Design
From the moment I placed the Razer Naga Pro in my hand, the first thing that came to mind was the fact that this mouse will get a large number of mixed opinions. The Naga Pro will by no means be a generally-loved or generally-hated mouse. No, it will have a cult following as well as many haters. The design and grip will not be to everyone's liking. The Naga Pro is not much different from the previous generation of Nagas. It is a big mouse that sits rather wide in your palm, filling most of my hand. This might not be ideal for those who prefer the small mice that can be easily thrown and flicked around a mousepad. Each side of the Naga Pro is dressed with ample sized textured grip areas on both the inside and outside. But one of the most prominent things I found was where my pinky finger ended up. The Naga Pro has a finger rest on the outside of the mouse, allowing for your pinky, or ring if you have larger hands, to rest off the mousepad. At first glance, I thought that this could be really annoying and would hamper my way of handling the mouse, but with time spent on the Naga Pro I found the finger rest to be a feature I now search for in every mouse I review.
Taking a closer look at the mouse. Topside you will find the standard left and right buttons. A scroll wheel in the middle that has a faintly ribbed feel which does feel good under your finger. The edges of the scroll wheel do light up faintly with the RGB but nothing too drastic. Just below the scroll wheel, there is a DPI up and down. If I have to be extremely critical this could have been a single dpi button and maybe a profile button, but this is me knit-picking! Flipping the Naga Pro over will show the power toggle, which when in the middle is off, sliding it to one side will give you a 2.4GHz wireless connection, flicking to the other side is a Bluetooth connection. The profile switch is also situated close by and last but not least there are the skates. At first glance, the skates seem like normal plastic pieces. But once you start sliding the behemoth of a mouse around you can instantly feel how those skates do work! The Razer Naga Pro does not slide the way you expect. This monster is light and nimble.
The Side Panels
The side panels are where the magic happens for the Razer Naga Pro. The Naga comes with three different side panels to suit every occasion. The first and most eye-catching panel is the 12 button panel that is probably ever MMO player's dream. Next, there is the six-button panel, with a three-button horizontally in two vertical rows. This I used more when playing RPG games where you need to use your quick select slots and you can't take your hands off the keys for fear of losing your hard-earned loot, or your life. And Last but not least is the traditional two-button set up with a large textured grip area to fill the void. I was using the 12 button setup for when I dove back into World of Warcraft, for review and nostalgia purposes. My biggest concern was that I might get confused and bash the wrong button mid-fight. The buttons do protrude just enough for your mind to quite accurately distinguish between them. Moving over to the 6 button panel. The buttons on the 6 button panel do not seem like it was designed by the same people that made the 12 and 2 button panels. the buttons feel like they protrude more than they should and it does feel like, at times, I thumbed the wrong button. After spending some time with it I did however find that it is better to press it with the inside joint of your thumb rather than the usual inside of the finger. Last but not the least, the two-button panel. This is probably the most traditional setup and the buttons are big and easy to find but provide enough resistance to not have you bump them and let off an accidental grenade.
What truly makes the interchangeable side panels so great is that they are swappable on the fly. Simply pull the one you are using off, and slide the other one in place, the strong magnets will do the rest. And there you go, the RGB will take over and Razer Synapse will automatically detect the side panel and apply your settings for that panel.
Did I mention the neatly tucked away space to store the USB dongle that you can reach when popping off the side panel, clever Razer!
Features
Apart from the Razer Nagas obvious features, the side panels, it still has a couple of other tricks up its sleeve. Starting with the 2.4 GHz wireless connection. Razer claims this to be the best wireless connection ever, saying that there is less than 1ms delay in their connection. Whether this is true or not we can't prove it but what I can say is that it is really good, I mean REALLY good! Many other reviewers have noted that they do have issues with the 2.4GHz where it would drop away or fail to connect at times. For the whole time that I spent with the Razer Naga Pro, I did not have a single hiccup. It was simply splendid. One of the other advantages of 2.4GHz wireless is that it uses significantly less power than other connections. Razer claims that with your RGB turned off, you can squeeze an amazing 100 hours of battery life. I did not ever measure exact hours but even with RGB set to ambient awareness I easily kept on fighting and gliding for a couple of days. Maybe I have been spoilt with the Razer Viper Ultimate, but charging your mouse with a conventional cable doesn't quite cut it anymore. Fortunately, the universal charging dock (sold separately) can charge your Naga Pro as well.
The next feature that is easily overlooked due to the fact that nearly all of this generation of Razer mice feature it, is the optical switches. Gone are the days of using green, yellow, blue, brown, and every other color of the rainbow -switches. No, we have reached the time of the optical (queue the epic music). Not only are they even faster and more accurate than any of the mechanical switches, but they also sound and feel perfect. Even going back to my Viper Ultimate Pro felt different and strange. Optical switches are, simply put, the next big thing that could happen to mice and keyboards.
Verdict
The Razer Naga Pro might seem like it is designed and intended for a very specific audience. And you won't be wrong to think of it that way. Hell, I felt exactly the same way. But once you start using the rather large Naga Pro you will find that it is not intended for one audience only, in fact, it has every single genre of gamers in mind. From the MMO and RTS fans to the FPS players, the Razer Naga Pro is more than capable to tackle literally any game you throw at it. Simply flick the side panel off, using the Green force have the mouse attach its own new side panel and keep playing as nothing has happened. Although the Razer Naga Pro might be a big mouse, that some more hardcore FPS players might frown at, thanks to the wonderful skates it glides and slides like a mouse half its size.
If you are in the market for a mouse and you are looking for an all-in-one mouse, the Razer Naga Pro is literally the mouse you have been waiting for. Great wireless, spectacular buttons, mindblowing side panels that cater for anything and everything and comfort, that once you are used to, will redefine what comfort is to you. Simply put, I can't really think of a mouse I would rather have as my go-to mouse. As long as you can stomach the hefty price tag...
Special thanks to Apex Interactive for the review content
The DeathAdder V2 Pro drops the, often excessive, RGB to show that it means more esports-business than many of the other Razer hardware. The only source of RGB comes in the form of the standard Razer emblem found on the palm area of the mouse. The scroll wheel, which also features ribbed textures, features no RGB and is less protruding than some of the other Razer mice on the market. This creates a much sleeker look which suites the fluent lines of the DeathAdder V2 Pro.
Flipping the DeathAdder V2 Pro over will show one button that allows you to flick between profiles that can be set. A second slider allows you to choose the way you want to connect your Deathadder to your PC. The DeathAdder V2 Pro can connect to devices via Bluetooth which is great if you want to use it on devices that don't support USB dongles to be connected. Another option is the wired method. Using the supplied braided USB cable, called a Speedflex cable in the Razer house, a cable that just oozes premium. Lastly, but my preferred method of connection is using the Razer Hyperspeed which uses 2.4Ghz technology to eliminate the most input lag possible. You will also see two golden pegs, these can be used to charge the DeathAdder V2 Pro via the Razer charging dock, which is sold separately.
The DeathAdder V2 Pro comes with the new optical switches that swap out mechanical clicks for the speed-of-light opticals, in layman's terms, optical is faster and better! The optical switches are also rated for a mindblowing 70 million clicks! Most of the newer Razer mice have started using the Focus + sensor. This new sensor is able to handle DPI settings from as low as 200 all the way to 20 000. As a user, you are able to set 5 DPI steps via the Razer Synapse app. The Focus+ sensor boasts a resolution accuracy of 99.6% which is mindblowing for a sensor that is capable of being that accurate at 650 IPS (inches per second). Did I mention it will be accurate up to speeds of 50G's, your mouth is hanging open, not mine! As if that wasn't enough, Razer boasts even more features such as Smart Tracking and MotionSync to improve accuracy even more.
When reviewing new headsets or mice, there is usually an adjustment period, which, especially in FPS games, can have a devastating effect when playing seriously punishing shooters such as Escape from Tarkov. When I jumped into R6 Siege and EFT I did so with the expectation of seeing my performance drop significantly. When this did not happen I was very surprised. The DeathAdder V2 Pro has such a comfortable feel to it that it feels more natural than even your daily mouse will feel. While playing Siege I found my aim to be great and the way the DeathAdder moves across the mousepad will have you looking down to see if you actually have anything in your hand!
The comfort does not stop there. The earcups are lined with soft flexible memory foam cushioning that offers a comfortable fit and helps with sealing off the outside world as well as not causing too much heat after wearing them for extended periods of time. The new headband system that Logitech has adapted to for the G733 is simply fantastic. Many other brands have been using it for quite some time, allowing for the weight of the headset to be spread across a band over your head rather than using a single contact point as "traditional" headsets do. The headband makes the G733 feel like it's floating above your head and only attached to your head at the earcups. If for some reason, the headset doesn't fit quite right, the headband can even be adjusted to sit more snug, well done Logitech! Did I mention the headband elastic is reversible if the already funky colour doesn't quite suit your mood for the day?
Although the straight and square design is rather new to the Logitech roster (copying more of the Astro look than Logitech) it is made from all plastic rather than the more carbon and metallic bits are seen on other high-end Logitechs'. The plastic is strong and durable but it always will bring in a sense of cheapness even though, in this case, it is not the case. Being plastic also allows the G733 to be made in bright and beautiful colours such as black, white, grey, and a beautiful blue. The front rim of the earcups is embellished by an RGB strip that acts as two programmable areas for RGB.
Below the mute button, there is a volume dial, this dial can turn endlessly both ways and adjust your PC's main volume. So when turning you should get the volume level displayed by Windows. The last button on the rather barren G733 is the power button, hold to switch on, hold to switch off, a short press will have a lady tell you the battery level in your ear, nice!
The aspect that has really made me fall in love with Logitech is how amazing their Ghub software is, and the resulting performance you get from the headset. The G733, thanks to the Ghub software, can compete with headsets that are much more expensive, due to the customization levels introduced in the Ghub software.
The G733 features virtual surround sound thanks to DTS. The virtual surround sound that is featured with most Logitech headsets is some of the most accurate I have experienced in any stereo headset. Some other well-known brands seem to sound more like an echo than actually true spatial sound. After tinkering with the surround sound there is more equalizers and settings to fiddle with until you have tweaked the audio to just what you want. If you can't quite tweak it your way, why not simply download a preset that someone else has made and uploaded to the Ghub. Quick and simple, find a setup you think might work and download it and test it out. This is an approach more companies should take. I have become a snob because of this feature and setting my own equalizers have now become somewhat of a pain.
The recent addition of Blue Voice in top-end Logitech headsets is tremendous. Suddenly your Logitech headset can replace the likes of a separate stand microphone thanks to the amazing tech crammed into a small headset mic. Not only can you set your microphone equalizer to allow you to sound perfectly crisp and clear, but there are also presets such as AM Radio, broadcaster, FM radio and presets for soft, loud, high and low voice types! If anyone has ever told you that your voice would not suit radio, the Blue Voice tech can make you sound like you have the sweetest voice on earth!
The Logitech G733 is a wireless headset, and with that comes certain "problems" when it comes to the audio performance. When there is no audio playing, even at low volume, there is the normal hum. Not a big deal, but to someone who believes in wired is better, this can be very annoying. Fortunately, the G733 makes up for this slight flaw with exceptional audio quality. With the extremely powerful equalizer that can be tuned to make nearly any form of music or in-game audio sound perfect, we were hard-pressed to really find something wrong. So to be completely unbiased I decided to give the G733 to a few people to give their opinions in terms of audio. The G733 is fitted with the same 40mm drivers as the G Pro X which is still our favourite all-time headset. For this reason, the G733 sounds nearly exactly the same. Mids are spot on with highs being at the verge of being too high. Lows are firm and strong but can become slightly muddy when the mids are truly working hard. This was only slightly noticeable during some intense BFV firefights.
The Logitech G733 soundstage is clearly taken from the G Pro X which is intended with esports in mind, hence the stage is smaller and closer than other headsets. This is by no means a deal-breaker because when I took them for a spin in Horizon Zero Dawn the vast openness and gusts of wind perfectly gave the sense of a massive open area.
OK OK AMANDA... I'll do this properly. So little hope is a game based on the choices you make, and all these choices affect the 5 characters you play as, while on their way to a field trip their bus has an accident, as in crashes not soils its chassis. This game picks up right off the bat and throws players into a world of misery, fear, and confusion. How do I know this I enlisted someone very near and dear to me a one Dalal light, she helped me interpret all the symbols and even some details other will miss, and hearing her chuckle and then say “well let me tell you one thing right away, someone is not going to have a very good day”, this didn’t set me up well to play this game. I pressed on, only to hear “oh I wouldn’t go that way not with that there”. And after politely thanking and sending miss light on her way I carried on, with a greater fear of the unknown than before.
The game pushes players in 1 direction, both literally and figuratively, a dense fog shrouds the town and any attempt to go backward is futile, the fog simply swallows you up and sends you facing the other way. The players are constantly haunted by noises and quick glimpses of distorted figures in the background, creating a constant tension of what’s going to happen next.
Little hope was a bustling town back in its day, major factories being the town's lifeblood, but when the factories were closed down, the town was deserted and became a ghost town. In more ways than one. The town, even before its heyday, has a dark history. During the witch burnings of Salem, Little Hope did its fair share of witch-hunting and much to miss lights displeasure… Wait, when did you sneak back in? Uhm the brutal murders of supposed witches.
The Dark Pictures Anthology has a rather large focus on the character relations that you can build or break by way of the decisions you make. These actions do not only have a single effect on the storyline. Upset someone now, and have that consequence resonate back to bite you later. This makes every single decision, be it made with the head or the heart, have a massive cause and effect on the story. You will also be persuaded by the demons of your past or the past of a past life… Or the past of a past life’s past life? Ghastly distorted disfigured and mangled visages of what was once human and it's up to you to make the right choices or face the consequences.
And if the game itself isn’t creepy enough, you will periodically meet “the curator” a mildly pleasantly unpleasant person, who will talk you through your choice as the game goes on, being a little more than cynical of your choices if not very judgemental in his opinion….he offers “tips” if you can call them that from time to time but don’t expect a clear-cut answer it’s a riddle within a mystery.
It's up to you to get the 5 lost souls through this horror town to hopefully a good ending, hidden throughout the game are postcards with pictures which provide the player a small vision of what may or may not come to pass, based on your decisions made up to that point, I cannot say if they help or not. But that’s all on you...
The visuals of the game are stunning if not eerie, the music will always keep you in a state of unease, when those violins start up the hairs on the back of my neck start doing backflips… Even if nothing happens… At that point anyway. The fog always there, always foreboding, spurring you on and keeping all the horrors and nasties hidden until the time is right. I kind-of just scared myself there. Little hope has a wonderful if you can call it that, way of building tremendous amounts of suspense. Be that with the eerie soundtrack or perfectly placed silences. If you don't turn in your chair a few times during this game there is something wrong with you.
During this night you spend trying to save these 5 characters you will learn so much about the witch-trails in general. And especially the horrors that would be the reason for so many innocent people to be put to death. Just like the curator will mention on several occasions, nothing is quite what it seems. And that statement rings true throughout the terror-filled night. Whether you care to listen to the voice of reason, or rather dig a bit further, maybe lend an ear to a creepy little girl, you might just make sense of this nightmare.
The Dark Pictures Anthology is so good at telling an intricate story that they are able to take a story, that at first, seems like nothing makes any sense, and have you piece the blocks together to help you experience one of the most "aha" moments ever just before the credits roll...
Logitech has also spoilt the user by supplying every connection type known to man. As standard, the G432 has a 3.5mm connection but supplied, is a splitter that splits audio and mic separately. Along with this splitter is the DAC, a USB device that your 3.5mm jack plugs into. This is a nice touch by Logitech ensuring the headset can be used in any possible way. Not many manufacturers include these adapters in more budget orientated headsets. Good job Logitech!
Although the G432 does suffer from a few minor design flaws that affect comfort, like the loose-fitting earcups, these are all up to user preference. Personally, I think they are reasonably comfortable and don't get too hot when wearing for long periods of time. A colleague however had no issue with the loose earcups but was more concerned about the heat buildup after wearing for a couple of hours. So overall it is an even split.
When you connect via the DAC is when the G432 comes alive and the wonderful GHUB shows its true capabilities. The G432 features a virtual 7.1 surround sound thanks to DTS. Setting this up is simple and has you listening to an audio track and adjusting all the speakers accordingly. Using it in games such as Rainbow 6 Siege and Escape from Tarkov game me such a distinct advantage due to the games focusing a lot on audio. In games such as Mafia Definitive edition, the hustle and bustle of the 1930's city really come to life when you walk down the street and people are speaking and cars are buzzing past.
This is not the only feature. Equalizers are completely customizable and if you are not happy with your personal settings you can simply download someone else profiles from the GHUB community. Noise reduction on both the microphone and the audio is great. Especially if you have a noisy household and you don't want to torture your party members with barking dogs or moaning children. The mic quality is really good for its price range but it is definitely more aimed and multiplayer communication rather than any form of streaming or production worthy efforts.
Well, prepare to be underwhelmed. Graphically Dirt 5 is lackluster at best, with switching between graphics and fps modes not making an impacting change at all. Fortunately for Dirt 5 games are not all about graphics, right? Well, Dirt 5 definitely makes up for the above in its variety.
The career mode in Dirt 5 will have you putting your proverbial pedal to the metal for a significant time. In theory, there are 75 tracks in total. yes some of them are reversed versions of each other but 75 is still a big number. The thing that I found made the campaign so much fun is the fact that the sheer size of the career is broken into many small pieces. None of the races or modes feel too long that you find yourself getting bored. In the same breath, I have to say I immediately turned the difficulty up a notch as to give me a fight all the way to the chequered flag.
In Dirt 2.0 the job is simple. Get from the start to the finish as quickly as you can without destroying the car. Dirt 5, being the quirkier brother, throws in a few fun "challenges" to spice things up. Drift for X amount of time, or trade paint in the air, each race will have these challenges. Complete them and it will add towards your reputation and a few other categories which are needed to unlock more car customizations.
Dirt 5 has a respectable lineup of cars. Compared to the likes of NFS or Forza it might fall slightly short but respectable none the less. NFS has its over-the-top car modifications and Forza allows you to tune every last centimeter of the vehicle, Dirt 5 does not do the same, actually, it doesn't allow you to customize your car, performance-wise, at all! Dirt 5 is more about aesthetics. As you progress through the career mode and complete more of the side missions as mentioned before. You will unlock decals for your vehicle. Some of them in form of stickers to slap literally anywhere on your car. Others will be wraps for your vehicle allowing you to customize your ride to your heart's content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4iQzwrVdT8
What this means is that each vehicle and I use vehicles because not all contraptions are cars, there are buggies and other off-roading abominations have a specific rating. It is rather simply put. Performance and handling. Closer to A-rating the better. The thing that I was slightly upset about is the lack of variation when it came to how the cars felt when changing between classes of cars. This might upset the more die-hard racing fans because it removes the learning curve for each vehicle, but on the flip side, it allows for a much easier pick-up-and-play experience!
A major game feature is the tech menu, offering a range of gadgets, abilities, weapons, and hacking skills all this is unlocked with tech points scattered around the map, each item on the menu can be upgraded to make it more effective, which can be set to each operative to switch up your playstyle or tackle the task at hand. Another major feature is the combat, now I did play the 1st Watch Dogs and sadly missed the 2nd. DONT JUDGE ME AMANDA!!!! But the combat for Watch Dogs: Legion is based around attacking, grappling, and dodging which can be followed up with a counter-attack its proper street fighting bruv. Combat can be made easier by using an operative with a melee weapon or a nice little gadget I call the "punchy zappy face breaky" thing.
My personal Favorite is definitely the remote control spider capable or hacking terminals, getting into tight spaces, getting you into otherwise inaccessible rooms distracting enemies, and scaring the living daylights out of people on the street, yes my little pet spread TERROR... I mean go get me access to that server over there I need to check my Twitter feed messages.
the storyline follows our ever neighborhood hacking community Dedsec being framed for major bombings all over London by the group known as Zero-day, who have no other agenda than just trying to watch the world burn. Albion takes over and basically eliminates almost every criminal enterprise except 1 clan Kelly, so you have some major factions who aren't particularly friendly towards you, unless, you recruit one of them. YES people you can recruit the enemy to your cause, but you will need to buy the special tech ability to deep dive into their profile and find something that you can help them with to turn that frown upside down and join you, now you have a recruit who can walk almost freely around that factions area, just avoid the other guards and cameras and drones.....so everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mOVusuXl7E
The game doesn’t limit how you play, maybe you’re like me who likes to sneak around set traps and bring out the inner Sam Fischer in you, or walking right up to some git and bashing em in the face yeah? The help will have thought the game will be from the lovable robot AI Baggly who will help you accomplish all your missions, from getting Intel to finding a location to hacking a laptop and wiping someone's debt..... think I need a Baggly....But 1 thing was REALLY confusing to me.... playing many different open-world games like GTA....being forced to drive on the right-hand side of the road and now I'm on the LEFT like I'm weirded out by this, even driving on the left side IN REAL LIFE, like I can’t wrap my head around now driving on the correct side of the road!!! It’s maddening!!! Well, it is to me anyway... AMANDA I SAID STOP JUDGING ME.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqh4BX8-VR4
One of the big problems we had with the Gen 1 Stealth 600 was the fact that the earcup cushioning, although soft, was scratchy and after wearing for an extended time would become itchy and extremely hot. We are pleased to say the earcup cushioning has been substantially improved. It now features a leatherette cover which is lovely on the ears. Like the Gen 1, the earcups are designed to accompany users who where spectacles, this has always been a very nice touch from TurtleBeach. Although all of these mentioned improvements have improved the comfort dramatically, the only problem we found in the comfort department is the size of the earcups. The Gen 1 Stealth 600 headsets were exceptionally small earcups. If you have regular-sized ears, you might have had problems using the Gen 1 Stealth 600's as over-ear headsets and rather use them as on-ear. With the Gen 2 however the earcup size has been increased, not quite as much as might be needed, but improvement is good. The earcups are on a swivel which is nice to have the headset "mold" to the wearer.
The headband, like in the the Gen 1, slides easily to adjust to nearly any sized head. The foam on the headband feels good and after some serious game time, we didn't experience any sore heads from a headband. The mic might feel abit too cheap but fortunately, the mic and the headset can handle some punishment.
When it comes to features, that is where the Stealth series, in general, falls flat. It is a bare-bones headset featuring little to no creature-comforts. This is all ways to keep the price tag to the lower end of course so it is a catch 22. The Gen 2, however, does have a flip to mute mic now which when extended will activate the mic and when flipped up, you will be automatically muted. The Gen 2 mic also features larger and higher sensitivity which makes an already clear mic sound even crisper. It also features mic monitoring feedback, which is a nice feature for a budget wireless headset. No more accidental shouting over the mic in the middle of the night!
The standard features are all here, the volume wheel is situated under the earcup. right next to the volume wheel is the chat-audio mixer wheel. Which should be a standard amongst all headsets but for some reason, it is not yet! Last but not least there is a power button, charging port, and audio preset selector. The TurtleBeach Stealth 600 Gen 2 connects via Bluetooth using a dongle that comes with the headset. you simply plug it into your console or pc and turn on your headset. Once connected the dongle, as well as the headset, will give you a light and audio queue respectively. What needs to be mentioned is that only the PS and PC version of the Stealth 600 require the Bluetooth dongle, if you are using the Xbox version, thanks to the Xbox Bluetooth the headset connects directly to the console.
During our time spent with the Stealth 600 we jumped between titles like R6 Siege, Warzone, and some Apex Legends. What we all agree on is that the audio quality is brilliant. The Stealth 600's punch way above their price class and makes things sound the way we think they are intended to. At first I did find myself fumbling with the buttons setting the wrong setting, but once I memorized the positions the controls are rather easy to manage. Battery life on the Stealth 600 is rated at a decent 15 hours on a single charge. I charged it when I received it and my rough calculation says that 15 hours sound like an easily achievable mark. This however is the same battery life as the Gen 1, which is a little disappointing seeing as there was no improvement made in that department.
When Crash Bandicoot debuted back in 1997 it had good competition in the linear-platforming genre in the likes of Croc. Since then the Linear-platform genre has become less popular with other titles like Super Mario Odyssey opting to go towards a more open-world sandbox nature. Crash Bandicoot 4 has stuck with what made it successful all these years later. A more refined, albeit linear, level.
Fans of old will be happy to see that their furry friend still bounces, spins, and crashes ( get it...) through vibrant and colorful spectacles that we call levels. Fans that are new to the Crash Bandicoot franchise will quickly be drawn into the box smashing fun. In short, Crash Bandicoot has not missed a beat in the time he has been missing.
Starting up the game the first option you get is whether you want to play Retro, or modern. I would suggest going with modern as Retro will have you only receiving limited amounts of attempts and retries where modern gives you endless lives and checkpoints, trust me, you will need them!
Not much has changed in the formula for Its About Time from the previous games. It's About Time still focuses on players needing to let Crash run down a hallway, crashing, smashing, and bashing their way through boxes and bad guys all while collecting items. At times the perspective might change with Crash running away from the camera rather than towards, as well as the occasional side-scrolling stages. Mix in a few boss battles and you have the general play of Crash Bandicoot. This might seem a bit mundane and old for the current crop of gamers seeing that we have games where you need to invest serious time and brainpower to play, but It's About Time just feels right!
It's About Time has added a good few aspects to the Crash games to give this one some more flavor. The boss battles are really intense and where one wrong move, much like the other stages, will have you reset to a previous checkpoint. Another large and challenging introduction is the ability to use masks that grant you temporary powers. The normal protection mask will have you absorb one hit from an enemy that would usually have killed you. The other is a kind of time-shift mask that when activated will have you "phase" objects in and out of existence allowing you to traverse the environment. Need to jump across a large ravine? Phase the block in your way, out of existence, but be careful, the platform you need to land on is also phased out now... This leads to a lot of mid-air swearing as well as even more button mashing. Other masks grant abilities such as slowing down time, manipulate gravity, and make Crash move ridiculously fast!
Something that It's About Time does well is despite the fact that we are in 2020, it is purposefully stuck in the '90s. A time that bad jokes and attitudes were plentiful. Not exactly to everyone's taste. Hence the dialogue and cutscenes might not be to everyone's taste but it does definitely deliver a good story, although you will find yourself skipping cutscenes. Not because they are bad, just due to the fact that you are bound to see them a few times.
Luckily Crash is not alone in this fight to save the galaxy. He has 4 other characters that are all playable and bring their own abilities to the table. Coco and Crash are nearly identical apart from looks. Tawna, Dingodile, and Neo Cortex will bring new abilities to platforming and will have you replaying levels that you have previously completed. Tawna has a grappling hook you can use to get to faraway platforms. Dingodile can vacuum up TNT boxes and shoot it back at enemies. And Neo Cortex can blast enemies with his ray gun and turn them into platforms to jump from.
The developers have made a good quality of life changes to the franchise. Apart from the before mentioned Retro and Modern mode, there are more subtle changes. One for subtle but very nice one is the introduction of small shadows of where your character will land when jumping. Previously you would have to rely on some questionable depth perception and luck. Now, having a clear indication of where your character is heading, if you are more sadistic, this option can be turned off.
Keeping with the '90s where co-op was kind due to internet technology being sketchy at best for the lucky few who had. Pass & Play is a pseudo local multiplayer where each time you die or reach a checkpoint you can pass the controller to a fellow player. Not quite multiplayer but it does add a fun way of getting players that are not good at platforming to have some fun while having a better player help them through the tricky parts.
Crash Bandicoot 4 It's About Time is an expensive game, there is no mistake about it. The is around R1 199 for the disc version. This is a bitter pill to swallow considering the other big titles that are inbound. But for those who are unsure whether to spend the hard-earned money on your favorite orange marsupial, I can honestly tell you it is worth it. It's About Time will have you spending hours upon hours trying to capture every last gem, and discovering every last secret level. The replayability is amped up even more post-credits with the N.Verted mode which mirrors the layout of the original levels but masks them in a visual filter that will make you sweat all over again!
The G102 weighs in at 85g which is a good weight for the size. Not too light but not too much resistance when flicking or dragging. Logitech has embedded the Mercury sensor inside this little mouse. According to Logitech, the Mercury sensor is a gaming sensor, which gives you control of the sensitivity from 200 to 8000DPI. Many of the more premium mice might have the ability to go to 16 000 DPI but realistically one would never need a DPI setting much higher than even 2000. Where the G102 does make up for the lack of DPI is in the polling rate. This means the G102 reports back to the PC up to 1000 times per second. This is the main reason why the G102 movements and clicks feel much more instantaneous.
When using it for gaming the G102 performs really well with the scroll wheel having enough resistance to give you a good bump when it jumps over to next slot which is great when switching between weapons in most games. There is a distinct feel when rolling the scroll wheel which will eliminate possible bumps causing scrolling to happen.
According to Logitech, Lightsync is described as follows: LIGHTSYNC technology immerses you into the action with automatic, game-driven lighting effects that react to many popular games. LIGHTSYNC will blast light to match in-game explosions, approaching enemies, damage taken, healing is done, new worlds visited, and much more.
What this means is that many of the newer titles, much like Razer Synapse, links with the Logitech GHub and syncing up with Lightsync can make the RGB features of all Lightsync compatible items, link up to create a colorful vista of lights that don't only make things look pretty but actually serve a purpose. Like acting as health bars, or directions to your next objective.
On the G102 there is an RGB Halo that wraps around the palm area of the mouse as well as the usual G emblem that is both capable of supporting up to 16.8 million colors as well as a host of presets that can be defined in the Ghub. My firm favorite on the white G102 is the rainbow effect. The white G102 simply allows the colors to really pop and I found myself wanting more "halo-like" RGB bands around more of my peripherals... I think I might have become one of... them... RGB fanboys...
Logitech's GHUB software does what most other software packages do, but its packaged in a sleek, easy to use program. Adjust your DPI settings by predefining 5 steps that can be jumped through by simply hitting your DPI button found in front of your scroll wheel. Assign macro keys to the two inner thumb buttons by simply jumping to the assignment screen and selecting what you want those keys to do. You can even take it one step further and let Ghub recognize the game you are playing and let it switch between macros you have assigned for each game. This means taking some time, in the beginning, to set it all up but from there on, simply jump into your favorite game and have all your abilities at your fingertips.