Amazon's Truth Seekers: Season 1 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out All 8 episodes of Truth Seekers Season 1 can now be streamed on Amazon Prime. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Though it may seem futile to release anything opposite the premiere of The Manadalorian Season 2, that series' weekly release model allows for other shows to butt in during this Halloween weekend, for those looking for an engaging, gently-spooky binge. And Truth Seekers, from Shaun of the Dead masterminds Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is a light, mysterious romp through the realm of the sinister and supernatural. Created by Pegg and Frost, along with James Serafinowicz and Nat Saunders, Truth Seekers lovingly borrows from Ghostbusters, The X-Files, various ghost hunting shows, and many other paranormal pop culture paragons to craft a fun, heartfelt adventure series carved out of the quaint English countryside. It's not a laugh-riot, per se, like you might expect from an Edgar Wright movie starring Pegg and Frost, but it is a crafty and capable caper that'll pull you along with a smirk thanks to a fun ensemble and nicely constructed story. Tonally, think along the lines of Peter Jackson's The Frighteners, which was able to be both ludicrous and quite menacing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/truth-seekers-official-teaser-trailer-reveal-comic-conhome-on-ign"] In Truth Seekers - which features Frost as the lead and Pegg in a supporting/recurring role - Frost plays Gus, a widowed broadband internet installer who moonlights as a ghost hunter, visiting some of England's creepier crypts for his paltry YouTube channel. And with Gus come a few puzzles: What happened to his late wife? Why the interest in things-that-go-bump? Why is he reluctant to partner with anyone? From there, the mysteries just keep growing as Gus' circle expands. His rookie co-worker Elton (Samson Kayo) has a mysterious past involving working just about every job imaginable for short periods of time. Elton's sister, Helen (Susie Wokoma), is agoraphobic, having experienced some sort of past trauma. And there's Astrid (Emma D'Arcy), an enigmatic loner who storms into Gus and Elton's lives as a young woman being hunted by haunted things. Truth Seekers nicely shapes its ensemble as it moves through its eight-episode run - including Malcolm McDowell as Gus' crotchety father-in-law (and yes, there is a Clockwork Orange nod) Richard - while also maintaining, mostly, an episodic quality to it. Everything is more or less connected, and things do get fully serialized by the final episodes, but the rest are broken up by locations and haunts and given fun names like "The Haunting of Connoly's Nook" and "The Ghost of the Beast of Bodmin." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-15-best-horror-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years&captions=true"] So even as a binge, the season is broken up enough, thematically, to not seem like a four-hour movie. But you can also feel how this could have been a movie, and maybe even was, at some point in its development. Ultimately, the main plot, which lurks behind each episode, feels a bit clumsy and sort of overcooked when compared to the rest of the show, but by the time you reach the endgame, it's the characters who matter and not the evildoers' nefarious inter-dimensional scheme. It's the fondness found between Astrid and Elton, the friendship built between Gus and Elton, and the unusually sweet bond formed between Richard and Helen, born out of loneliness, that drives the story when everything else gets a bit bogged down in hinky, hectic details. As mentioned, Pegg is involved as a bit of background silliness along with other guest stars like Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald, GLOW's Kate Nash, Hot Fuzz's Kevin Eldon, and more. Possessed dolls, sinister specters, ghostly machines, and brainwashed cults run rampant as Gus and his ragtag team all experience growth as human beings, finding a type of solace and camaraderie in the hunt that allows them to heal and smooth over some of their emotional scars. Truth Seekers isn't overtly scary, nor is it a gut-buster, but it finds a good balance between entertaining and icky and works well as a rollicking ride-along. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/08/amazons-truth-seekers-exclusive-immersive-horror-experience-clip"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3oM1SNm
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Daniel Craig and Others Mourn the Passing of Sir Sean Connery

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out With the news this morning of Oscar-winner Sir Sean Connery's passing, Daniel Craig, whose final James Bond film No Time to Die is now scheduled for an April 2, 2021 release, offered up a few words of condolences. And Craig wasn't the only member of the Bond-verse to mourn Connery, who died overnight in his sleep in the Bahamas at the age of 90. Roger Moore's estate commented as well, along with others who were co-stars and fans of the late, iconic actor. The official James Bond Twitter account released Craig's words, which were "It is with such sadness that I heard of the passing of one of the true greats of cinema." The family of Moore, who was Connery's first long-running successor as Bond, said "How infinitely sad to hear the news Sir Sean Connery has passed away. He and Roger were friends for many decades and Roger always maintained Sean was the best ever James Bond."

Statement from Daniel Craig

“It is with such sadness that I heard of the passing of one of the true greats of cinema. pic.twitter.com/McUcKuykR4 — James Bond (@007) October 31, 2020

How infinitely sad to hear the news Sir Sean Connery has passed away. He and Roger were friends for many decades and Roger always maintained Sean was the best ever James Bond. RIP

— Sir Roger Moore (Legacy) (@sirrogermoore) October 31, 2020

Sam Neill, who auditioned for Bond in the '80s and then co-starred with Connery in The Hunt for Red October, offered this...

Every day on set with #SeanConnery was an object lesson in how to act on screen. But all that charisma and power- that was utterly unique to Sean . RIP that great man , that great actor . https://t.co/W8MQrFYlJ0

— Sam Neill (@TwoPaddocks) October 31, 2020

Hugh Jackman, who famously turned down the opportunity to audition for Bond (as Brosnan's replacement) because of not wanting to be in two huge franchises at once, offered up these kind words...

I grew up idolizing #SeanConnery. A legend on screen, and off. Rest In Peace. pic.twitter.com/OU9QEy5fTB

— Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) October 31, 2020

Robert Carlyle may not have acted opposite Connery, but he is wholly familiar with the Bond franchise having played a villain in 1999's The World is Not Enough...

RIP Sir Sean Connery.. a trailblazer, a true legend and a gentleman https://t.co/hkLwouejZI

— Robert Carlyle (@robertcarlyle_) October 31, 2020

Directors Kevin Smith and Edgar Wright, both massive fans of Connery's career, also took to Twitter...

He was my Dad’s James Bond, so Dad supported Mr. Connery’s career his entire life, always taking me to see any movie his fave actor was in. I have sweet memories of watching Dad watch his movie idol. So Sean Connery’s passing also feels like I’m losing Dad again. RIP, Dr. Jones. pic.twitter.com/8ElVyac1kV

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) October 31, 2020

It says something for the extraordinary charisma of this Edinburgh lad to have created the most iconic character in film & then, rather than be typecast by it, become equally famous for just being Sean Connery. A real screen legend; oft imitated (by all!) but never equalled. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/TOdAI0Fxnv

— edgarwright (@edgarwright) October 31, 2020

And Arnold Schwarzenegger also chimed in, as a fellow screen icon and bodybuilder...

Sean Connery was a legend, one of the greatest actors of all time. He provided endless entertainment for all of us & inspiration for me. I’m not just saying that because he was a bodybuilder who placed in the Mr. Universe contest! He was an icon. My thoughts are with his family.

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) October 31, 2020

Connery's famous films include Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Untouchables, The Hunt for Red October, The Rock, The Man Who Would Be King, his work as James Bond (of course), and more! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=sean-connerys-best-films&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

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

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital download. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Movies for hit anime series like My Hero Academia have a difficult balancing act to pull off: they must be mostly understandable for a completely new viewer, still offer something relevant and interesting to fans of the show, and be exciting but find a way to not have any significant lasting impact on the show. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising is animation studio Bones’ second attempt at achieving all three, and it does an excellent job. Heroes Rising is just one awesome explosion of action after another. It doesn’t quite nail the landing on its biggest moment and the villain is a bit boring, but that doesn’t take too much away from the excitement of seeing the entirety of Class 1-A push themselves to their limits. Heroes Rising takes place sometime during Season 4, although the chronology is never established. Heroes like Rock Lock appear, the League of Villains are still up to no good, and a certain pivotal item from Season 4 makes an appearance. That being said, Heroes Rising is a prime example of effortlessly utilizing information from the show's past to contextualize the events of the movie. Flashbacks are mostly used at unobtrusive moments and important information is naturally written into conversations. If you’re not caught up with at least the beginning of Season 4, you do run the risk of some mild thematic spoilers, but a majority of the movie smartly distances itself from current events in the anime series. Much like the first My Hero Academia movie, Two Heroes, the students of U.A. High School’s Class 1-A find themselves busy on a faraway island in Heroes Rising. The resident hero has retired, and in an effort to give some of U.A.’s top students’ additional training, they’ve been sent to fill in for the recent retiree without the supervision of any pro heroes. That last part is a bit questionable, given they’re only high school students tasked with running a hero business without supervision, but the setup works wonderfully and gives them space to shine when villains eventually attack. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-of-the-decade-2010-2019&captions=true"] As the series has progressed, we’ve understandably seen less of Class 1-A and Heroes Rising excitingly amends that. Everyone, even characters like Koda and Shoji, gets a chance to shine. While the nature of their work on the island is mundane, it’s still exciting to watch because of Class 1-A’s fun personalities and the creative ways we get to see them use their quirks. From helping an old woman who threw out her back to organizing an intense assault on a foe while evacuating townspeople, Heroes Rising is a great showcase of their current abilities. New supporting characters Mahoro and Katsuma are two cute kids who stir up the long-running theme of questioning what it means to be a hero in a world where that revered title is just another profession. Heroes Rising doesn’t dig too deep into it, but that theme serves as a good frame for when Deku and Bakugo get their time in the spotlight together. Heroes Rising is ultimately about their relationship and their own valid but different brands of heroism, but again, it does a fantastic job of balancing their screen time with the other 1-A students. Part of that comes about because they’re still students, and standing up against the four new adult villains in Heroes Rising isn’t a simple feat. My Hero Academia's practicality with the students’ general disadvantage against experienced villains has always been one of its strengths, and it's good to see that mostly carry through in Heroes Rising. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/2TjoNAT] The villains Class 1-A go up against in this action-packed movie have bland motivations, but their run-of-the-mill brand of evil largely works here. Fights aren’t bogged down with monologues and are instead peppered with effective villainous quips. The villains' quirks aren’t exactly counters to the students’ but their raw power and flashiness go a long way. And, since the students are on this island without support from professionals, we really get to see their tactics and teamwork shine. The animation in the fights is generally excellent, save for some awkward CG clouds that roll in every now and then. For all the power and fun Heroes Rising brings, it’s a shame it fumbles the presentation of its biggest moment. The insane, well-animated final fight edges close to fever dream territory and is presented with odd, sentimental music that doesn’t fit the intensity of what’s happening on-screen. Certain moments of the battle — which is one hell of a fight to watch — also have serious implications for My Hero Academia canon, and the way Heroes Rising goes about brushing them aside isn’t quite satisfactory.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/32pkqs8
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

MSI Optix MAG251RX Gamiing Monitor Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Not everyone needs a 240Hz gaming monitor like the MSI Optix MAG251RX. Although a 240Hz refresh rate has certainly been the talk of the town for a good while now, much like when the 144Hz monitors hit the streets, it’s hardly a vital part of every gamer’s setup. That said, such a gaming monitor comes with its slew of benefits, from an incredibly fast refresh rate to even quicker response times and a crisp picture. And it’s just the ticket if you’re living the esports life. The question is, if you’re considering diving into the world of high refresh rates: is the MSI Optix MAG251RX the monitor you should pick up? At $360 a pop, it’s certainly one of the most affordable options out there. But we found it to also be among the best performing ones out there, with a low response time and a fantastic image quality. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=msi-optix-mag251rx-gaming-monitor-review&captions=true"]

MSI Optix MAG251RX – Design and Features

The first thing you might notice about the MSI Optix MAG251RX is its build. It has a solid base and a sturdy stand that lets you slide and swivel the monitor up or down incredibly smoothly and without too much effort on your part. There’s a decent range of height and angle adjustability here too. At the same time, there’s also enough resistance there so that the monitor holds its position securely. And, unlike other monitors that rock on their stand at the slightest bump of the table, this one actually stays stationary – a nice feature that comes in handy at the most intense moments. Unfortunately, there’s no side to side pivoting here, so if you want a kind of angled setup, you’ll have to move the stand itself. And since we’re on the subject of weaknesses, we’re not too fond of the “Gaming Esports” sticker on the back – it’s kind of tacky. This also isn’t among the largest displays out there. At only 24.5 inches, you need to be relatively close for this to be immersive, which means having spectators isn’t always an option. However, if you have a smaller desk space, it’s certainly a good size – its thin bezels give an extra bit of screen real estate as well. Other than those gripes, there’s a lot to love about the MAG251RX’s design and aesthetic. It has a simple design with a bit of tapering here and there to give it a subtle gaming look without looking overzealous or gaudy. That makes it great for more than just gaming. You could even set this up on your office desk and no one would notice. Well, as long as that weird “Gaming Esports” sticker is facing the wall, that is. The selection of ports here is great as well. There’s a USB-C port, DisplayPort, two HDMI ports, audio, USB Type-B, and three downstream USB Type-A ports. The availability of upstream ports here is extremely useful when you have a multi-computer setup. I was able to connect it to a gaming PC and a MacBook Pro at the same time so I could test its gaming performance and do other work on my laptop without unplugging either. As a bonus, the USB-C port could charge my MacBook Pro, so that’s one less cable to worry about. The three USB Type A ports, separated on the left side, are extremely handy here as you can connect your other peripherals and devices to the monitor. This way, you can keep the same peripherals whenever you’re switching computers. Another matter of convenience here is its menu. The entire menu is accessible via the single four-way joystick in the back near the bottom right corner. It can be a bit confusing to use at first, but you get used to it fast enough. Of course, this being a gaming monitor, it has an RGB lighting strip on the back with 7 individual zones. Each zone can be customized by color and LED effects via the Mystic Light software, which is accessible through the Gaming OSD app. I actually like this setup – although it seems like it’s out of the way, it casts nice lighting in the back for a bit more immersion. Essentially, this gaming monitor tones down that gaming aesthetic to a subtler shade and powers up instead on the features that help with gaming performance.

MSI Optix MAG251RX – Performance and Gaming

The MSI Optix MAG251RX is chock-full of features inside: certified G-Sync compatibility, 1,000:1 static contrast ratio, 10-bit color depth support, 100% sRGB color gamut, 400 nits of brightness and HDR support. It also offers a fairly wide 178-degree viewing angle so that the picture quality stays the same whichever angle you’re viewing from. And finally, it’s got night vision options, which is a smart black tuner that gives you more details in dark areas, anti-flicker and less blue light. Of course, these are features you’ll find in a lot of other gaming monitors. What really makes the MSI Optix MAG251RX stand out here is it combines those with an incredibly fast 240Hz refresh rate and a quick 1ms response time. While some 360Hz monitors have crept onto the field, taking the crown for fastest display in the west, 240Hz is still plenty fast, especially for an IPS panel – impressive considering that not long ago refresh rates of this speed were limited to TN panels only. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20didn%E2%80%99t%20see%20any%20ghosting%20or%20motion%20blur%20while%20gaming%2C%20and%20that%20clarity%20is%20even%20more%20impressive%20on%20the%20fast-paced%20games"] I checked to see how this monitor measures up on the Lagom LCD monitor test, and it certainly passed with flying colors. It delivered a full range of contrast as well as black and white levels. It could do a little better on the gamma calibration test, but then again, that won’t affect your gaming. In practice, the picture quality on this monitor is crisp, vibrant and accurate. I also tested it on the UFO test, and found zero to very minimal blurring, ghosting or any other artifacts. If there were any, they would have been hardly perceptible to the human eye… or at least, this human eye. In practice, the games ran beautiful, sharp and smooth with indiscernible latency. I tested this on both graphically intensive games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, as well as less graphically intensive ones that are more focused on speed like Rocket League. And, the experience was smooth, accurate and immersive. I didn’t see any ghosting or motion blur while gaming, and that clarity is even more impressive on the fast-paced games. Of course, that 1080p resolution helps with maintaining your frame rates as well. 1080p might be starting to age with the 4K resolution slowly taking over, and can be a bit noticeable in games where a higher resolution is more beneficial than a faster refresh rate. However, it still looks great on a display this size, and with quick refresh rates it’s perfect for esports. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-monitors&captions=true"]

MSI Optix MAG251RX – Purchasing Guide

The MSI Optix MAG251RX gaming monitor is available on Amazon and Newegg with an MSRP of $359.99.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3mBPe1M
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

The Mandalorian: Season 2, Episode 1 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out This review contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2, episode 1, titled "Chapter 9 - The Marshal." To remind yourself where we left off, check out our Mandalorian Season 1 review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] The Mandalorian has finally returned for Season 2, and while it's great to have new Star Wars to speculate over, it doesn't seem like our titular hero or the showrunners telling his story have learned much from Mando's first outing. While there's plenty of meaty worldbuilding to be found in "The Marshal," the episode still falls into many of the same Sarlacc pits traps as Season 1, namely an over-reliance on easter eggs and familiar storytelling beats in place of actual plot momentum. The episode's opening is a promising departure from what we've seen previously, with Mando swaggering into a fight club located in refreshingly urban surroundings - a stark contrast to Season 1's desolate deserts and lush forest landscapes. He's there to grill an Abyssin crime lord named Gor Koresh (John Leguizamo) for information on the whereabouts of other Mandalorians, but in typical Mando fashion, things go south fast. Jon Favreau, who wrote and directed the episode, confidently choreographs Koresh's double-cross and the ensuing fight, showcasing our hero's hand-to-hand prowess in a brief but brutal smackdown that emphasizes how deadly and inventive he can be - skills that we didn't get to see enough of in Season 1. Check out all the celebrity cameos and characters in The Mandalorian so far: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-actor-and-character-in-the-mandalorian&captions=true"] From there, though, it's back to Tatooine and more well-worn Western tropes, as well as echoes of past episodes. The plot is very reminiscent of Season 1's fourth episode, "Sanctuary" - with Mando teaming up with another enigmatic warrior with a painful past (Timothy Olyphant's Cobb Vanth, a character first introduced in Chuck Wendig's Aftermath novels) to protect a helpless town against a seemingly insurmountable threat - with a dash of Mando's Mudhorn quest from episode 3 thrown in. Olyphant - no stranger to playing stoic Western characters thanks to his roles in Deadwood and Justified - is a perfect fit for The Mandalorian's tone (far more so than Amy Sedaris, whose Peli Motto always takes me out of the scene), imbuing Cobb with just the right combination of grit and wit to be a perfect foil for Mando; here's hoping we see more of him as the show goes on. What keeps "The Marshal" from being a complete retread is mostly down to the nostalgia factor - for die-hard fans, the episode is brimming with clever nods to Star Wars lore, from the return of R5-D4 in Peli Motto's workshop; to the involvement of the Tusken Raiders and their fixation on the legendary krayt dragon pearl; to Cobb Vanth using a podracer engine (maybe even Anakin Skywalker's?) to power his swoop-bike; to Mando utilizing Obi-Wan's krayt dragon cry from A New Hope; to the seeming return of Boba Fett in the form of a scarred Temuera Morrison. (Boba Fett would be in his late thirties by this point in the Star Wars timeline, while Morrison is 59, so there's reason to be skeptical, especially with other surviving clones still out there - but bounty hunting and being eaten by a Sarlacc probably ages you, right?) The episode even seeks to redeem Boba Fett's glitchy jetpack after Mando gives it a whack and sends Cobb flying, perhaps offering a canonical excuse for Boba's ignominious ending in Return of the Jedi the same way the Season 1 finale tried to explain the Stormtroopers' iconically shoddy aim.  [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/26/the-mandalorian-season-1-timeline-recap"] There's enough nerdy goodness here to forgive the relative lack of actual plot development, and at 49 minutes, "The Marshal" is one of the longest Mandalorian episodes yet - hopefully a sign that further installments will also be beefier, given how short many of Season 1's episode lengths were. Likewise, the visuals remain impressive; while we're making comparisons to episode 4, it's great to see so many elaborate and gripping action sequences rendered in broad daylight and at such a grand scale, compared to the murky action of the showdown on Sorgan. It's also admittedly thrilling just to get to luxuriate in the Star Wars universe and get deeper context on its planets and inhabitants (like the fascinating culture of the Tusken Raiders) in a way that the movies just don't have the real estate for. But given all the hype and secrecy surrounding Season 2, for a premiere, it can't help but feel a little anticlimactic. If you subtract all the easter eggs and Mando and Cobb's deliciously dry banter, you're left with a fairly rote monster-hunting mission that, like many of Season 1's episodes, feels like a pastiche of other movies and pop culture touchstones rather than trying anything new. Obviously, Star Wars has a long history of being inspired by other tales, but George Lucas always found ways to pay subtle homage without repeating the same beats, and it would've been nice to see The Mandalorian's Season 2 premiere explore some new territory rather than returning to the well of Tatooine so soon, even if it was all in service of introducing Boba Fett to the world of The Mandalorian. Baby Yoda also doesn't get much to do beyond sitting in a bag, although the shot of him hiding in a giant pot is arguably worth the price of admission.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/34GKT7p
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Freaky Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out IGN serves a global audience, so with the review embargo for Freaky now lifted, we are publishing our review from Simon Thompson who watched the movie at a drive-in screening at Beyond Fest. Read more on IGN's policy on movie reviews in light of COVID-19 here. IGN strongly encourages anyone considering going to a movie theater during the COVID-19 pandemic to check their local public health and safety guidelines before buying a ticket. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Freaky's ingenious premise is so simple it is almost shocking that no one has come up with it until now. Body swap comedies were once de rigueur, yet Hollywood never thought to pair it with another prevalent sub-genre: the slasher movie. Even the film's original title, Freaky Friday the 13th, seems so obvious it is almost infuriating. It was right there, Hollywood! Anyway, the end result -- Freaky -- was well worth waiting for. Kathryn Newton plays Millie, a high school student, who unexpectedly switches bodies with a middle-aged serial killer, the Blissfield Butcher, played by Vince Vaughn. That is basically it. Throw in a ticking clock element where they have to switch back within 24 hours, or they'll stay that way forever, and you're done. This hot dish of humor and gore doesn't need over-saucing. Directed and co-written by Christopher Landon, Freaky is a perfect companion piece to another of his movies, Happy Death Day. Reteaming with producer Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions, they work their magic again, toying with tropes while maintaining a freshness and uniqueness that never feels derivative. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/3oDQ1ks] While Happy Death Day and its sequel were PG-13, Freaky earns its R-rating, delivering an ample body count and some innovative kills that elicit laughs as much as they do shock. What Freaky doesn't do is rely on that, squander it, and consider it enough for the audience. The movie has set-pieces that might become genre fan favorites, but Freaky is really about the whole and not solely the (body) parts. It's cohesive. Right from the get-go, with an early massacre, the tension is there, the darkness and the humor are on display, deftly choreographed and pulling the viewer in. That gutsy choice sets the bar high in the very first minutes. Vaughn and Newton pull double duty playing both the killer and the teenage girl, giving each an energy that could easily have tipped into hammy or campy yet never does. They imbue both characters with vigor, commitment, and physicality, and the levity and darkness that they bring is never anything other than a blast. There is an intensity to Newton's stare as the killer that cuts like a knife and an air to Vaughn's Millie, which genuinely makes you wonder if this is the most fun he's had with a role for well over a decade. While Newton has undoubtedly arrived here, Vaughn is back in a big way. Kudos must be given to Misha Osherovich as Josh and Celeste O'Connor as Nyla, Millie's best friends. Both bring an entertaining and engaging balance to the equation creating a believable and immediately winning dynamic. Similarly, composer Bear McCreary brings home the bacon when it comes to Freaky's score which drives the movie forward with urgency and confidence. What Freaky also manages to do, seemingly effortlessly, is to include humanity and vulnerability to some of the relationships which culminate in a sweet moment between Vaughn, as Millie, and her mother, played by Kate Finneran, in a changing room. It is beautifully executed and punctuates the movie perfectly before diving back into the madness. And while Freaky also ticks the horny teens box, the ways Landon handles sex and sexuality are refreshingly heart-warming and, on occasion, laugh out loud funny. Freaky is not without its flaws, though. The backstory of the dagger used to try and kill Millie -- and which had a pivotal role in the body swap -- gets a little lost in the mix. Furthermore, the ending is something of an anti-climax considering the build-up to it. It'd be interesting to find out if the ending Freaky delivers is the one that was initially intended or what, if any, alternatives may have been left on the cutting room floor and why. Those issues aside, Freaky is one of the most entertaining films of the year and more than lives up to the promise of its fun trailer. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-best-reviewed-movies-of-2020&captions=true"]

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/34GfOAI
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Apple TV's Ted Lasso: Season 1 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out If 2020 needed anything, it was Ted Lasso. Apple TV Plus’s half-hour comedy series is the sort of pure, positivity-infused joy your heart has likely sought out in these dark times, but rarely found. It is Friday Night Lights meets Parks and Recreation in London. It has Great British Bake-Off-levels of “good dad tries hard” energy. It is earnest and charmingly cast. It has Jason Sudeikis sporting a thrillingly robust mustache. It is the comfort-watch your body yearns for, whether you like soccer or not, and if you’ve been on the internet over the past couple of months, you’ve probably seen conversation and praise for the series growing as more and more people discover it. We were late to the party (the show first premiered back in August, rolling out its 10 episodes weekly), but it’s safe to say that now we've caught up, we’re obsessed. There are simply not enough words for how utterly enjoyable and wholesomely delightful Ted Lasso is — it's arguably the best thing the streamer has put forth since Apple TV+ launched in November 2019, and Apple seems to think so too, having already renewed Ted Lasso for a third season before production has even started on Season 2. The series stars Sudeikis as the titular Ted, a minor league American football coach hired by Rebecca (played by Game of Thrones shame nun Hannah Waddingham) the new owner of the Richmond football club, a Premier League team in London. Waddingham brings comedic nuance to the woman-scorned characterization, as newly-divorced Rebecca hopes that the oblivious Ted and his oddball American approach will inadvertently sabotage the team and make her cheating ex-husband (played by Anthony Head) miserable, as there's nothing he loves more than the scrappy club. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ted-lasso-season-1-photos&captions=true"] What happens next is a transformation of team and clubhouse, as Ted's infectious optimism and can-do attitude slowly begin to win over a community whose motto is “the hope is what kills you.” There are twists and turns along the way in the Bill Lawrence-produced series, but Ted's unfaltering belief is never overtaken by cynicism or nihilism, and it makes for interesting narrative choices as the show bounces energetically through its 10-episode run. The stellar ensemble of characters surrounding Ted is also a major part of the show's appeal. Actors like Nick Mohammed (who plays locker room manager Nathan), Phil Dunster (superstar player Jamie Tartt), and Juno Temple (Jamie’s girlfriend, Keeley) bounce off Sudeikis and Waddingham’s energy with captivating glee. And the addition of more stoic, silent (and at-times angry) types like Coach Beard (co-creator Brendan Hunt) and prickly team captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) allow for different layers of comedy to be played against Sudeikis’ unrelenting positivity. As the team traverses many ups and downs, everyone reacts differently - and often unexpectedly - making for an engaging, heartwarming, and relatable watch. There are very few quibbles to be had with the series as a whole. The most glaring issue is its tokenization of non-white players such as Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) and Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh). The series presents both characters as one-note laughs, and although both actors are clearly excellent and do well with the material they have been given, the material itself is often frustratingly reductive and dated. With any luck, further exploration of these players in Season 2 will lessen their at-times embarrassing characterization, because the way they are written is the only major sour note of the season. Otherwise, you’d be hard-pressed to find things to dislike about the endlessly charming series — unless you hate joy and mustaches. Bottom line: Ted Lasso is a delight and AppleTV+ may have found its breakout series. With further exploration of certain underutilized characters in Season 2, the show has all the ingredients to make it the standout hit the streamer needs. And, after the year we’ve all had, we deserve to have someone like Ted Lasso in our corner, motivating us from afar, as we root for him and the team to succeed.  

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2TDu6LU
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Pokémon Sword and Shield: The Crown Tundra DLC Review

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

Like the harsh and snowy climate it's set in, the final DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield’s season pass is an add-on designed with the most hardcore Pokémon players in mind. The Crown Tundra puts open-world exploration and legendary Pokémon front and center, taking full advantage of the base game's best innovation: wild areas. But while it succeeds in being another entertaining addition to Sword and Shield like The Isle of Armor before it, its weak story is similarly short-lived – and its exciting legendary hunts end with classic, grindy encounters that will have you praying to lady luck.

The second part of the Pokémon Sword and Shield expansion pass takes you to the Crown Tundra, an icy mountain region filled to the brim with powerful pocket monsters and frostbitten senior citizens. Like The Isle of Armor DLC, The Crown Tundra is one giant wild area where you’re given 360 degrees of control over the camera and Pokémon roam freely. Unlike wild areas before it though, The Crown Tundra actually makes much better use of the open-world sandbox by cramming it full of legendary Pokémon to track down and secrets to discover. You might find yourself solving a series of riddles to track down some legendary giants or cooking curry to lure out a reclusive unicorn. Though there’s only a few hours of legendary-hunting to be had in total, it’s definitely some of the best content in all of Pokémon Sword and Shield.

What We Said About the Base Game

From our November 2019 Pokemon Sword and Shield review by Casey DeFreitas:

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/13/pokemon-sword-and-pokemon-shield-review"]

"Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield are closer to my dream Pokemon RPGs than anything that’s come before. I’d still like better cutscenes, companion Pokemon, the complete Pokedex, and a more visually interesting Wild Area, but nitpicks are just not very effective when everything else was such a complete joy to play. The way they respect my time is wonderful, and the removal of monotony from random encounters and other odds and ends distills it down to only the pure and charming fun of capturing, training, and battling wonderful creatures. And hey, if I’m missing any tedious repetition, I can always get back into breeding."

Score: 9.3

The main story of The Crown Tundra focuses on Calyrex, a psychic/grass-type Pokémon with the awesome and disturbing power to possess humans and use them as meat puppets… and also the power of growing crops. After losing both of those powers and roaming the world as a forgotten deity for generations, you’re entrusted with reuniting Calyrex with its lost steed and restoring it to its former glory. Though the story lacks any real drama or surprises, it does manage to make Calyrex an interesting character who I genuinely cared about, even if the little guy is kinda creepy sometimes.

As you hunt for legendaries and lend Calyrex a helping hand, you’ll also spend a lot of time with Peony, a wacky, adventure-crazed former gym leader who serves as your partner throughout the journey. Peony is an entertaining tour guide and bursting with personality, but the storyline and relationship between him and his daughter, Peonia, feels underused and somewhat out of place in this legendary quest. I was expecting the relationship between father and daughter to ultimately serve as a metaphor that the real legendary Pokémon we should strive to capture is family or something, but instead they just made some jokes about how dads are annoying, which is cool too, I guess.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=A%20looser%20structure%20grants%20a%20greater%20sense%20of%20exploration%20than%20you'd%20expect%20from%20Pok%C3%A9mon."]

Rather than railroading you straight to the linear main quest with Calyrex though, The Crown Tundra offers a more open format with dozens of legendaries to chase in whatever order you choose. Apart from the primary questline, there are a few fun guided legendary expeditions that will account for most of your time in this DLC, like hunting a trio of legendary birds or following footprints to track down some familiar stag-like creatures. There are also secrets and hidden legendaries beyond the basic shopping list for truly dedicated and sharp Pokémon masters to seek out, some of which were actually pretty fun and tricky to puzzle out. This looser formula pairs perfectly with the open-world wild area concept, granting a greater sense of exploration than one might expect from Pokémon.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-pokemon-review-ever&captions=true"]

Unfortunately, the traditional structure of catching legendary Pokémon doesn't do this exciting newer method of finding them justice. Since The Crown Tundra mostly focuses on legendaries, you’ll spend a lot of your time throwing Poké Balls at opponents with extremely low capture rates in classic Pokémon fashion, and watching them break out again and again is a sour way to conclude an otherwise entertaining hunt. There’s little you can do to improve your odds aside from the usual methods of lowering a Pokémon’s health, dishing out a status effect, and then hucking different types of balls over and over until you get lucky. In one instance, this led me to throwing all manner of Poké Balls, including plenty of Dusk Balls and Timer Balls, for almost an hour before successfully capturing my target. It's not a new feeling for any experienced Pokémon player, but the novelty runs out pretty quickly when legendaries are such a large part of this DLC.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Dynamax%20Adventures%20offer%20an%20awesome%20new%20game%20mode%20seemingly%20inspired%20by%20roguelikes."]

Thankfully there are more than just legendaries in The Crown Tundra, and with this new area comes more than 70 returning regular Pokémon, including welcome additions like Aerodactyl, Jynx, and Dragonite. As with The Isle of Armor, this expansion does not fully solve the problem of an incomplete Pokédex, with over 200 past Pokémon still missing in action, but it does add enough to make capturing all the new and returning ones quite alluring, especially for completionists like me.

One of the main draws of The Crown Tundra is “Dynamax Adventures,” an awesome new game mode that seems to take inspiration from roguelike games. This mode acts like a boss rush for the base game's Max Raid Battles: you’re randomly assigned a Pokémon to use alongside three online teammates (or AI when playing solo) and have to fight through a series of Dynamax battles with opportunities to swap and upgrade your Pokémon as you progress. At the end of each adventure waits a legendary Pokémon which can be captured if you manage to defeat it.

The Isle of Armor and Expansion Pass

The Crown Tundra and The Isle of Armor can only be purchased together as part of Pokemon Sword and Shield's Expansion Pass. Here's what I said in my June 2020 review of The Isle of Armor:

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/23/pokmon-sword-and-shield-the-isle-of-armor-dlc-review"]

"The Isle of Armor is a solid first attempt at DLC in a Pokémon game, even if it’s too short-lived to offer anything that feels like a truly substantial addition beyond the location itself. While the new Wild Area is beautifully crafted and the exciting selection of returning Pokemon are fun to catch, the shallow campaign feels like a waste of their full potential."

Score: 7

[poilib element="poll" parameters="id=c767a1a5-ccf8-4489-b95e-af28381c408e"]

The great thing about Dynamax Adventures is that they actually present a real challenge since you aren’t able to rely on your own powerful Pokémon to carry you through to victory. And since your entire team is only allowed four faints for the entire run, you’ll have to play smart to overcome your opponents and have a shot at the legendary that lies in wait at the end. With so many legendaries available through this mode, there’s plenty of reasons to return and fill out your roster.

A less interesting addition is the Galarian Star Tournament, a mode that pits you and a recognizable NPC teammate from Sword and Shield's story against opposing duos in a series of competitive bouts. While it’s fun to revisit and even fight alongside some of the charming characters from the campaign, there aren’t a ton of incentives to do so  – especially when hours of grinding it largely just results in two very disappointing unlockable characters.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2TxREC2
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Netflix's His House Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out His House debuts exclusively on Netflix on October 30, 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] The haunted house meets the modern refugee crisis in His House, the feature debut from Remi Weekes, which premiered at Sundance and hits Netflix on October 30th. It’s an interesting twist on well-worn hallmarks of western horror, stretching its limbs with familiar startles and fake-out scares before exploring the deep psychological cracks at the heart of its story. The result is a film that lives in a rote and familiar body, but one that’s underscored by deep, unspoken traumas, and ghosts the camera rarely shies away from. It’s enjoyable as a Halloween horror flick, but it’s also incredibly powerful as a drama about loss and lingering phantoms in an unfamiliar land. The film follows Sudanese refugee couple Bol and Rial Majur (Sope Dirisu of Gangs of London, Wunmi Mosaku of Lovecraft Country) who, after the devastating loss of their daughter Nyagak at sea, are subject to the brutal red-tape of Britain’s asylum processing. Upon finally being let out after months of detention, the Majurs are placed under the supervision of a curmudgeonly social worker, Mark (Matt Smith), and under the strict limitations of the state: a paltry weekly allowance, but no permit to work. They’re also placed in a rundown, unkempt apartment in a rough, unfriendly neighborhood, rife with rats, roaches, and peeling walls — but those are the least of their worries. Before long, they begin to hear footsteps around the house and whispers in the walls. It sounds like something you’ve seen a million times, but its cultural point of view is tilt-shifted enough to make it engrossing. While haunted house stories generally evoke the evil of a place, His House evokes the evil of a tormented experience, wherein Bol and Rial were forced from their homes by the Sudanese Civil War and had to traverse a violent ocean, only to end up in a country that accepts them with great reluctance. The British citizens they encounter look upon them with suspicion; the infested holes in their walls reflect the rot lurking beneath the veneer of British politeness. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/02/new-to-netflix-for-october-2020"] And the ghosts, which begin to call to them from the shadows, seem to be spirits and dark memories they’ve brought along with them. Manifestations, perhaps, of an “apeth” — a malignant witch Rial learned of from her grandmother’s stories. However, these ghostly visions, which call out to them from the darkness, aren’t the film’s main source of conflict. Untethered from their homeland, Bol and Rial are forced into an unfamiliar world with grief still wedged between them, which feels just as unnerving as their dilapidated dwelling. While Bol strives to assimilate as quickly as possible — he buries his grief beneath a stiff British upper lip, and insists on using forks and knives — Rial tries to hold on to whatever parts of herself and her daughter she possibly can. Some part of her even wants to return to her war-torn homeland. Each time Rial speaks Dinka, Bol insists on English. Where Rial fashions traditional garb out of bedsheets and whatever materials she can find, Bol models himself after catalog advertisements and the men at the local pub; he wants to be “one of the good ones,” in Mark’s eyes. He wants to be British, even if it means leaving behind his distinctly refugee pain. The couple lives under the same roof, but they’re as far removed from each other’s coping mechanisms as can be. The film, by weaving together the ideas of pain and respectability politics, makes the very idea of existing in a new country feel terrifying. Bol adjusts better to the outside world, but to Rial, it’s practically a maze, in which people refuse to recognize her pain. This dynamic, however, is flipped when the couple is indoors; Rial, having survived the worst horrors humanity has to offer, isn’t fazed by her ghostly memories. However, the walls seem to drive Bol mad, to the point that he begins hammering his way to their foundations. He’s laid claim to this new home, and he’ll make it his no matter what, even if it kills him. [caption id="attachment_2429442" align="alignnone" width="720"] Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù in His House. (Credit: Aidan Monaghan/NETFLIX © 2020)[/caption] Where the film begins to depart from other haunted house stories is in its depiction of spiritual horrors. At first, they lurk in the shadows like your average ghosts of Hill House or Bly Manor, but they aren’t riddles to be solved or foreign specters to be outrun. It soon becomes clear to the characters that these may well be the ghosts of other refugees, including their own daughter, and they aren’t afraid to show themselves. The apeth and its tricks are the couple’s own survivor’s guilt made manifest. This house is only haunted because they, themselves, are the ones haunting it with their grief. For Bol, the only solution is to confront these spirits head-on — but, as the victims of a perilous journey, these spirits aren’t tethered to one place, and so Bol is dragged into nightmarish dreamscapes out at sea. (Rial, similarly, finds herself walking through surreal flashbacks and familiar visions, though their disconnect from her reality hints at a strange, inexplicable denial yet to be revealed). As Bol’s body and mind begin to unravel, Weekes and cinematographer Jo Willems film him with a lurking dread. The camera creeps towards Bol with caution, as if he might be pushed to violence at any moment. During night scenes, especially those lit by candlelight, practically every frame is consumed by shadow and negative space, as if Bol and Rial’s demons are waiting to cry out from every corner. Granted, when the apeth inevitably takes physical form, the result is oddly deflating (for a film so otherwise adept), but the story’s strengths lie not in its genre tropes but in its extrapolation of human horrors and their lingering psychological toll. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-horror-movies-on-netflix&captions=true"] The film is at its best when its subtle design captures the horrors of memory. Roque Baños’ original score evokes the sounds of Gustavo Santaolalla, whose Charango guitar brought life to Babel and Brokeback Mountain — only Baños complements his heavy strings with jarring echoes that feel ready to consume the melody. Empty strollers abound in the margins of several scenes, like haunting reminders of loss, and the film’s incredible sound mix blurs the lines between scream and whisper; memories of death are both far off in the distance, and yet close enough to touch. And water, whether household leaks or unforgiving rain, is a constant reminder of drowning. The film plays, at times, like a horror version of Atlantique, Mati Diop’s ghostly love story about Senegalese refugees, in which water is an overwhelming force, both stealing and returning lovers in the dead of night. Only here, those returning to Bol and Rial in the darkness are reminders of something more sinister than romance; they’re embodiments of the atrocities which the couple has not only had to endure but commit in order to survive. Dirisu and Mosaku navigate the film’s chilling tapestry with aplomb, bringing warring energies to Bol and Rial’s dynamic — a chemistry that makes the characters’ disconnect all the more disheartening. The more Bol begins to crack, the more desperately he tries to keep himself together, putting on a jovial front that barely holds. Meanwhile, the headstrong Rial attempts to stay centered, though she’s constantly knocked off balance, ever so slightly. Where Dirisu oscillates with reckless abandon, Mosaku fights against her own instincts, and the result is two wildly different performances that not only complement each other but constantly pull each other into their orbits. The couple may no longer communicate well through words, but their body language and their disconnect from one another feels like an argument of its own. The only way to overcome it is to confront each other, and the horrors of their past. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-best-reviewed-movies-of-2020&captions=true"]

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

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope Review

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

Horror can be hard to get right in an interactive story. When you have the freedom to make your own decisions it can inadvertently interrupt the building moods and provocative themes the genre is built on, but developer Supermassive has proven before that it can still tell a (mostly) cohesive story no matter what players decide to do. It’s such a shame then that Little Hope, the latest in its Dark Pictures Anthology, feels like a step backward compared to the studio’s previous games. It’s an odd, anemic thriller that I struggled to get invested in, and its choice and consequence system feels strangely superficial.

Little Hope’s story about a group of college students stranded in the abandoned, eponymous New England town after a bus accident lacks the overt love of the horror genre woven through the DNA of Supermassive’s 2015 gem Until Dawn. Nor does it have the sense of glee that came from slicing and dicing the characters in 2019’s first Dark Pictures game, Man of Medan. In fact, when you’re not actively running from monsters, it’s...kinda dull. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-most-terrifying-scares-in-video-games&captions=true"] You spend most of your time in Little Hope wandering around town trying to figure out what to do. Ultimately, your goal is to find the missing bus driver, but that’s broken into smaller, more mundane tasks, like ‘find a phone,’ or ‘find something to break this window.’  This would be fine if there was a ratcheting sense of needing to survive, but there’s not much tension to speak of within its first two hours. Little Hope’s characters spend the majority of this time freaking out or bickering at one another, with rarely any levity to balance out its ubiquitous sense of dismalness – barring the occasional supernatural time jump to the past where an ongoing storyline about the 1692 witch trials briefly distracts them from their misery. It doesn’t help that they’re not a very interesting bunch - which is weird considering they’re meant to be part of a creative writing class! – even when you try and choose dialogue or relationship options that might introduce more depth. They have little to no backstory; John, the 40-something class teacher, is a recovering alcoholic, apparently, but there’s no meaningful exploration of that beyond the ability to test his will with a glass of whiskey. At one point you’re told that 20-year-old Andrew has known 50-something-year old Angela for years, yet they had no notable dynamic to justify the line in either of my two differing playthroughs. There simply doesn’t seem to be much to any of Little Hope’s characters, so I quickly stopped caring who I was in control of. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=25-scariest-games-of-this-generation&captions=true"] Some life could have been injected through incidental dialogue while you explore, but what’s here is wooden, and the actors delivering it feel divorced from the material and each other. As characters wander through Silent Hill-inspired fog, they utter dead-eyed quips like: “I have a bad feeling about this” and “I don’t like the sound of that.” At one point, as he entered a museum, John revealingly proclaimed “this place is a museum of some kind.” It’s rough. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Incidental%20dialogue%20is%20wooden%2C%20and%20the%20actors%20delivering%20it%20feel%20divorced%20from%20the%20material%20and%20each%20other."] You can affect the relationships between characters with your decisions, but rarely does it result in any particularly noteworthy action. No matter how much of an asshole to one particular character I was, for example, he tended to react the same way in both playthroughs. There could very well be more subtle differences at play here, but there were few moments where it felt like my choices actually had a tangible impact. The town of Little Hope itself is much more interesting and gorgeous to wander around in. Interiors are lovingly crafted and feel genuinely lived in, and I found joy in exploring the corners of old houses and abandoned trappings of what was once a struggling tourist region. With this in mind, I wish its secrets, scattered throughout Little Hope to offer up ‘premonitions’ of what might happen were you to make a certain fateful decision, were more thoughtfully hidden and designed. There’s little excitement in finding a ‘secret’ that’s right in front of you on the main path. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-resident-evil-game-review-ever&captions=true"]

As you explore, you’re pursued by a plethora of nasties who appear in scripted sequences designed for jump scares, and they’re mostly effective. Like in all of Supermassive’s previous work, a series of quick-time events is all that lies between you and certain death, though Little Hope has dialed the previously punishing timing those games required just a little too far toward ‘easy.’ You get a very generous amount of time to get your bearings and hit the right button.   This is not to say that being chased and prompted to hit a very specific button on the controller to escape doesn’t incite panic - and a lot of these sequences had me extremely stressed - but it’s now much harder to fail. On my first playthrough, all of my characters survived even though I wasn’t trying very hard to keep them alive. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=On%20my%20first%20playthrough%2C%20all%20of%20my%20characters%20survived%20even%20though%20I%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20trying%20very%20hard%20to%20keep%20them%20alive."]

This would be understandable if I felt like my decision-making had real, impactful results elsewhere, but I didn’t. Unlike Man of Medan or Until Dawn, I didn’t experience any really significant divergence in the storyline throughout my two playthroughs, each taking roughly four hours to complete, despite playing them quite differently. There were small anomalies, certainly, like when I decided to pick up a gun in my second playthrough, or I handed a knife to another character in my first. But nothing big or dramatic enough to encourage me to play it through a third time in an attempt to unfurl more of its secrets.

Like its predecessor, Little Hope is still best played with a friend in co-op. You can either play online in Shared Story mode, where you’re each controlling characters experiencing the same story from different perspectives, or Movie Night mode, where you can pass the controller back and forth locally. Sharing the experience is always more delightful than playing alone, as you and your co-op companion may choose to play through Little Hope very differently and that conflict can result in some more natural feeling twists (though it can’t make the writing any better no matter how you and your partner get along).

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3mDdeS9
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio Graphics Card Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out With Nvidia's own RTX 3070 Founders Edition out the door, it’s time to take a look at the other unique spins making their way to the market, beginning with the RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio from MSI. This graphics card features a triple-fan design, bright and blingy RGB, and a factory overclock right out of the box. Coming to market at $569, is it the 3070 for you? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=msi-rtx-3070-gaming-x-trio-review&captions=true"]

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – Design and Features

Compared to the Founders Edition, the Gaming X Trio feels downright massive. It’s almost identical to MSI’s RTX 3080 Gaming X Trio in size. In fact, taking in its overall design, it’s nearly identical in almost every way. It features the same improved thermal solution (over last generation), the same angular shroud, RGB placement, and backplate design. I happen to like the aggressive, sharp look, but it’s far from understated. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=c652be39-43fd-4e0d-84af-d9785461acd4"] The RGB lighting alone is likely to be polarizing. A long diffusion strip runs along the upper edge of the backplate and the LEDs shine bright. You can customize it to match the look of your rig, choose from a handful of preset effects, or disable it entirely if RGB isn’t your thing. As you can tell from the picture above, there’s a bit of hot-spotting due to the brightness of the LEDs. It looks decent, but not great, and if you’re not already sold on RGB, this won’t be the card that convinces you. There’s also a trio of strips slashing the middle fan for a bit of extra flair if you opt for a vertical GPU mount. Like the RTX 3080 and 3090 versions of this card, it also sports MSI’s new Tri Frozr 2 cooling system. This is a three-part system that combines its new Torx 4.0 fans, high contact heat pipes, a graphene backplate, and Wave-curved 2.0 fin edges along its massive heatsink to disrupt airflow, enhance cooling, and reduce noise. MSI also includes an anti-sag bracket to support the weight of this heavy cooler. In practice, it works wonderfully on the RTX 3070, dropping temperatures a full 10C cooler than the Founders Edition for a peak of only 67C. The fans never ramped above 49% either, which allowed the card to be quiet and blend in with the rest of my system. Under the hood, the RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio is packing the same improved Ampere architecture as the original Nvidia RTX 3070 Founders Edition, but features a factory overclocked Boost Clock of 1830 MHz. Thanks to Nvidia’s auto-overclocking GPU Boost technology, however, it performed well beyond this, typically hovering just shy of 2GHz while gaming. This technology is based on thermal and power limitations, so the larger heatsink and dual 8-pin power headers offer it an advantage out of the gate compared to the FE which uses a smaller heatsink and an adapted single 8-pin connector. Like all RTX 3070s, it features 5888 CUDA cores and 8GB of GDDR6 memory. This VRAM pool runs at 7000MHz on a 256-bit bus, providing a total memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s. While this is enough for most games at 4K today, how long that will remain the case is an open question. If you’re gaming at 1440p, however, 8GB of GDDR6 should be sufficient well into the future.

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – Performance

Test system: Z390 Asus ROG Maximus XI Extreme Motherboard, Intel Core i9-9900K CPU (stock), Corsair H115i PRO RGB 280mm AIO CPU Cooler, 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200, 1TB Samsung EVO Plus NVMe SSD, Corsair HX1200 1200-watt power supply. Like all of our graphics card reviews, the MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio was put through a battery of synthetic tests and real world gaming benchmarks. I tested games at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K at Ultra settings, with RTX on and DLSS enabled at the “Quality” preset wherever possible. It’s important to note that several of the cards I had available for testing were from third parties with varying factory overclocks. As generations progress, the amount of gamers with third-party cards over Founders Editions becomes more prevalent, but bear in mind that these cards will run several percent faster than their reference counterparts. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=msi-rtx-3070-gaming-x-trio-synthetic-benchmarks&captions=true"]

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – Synthetic Benchmarks

In synthetic tests, the Gaming X Trio performed admirably, beating the Founders Edition in all but the Boundary benchmark where there was less than a 1 FPS difference. What’s even more noteworthy is that it outperformed the RTX 2080 Ti (a factory overclocked variant, no less) in three out of four tests. The one test where it didn’t, the results were extremely close. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=msi-rtx-3070-gaming-x-trio-gaming-benchmarks&captions=true"]

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – Gaming Benchmarks

Looking at the relative performance in games, the MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio performs very, very close to the Nvidia RTX 3070 Founders Edition. This isn’t surprising, as GPU Boost effectively clocked both cards to within 100 MHz of each other, narrowing the performance gap significantly. Broadly speaking, both cards remained within 2-3 frames of each other. Let’s take a look at 4K performance. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=msi-rtx-3070-gaming-x-trio-4k-performance&captions=true"] With the power on tap with this GPU, examining 4K performance makes sense. At their highest settings, with RTX and DLSS enabled (where possible), we see a mix of 60+ FPS results and those that could easily be pushed there with some simple graphics adjustments. For a $569 card, these are solid results and provide a strong entry-point to 4K gaming that won’t break the bank. At the same time, the difference between the Gaming X Trio and Founders Editions is absolutely marginal. The deciding factors, then, come down to thermal performance, acoustics, and style. While style is entirely subjective, the improved thermal performance of the card is inarguably a major selling point that can also provide extra headroom for custom overclocks.

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio – Purchasing Guide

The MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio retails for $569 and it's available at Newegg.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/35Fnfaw
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Star Trek: Discovery Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Full spoilers follow for this episode. [poilib element="accentDivider"] After a brief misstep last week, Star Trek: Discovery finds its groove again with “People of Earth,” which properly reunites Sonequa Martin-Green’s Burnham with her long-lost (from her perspective anyway) crewmates on the Disco. Along the way, the episode also manages to feel particularly Star Trekkie, like its story of the week could’ve been plucked right out of The Original Series or The Next Generation. A brief log entry from Burnham catches us up on the year that she has spent in the “future” of the 32nd century. Not knowing when, or if, the Discovery would ever show up, she had no choice but to adapt to the time and place where she found herself, becoming a partner to Book (David Ajala) and working as a courier while scrounging up dilithium scraps and attempting to determine what caused the galaxy-shaking The Burn, the devastating event which essentially led to the end of the Federation as we know it. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-trek-discovery-season-3-photos&captions=true"] What a lovely scene it is when Burnham is reunited with her friends in the transporter room, with director Jonathan Frakes pouring on the warmth as his camera gets lost amid the characters while they take turns hugging the emotional Michael. Even Michelle Yeoh’s Georgiou, who was particularly grating last week, gets a nice beat here, with her simply staring at Burnham from across the room saying tons. Another long-wondered about moment comes shortly thereafter, as Saru (Doug Jones) officially becomes captain of the Discovery. No more “acting” in that rank! Of course, Disco has been fluid with its captains, first giving us Lorca (who, at this point, we’ll almost certainly never see gain, non-Mirror version or not) and then Pike. And the question of whether Saru or Burnham would take over in this new time period has had fans guessing since the end of Season 2, but here Burnham, changed by her experiences of the past year, just hands it to Saru, saying, “I don’t know if it’s ever been me.” Huh. Not very Burnham like, actually. One might say Tilly’s wall of badges commemorating those who’ve been lost is a little too reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica’s memorial hallway, though then again isn’t it just a natural display of grief? And it also, thanks to Mary Wiseman’s performance, drives home the gulf of time that has separated the crew from their lives back home. Sadly, she also senses a gulf between the Burnham she knew yesterday and the one standing before her today. And that continues to be a thread throughout this episode, as Burnham confronts the reality of being part of Starfleet again -- albeit a Starfleet of basically one ship -- after living the life she’s led for the past year. It’s not the most convincing aspect of “People of Earth,” however, as a year doesn’t seem like that long a time. Then again, we don’t really know what she’s been through since we last saw her, though Georgiou sees that Michael has changed and is seemingly egging her on to follow her newfound feelings of independence. (Notably, Michael doesn’t put on a Starfleet uniform until she’s forced to as a form of disguise.) [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/31VgrEx] But there are more pressing matters to deal with. The Discovery still has its spore drive, which means Michael can finally return to Earth. And what do you know? When they get there, the crew learns that Earth is no longer part of the Federation. And indeed, nobody seems to even know where (what’s left of) the Federation and Starfleet are these days. The Earth government is seemingly more concerned with fighting off dilithium “raiders” than anything else, reminding us how small and petty the galaxy has become. It’s another case this season of Burnham and Saru and the rest being shocked -- shocked! -- by how things have turned out, but everything winds up coming together rather nicely in a very classic Star Trek way as our heroes realize that the pirates they’ve been fighting off are actually human as well, the desperate remnants of a long-forgotten Earth colony on Saturn’s moon Titan. Of course, this kind of situation is a Starfleet specialty, and Burnham and Saru are forging a new peace between the two as quickly as you can say Organia. Who says the Federation isn’t around anymore? And then there’s Blu del Barrio, who makes their debut as Adira here. A seeming engineering prodigy and busybody, Adira turns out to actually be a teenage human who somehow is carrying a Trill symbiont within them. (Deep Space Nine fans know what this is all about.) The character appears to be the next clue to the Disco crew’s tracking down Starfleet, and del Barrio is well-served here, bouncing off of Anthony Rapp’s Stamets in what will hopefully become a recurring friendship (and maybe even mentorship?). The episode culminates with a great bit as Tilly and the bridge crew return to the former site of Starfleet headquarters to find the same tree they once used to study under, only some 900 years older (and, no doubt, bigger). The more things change… [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://ift.tt/31nkuZn] Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• “Time travel, man.”
• So dilithium didn’t just go kablooey in The Burn, but it had also become scarce in the years prior to that disaster.
• Also, alternatives to warp drive didn’t prove viable, which seems surprising considering we know of other types of interstellar travel in the Star Trek universe. (Uh, spore drive anyone?)
• Only millions died in The Burn? That actually seems like a relatively small number, all things considered.
• Those repair robots fixing the ship, and which are also part of the opening credits this season, have been seen before. Called the DOT-7s, we saw them repairing the Enterprise in last year’s finale, “Such Sweet Sorrow: Part 2,” as well as in, of course, the animated Short Trek “Ephraim and Dot.”
• Love that black alert sound!
• David Ajala’s Book is back this week, and has some fun business as a sort of sidekick to Michael, but the two do part ways by episode’s end. One wonders what circumstances will lead to his return…

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2TzXxi3
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Double Your Phone's Battery Life With One of the Best Battery Cases

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Having a portable power bank may be an effective way to ensure you've always got enough juice available for your smartphone and other devices, but it can be a bit clunky to carry around a second gadget if all you need is a few extra hours of battery life. A battery case for your smartphone is a slightly more elegant solution that's tailored to your phone and skips the cable management that comes with power banks. A quality battery case should do a few things. For one, it should provide plenty of extra juice for your phone. Fortunately, many have a few thousand milliamp-hours worth of energy. Since they're also cases, they should protect your phone as well. And, if you want something really phone-friendly, they shouldn't interfere with your phone's features, like NFC, nor add too much bulk. We've rounded up a variety of battery cases for the top phones on the market. Whether you've got the latest from Apple, Samsung, or Google, you should find something useful here. And, if you see a case you like but have a different smartphone model, you may be able to find multiple versions of the same case that'll work with various phones.

TL;DR – These are the Best Smartphone Battery Cases:

• Newdery Battery Case
• Alpatronix Battery Case
• Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case
• Anerai Battery Case for Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus
• Newdery LG G8 ThinQ Battery Case

1. Newdery Battery Case

Best iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FNewderryBattery-Case1603913626615.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FNewderryBattery-Case1603913626615_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c7a2e4b043c3d6cf02e1%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F5yEr5%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Newdery%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Atrue%7D"]

Capacity: 4,800mAh ● Size: 6" x 3" x 0.65" ● Weight: 119g

Apple might be offering more battery life in the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro than it had in its phones from the past, but that doesn't mean you won't want a way to give your device some extra mileage away from power outlets. The Newdery Battery Case will do just that with a built-in 4,800mAh battery pack, and since the two phones have the same dimensions, you can use it with either one. The Newdery Battery Case slips over your iPhone like any other case, giving it a bit of extra protection, and it doesn't interfere with features like Apple Pay or wired headphones. When you need to top it back up, you can even throw it onto the same wireless charger you'd use with your phone.

2. Alpatronix Battery Case

Best iPhone 12 Pro Max Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAlpatronixBattery-Case1603913676298.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAlpatronixBattery-Case1603913676298_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c7d3e4b01ef5eb1cf65b%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F6qLm3%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Alpatronix%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 6,000mAh ● Size: 6.7" x 1.6" x 3.1" ● Weight: 68g

If you've picked up the iPhone 12 Pro Max, it's likely because you like things big. But, if the battery inside isn't proving large enough to keep up with your screen-time or extensive use of its cameras, then Alpatronix has the answer. The Alpatronix Battery Case matches your iPhone 12 Pro Max's size with some size of its own in the form of a 6,000mAh battery. That'll help ensure you can give your phone a ton of extra battery life. And, since this case wraps around the back and sides of your phone and includes a screen protector, it can help give your phone a longer life in general.

3. Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case

Best iPhone SE 2 Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FCaselyPower-201603913751581.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FCaselyPower-201603913751581_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c81ee4b043c3d6cf02e3%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2F4vNW4%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Casely%20Power%202.0%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

• See it on Casely

Capacity: 3,200mAh

The iPhone SE (2020) is a great, little phone, especially when considering it offers so much performance and the latest version of iOS for such a low price. But, one thing it doesn't have a whole lot of is battery. With just 1,821mAh of battery capacity, it can struggle to last through a whole day if you're spending much time on it. Casely has the answer with the Casely Power 2.0 Charging Case. This case can deliver a full charge to the iPhone SE, letting you go for twice as long away from power outlets. And, when you do need to top back up, you won't need to remove the case.  You can plug the case in with a Lightning cable or set it on a wireless charger. That means no fuss getting the case on and off, and less risk to your phone when it's outside of the case.

4. Anerai Battery Case for Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus

Best Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAneraiBattery-Case1603913702434.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F10%2F28%2FAneraiBattery-Case1603913702434_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225f99c7eee4b043c3d6cf02e2%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2FN1VBy%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Anerai%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 7,000mAh ● Size: 7.9" x 3.9" x 1" ● Weight: 164g

You don't have to worry about running out of juice on your new Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus with the Anerai Battery Case. Thanks to its 7,000mAh capacity, this case it ready to more than double the battery life of the Galaxy S20 Plus. It attaches to your phone simply, as you can just slide your phone down into it. On top of charging your phone directly in the case, the USB port can be used to charge another mobile device over a USB cable. So, with this case, you won't have to worry about running on a 5G network draining your battery too quickly.

5. Newdery LG G8 ThinQ Battery Case

Best LG G8 Battery Case

[poilib element="commerceCta" json="%7B%22image%22%3A%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F03%2F20%2FNewderyLG-G8-ThinQ-Battery-Case1584733032036.jpg%22%2C%22styleUrl%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fassets1.ignimgs.com%2F2020%2F03%2F20%2FNewderyLG-G8-ThinQ-Battery-Case1584733032036_%7Bsize%7D.jpg%22%2C%22id%22%3A%225e751b6ce4b08e237d61fcf7%22%7D%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fzdcs.link%2FR5L8X%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Newdery%20LG%20G8%20ThinQ%20Battery%20Case%22%2C%22store%22%3A%22Amazon%22%2C%22additionalInfo%22%3A%22%22%2C%22ourPick%22%3Afalse%7D"]

Capacity: 4,700mAh ● Charging Time: 2 hours ● Size: 6.19" x 3.04" x 0.77" ● Weight: 123g

The LG G8 ThinQ has plenty of battery to power it, but if you're into some serious gaming or want to be sure you can enjoy videos with the brightness and HDR enhancements peaked, you might need some extra power. The Newdery Battery Case is designed to more than double the power for the LG G8 ThinQ, and can even fully charge the phone in about two hours. It fits around the outside of your LG G8, and you don't need to remove it when you're plugging back into a wall outlet. The case can protect you from a dead battery, but also protects the phone's back and sides from falls.

What to Look for in a Battery Case

You might think picking the right battery case for your phone is just a matter of picking the one with the biggest capacity, but that's a surefire way of buying something too big to fit in your pocket and end up leaving at home all the time. Choosing the right charging case comes down to hitting the right balance between battery capacity, size, and price. If you're looking for just a battery case to throw in your bag when you need it, you might as well get a portable charger. There's no point in buying something molded to fit your phone if you're never going to slip it inside of the charging case, which just leaves space that otherwise could have been used to fit more energy cells. With that in mind find a battery case that'll actually fit into your pocket without adding too much weight. Another problem with choosing the highest capacity battery is that it's often its only feature. All of the highest capacity battery cases we've seen sacrifice quick charging and Qi charging capabilities for storing more energy. That latter feature is important if you like to keep the charging chase on your phone at all times and handy for wirelessly charging both your phone and battery case at the same time. [widget path="ign/modules/recirc" parameters="title=More%20Expert%20Tech%20Roundups&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=tech-roundup&count=4&columnCount=4&theme=article"] Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark

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

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 Gaming Headset Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out Turtle Beach has outdone itself. The Stealth 700 Gen 2 for the Xbox Series X and Series S, a brand-new revision of its high-end wireless gaming headset, marks a huge upgrade over the original model. It improves upon some of the original’s least successful specs, like battery life, while refining its physical design that looks and feels like a premium headset. Like its less expensive cousin, the Stealth 600 Gen 2, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 is not the pinnacle of high fidelity audio, but it is Turtle Beach’s best headset to date by a long shot. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=turtle-beach-stealth-700-gen-2-review&captions=true"]

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 – Design & Features

To me, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 doesn’t look like a Turtle Beach headset. It’s top band is plain, without any superfluous molding. There’s no Stealth logo, like on the original Stealth 700, and the Xbox green accents on the earcups have been replaced with silver metal. It’s a more subtle design – one that better matches the new design languages of both current and next-gen Xboxes, and with most people’s homes. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=1ad86f5a-1cf7-4032-a459-a75e859147b6"] Even with all its changes, though, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 is still a more feature-rich version of the Stealth 600 Gen 2, and the last generation of Turtle Beach’s Stealth headsets. Though the plastic band is slightly larger and features a steel frame, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 features the same rotating hinges as the Stealth 600 Gen 2, and the same shaped earcups designed to hug your ears. The top band is made of plastic with a steel frame, which becomes visible when you adjust the cans. Like the Stealth 600 Gen 2, the band lines up with the front of the cans, rather than the center, which can make it feel like you’re putting the gaming headset on backward when you wear them the first time. You may also notice the issue when rotating the Stealth 700 Gen 2’s earcups on their hinges, which allow the cups to lie flat on your chest or on a table. One of the big advantages of the Stealth 700 Gen 2 – over both its predecessor and the Stealth 600 Gen 2 – is comfort. The entire headset is slightly larger than its budget-friendly counterpart, but there’s an outsized difference in the earcups, where it counts. The cups feel like they conform to the shape of your ears, but also feel quite roomy. The cups also feature a thick layer of cooling memory foam padding, coated with leatherette on the sides and a smooth mesh over the front. Normally, mesh covering on earcups is a red flag for me – it’s often scratchy and heats up quickly: The Stealth 700 Gen 2 only started to feel hot after long gameplay sessions, which I found impressive. And thanks to a much longer-lasting battery, you can wear the Stealth 700 Gen 2 through lots of long gameplay sessions. According to Turtle Beach, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 should last through 20 hours on a single charge, up from just 10 hours per charge on the original. Anecdotally, I found the headset lasted through about three days of regular use on average, even when regularly pairing and unpairing with my smartphone. A 20-hour charge is on the high side of average for a gaming headset, but that should be more than enough for most players, so long as you keep a charging solution handy to top it off between sessions. There are a lot of controls stacked along the back edge of the Stealth 700’s left earcup. From top to bottom, you have: Two volume wheels, one for speaker volume and one for chat. A “mode” button to toggle Superhuman hearing, Turtle Beach’s performance audio mode, a power button, Bluetooth and Xbox protocol pairing buttons, and a USB-C port for charging. You can change the secondary volume wheel and the mode button inputs to adjust other functions using the Turtle Beach Audio Hub app, which is a nice added bit of customization for a console headset. One of the biggest differences between the Stealth 600 Gen 2 and Stealth 700 Gen 2 is having access to both the Xbox pairing protocol and Bluetooth. Both headsets have the Xbox pairing, which makes syncing your headset with an Xbox extremely convenient. You just press the pairing button on the console, then the button on the headset, and they pair. Bluetooth greatly expands the headset’s utility. It’s much easier to pair the headset with a PC, and you can pair it with other devices, like your phone. Better yet, you can pair it with a Bluetooth device and an Xbox simultaneously. This allows you to adjust audio levels on the fly while playing, but also lets you listen to a podcast or take a call on your phone while listening to your Xbox audio at the same time. (As someone who likes to put on a podcast while playing some games, this was a huge revelation for me). The Stealth 700 Gen 2 has a slimmer version of Turtle Beach’s usual built-in microphone. The hard plastic mic is built into the housing of the left earcup, so it sits flush when flipped up into mute position. The flip-down mic is very convenient and easy to use, but can’t really be repositioned. It has a secondary hinge letting you move slightly closer or further from your face, but it’s a far cry from the reshapable wire mics you find from many other manufacturers.

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 – Software

The Stealth 700 Gen 2 uses two pieces of software, both called Turtle Beach Audio Hub. The Audio Hub app on your gaming PC only communicates with the Stealth 700 Gen 2 as a means of upgrading its firmware. You’ll need it, but you’ll rarely use it. The Turtle Beach Audio Hub app for iOS and Android phones is a modest, but useful configuration app. It allows you to switch among four audio presets, or create a custom balance between bass and treble. It doesn’t give you full EQ level controls, so it isn’t as robust as what you’d find on a PC headset, but it’s more than you get with many console headsets. Audio Hub also allows you to customize two of the inputs on the headset, the secondary volume wheel and the Mode button. You can also toggle and adjust the level of Superman hearing, Turtle Beach’s performance-focused audio setting and system-level audio prompts. Like the levels, these aren’t groundbreaking features, but access to them is not a given on consoles. And unlike the Stealth 600 Gen 2, you can check and change them on the fly with your phone, which is much more convenient than plugging the headset into your PC whenever you want to make a change.

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 – Gaming

The Stealth 700 Gen 2 delivers strong overall audio quality. Its 50mm “nanoclear” speakers come through loud and clear and mostly sharp in all kinds of games, competitive and story-driven, including Marvel’s Avengers, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and others. Across the board, both music and game sounds came through across the spectrum – low, mid, and high tones. In Star Wars: Squadrons, you can hear and feel the low hum of the ships, and hear the little nuances of blasters and other Star Wars sounds that we’ve all come to know so well over the years. Weirdly, The Messenger – a platformer with music made to sound like something you’d hear on 8- and 16-bit-style consoles – presented some of the only noticeable audio hiccups. Some complex, high notes in the music would come through scratchy and muddled. Like the Stealth 600 Gen 2, the Stealth 700 Gen 2 supports virtual 7.1 surround sound through Windows Sonic, and offers a functional, but not particularly rousing virtual surround sound experience. In games like Apex Legends, you can hear directionality of gunfire, footsteps and other sounds, but sounds coming from your side or behind you sometimes sound disproportionately loud. On the Stealth 700 Gen 2 specifically, I noticed that Windows Sonic created compression issues, which led to little pip noises coming out of nowhere every so often. Simply put, most games sound better with it off. The same goes for Turtle Beach’s performance-minded audio mode, Superhuman Hearing. When paired with surround sound, it emphasizes gameplay-relevant tones, like footsteps, over general gameplay sound. Strangely, it also raises the volume across the board, so everything is very loud. It technically works – the “right” sounds come through more clearly than the rest – but the difference isn’t as significant as I’ve experienced in similar modes from other headsets. More importantly in my mind, the listening experience isn’t as pleasant with Superhuman Hearing on. The volume is too high, and sudden noises pop too aggressively. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=In%20Star%20Wars%3A%20Squadrons%2C%20you%20can%20feel%20the%20low%20hum%20of%20the%20ships%2C%20and%20hear%20the%20little%20nuances%20of%20blasters%20and%20other%20sounds"] As with the Stealth 600 Gen 2, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Stealth 700 Gen 2 mic. It comes through loud and clear, even without the ability to make proper adjustments. It tends to pick up outside or background noise, like a fan, air conditioner, or, in one case, a neighbor’s gardener blowing leaves. It paints in broad strokes, but it gets the job done. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-gaming-headsets&captions=true"]

Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 – Purchasing Guide

The Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 2 for Xbox is available now for $149.99 through Turtle Beach’s website, Amazon, and other digital retailers.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/2TKpBQ1
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming