved, though, which means Panzer Dragoon: Remake feels like an experience rooted in 1995, including the limitations and old-school frustrations native to the time. Panzer Dragoon’s story is window dressing. You play as a man who, by chance, finds himself creating a psychic link with a blue dragon and chasing down another guy riding a black dragon. If you read a wiki or find some story related-materials from when Sega originally put out there’s a lot of lore about the world and what’s going on, but very little of it actually makes its way on screen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=top-25-nintendo-switch-games&captions=true"] It’s not really needed, though, because Panzer Dragoon is a 3D on-rails shooter campaign that lasts for less than two hours. You control the dragon, dodging and weaving around the screen to avoid projectiles, while shooting enemies with your laser, which has you fire rapidly or pressing and holding shoot to lock onto multiple targets. Both weapons are important: Lock-on shots make it easy to grab and take down a few targets at once, but you can’t use it to shoot down enemy projectiles. Finding the rhythm of switching between offensive and defensive shooting creates a rapidly rising and falling tension as waves of enemies ebb and flow. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20rhythm%20of%20switching%20between%20offensive%20and%20defensive%20shooting%20creates%20tension."]Plus, while you automatically fly forward, you need to keep your head on a swivel – almost literally, because you have to manually turn the camera. You have a radar, which will let you know when enemies get within attack range as they approach from four directions, but they will get the drop on you if you aren’t vigilant. While very few enemies can do significant damage off a single blow it is very easy to get overwhelmed by multiple attackers if you miss a few shots or take too long clearing the screen. It can get a little frustrating, especially if, like me, your first instinct is to dodge an oncoming attack rather than shoot it. Missing a shot leads to taking a hit, but a wrong move can have larger consequences, especially when you’re surrounded. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/panzer-dragoon-launch-trailer"] You’ll want to look around though, especially if you played the original Saturn version and want to appreciate the improvements. Panzer Dragoon: Remake completely reimagines all seven levels, building out the environments and adding lots and lots of additional detail. In the original 1995 version, the first level features scattered stone columns sticking out of otherwise undisturbed water to symbolize a flooded ruin. In Remake, the flooded ruin has been fully realized, with broken buildings jutting out of craggy rocks. Every crack and crevice of all seven levels has received similar treatment, expanding upon the environments the Saturn could produce to create a series of fully formed spaces. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20action%20itself%20is%20all%20true%20to%20the%20original%20Panzer%20Dragoon."]While the levels look much different, the action itself is all true to the original Panzer Dragoon. Key moments, like the building crashing down on you before the first boss are still here, and feel more like the impressive events they were probably supposed to be. If you have strong memories of specific points from the original Panzer Dragoon, I imagine it’ll be a kick to see them play out on the screen in a way you had to imagine in 1995. That said, I don’t want to overstate things. It’s really cool how much has changed and how those changes feel organic, but the art itself isn’t especially impressive. The designs of the dragons and enemies are detailed and interesting but feel generic without enough story to anchor them. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20098156&captions=true"] Also, while the gameplay remains unchanged for the most part, there is at least one new mechanical feature: a modern control scheme option. The original controls are still the default in Remake, but they sync moving and shooting on the left analog stick. With these controls, it can take a long time to push the dragon to a far corner of the screen, which can make it difficult to dodge attacks. The new control option separates aiming and shooting, which increases your mobility and may feel more like a modern game, I found that it didn’t help my maneuverability as much as I’d hoped when it comes to dodging incoming fire. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Yes%2C%20I%20did%20say%20it%E2%80%99s%20less%20than%20two%20hours%20long."]But yes, I did say it’s less than two hours long. Closer to one, in fact. That’s because even though Panzer Dragoon was made for the Sega Saturn it’s built like an arcade game: you have two shots to fly and shoot your way through its seven levels. You can earn extra lives or “credits” at the end of each level, depending on your performance; specifically, your accuracy, how many enemies you shot down, and how many got away. There’s no mid-level checkpointing, but if you have a credit you can restart the level you died on. If you don’t, it’s game over and you’re back to the beginning. The campaign is short – I finished my first run on normal difficulty in about 70 minutes – but that doesn’t take the sting out of getting to the last level and losing all your progress. Then again, once you do finish it, there isn’t much more to do except replay it on hard mode, which is more taxing but not necessarily more satisfying. Without a leaderboard or any means of memorializing your best runs, there’s little reason to go back more than once or twice. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=5e221fa0-3a85-497c-b84a-8be84dc32944"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/39uJpvX
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Persona 5 Royal Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Persona 5 Royal is a living master class in how to take an already amazing game and amp it up to the next level. It’s not just a standard “game of the year” edition with some extra content thrown in on the side. Just about everything in Atuls’ 2016 (2017 in the US) JRPG magnum opus has been honed, polished, and expanded in some meaningful and positive way. Across more than 130 hours of adventuring through urban Tokyo and the surreal realms of the human mind, the amount of love and attention to detail hiding around each old and new twist in the story left me in awe.

If you’re not familiar, you should absolutely check out our original Persona 5 review because I’m going to focus mostly on what makes Royal even better. There’s a lot of ground to cover![ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/29/persona-5-review"]

Original Persona 5 Verdict

Persona 5 is a massive, gorgeous JRPG with well over 100 hours of gameplay for completionists. With more to do than ever and the series’ strongest story to date, it stands out as an extraordinary, memorable experience and easily one of the deepest JRPGs of the last decade. Its sprawling dungeon design and stylish, fully realized world are an absolute joy to explore, and even after three playthroughs and the Platinum trophy, I find myself itching to go back to try different dialogue options with Confidants or revisit particularly fun puzzles. This is a new gold standard for Japanese RPGs and by far the best entry in the series yet. – Andrew Goldfarb, March 29, 2017 [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=c234fab2-86b0-46a7-bb97-599cc3e1b87e"]

As someone who’s played through the original version of Persona 5 twice, the most immediately noticeable and impactful of Royal’s changes come in the realm of combat. It’s hard to keep old-school, four-person, turn-based battles interesting in this day and age, but nobody in the business does it better than Atlus. In addition to some spot-on rebalancing of abilities and enemies across the board, the role guns play in your arsenal has been totally reimagined. Bullets now refresh after each battle instead of only at the beginning of an infiltration, with the trade-off of being able to hold less ammo overall. This feels almost game-breakingly powerful in earlier areas, but as time goes on it allows guns to settle in as a much more versatile and dependable tool rather than something you hoard only for really tough enemies. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%E2%80%99ll%20never%20get%20tired%20of%20watching%20Makoto%20and%20Haru%20double%20elbow-drop%20a%20harbinger%20of%20the%20apocalypse."]Showtime attacks are another excellent addition, in which two members of your party team up for a devastating super finisher. The animations are deliciously clever and over the top, and they stylishly highlight your party members’ personalities and relationships. I’ll never get tired of watching Makoto and Haru double elbow-drop a harbinger of the apocalypse in a flashy, hilarious nod to pro wrestling. Showtimes trigger randomly, but are more likely to happen when your party is in big trouble or when you’re just about to finish off an enemy. That adds an extra layer of drama and unpredictability to especially intense battles at just the right moments. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=baad4981-5a42-47c9-9591-3bd4d7cd0770"] There are also some new encounter types, including a volatile variant of certain enemies. They’re more powerful than the normal form and launch a devastating counterattack for every hit they take that doesn’t finish them off – but they also explode and deal massive damage to all of their allies once defeated, often ending the battle in one blow. This serves to spice up areas where you might have to fight a lot of similar enemies in a row, and encourages you to change up your usual tactics. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20risk%20and%20reward%20aspect%20makes%20fusion%20a%20lot%20more%20exciting."]Even the Velvet Room has been enhanced. Every time you complete a normal encounter, there’s a chance it will trigger a fusion alarm in Igor’s sanctum. Any personas you fuse while it’s active will come out more powerful than would be possible under normal circumstances and may even have their abilities replaced with more potent versions… but if you overuse the gallows during an alarm you might get unexpected results. I decided to press my luck and ended up with a copy of Phoenix that had a full card of extremely powerful passive skills… but no attack, support, or healing moves, rendering it hilariously almost useless. The risk and reward aspect makes fusion a lot more exciting, and I found myself using the Velvet Room a lot more often than I would otherwise with the incentive of powered-up personas. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-modern-ign-1010-and-where-to-play-them&captions=true"] The combination of all of these new battle and progression options can make certain areas feel a lot easier than they were in the original version, at least if you’re a Persona 5 veteran. But rest assured, the new and enhanced boss fights still offer a significant challenge even on Normal difficulty. And you may remember our old friend The Reaper, the semi-secret enemy who is supposed to be Joker’s ultimate challenge? In Royal, he’s immune to the Despair debuff, so you can’t kill him the cheesy way by fighting him on specific days. This means taking him down is truly the toughest task available to undertake, and it felt absolutely amazing once I finally pulled it off. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Taking%20down%20The%20Reaper%20is%20truly%20the%20toughest%20task%20available%20to%20undertake%2C%20and%20it%20felt%20absolutely%20amazing."]The fantastic story has been majorly expanded with a third semester featuring one new palace, a new area in the Mementos mega-dungeon, and a new heart to steal. It’s a bit longer overall than the previous palace story arcs, but not by a lot. And there’s not a whole lot else I can say about the new storyline without risking major spoilers, other than that it pits our team of Phantom Thieves against a really fascinating new antagonist with very, very different goals, motives, and ideals from anyone they’ve faced before. Persona’s deep, thematic exploration of human society and the perils of the psyche continues to ask challenging and relevant questions about justice and suffering that left me rethinking my own convictions – and it’s when a game isn’t afraid to go to those places that it really becomes a work of higher art. It all culminates in an epic, action-drenched, multi-phase boss fight that will put all of your skills to the test and serve as an appropriately climactic capstone to everything that brought you this far. The third semester is only one part of the expanded story, though. The main campaign has also been significantly beefed up with two new confidants joining the already rich cast: bubbly, aspiring gymnast Kasumi Yoshizawa and calming but dorky school counselor Takuto Maruki. Each has a dauntingly deep, tragic backstory filled with its own impactful twists and turns that were both painful and compelling to uncover. And one of the returning confidants from the original Persona 5 has had their role in the story significantly tweaked and expanded – but I won’t spoil who. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps4-games-2020-update&captions=true"] To balance out the extra time it will take to max out your relationships with these new characters, Royal has quite a few new ways to spend your free time optimally, like a random chance to have a dream that gives stat or relationship points every night that you go to bed without doing anything else in the evening. And focusing on fresh faces is really rewarding in palaces, not just outside of them. Kasumi and Maruki can permanently increase your HP and SP, respectively. Kasumi can also give you a new way to use your grappling hook to ambush enemies from a distance and inflict them with harmful status effects, which is pretty game-changing against some tougher groups. One of my only disappointments is that Kasumi can’t join you as a permanent party member until the third semester, but you’ll see quite a lot of her and get to test out her skills a couple of times before then. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20fact%20that%20Atlus%20has%20made%20Mementos%20feel%20so%20much%20more%20alive%20is%20a%20massive%20improvement%20by%20itself."]Aside from the new area that opens up in semester three, the whole of Mementos has been brilliantly fleshed out with new collectibles and unlockables courtesy of the mysterious Jose. He can sell you powerful items in exchange for flowers that spawn in the depths, and unlock perks like increased experience points once you find enough hidden stars. Mementos often felt like a slog in the original version – it was definitely my least favorite part of the adventure. The fact that Atlus has made it feel so much more alive, adding new rewards for exploration and a healthy dose of personality, is a massive improvement by itself considering how much time you spend there. It’s also implemented a mercy-kill rule where you can run straight over monsters that are several levels below you instead of having to fight out a foregone conclusion – but you still get experience, money, and item drops. The amount this cuts down on the feeling of endless grinding is nothing less than a godsend, and I spent much more of the 130 hours of this playthrough doing interesting and engaging things instead. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/thieves-den-and-tycoon-gameplay-persona-5-royal-4k"] I could practically fill a TV documentary with the long list of other small and medium-sized improvements found in Persona 5 Royal, but here are a few of my favorites: The Thieves’ Den is a new hangout area that will follow you across multiple playthroughs. Here, you can decorate with statues of personas you’ve unlocked, listen to the absolutely superb new and returning music, and rewatch any cutscene. Those new tracks are just as awesome as the classics, adding variety and fitting in perfectly with the energetic acid jazz that is such a huge and memorable part of Persona 5’s identity. If you were finally getting tired of the catchy “Last Surprise” – and let’s face it, after two playthroughs of the original version it’s hard not to be a little bit over it – there’s even a great new battle theme that plays during ambush encounters. Which is to say, you’ll be hearing it during most battles if you’re playing optimally, relegating Last Surprise to being a welcome, every-once-in-a-while nostalgic treat. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=There%E2%80%99s%20always%20something%20new%20to%20see%20even%20in%20familiar%20scenes."]Incredibly, every single level of every single social link has been expanded with new dialogue, so there’s always something new to see even in familiar scenes. There’s an entirely new free-roaming district of Tokyo to explore: Kichijoji, which includes a jazz nightclub and the ability to level up your party members’ powerful Baton Pass ability with a fun, skill-based darts minigame. All of the classic palaces have been expanded with new hidden areas and new collectibles to find. Every major boss fight has been rebalanced and had new, interesting, and challenging mechanics added. It’s almost daunting how much extra cool stuff Atlus was able to pack in here. Put together, it’s probably at least another full game’s worth of content. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=be8d3182-c3a7-4261-aa54-de0b7dade50b"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2wIgmba
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Gaming Laptop Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out In January, we got our first glimpse at the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 during CES. The G14 combines AMD's 4th generation Ryzen 9 4900 HS processor, and an Nvidia RTX 2060 GPU in an ultra-portable gaming laptop design that would make your MacBook Pro toting friends jealous. After taking a look at the Razer Blade Stealth 13 earlier this year, I was hoping we'd begin to see PC makers match its portability and, hopefully, exceed its power. Fast forward just a few short weeks later, and Asus has nearly delivered just that. The G14 has its share of quirks, but for $1,449, you get a laptop that's powerful enough to run games like Fortnite or Call Of Duty: Warzone on epic or high settings and stay above 60 fps with ease. And yet, it's only 3.5-pounds and 0.7-inches thin.

Specs

Here are the specifications of the $1,449 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 I've been testing:

• Model: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401IV-BR9N6)
• Display: 14-inch 120Hz FHD (1920x1080)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS Processor 3.0 GHz (8M Cache, up to 4.4 GHz)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q (6GB GDDR6)
• Memory: 16GB DDR4 (3200MHz)
• OS: Windows 10 Home
• Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Webcam: None (optional)
• Ports: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type C, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x 3.5mm audio
• Connectivity: Intel Wi-Fi 6(Gig+) 2x2, Bluetooth 5.0
• Dimensions: 12.77 x 8.66 x 0.70 inches (WxDxH)
• Weight: 3.52 pounds

Design and Features

I so badly wanted to review the G14 variant that has a 1,215 LED array on the lid, which can be used to display text or images, but alas I was sent an LED AniMe Matrix-free model. The lid has the same dot layout, nonetheless, and it's a unique look that I found a welcome break from its competition. If you want the LED AniMe Matrix, you're looking at $1,999 for an equipped setup. The G14 isn't quite as small as the Razer Blade Stealth 13, but it's close. Measuring 12.77 x 8.66 x 0.70 inches and weighing just 3.52 pounds, it's still one of the most portable gaming laptops I've tested. In comparison, the Blade Stealth 13 is 11.99 x 8.27 x 0.6-inches and weighs 3.13 pounds. Both laptops go against everything I've ever known gaming laptops to be: Big, bulky, heavy and not something I'd want to put in a backpack and carry around. And I'm not complaining one bit. There are a total of six ports on the G14. On the right side, from front to back, is a USB Type C port and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports. On the opposite side is a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type C port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4 support, followed by an HDMI 2.0b port. The power port sits just behind the HDMI port, roughly in the middle on the left side of the housing. The USB-C port with Power Delivery can be used to charge or power the G14 at up to 65W for typical computer work, but not gaming. You'll need to use the included 180W power adapter to use the discrete GPU. The 14-inch HD display is surrounded by fairly thin bezels, even along the top where a webcam normally would be found. Asus is giving users the option of a webcam, and the review unit I was sent lacks one. I honestly didn't even notice it was missing until a few days into testing, but if you rely on a webcam, either be sure to opt for the model with it built in or be prepared to use an external unit. The G14's chiclet keyboard doesn't remind me of what I'd find on a gaming laptop, instead, it feels and behaves more like a standard keyboard on something like the Asus ZenBook. That's not to say it's a bad keyboard with a bad overall experience. But, for me at least, it's the type of keyboard I'm more comfortable typing on than gaming on. Above the keyboard and on the left side of the housing are dedicated keys for volume and mic control, a shortcut key to launch the Asus Armoury Crate program. Towards the right edge is a power button with an integrated fingerprint reader. I set up the fingerprint scanner with ease, and since then I've been able to consistently and reliably unlock the G14 just by opening the lid and quickly placing my finger on the button. A trackpad is centered with the laptop housing, just below the keyboard. It's smooth and comfortable to use, but a little on the small side. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the G14's design (outside of the LED lid) is the hinge. As the lid opens, the bottom of it lifts the base of the G14 off your table or desk, putting the keyboard at a more ergonomic angle and improving airflow for the vents on the bottom of the laptop.

Performance and Gaming

Inside the G14 I tested is an AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q GPU, 16GB of 3200MHz memory, and 1TB of SSD storage. Asus and AMD worked together to come up with a 35W configuration of the 4900 for the G14, instead of 45W. You can remove the bottom of the G14 and install more RAM on your own. Half of the memory in the review unit is on board, with a single SO-DIMM slot for additional RAM. For comparison, the Stealth 13 has fixed memory and isn’t upgradeable. I put the benchmark results of the G15 up against the RTX 2060 equipped Razer Blade 15 and the just-as-portable Razer Blade Stealth 13. The latter comparison is simply to show the performance gains the G14's RTX 2060 with Max-Q gives you over the GTX 1650. And, well, take a look. As expected, the G14 outperforms the Stealth 13 across the board and keeps pace with the RTX 2060 in the Blade 15 from last year. The impressive benchmark results get even more impressive with real-world use. I spent the majority of my testing time playing Call of Duty: Warzone, which has DirectX Raytracing. With nearly all graphics settings put on High and DirectX Raytracing turned on, I consistently experienced between 90 and 110 fps. I was able to boost performance up the higher end of that span, hovering around 110 fps, by turning it off and turning some graphics settings down. Using Epic settings across the board in Fortnite, the G14 kept between 70 and 80 fps without any hiccups. Unlike the Stealth 13, where hitting 60 fps at 1080p was achievable, but only after you tweaked settings and accepted less than ultra or max settings, the G14 delivers more than 60 fps with whatever settings you want. The obvious downside here is that its performance isn't quite enough to take advantage of the 120Hz display, which is unfortunate. There's another downside: The fans are loud. Loud enough that I actually put on my gaming headset – something I shy away from when testing gaming laptops – after a couple of gaming sessions. The speakers aren’t especially great either – I was able to hear nearby gunshots, but there was no sense of direction or distance, and no chance of hearing nearby footsteps as someone got closer to me.

Battery Life

Asus estimates the battery life of the G14 to be 10 hours, but as usually is the case with manufacturer estimates, our test results fell short of that. After completing IGN's movie rundown test, which consists of setting the screen brightness to 50-percent, turning off all unnecessary connectivity features, the G14 lasted 318 minutes. That's the second-best battery result out of the dozens of gaming laptops I've tested for IGN, coming in second to the Razer Blade 15 with a GTX 1070 that powered through 363 minutes in the same test. Yeah. Impressive.

Software

Asus preinstalled a few applications on the G14, and thankfully none of them are virus scanners. Installed are the Asus Armoury Crate gaming software for tuning and customizing performance, Gamefirst VI for monitoring and adjusting network performance, and the MyAsus app. The first two apps are standard for any gaming laptop, with features like creating gaming profiles for boost performance and view live system stats in Armoury Crate. It's also the app you'd use to customize any RGB lighting if the keyboard were equipped, or if you connect any AURA Sync devices to the G14. My lone complaint about software is with the MyAsus app. For the first couple of days, it would randomly force a notification through while I was gaming or running benchmarks, asking to do, well, to be honest, I don't know what it wanted. I would angrily close out the alert and go back to whatever I was doing. I think it was asking me to set up the app so I could view system diagnostics in case I needed to troubleshoot any issues. Eventually, I launched it and went through the setup process up until the point where I was asked to give it permission to access my account name, profile photo, and information. It all felt very spammy.

Purchasing Guide

There are four main configurations of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, ranging in price from $1,049 to $1,999. The main component differences distill down to display quality and GPU, with options to choose from the GTX 1650, GTX 1650 Ti, GTX 1660 Ti (Max-Q) and RTX 2060 (Max-Q). The unit we tested is available for $1,449 from Best Buy.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3aGQCux
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Resident Evil 3 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out As the credits rolled on Resident Evil 3’s campaign, I immediately started playing it over again. Not because I felt like I missed anything the first time around – I was as fastidious as developer Capcom encouraged me to be – but because my journey through Raccoon City was so consistently packed with tense monster moments and breakneck-paced fun, and it was so challenging throughout its six-odd hours, that I wanted to jump in and do it all over again with sharper skills and knowledge. My undying enthusiasm for it speaks volumes of the polish seen in this remake, and the finesse with which it manages to tread the tightrope between a confident modern horror and a tonal callback to the original Resident Evil trilogy.

Note: This review exclusively covers the single-player campaign of Resident Evil 3. We'll follow up with a review of the multiplayer side, Resident Evil: Resistance, ASAP.

Resident Evil 3 takes place nearly concurrently with the events of the equally accomplished Resident Evil 2, and follows different characters. The endearingly practical Jill Valentine – last seen in the original Resident Evil and its Director’s Cut – is called upon by a roguish Umbrella Corp mercenary by the name of Carlos Oliviera to help save the remaining inhabitants of a demolished Raccoon City from the carnage spawned by the T-Virus outbreak. Of course, nothing goes to plan, and Jill finds herself in a wonderfully labyrinthine, zombie-studded playground where she – and your nerves – must also contend with the threat of an invulnerable monster called Nemesis. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-resident-evil-game-review-ever&captions=true"] It’s a very classic Resident Evil set up, but then, this is a remake of a classic, goofily fun Resident Evil story -- the original 1999 game. The major story events from the original Resident Evil 3 are all there, albeit rearranged, and the cheesiness the early trilogy is known for is delivered in a charmingly self-knowing way. “How is it no one in the hospital ever noticed all this?” Jill wonders aloud after discovering a massive underground base that isn’t particularly well hidden. Resident Evil 3 is also, fortunately, very efficient in its storytelling; the villain is perfectly villainous, the heroes are all selfless and charming, and cutscenes are lean yet efficiently deliver big dramatic moments. It carries the gameplay swiftly along, in other words, and never gets bogged down in unnecessary exposition. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Capcom%20has%20done%20an%20incredible%20job%20in%20the%20small%20details%20here."]The chaotic, ruined Raccoon City goes a long way toward bringing Resident Evil’s story and the broader universe to life. Once again working within the RE Engine that powered both last year’s Resident Evil 2 and 2017’s Resident Evil 7, Capcom has done an incredible job in the small details here; from the in-universe advertising (“No Spares in This Game!” reads the tagline for a movie called “Sudden Death Bowling”) to the detritus left by citizens who had to escape in a hurry, to Resident Evil 2-related Easter eggs (“Now here’s a weird f****ing door!” Carlos says upon encountering the Spade Door, which is so significant in Resident Evil 2’s police station) and genuinely compelling in-game notes and journals that give background context to some poor guy’s tragic death and/or reveal a code to open a safe. These are spaces that feel realistically inhabited and then abandoned, full of the sort of detail that had me poring every inch of a room after I’d killed everything in it. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-resident-evil-bosses&captions=true"] This detail and polish extend to Resident Evil 3’s broader environments, which are stunning. Smashed cars are piled up outside of flickering neon signs, fires lick their way across kitschy storefronts, and broad industrial spaces are eerily empty. Although you can’t interact much with the world unless you are specifically instructed to (this is still a Resident Evil game and is thus inhospitably rigid with its options for touching things) the atmosphere around you is always pulling out all the stops to make you feel vulnerable and small. Not to lean too much into cliches, but I literally jumped at my own in-game shadow more than once. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=At%20the%20very%20least%2C%20every%20room%20has%20useful%20items%20or%20a%20secret."]Like its predecessor, and indeed, every decent Resident Evil game before it, every part of Resident Evil 3’s world feels deliberately put together. No enemy is thrown in for the sake of it, no room is there ‘just because’; at the very least, every room has useful items or a secret. Areas house problems to solve or clues that lead you to other areas and then back again; a fire obstructs one route, for example, and must be extinguished with the help of a part hidden in a nearby building – a building which also houses a weapon that can't be accessed without the use of a tool that's located past the area obstructed by fire. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=cbc7a642-d09e-48d1-9e7b-ab39ecdccd89"] These tasks might sound video-gamey (and they are), but solving them is never a chore thanks to elegant, interlocking level design that makes backtracking easy. When I say “easy,” I don’t mean “safe,” though, because that corpse on the floor in that building you were in 30 minutes ago, for example, may not be a corpse any longer. Thankfully, the Resident Evil 2 Remake map screen returns, dutifully logging exactly where you saw that locked safe and highlighting if you’ve missed any items after exploring a room. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=As%20long%20as%20you%E2%80%99re%20careful%20you%20won%E2%80%99t%20feel%20like%20you%E2%80%99re%20being%20punished."]Item micromanagement is where Resident Evil 3 leans hardest into its old-school survival horror lineage. Like the original (and in RE2), items are your lifeline and inventory is limited, and running back and forth between storage chests to make sure nothing is wasted and certain items are combined in smart ways is a must if you want to survive for long. I rarely ran out of bullets and health – at least during my first run on Standard mode – but this was due to diligent scavenging rather than items being plentiful. As long as you’re careful in Resident Evil 3, you won’t feel like you’re being punished, and that’s the mark of any good classic survival horror game. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/3auIfSz] A sense of dread as you navigate Resident Evil 3’s puzzle box of a world is not unfounded, as you can be easily caught unawares by a number of deadly nasties. There’s plenty of variety in enemy design here to keep things fresh, such as the spider-like Drain Deimos who will poison Jill with parasites (the cure is to eat a green herb and then throw up), Pale Heads (first seen in the Resident Evil 2 DLC) who can only be downed by a very accurate blow to the head with your most extreme weaponry, and more things trying to eat your brains beyond your garden variety zombie. Even the latter can prove deadly, especially because they feel faster and more erratic in their movements than their predecessors in Resident Evil 2 and can show up in big enough numbers to really overwhelm you. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=There%E2%80%99s%20plenty%20of%20variety%20in%20enemies%20to%20keep%20things%20fresh."]Fortunately, Jill is a lot nimbler on her feet than Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield, which gives Resident Evil 3 a more frantic, action-oriented feel than its predecessor (though it’s not all-out-action like Resident Evil 5 or 6, don’t worry). Jill has a quick step move that allows her to sidestep an incoming attack, and when timed just right it earns you a slight slow-motion effect to help you escape. It’s a move I used regularly and compulsively, and it proved as important to the minute-to-minute combat as Jill’s handgun. Some of its best moments involved me getting a jump scare from an unexpected zombie and dodging out of its way via pure muscle memory before lining up a headshot with my shotgun. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/33XtxRA] Of course, Jill isn’t limited to a single gun; she gradually unlocks the classic Resident Evil arsenal (handgun, shotgun, grenade launcher, etc.), and each weapon feels satisfyingly weighty to shoot. More importantly, I used every gun right up until the end, thanks to upgrades to basic weapons that extend their shelf-life significantly. My original shotgun, for example, was upgraded with a Shell Holder, Tactical Stock, and a Semi-Auto Barrel, which made it far more efficient against Resi 3’s tougher enemies in the latter part of the campaign. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20faced%20one%20of%20RE3%E2%80%99s%20most%20delightfully%20difficult%20challenges%20as%20Carlos."]To shake up the pace, Resident Evil 3 intermittently switches you to Carlos’ perspective; our merc is a little less scrappy and nimble and a little more action-forward than Jill, equipped with a powerful assault rifle that can clear a room from the get-go, at the cost of precious ammunition. That doesn’t mean it’s easier – I faced one of Resident Evil 3’s most delightfully difficult challenges as Carlos, which involved plowing down wave after wave after wave of enemies in a very confined space. It was, not to put too fine a point on it, a blast. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2vVZsFk] But this is primarily Jill’s show, and she needs everything at her disposal. Resident Evil 3’s central antagonist, Nemesis, is powerful and fast, moving like a giant, horribly disfigured cat stalking and pouncing on its prey across a series of exhilarating boss fights. These battles see you face off against him in sprawling arenas; it’s just you and your arsenal against whatever horrific form he’s evolved into. Executing a perfect dodge as he leaps at you from afar is a wonderful feeling, as is blowing him off the side of a building with a mine grenade. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Nemesis%20is%20powerful%20and%20fast%2C%20moving%20like%20a%20giant%2C%20horribly%20disfigured%20cat."]It’s a shame, then, that he doesn’t show up more often. Mr. X in Resident Evil 2 is so frightening because his presence felt unexpected, which led to a feeling that you were never safe even if you were in areas you thought you could be. Nemesis apes this pattern in Resident Evil 3’s first couple of hours – there’s a brilliantly climactic showdown with him that involves you desperately trying to escape through a vent as he pursues you – but he soon gets relegated to big, pre-programmed boss fights. Once that happens, that sense of the looming pursuer operating under his own AI is lost. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=bf8bce16-66f9-48d4-83f4-291575056b48"] There is no New Game Plus after Resident Evil 3’s campaign, but completing in-game challenges – such as collecting all bobbleheads, knocking X number of hats off a zombie, X number of kills with a certain weapon, etc – unlock a shop where you can cash in your points on useful items to be used in a second or third playthrough. These items, such as coins that make your attacks more powerful or weapons with infinite ammo, made my next playthrough on Resident Evil 3’s hard mode a lot more...manageable.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2QZwPi2
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

The Walking Dead Starts a Major Comic Book Storyline

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Warning: Full spoilers for The Walking Dead episode, "Look at the Flowers" follow... [poilib element="accentDivider"] Some business up top here: For those who missed the news from this past week, The Walking Dead's Season 10 finale has been postponed until later this year as the COVID-19 outbreak has prevented the post-production work from being completed. So Season 10, for now, will end with the fifteenth episode, "The Tower," on Sunday, April 5. Now, let's dig into a "Look at the Flowers." With the nice trajectory this back half of Season 10 has displayed -- the escape from the cave, the ramping up to the war and the elimination of Alpha (at a time that actually felt appropriate), and then the stellar Michonne exit episode -- it was time for a come down. "Look at the Flowers" was about fallout more than anything else, as both Carol and Beta reeled from Alpha's demise - each of them still communicating with her in their own way. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-walking-dead-look-at-the-flowers-photos&captions=true"]

Carol and Alpha

Carol's arc this week wasn't anything out of the ordinary as far as the character's usual M.O. She took off, crumbling under her usual cocktail of grief and guilt. And along the way, Samantha Morton got to play Alpha one final time as Carol imagined her following her through the woods, heckling her with her own darkest fears. It wasn't the greatest use of Carol, as we've seen her run through most of these beats before. In fact, we've seen many other characters hobble down this same road. It's textbook Walking Dead. It's why last week's Michonne "multiverse" hallucination felt so fresh. The turn at the end here involved Carol getting stuck under some rubble and having to fight for her life. The drive to save herself, and also be there for Daryl since he's the only person she cares about who has yet to meet a grisly end (Sophia, Lizzie, Mika, and Henry were all mention by Alpha), infused her with a new appreciation of life. Enough to drive her back to Alexandria. Again though, most of this felt like recycled grief.

Beta the Country Star

While Carol was having her own personalized Alpha experience, in her head, Beta was spiraling. Carrying around Alpha's head (which he forced a subordinate to stick his face near, with gruesome consequences), Beta seemed to be following her "commands." One meltdown later, Beta has now, apparently, reluctantly assumed the position of Alpha (meshing her own skin into his walker mask) and hit the road with a new pack of walkers  - which he summoned by blasting one of his own country music hits! Yes, it was hinted at even more this week that Beta, in his past life, was a famous country star named "Half Moon" (if we're going by the spattered poster that sent him into a tizzy). I don't know if we'll get any more confirmation than this tantrum, mind you. The show might just leave it at this. But then again, if Beta fully clashes with Negan, Daryl, Aaron, or anyone else, there's a good chance that they'll now recognize him and the story will actually call it out officially. Also, it's kind of cool that with Alpha's pale skin connected to his mask, he looks kind of like a half moon now.

Negan's Deal

A flashback at the top of the episode showed us the moment when Carol freed Negan from his cell, with the expectation that he'd kill off Alpha quickly. Smartly though, Negan recommended that Carol not give up on trying to kill Alpha in case he failed, which explains why Carol, even with Negan out there on a mission, still kept trying to go after her nemesis. Both she and Daryl did seem to have some unrealistic expectations about how quickly Negan would get the job done. Negan even called it out at one point after being criticized over and over for taking his sweet time. "What is it with you guys thinking I took too long?" he asked, after Daryl expressed his anger over Negan letting the herd overtake Hilltop. And you know what? Both sides have a point, kind of. Yeah, Negan's secret assassination op wasn't easy. And there's no reason to expect he'd be able to do it fast and easy. Or that he'd be able to do it at all. But then again, as revealed in the episode, during Negan and Daryl's uneasy bonding, Negan did like being a part of Alpha's crew. He enjoyed being out of the cell and being embraced by a new group. And, like a drug addict, Negan enjoyed wielding a bit of power again as he moved up through the ranks and got Alpha to trust him. He noticed this rather pointedly when a few straggling Whisperers bent the knee to him as the guy who killed Alpha. Negan could have used that opportunity to kill Daryl and head out with a new bumbling crew, but he saw himself being tempted by a darkness that he'd now like to leave behind. Negan's now in good (well, we'll use "good" loosely) with Carol and Daryl. Aaron is the big cat who remains staunchly anti-Negan. Let's see how he reacts to the news that Negan saved the day. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/25/amc-places-ceo-corporate-employees-on-furlough"]

Eugene's Expedition (to the Commonwealth?)

In the non-Alpha story, Eugene finally took off for his meet and greet with Stephanie. Yumiko and (a very weak) Ezekiel are with him, heading into a big city on horseback, echoing the famous shot of Rick riding into Atlanta from Season 1. There wasn't much to this trek, aside from poor Ezekiel realizing this will probably be his final bow one way or another (especially when you consider his emotional farewell with Jerry), until the trio reached the city and saw that someone had chained up walkers all around town in little play scenarios in order to make it look like there were people doing "people things" (eating, getting parking tickets, etc). That person, in all her giddy glory, arrived at the end, with goggles, a gun, and dyed purple hair! With an "Oh, my God. Hi!," this character immediately stood out from the usual brooding. Slight comic book spoilers here: This is Princess – aka Juanita Sanchez. Played by Paola Lazaro, Princess marks the TV show's first big foray into the Commonwealth storyline. In the comics, she meets an expedition, led by Michonne, traveling to the Commonwealth. Since Season 10 is now, technically, ending with next week's episode, I'm curious to see how it acts as a default finale given this big character debut. Maybe the season was structured like Season 9 was where the penultimate episode felt like a finale while the actual finale was its own story (complete with a small time jump).

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2Ut9MhA
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Westworld: Season 3, Episode 3 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

In Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the Pinocchio-esque quest of a child robot to become a real boy hinges on one thing: the love he feels for his mother. For Spielberg (and for Stanley Kubrick, who had been developing the project before he died), the incredible bond shared between parents and their children was fundamentally a human characteristic, and it was so deep, so profound, that if a being with artificial intelligence could experience it, they could basically be said to have achieved consciousness.

Westworld has proposed a similar idea before — particularly in the character of Maeve, whose abiding affection for her daughter was the reverie that both awakened her to the reality of the park and prevented her from escaping it. In the third episode of Season 3, Westworld is ready to explore that notion all over again.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=westworld-season-3-images&captions=true"]

It starts with Charlotte Hale — or rather an exact Charlotte replica, indistinguishable from the real, late Charlotte, who was of course murdered by Dolores at the end of last season. As we discover at the outset of the episode, Dolores has implanted host-Charlotte with one of the pearls she managed to smuggle out of the park, and she’s been instructing this phony to continue leading Delos and negotiate with the company’s shareholders on her behalf.

There’s a lot going on at Delos these days, including a surreptitious takeover bid, some drama involving the fallout from the board killings, and the suspicion that there may be a mole at the top of the circus reporting things to the nefarious trillionaire Serac. But the episode manages to outline the intersecting problems with minimal confusion, and we now have a clearer idea of what Serac’s after and how Dolores, Charlotte, and even Maeve figure in to his scheme.

We know that the real Charlotte was the mole. She promised Serac that she would retrieve for him the park’s vast stores of visitor data, which he presumably wants to add to Incite’s gargantuan servers. Of course, host-Charlotte works for Dolores, Serac’s current target and budding arch-nemesis, and that’s going to make it considerably more difficult for them to maintain the illusion that Charlotte is alive and well and going about her business as usual. In any case, Serac continues to prove an intriguing, vaguely sinister villain, thanks to a fine turn by Vincent Cassel. The showdown between Dolores and Serac that the season is plainly leading toward is shaping up to be one hell of a battle, even if for the time being it’s strictly one of wits.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/12/whats-new-in-westworld-season-3"]

But while Dolores wants her Charlotte facsimile to gather intel and ward off the prospective Delos takeover, all is not going so smoothly with the ruse. It’s an issue of personality: the “real” Charlotte seems somehow lodged inside the host body somewhere, lurking beneath the programming and fighting to get out, or else parts of Charlotte’s identity are so strong that they’re screwing things up.

Host-Charlotte can’t stop cutting herself, as if psychologically tortured, and this is clearly going to get worse before it gets better — as evidenced by the relationship between her and the real Charlotte’s son, who immediately senses something is wrong with this so-called mommy. Her son’s suspicion, as well as her conflicted affection, is the crux of the episode, and it’s maybe the most emotionally complex that Westworld has ever been. The hosts are becoming more and more human, yes, but here we have a case where a human seems to be becoming more host — where a human’s feelings refuse to die with their body, and where an identity is too strong to be programmed away. Of everything going on so far in the season, I’m most intrigued to see where this goes.

Charlotte’s son recognizes that the woman in front of him isn’t his real mother. Caleb’s mother, meanwhile, can’t recognize the man in front of her as her real son — “where’s Cal?” she pleads with him as he visits her in hospital, in a very clever parallel the show is smart enough not to underline. Caleb has made the possibly fatal mistake of lending Dolores a hand, and now the crime-share app with which he’s been making an illegal living has deemed him a lucrative target to track down and kill. You can’t help but feel for Caleb, whose life is endlessly disappointing and who can’t catch a break. On the other hand, getting involved with Dolores may help give his life meaning: as he tells her, unaware of the irony, she’s the most real thing that’s happened to him in a long time.

The season’s action sequences continue to impress — both Caleb’s attempt to defend an injured Dolores from a couple of goons and an equally dangerous exchange with a different set of goons who want to torture and kill him are thrilling. (I also loved the touch of Caleb’s faithful robot construction worker buddy trying and failing to come to his rescue, which was strangely poignant.) And the design of future Los Angeles continues to dazzle, from the look of the Delos headquarters down to the style of the cop cars and ambulances.

If last week’s return to Westworld and the parks seemed visually dull, that’s only because the outside world Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have created is so engaging. Even a two-second establishing shot of the hotel where Dolores meets Charlotte for a drink, covered in trees and vines, blew me away. (It doesn’t hurt that Westworld is shot on 35mm and looks downright sumptuous at times.)

Dolores elects to reward Caleb’s kindness with some revelations we will also find interesting: Rehoboam, Incite’s all-powerful computer, has actually computed so much data that it can predict exactly how and when someone will die. Caleb is destined to take his own life in about a decade’s time. The scene in which Dolores shocks Caleb with a verbatim transcript of the day he was abandoned by his mom certainly resonates in a world already dominated by Big Data — it’s another of the show’s sci-fi predictions that seems eerily plausible. What elevates it to the next level, though, is Aaron Paul’s outstanding performance, which makes it seem extremely intense and real. One of the obvious highlights of Breaking Bad, Paul’s already brought so much to this season of Westworld. Now that he’s teamed up with Dolores, I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/33SliGv
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

The Jesus Rolls Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The Jesus Rolls is available to rent or for purchase on Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Actor John Turturro, who's wanted to make a spinoff movie about his flamboyant bowling ball-licking cameo character from The Big Lebowski for almost two decades, finally got the Coen Brothers' permission about five years ago. The result is an uneven blending of the suave, arrogant Jesus Quintana and the 1974 French film Going Places by Bertrand Blier. The Jesus Rolls follows most of the major beats from that movie -- the end credits acknowledge The Jesus Rolls as being based on Blier's original novel and screenplay adaptation -- while only providing sporadic charm and unruly happenstance. It's a harmless mess but there's never a moment where it doesn't struggle to justify its existence. One slight SPOILER at the top, for those of you wondering why, or how, Turturro would want to craft (or borrow) an entire story around Lebowski's "sex offender." Well, one of the first things The Jesus Rolls does is turn the whole Jesus "exposing himself to an eight-year-old" tale from the Coens' film into a misunderstanding made by a very dumb, inappropriate crook. Jesus is not a "pederast," to use the term John Goodman's Water said in Lebowski. No, Jesus is just a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants petty thief who enjoys roaming the landscape aimlessly while seeking his next sexually-fluid fling. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/06/the-jesus-rolls-official-trailer"] The aforementioned aimlessness doesn't exactly suit the film all that well, however, as we bounce around from one tacky, out-of-touch scenario to the next, with Jesus and his friend Petey (Bobby Cannavale), who's also his reluctant romantic partner at times, just kind of winging things after Jesus gets out of Sing Sing. One can forgive Turturro, who wrote and directed The Jesus Rolls, for trying to take Coen Bros-light approach to things, but his idea to adapt Going Places, from 46 years ago, just means that the situations and dialogue are going to feel pretty clunky and unenlightened. Basically, Jesus was molded to fit Going Places when it should have been the other way around. Or, best case scenario, just drum up an original story. The "call in some favors" cast can be fun, in this low-budget romp, as you'll see Christopher Walken, Jon Hamm, Tim Blake Nelson, and J. B. Smoove pulling one-day-on-set cameos. These stunt-casting scenes help spice up some of the movie's wanderlust vapidity, but guest appearance-wise, it's Susan Sarandon and Pete Davidson who help give the film a little extra helping of story. As a fresh out of the joint ex-con who's wooed by Jesus and Petey, Sarandon is the closest thing we have to an audience surrogate with a touch of depth. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=new-movies-coming-to-vod-early&captions=true"] The third headliner here, along with Turturro and Cannavale, is Amélie's Audrey Tautou, who plays the duo's paramour of sorts. The surrogate family atmosphere the trio occasionally manifests is endearing but ultimately no one feels like an adult here. A lot of that has to do with the movie being based on a slice of rambunctiously chauvinist French cinema from four decades ago. The Jesus Rolls starts out as if it's going to be a Jesus showcase, like how movies get made out of popular SNL characters, but it fast dissolves into something bizarre and, sadly, banal.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2QQkCMm
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

My Hero Academia: Season 4, Episode 24 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Season 4, episode 24, "Japanese Hero Billboard Chart," which is episode 87 overall. To refresh your memory of where we left off, check out our review of MHA Season 4, episode 23. [poilib element="accentDivider"] While it isn’t overflowing with color and celebration like Episode 23 was, “Japanese Hero Billboard Chart” is just as engaging and entertaining as the previous episode, though in a far more subtle and lasting way. This is the kind of episode that won’t leave viewers buzzing after the credits roll; instead, it’s one that will have fans mulling and philosophising over its themes and details for days afterwards. It begins with the most adorable scene possible: Eri receiving a cute new outfit and hairstyle, showing everyone how happy and comfortable she has become after the disaster and abuse she was saved from earlier in the season. Aizawa announces that Eri will be staying at UA, and we get to enjoy the whole of Class 1-A welcoming her to the fold. It’s a heartwarming intro to an episode which, from here, becomes a lot slower and more considered. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/13/anime-you-should-binge-watch-on-netflix-in-march"] As the title suggests, this episode is focussed around the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart, which is announced at a stadium and celebrates the updated rankings of every pro hero in Japan. Before the School Festival arc, we were already told to prepare ourselves for Endeavor taking the number one spot now that All Might has retired, but here we also get to see the official top ten receive their accolades and say a few words onstage in front of a roaring crowd. Here is where the episode gets interesting: the spotlight is on Hawks, a twenty two-year-old pro hero who started his own agency at just eighteen; he’s cocky, self-assured, brash, and undeniably cool. His personality is a far cry from both All Might and Endeavor, though the episode does a decent job of demonstrating his hero skills out on the street and, thus, his worthiness for the number two spot. The Japanese Hero Billboard Chart ceremony is the hinge of the episode, but it’s also more of a set-up that prepares us for the main theme: what makes a true hero? It’s reminiscent of the theme of Disney’s Hercules, which taught us that it’s not “about the size of his strength, but the strength of his heart.” But in My Hero Academia, the question is more complicated because we’ve already spent four seasons with the perfect answer to that question: All Might. What makes a true hero? Well, everything that All Might embodies. But, then, what is that, exactly? This is what Endeavor wants and needs to figure out. Despite sitting comfortably in the number two spot for so long, he still doesn’t know what makes a hero worthy of the number one spot, especially after having lived in All Might’s shadow for so many years. Endeavor is a stoic and hypermasculine hero, with an air closer to that of a villain than a hero. And therein lies the fun of this episode: considering the questions put forward by Endeavor’s own frustrations and his unfolding internal identity crisis. Being the number one hero is very different to being number two, and Endeavor has made this jump by default. All Might left a vacuum that Endeavor, logically, now fills. But his public approval rating says otherwise, while Hawks and Best Jeanist are actually more beloved by the general public. The episode’s second half centers around some deep and considered discussion between Hawks and Endeavor which also works as a very solid introduction to Hawks’ character and skill set. Endeavor, despite being a man of few words and a stiff upper lip, is desperate to understand what made All Might so unique, beloved, and seemingly irreplaceable. Hawks is here, in a way, to help him work this out. We know that this is what Endeavor wants, despite him not saying as much, when he attempts to reach out to a fan on the street, as Hawks so organically does, only for that fan to shame Endeavor for acting out of character. This kid loves Endeavor’s masculine stoicism – his flippant disregard for the general public – and now that Endeavor is trying to boost his public approval with a simple handshake, he’s immediately called out by a genuine fan as having changed and now acting false. And so, if Endeavor cannot force himself to behave more genially, what’s his next move? Beyond these questions, what does it all matter? Endeavor must surely be wondering this as well. Is a hero’s duty not to simply serve and protect the people? Well, yes, but the people also need to trust and feel safe around pro heroes like Endeavor. This is something else likely ticking over in his fiery head.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2w0Ml60
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

My Hero Academia: Season 4, Episode 23 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out The School Festival is finally here. This arc in Season 4 has carefully walked a thin line between building tension and stalling for time in the lead up to the School Festival and, looking back, has maintained a satisfying balance throughout. Introducing Gentle Criminal and La Brava as two c-list villains committing petty crimes for attention was funny until it became annoying. And just at that moment, the show kicked things into gear, turning the duo into not only a tangible threat but also into characters that we quickly became invested in. Now that these two are out of commission, the School Festival can begin. However, My Hero Academia never rushes to discard one story or character for the sake of another, and this episode is no different. It dedicates its opening five minutes to Gentle and La Brava, helping the audience transition from an emotional rollercoaster episode to one of pomp and celebration. This opening scene is gut-wrenching, as we see even more heart behind all of Gentle Criminal’s bluster, as well as the sad truth to La Brava’s state of mind. Once they’re taken away, however, Deku guides us to the gates of UA and into the School Festival, which is still going ahead as planned. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/13/anime-you-should-binge-watch-on-netflix-in-march"] Here’s where the episode really begins, and the School Festival itself is every bit as exciting, campy, and colorful as you’d expect it to be. We get to see an entire song performed by Class 1-A, with the focus here being on Kyoka as the band’s frontwoman and on Eri in the audience, desperate to see Deku onstage. The whole event is a delightful spectacle, with everything playing out as planned. That includes Aoyama’s laser light show and Todoroki’s dry ice. We even get an explosion from a very animated and enthusiastic Bakugo to kick things off. The song itself is nothing special, considering how good this show’s soundtrack typically is, even in those simple background melodies that you hardly notice. But if it had been any kind of chart-topping track then it would have detracted from the moments where we see and hear specific characters doing specific things: Midoriya throwing Aoyama to create the light show, Eri in the audience with tears in her eyes, and the flashback to Kyoka’s childhood with her parents. This flashback is one of the more unique ones we’ve seen in the show so far. We see Kyoka’s parents as professional musicians – her dad with long hair to really sell it – and the room full of instruments. The background art is drawn in a sketchbook style and dipped in sepia tones that really gets across a tone of nostalgic reflection. We see a heart-to-heart confession from Kyoko to two very kind and supporting parents, which works to elevate the tone of the song still being performed on stage. The blend of color and hand-sketched backgrounds in Kyoka’s flashback are reminiscent of Japanese Sumi-e art (a style brought to Japan by Chinese Zen monks). Details and homages like this pop up now and again in My Hero Academia, a show that is so heavily inspired by American superheroes but still makes subtle efforts to evoke its roots. They add a level of sophistication to the show’s delivery that’s already present in its storytelling. What’s particularly tender about this episode – and about this season overall, looking back – is how it handles the character of Eri. Since being rescued from the Shie Hassaikai, she hasn’t left Mirio’s side. Her actions and body language speak far louder than her words, especially here as she is so desperate to see Deku onstage that she looks to be bursting at the seams. Eri has been so thoughtfully written as a character; her color scheme in what she wears has steadily become more vibrant and expressive. She talks a little more, episode by episode. She is, with the love and support of Mirio and Midoriya, blossoming.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2UnLYM7
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Acer Predator CG437K Large Format Gaming Display Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out There is always a push for the bleeding edge, and for gaming monitors that now means the combination of 4K, HDR, and high refresh rate in one display. Acer’s Predator CG437K is the latest display attempting to cram all that technology into a single package. It’s a 4K, DisplayHDR 1000-certified monitor, with an overdriven refresh rate of 144Hz. It also comes with a price-tag of $1,500. But is all of that bleeding-edge tech worthy of the price?

Design and Features

Up until now, if you wanted a 4K HDR 144Hz monitor you could either go with a reasonably-sized 27-inch model, or the aptly-named Big Format Gaming Display (BFGD) 65-inch HP Omen X. At 43-inches, the Acer Predator CG437K – tagged as a Large Format Gaming Display – fills the gap between the two options. For my taste it’s a bit too big for a desk based on my sitting distance, but the size is perfect for a smaller room. There’s a shift here away from the styling we expect to see from a Predator-line monitor – usually accented with sharp angles and red. Now the only dash of color is the blue glow of the power light below the badge on the bottom bezel. An angular design is still present on the incredibly sturdy stand – an area that doubles as a place to rest your console controllers, which is a nice touch – but not as severe as in the past. Most of that design style is left to the back panel, so it won’t be on display. If you want to add some flair to the monitor, the CG437 comes with four magnetic LED light strips. There’s only one, pretty significant, problem. The monitor case is plastic, so there’s nowhere to attach the LED strips without MacGyvering it with some double-sided tape, or finding something that is metal elsewhere on my desk to attach them. There are four headers on the back of the monitor to supply power, and different lighting configurations can be set in the monitor’s menu. The power leads are all five feet long, so placing the strips anywhere around your desk shouldn’t be an issue, but it also means if you attach them to the monitor you’ll need to bunch up a lot of slack. There are a bunch of different connections on the back – a USB-C, three HDMI 2.0, two DisplayPort 1.4, and a USB hub with two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0. Cable management is limited to one clip on the right leg of the stand, and the two side-facing HDMI and two USB 3.0 ports on the back are so close to the edge of the monitor, when an HDMI cable is plugged in it can peek out past the monitor’s edge. A streaming stick needs to be plugged into the down-facing HDMI to avoid being seen. The Predator CG437K has a 4K HDR VA panel with adaptive sync and a refresh rate up to 144Hz with overclocking. In order to get the possibility of 144Hz, two DisplayPort cables must be connected to your video card (there are two that come in the box), the 4K-144Hz Mode must be turned on in the monitor menu, and 144Hz refresh must be selected in your video card software. This will also disable HDR and adaptive sync. Oh, and you’ll need two top of the line AMD video cards to even think about approaching playing a 4K game at 144Hz (only AMD cards are supported up to 144Hz). It takes an incredible amount of processing power to hit frame rates that high at 4K, especially if the game isn’t especially well optimized. But it does mean that when the prices come down and the technology continues to develop, the CG437K will be ready for it. Using a single DisplayPort cable allows for a refresh rate up to 120Hz with support for HDR and adaptive sync still enabled, and an HDMI cable allows for 60Hz with HDR and adaptive sync. The monitor is G-Sync Compatible with NVIDIA driver 436.48 or newer. The variable refresh rate over HDMI works with Xbox One. Local dimming allows displays to better control black level when there are bright parts to the screen. With more local dimming zones, a bright spot won’t bleed into black areas. Depending on screen size, many TVs can have upwards of 400 zones. Acer doesn’t publish the number of dimming zones on the CG437K, but it doesn’t seem to be that high of a number. This becomes most apparent when there’s a white image on the middle of the screen and the space above and below the image that should be black is a dark gray, while the right and left side of the screen is still black. Movie title cards make this effect very prominent.

Testing and Gaming

Testing was done with a Photo Research PR-650 spectroradiometer, a Konica Minolta LS-100 luminance meter, and CalMAN 2018 calibration software. HDR patterns were from Diversified Video Solutions’ UltraHD/HDR-10 Test Pattern Suite. SDR patterns were from a VideoForge Classic generator. When testing, a numerical DeltaE value is used to indicate how close to perfect a measurement is. A DeltaE of 1.0 or below is considered perfect as any difference from reference is indistinguishable. 3.0 or lower is excellent and it is hard to see a discrepancy without scrutiny, while above that value any variations become more perceptible. Standard picture mode with warm color temperature was used for SDR testing and HDR mode was used for HDR testing.

The Predator CG437K is an incredibly grayscale and color accurate display in SDR. Its average grayscale accuracy measured a DeltaE value of only 1.667, with the highest value being 2.551. Any inaccuracies are completely imperceptible, especially with real content and not test images. The color points were almost as impressive, with the highest DeltaE value measuring only 2.545. And as advertised, the Predator CG437K has over 90% coverage of the DCI color space (91.4% to be exact). The default 2.2 gamma setting is just a tad under, measuring closer to a 2.1 average, which is perfectly fine if your room has a good amount of ambient light. Because I used the display most often in a dark room while gaming and watching TV, I chose to change the setting to 2.4, which brought the measured average value to 2.3. It’s a small change, but it helped the grays look less washed out. HDR measurement results were very good. Grayscale tracking was excellent with values staying under 2.0 consistently, and the EOTF curve (that tells the display how much light to output from 0-100% brightness) followed the target well. Interestingly, when I conducted similar measurements over DisplayPort there were issues with the EOTF curve. The CG437K low-end values (from 0-60% brightness) were all too high. This was apparent while using the display as a monitor to view HDR content, as games and videos looked washed out in darker images. Another peculiarity was with the HDR Mode setting that can be toggled between Off, Auto, and HDR-1000. Auto was around 150 nits dimmer than the HDR-1000 setting. I would expect an auto setting to deliver the best image based on the signal, but in this case I used HDR-1000 almost exclusively. Highlights popped more, and the light output measured over 1,100 nits. The greens of the forest looked particularly vibrant as I ran through Kashyyyk to meet up with Tarfful in Jedi: Fallen Order. Detail in the leaves was excellent and there was some depth to the shadow detail while creeping through caves. In some of the dark scenes, a glow from the edge lighting – primarily in the bottom right corner – was apparent. Detail in Sea of Thieves was equally as impressive. The craters of the moon were easily visible as it moved through the sky, and it lit up beautifully as it caught the rays of the sun. The moonlight glistened on the wave crests and there was a good amount of variance to the water coloration, most notably when the waves were rough. In The Last Jedi, the fabric of the robes Luke wears and the fibers of Rey’s tunic looked impeccable. The contrast of the white and red of the Crait salt flats was striking. As a home theater display, the Predator CG437K looks as good as any other VA panel television.

Purchasing Guide

The Acer Predator CG437K 4K 144Hz monitor is available on B&H for $1,500.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/33Ro1Qk
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

I thought I would be bored by the time I beat up my 500,000th marine lackey, but to my surprise, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 never let the smile fall from my face – except for when it’s trying to make me cry with its many faithfully recreated scenes of One Piece’s most emotional moments.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is an Omega Force musou game through and through, letting you satisfyingly steamroll hundreds of thousands of enemies single handedly as powerful hero (or villain) characters. But it comes with most of the typical baggage that goes along with that distinction: it’s not the prettiest looking game in the world, there are lots of reused assets from prior games, and outside of a few select boss fights, its hoards of baddies offer very little resistance.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-greatest-one-piece-moments-of-all-time&captions=true"]

That said, Pirate Warriors 4 managed to surprise me with a well thought out combat system that has a ton of variety strewn across its selection of more than 40 playable characters, excellent cooperative support, and a highly respectable retelling of One Piece’s absolutely massive story.

Wealth, Fame, Power

Pirate Warriors 4’s main story mode, Dramatic Log, attempts to summarize nearly 900 episodes worth of One Piece plot into a single 15-hour campaign. It’s an impossible task, to be frank, but a lot of effort was made to make these storybook-esque recaps as entertaining and informative as they can possibly be. Everything is fully voiced by the original Japanese cast; there’s a good mix of narration, still imagery, and scenes from the show recreated in-engine to keep things visually interesting; and when they do decide to go all out and do a full-on CG version of One Piece’s biggest moments, they always look and sound stunning with Omega Force’s signature guitar riff-heavy soundtrack pumping in the background, though many of those moments are straight-up reused from prior Pirate Warriors games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/25/one-piece-pirate-warriors-4-the-first-10-minutes"]

It’s also worth noting that if you’re coming into Pirate Warriors 4 as anything less than a gigantic One Piece fan who has watched everything up to the start of the currently airing Wano arc, you’re going to get spoiled big time. This definitely is not a replacement for actually watching the show.

Pirate Warriors 4 covers six main arcs: Alabasta, Enies Lobby, the Paramount War, Dressrosa, Whole Cake Island, and a shoddily thrown together original version of the Wano arc that exists solely to give Pirate Warriors 4 an actual ending since the real Wano arc isn’t finished yet. Those who played Pirate Warriors 3 may get a little bit of deja vu, as the only completely new arcs are Whole Cake Island and Wano, but Pirate Warriors 4 goes much deeper into each of them than its predecessor, with every arc consisting of at least six missions.

[poilib element="poll" parameters="id=5182b790-9bad-4ea7-9d8b-94cea362e964"]

Each chapter has its own selection of playable characters to choose from, with some levels restricting you to just the one character that’s relevant to the story, while others allow you to choose from a wide variety of heroes that are present in the scene. I always jumped at the opportunity to try out a new character, and fortunately, those opportunities presented themselves at just about every turn. It was this variety that kept Dramatic Log fun and interesting throughout its 15 hour length, despite the repetition inherent to Pirate Warriors 4’s gameplay.

Dramatic Log is the main course of Pirate Warriors 4, but there’s also the Treasure Log mode which is a series of mostly context-less levels that come with their own rewards and ready-made challenges. Just about everything in Pirate Warriors 4 can be played with two-players co-op in split-screen, but certain levels in Treasure Log can also be played with four players online, and have unique objectives as a result, which is great. Multiplayer is definitely a strong suit for Pirate Warriors 4, especially considering how easy it is to pick up, smash some buttons, and watch the fireworks fly.

Take it to the Sky(piea)

If you’ve played a musou game before, you know what to expect from Pirate Warriors 4 on a base level. This is a game all about simple button presses leading to impressive actions. One that treats enemies like they’re a million styrofoam peanuts and the player like they’re a leaf blower.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=This%20is%20a%20game%20all%20about%20simple%20button%20presses%20leading%20to%20impressive%20actions."]

Pirate Warriors 4 adds a few interesting wrinkles to the fold, mainly the ability for every character to utilize air combos, which actually does a lot to further differentiate its roster. By pressing the jump button in the middle of a combo, characters take everything around them up into the air where they have an all-new series of attacks. Some characters, like Sanji, absolutely thrive in the air where they can use multiple special moves to deal big damage or utilize a buff that gives them unlimited stamina, which allows them to continuously cancel and restart combos with an air dash to stay in the air for as long as they want. Other characters, like Jimbei, are hopeless in the air and basically need to be on the ground in order to do significant damage.

The gameplay is super fast. With the ability to connect a three to four-hit ground combo, then launch enemies up for another combo, then combo that into a special move, which can then be canceled into more air combos, there’s just a ton of frenetic movement that always keeps the action fluid and exciting.

Despite that though, the implementation of aerial combat is not perfect. Some characters are given the ability to fly freely, but the controls are messy. There’s no way to control your height, which can make it frustratingly difficult to actually hit enemies when you’re above them, and sometimes characters can move so fast that it can be hard to actually focus on a single enemy like a commander or boss if you need to take them down first.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/24/one-piece-pirate-warriors-4-launch-trailer"]

Above all else though, Pirate Warriors 4 is a One Piece power trip, and it’s a really good one at that. Just about every character feels insanely strong in their own satisfying way. Luffy in particular feels nigh unstoppable when he transforms into either of his Gear Four forms, but especially when he’s in Bounce Man form and starts charging up a Kong Gun that ominously looms over the heads of hundreds of helpless enemies that are about to get sent flying.

Omega Force has done a great job with its progression mechanics as well. Not only does each character have their own skill trees that build upon their arsenal of unique moves and stats, but there’s also a universal skill tree that provides bonuses to all characters. It’s a nice system that forces you to make some interesting decisions when it comes to stats with regards to whether you spend resources making everyone a little bit stronger, or you focus in on making a single character stronger that you might only use for one level.

Between the 15-hour story mode, the many additional hours that it’ll take to complete Treasure Log, and unlockable characters that are tied to getting S ranks on missions, there’s a ton of worthwhile content in Pirate Warriors 4 that will keep me busy for quite some time.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2wGDTZR
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming