To celebrate the release of LITTLE NIGHTMARES, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Europe and Tarsier Studios has revealed their launch trailer introducing the graceful Lady, the ruler of The Maw and the biggest threat to Six’s survival ensuring the smooth running of the place from her private quarters. Will you be able to save the girl in the yellow raincoat from her watch?
LITTLE NIGHTMARES releases on 28thApril, in digital and physical format on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. For all players who have pre-purchased the game, they receive The Scarecrow Sack and the Upside-down Teapot Masks. PS4 and PC users also get the original soundtrack in digital format, an exclusive PS4 theme or a PC wallpaper featuring The Janitor. The standard boxed version includes the Original Soundtrack composed by Tobias Lilja from Tarsier Studio, and The Six Edition available at GAME retailers, contains a 10 cm high figurine trapped in a themed cage box as well as the original soundtrack, an exclusive A3 poster and a sticker board.
Capcom has not only set a release date for the highly anticipated Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite title, but it also revealed a few more characters that are included in its fight roster.
Quicker than I had expected and just one week after the launch of Telltale Game’s newest series in MARVEL’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Episode 4 of The Walking Dead: A New Frontier has been released. Titled “Thicker than Water”, this episode has to do quite a bit in my mind to get this series back on track as so far, this has been one dull and tiresome addition to The Walking Dead universe by Telltale Games.
*Warning: Review will contain Spoilers from previous episodes and choices*
Episode three left us witnessing Javier’s brother David losing his power in the New Frontier group as other council member Joan seizes control after framing David for conducting secret raids for food and weapons, something that Joan herself was responsible for. An attempt for Javier and Kate to try and escape Richmond has failed and now the group is trapped in the town, with Javier and David captured by Joan.
Episode 4 opens up with the brothers being thrown into a locked cell and David is not a happy chappy, still reeling from Joan’s betrayal and discovering that his brother had indeed attempted to basically leg it away with his wife Kate. A cheesy conversation exchange and a right hook from David to Javier gave me the option of returning the favour which I did, and the lamest of bro fighting took place for a few seconds before Joan returns and takes David away by gunpoint for a private friendly chat. This gives Javier the chance to try and escape and the tedious problems that I have had with this series up to now all play out for the next 90 or so minutes.
This episode is by far the slowest paced chapter so far in this series. Other than having to make a few conversation choices, the first three chapters of ‘Thicker than Water’, are nothing more than a limited interactive movie experience. Quite simply the opening hour to this episode is so dull and lacking of any real gameplay substance I literally had to pause it just to go make a cup of tea to keep my brain ticking over. Normally the third episode in a Telltale series serves as a good pause episode to reflect on choices made and give the player the chance to catch up with events and story to that point. Due to the strange release schedule for A New Frontier however, it seems that has now fallen to this episode. The pace is so slow and deprived of anything really memorable that it was unsurprising to see the percentage of people who have completed each chapter’s achievement never went beyond 2%.
Sadly it also seems that Telltale Games themselves have grown tired of this as they are now using such woeful and obvious mechanics in the story. The way in which the story constantly makes sure Javier’s group is always on edge with infighting due to actions or choices made previously is just so boring now. They all ignore their impending danger and doom just so they can have a squabble only succeeds in making me as the player care even less if any of them survive at all. It has felt so forced so far in each of the episodes whenever the story tries to manipulate the player to ever feel remorse or regret over choices made which can work in some Telltale Games but now in the fourth Walking Dead game is just painful. I have previously complained about how repetitive these mechanics are and how in particular with A New Frontier just breaks the experience instead of enhancing it.
By Chapter 4 in this episode I was mentally willing the game to just get to the point, and was more than a little relieved when the game shifted to a flashback scene featuring Clementine just after bring exiled by New Frontier and having the baby AJ removed from her. Ava who will become a supporter of David, goes to Clem with supplies against the wishes of New Frontier. The player is given the opportunity to either have Clem respond as a normal and nice human being or stone cold and emotionless. It does give a nice reference to the first Walking Dead as Clem can respond with a line of dialogue referencing how she was looked after and taught to survive by Lee, main character of the first Walking Dead.
I really am struggling to find anything positive to say about this series and boy has this episode not helped at all. The only real action comes right at the very end and is simply a series of QTE moments, one segment failed to register me hitting “go right” multiple times forcing me to restart the game to get it to work. The ending tries to give a big finish but by this point, the narrative and lack of action in this episode alone just has me waiting for the finish, and yet again there is no “Next time on The Walking Dead” so all you get is a sudden black screen and then showing you how other players made their choices.
I do think it is time for Telltale to put The Walking Dead to bed finally, with just one more episode to go in A New Frontier I have already lost interest in what happens to Javier and his group. The dramatic moments are lacklustre, the pacing just too slow and feels like it is mostly just padding in this episode and after playing the fun and colourful Guardians of the Galaxy, I would far rather have Episode 2 of that to play before the final episode in this series. I should have been left feeling excited to see how it all ends for Javier and co but instead I am left just feeling tired and exhausted with The Walking Dead overall.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier’s upcoming Episode 4: ‘Thicker Than Water’ is now available for download.
Players can download Episode 4: ‘Thicker Than Water’ on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC/Steam, and later this week it will be available on iOS, and Android-based devices. The episode will also download for all users of the special Season Pass disc for consoles, which includes the critically acclaimed two-part premiere episodes, and grants access to Episode 4 and all subsequent episodes in the five episode season for download as they become available.
Upon discovering the true nature of the New Frontier’s leadership, relationships within the Garcia family have come to a head. As Javier, you will decide the shape and nature of your chosen family. All the while, a herd of walkers moves ever closer to Richmond, putting pressure on allies and enemies alike. With distrust running rampant, you’ll have to determine if blood is thicker than water…
Molecule8, a debut company in the premium collectibles market, announced today a new range of products destined to revolutionize this growing industry, along with a fierce commitment to set new standards in craftsmanship and product design.
Initial licences include: John Lennon, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Ghostbusters, Big Trouble in Little China, and Taxi Driver.
The first product to launch will be John Lennon, a world exclusive for the limited edition collectibles market, and is now available to pre-order via the Molecule8 website.
We are both honoured and humbled to have been given the opportunity to develop a line of distinct premium collectibles under the John Lennon brand, said Vijay Chadha, CEO of Molecule8. In addition to the 1/6 scale replica of Mr. Lennon, our team is developing a unique assortment of pieces that will speak to the genius, character, and passions that defined John Lennon, both as an artist and as a man.
The biggest disappointment for me in 2016 was Street Fighter V. The series was a foundation to my love of video games and especially fighting games but the latest entry felt like an insult to the series with how it was launched and managed afterwards. I really wanted and needed something to come along and bring back my faith in Capcom fighters. So when it was announced that one of the best 2D fighting games was to be remastered and released, well let me just say that the trailer alone gave me goosebumps!
Ultimate MARVEL Vs Capcom 3 is a remastered version of the classic 2011 game first released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Xbox One owners have had to wait a little while longer than PlayStation 4 fans but finally the wait is over. Now in full 1080p resolution and 60FPS, this is a fighting game perfect to compliment the current void in fighting game genre on modern consoles and ready for a new generation of fans.
It has an incredible roster of 50 characters made up of iconic Capcom game characters and MARVEL heroes and villains and the bonus of all the DLC costumes and colours readily available for each of the characters. The action features 3 Vs 3 tag team battles with fast and fluid action that is so easy to access that those who prefer to button mash can get into the game but also a rich and deep fighting system that experienced players can relish and dive right into.
I have always loved the MARVEL Vs Capcom series, it has allowed fans to create, no pun intended, the ultimate in fan dream matches across the years and this remastered Ultimate MvC 3 delivers not only nostalgia but with MARVEL films being so dominant on the big screen, there has been no better time for this release. It is a shame it has taken an extended amount of time for it to land on Xbox One but it has certainly been worth the wait. Delving back into this game took very little time and soon found myself struggling to pick the right combination of characters to tackle the various modes before taking my team online to fight other players.
It has two great Single Player modes starting with the traditional Arcade mode. Arcade mode simply puts three character team of the player against AI controlled teams to fight their way to the big bad of the game, Galactus, who serves as the final boss fight. Depending on which character gets the final blow on Galactus, which is no easy feat let me tell you, and you will get a different ending for each of the 50 characters. Putting a team together that compliments their fighting style and abilities is not an easy one but the fighting system is just as smooth and easy to get to grips with as it originally was.
The next mode is Heroes and Heralds which is similar to Arcade mode but has two campaign sides to it. If you elect to play as the Heroes, you will be challenged to take down teams who have been turned into Heralds by Galactus and it is vice versa if you select to play as the Heralds battling the heroes in order to destroy the Earth. It uses a card based system to introduce skills buffs and bonuses and playing through will unlock more cards for the player to build new decks to use. It has a number of stages to fight on with the battle to control that stage leading to striking off certain characters from the hitlist for the opposing side. Both the Single Player modes add a great way to learn how the different characters work and to experiment in putting teams together.
The control system has been simplified since MARVEL Vs Capcom 2 with a three button system for attacks and one for the ‘launcher’ or S button, this can be used to send opponents into the air to help create an air combo opportunity. Bumper buttons are used to call in the other members of your team to assist in a combo or if held will tag out the current character for the next one in the team, a big help if one is taking far too much damage.
Visually this game looks incredible, but then it had looked that good originally and when remastering a game, animated or cell shaded games rarely look any better bur for me, this game looks a lot better than Street Fighter V, no pixel corruption on colour collisions in this game. When you bring in your team mates for a massive full team combo finisher, the onscreen animation is very cool indeed and of course changes depending on the composition of your team and characters. There is a real satisfaction with this game that is quite refreshing after feeling so let down by Street Fighter V.
Sadly though trying to take this online, even this amount of time after release, is a trying one. Heroes and Heralds has an online element but no one is seemingly playing it. Competitive online matchmaking can take some time to find a match, even late in the day or on weekends, which is a shame as taking on other players is the real thrill of any fighting game. The game does have solid sofa versus potential and perhaps if the community can grow around it more in the coming months, online matchmaking will improve.
I am a fan of remastered games, not only can they bring classic games to a new audience and generation of players but the nostalgia factor can be rewarding for those missing the experience of years past. This remastered version is a very solid take on Ultimate MARVEL Vs Capcom, a fighting game series that is iconic to many fans of the fighting genre. It feels as comfortable and fun to play today as it did back on its original release and has lost none of its charm or impact and for me at least, plays a little quicker and smoother than the original.
If you have never played an entry in this series then there is no better time than right now to resolve that failing!
When Huawei announced the Huawei P10 at this years Mobile World Congress at the end of February, the first thing you’ll notice on the Huawei P10 priced at £549 is the display as it’s the first thing you see when you open the box, and once you power it on you’ll immediately notice how good it is.
This is a 5.1-inch IPS-NEO LCD screen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 and it’s protected by Gorilla Glass 5, and although this is only Full HD, it seems like it’s higher resolution and I was quite impressed at how nice the display was compared to other FHD smartphones out there.
The device is powered by Huawei’s own HiSilicon Kirin 960 processor which is extremely powerful and capable of handling anything you throw at this phone. Paired with that CPU is a Mali-G71 MP8 GPU for the graphics processing, as well as 4GB of RAM for memory to handle multitasking, games and more with 64GB of storage aswell. For the software, Huawei has used Android 7.0 Nougat so the phone is running on just about the newest version of Android that’s available, and it’s running on Huawei’s most recent version of their user interface, which is EMUI 5.1.
The P10 comes with a 3,200mAh battery inside that’s non-removable which is nothing new from Huawei as most of their phones carry this kind of battery. 3,200mAh is not the largest smart phone battery out there by any means, but Huawei’s software along with the power-saving benefits of Android 7.0 Nougat help to make the battery life on the P10 fairly long-lasting, and the device also supports USB Type-C and it charges fast so even if you do tend to run out of battery power sooner than you were expecting you’ll be able to charge the battery back up pretty quickly. You also have a 3.5mm audio port for plugging in headphones, though you can also connect headphones via Bluetooth. While most of the specs are decent and some are over and above improvements compared to last year’s Huawei P9, the real bread and butter for many will come from the camera sensors that Huawei has chosen to use here. The P10, like the P9, comes equipped with two rear camera sensors and an enhanced set of photography features that will play well with picture enthusiasts. The P10 sports both a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and a 12-megapixel RGB sensor that will offer users a wide array of picture options.
Display
The display used on the P10 may still be Full HD just like its predecessor from last year, but that shouldn’t take away from the brilliance that it carries and after using it for a brief period of time it becomes very apparent that Huawei has used a great display panel here. It’s bright and vivid and it was quite easy to use even in direct sunlight, though that also doesn’t meant that there is absolutely no glare at all if using the device outside during a bright day.
Moving past this, even though this isn’t a Super AMOLED panel which generally are held in the highest regard when it comes to colour saturation, the screen on the P10 actually produces some really good colours that pop off the screen more than you would expect from this type of display technology.
USB Type-C charging cable, headphones, sim eject tool, Fast charger and a clear case ( as this is a review sample I have the European charger no the normal UK plug)
Blacks were also quite a bit deeper than on other IPS displays, and of course there was absolutely no issues with the digitizer here, which is as to be expected since the P10 is a flagship device from Huawei and although it does come in at a lower cost than competing flagships in the high-end tier, it still commands a fairly decent price from consumers. Although the screen looks great on the P10 as is if left alone, Huawei has also incorporated the option to change the colour temperature of the display if preferred, and users can switch things to be more cool or more warm to adjust the saturation a little bit, or it can be left on default if you don’t want to mess with things, and you can also move away from the preconfigured options by tapping the colour circle where you want to set the temperature.
It’s nice to see Huawei continuing to add this capability in their devices as it gives more control to the user on how they want their device to look.
Hardware Design and Build
Huawei’s build quality and design for their high-end devices is as always, impeccable, and it really comes through with the P10. This is one stunning device and although it’s definitely hard to ignore that it carries a little bit of an iPhone like design, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The phone looks good, and Huawei knows it, and they shouldn’t feel ashamed as they’re designers have come up with something truly eye-catching. What’s more is that it comes in a myriad of colour choices which only adds to the allure, and some of those colours even come with a Hyper Diamond Cut design pattern on the back which adds a little bit of rigidity and some texture to the phone. This is a good thing considering the phone is made out of metal, with devices can sometimes feel a little more slick than devices made with other materials. As a side note, this didn’t really seem to be a problem for me with the P10 black model even though it doesn’t have the Hyper Diamond Cut design.
While the P10 looks similar to last year’s model that Huawei P9, like the dual camera sensors on the back as these are in the same place, there are some things which are different. The fingerprint sensor for example, has been moved to the front of the device and now resides in the home button that sits in the screen’s bottom bezel instead of being on the back underneath the rear camera sensors.
USB Type-C charging port and 3.5mm audio port
On the bottom you’ll find one single speaker, the USB Type-C charging port, and the 3.5mm audio port for headphones. On the right side you have the power button, which comes with a textured feel to it making it easy to distinguish from the volume rocker if you’re trying to hit the button before pulling it out of your pocket, and of course the volume buttons are on this same side. With the power button in particular you can see how much attention to detail Huawei puts into the design aspect when manufacturing a device.
power button
The button is black but also comes with a red border although there is no other use of red on the phone at all, and this is just a subtle touch to the design but it really does add that something extra.
P10 Sim card tray
On the left, you have the SIM card tray while there are no ports or buttons up top.
Performance & Memory
Performance is not an issue with this device, not in the slightest. Although the phone doesn’t perform the absolute best when it comes to the benchmarks (more on that in the benchmark section), this means very little with this calibre of device as it performs exceptionally well and real world use will make this evident. During everyday use for things like opening up the camera and taking pictures, or having multiple apps open in the background, and even just browsing social media which is usually a big memory hog, the phone continues to feel snappy and responsive with seemingly no slowdown.
If you are a users like myself, who also tend to play a lot of mobile games on their device, this is really where I was looking to see how the Huawei P10 would perform, and it certainly did not disappoint in this area.
Need For Speed No Limits and other need graphic titles, all have high-quality three-dimensional visuals. During play of any of these games the phone played through fluidly and although it did get a little warm, this is to be expected when you’re doing any task on a smart phone that is as demanding as gaming. When it comes down to it, the Huawei P10 can keep it up with the best of them and it does so with plenty of style and rather effortlessly. This is really no change from Huawei’s other high-end phones, but it’s also likely at least in part a product of having Android 7.0 Nougat and EMUI 5.1 running on the device as these are both more efficient than past versions of their respective software.
Fingerprint Sensor
The fingerprint sensor used in the Huawei P10 is of top quality and users should have no problems with it. If I had one complaint and it’s only one, it’s over Huawei’s decision to move the fingerprint sensor to the front of the device and place it at the bottom of the screen within the home button.
Huawei P10 Fingerprint sensor
With the way I personally hold smartphones, using the fingerprint sensor just feels more natural when it’s on the back like I have on my own P9 from last year, but this is a personal preference and not a reflection of how it works, and there are many users who will actually prefer this placement to being on the back of the device.
Battery Life
The battery inside of the Huawei P10 is a 3,200mAh battery so it’s more than most smartphones in its size range, and due to the Android 7.0 Nougat software as well as Huawei’s own EMUI 5.1 software the battery life is pretty good. Better than most actually, although this is also due to Huawei’s adjustments to the software that help it optimize the battery life to extend it. Beyond the standard battery optimizations that are utilized out of the box, Huawei employs a special set of battery optimizations that can help you extend the battery life even if you need to keep the device going. If you utilize this feature you can easily get a huge chunk of extra time out of the phone before you need to plug the device back in, and even then the P10 supports quick charging so it’ll get quite a bit of battery life in no time at all.
During the past week or so I would use the phone fairly average most days, which consisted of browsing social networks, emails, the occasional movie, and some pictures as well as a few hours of gaming here and there. While I didn’t really use the phone extremely heavily, I did use it a fair amount and I was able to take it through the entire day without having to worry about plugging it in.
Overall, there was no issue with battery life here and Huawei has engineered quite an impressive device when it comes to the battery. Although it’s nice to have a phone with great specs and powerful hardware, the battery life has been one of the more overlooked aspects in recent years and should be the most important element for the majority of consumers, as you can’t use your device with a dead battery. Thankfully, Huawei believes heavily in having a phone that is more than capable of lasting at least a day or more without having to charge it, and they have come through with the P10 in this regard. No average I got between 6 hours and 7 hours of onscreen time.
Software
Huawei has always used their own software on top of Android and their latest flavour to accompany Nougat is EMUI 5.1. There isn’t a major change in the actual look of the software as it looks a lot like the last version that can be seen on previous flagships from 2016, but it does come with some nice adds and this is definitely one of my favourite software user interfaces now having spent more time with it. When it comes to differentiating themselves from stock Android, Huawei puts plenty of little touches into the software that set it apart.
One of these aspects can be seen straight from the lock screen before you unlock the device. In the bottom right corner you’ll have a quick access button that will launch the camera if you slide up on the display from this point, and on the left side you can see the time and date, but if you slide up from the very bottom edge where the time and date is you can bring up a navigational task bar that has even more quick access shortcuts that will open up following a device unlock, and this is a nice touch as it makes getting to things quick and easy. The shortcuts that are present here are for the sound recorder, the calculator, the flashlight, setting an alarm, and a QR Code scanner. Just above these shortcuts are a series of other buttons as well which have completely different functions, like a button to enable Huawei Share, and a button for getting to your photos. Not everyone will use this feature, but it’s a nifty functionality that many will definitely appreciate especially since you can get to it from the lock screen.
Icons and folders of course look pretty much the same as they do with EMUI 5.0, but again this isn’t a bad thing as the design of the icons and folders is pretty decent. You can even change the looks of the icons and the home screen a little bit by applying one of a handful of different themes that are available with Huawei’s built-in theme chooser, which will change the looks of the icons slightly but also change the colour of them to match the overall theme colour, and you get a matching background. Other less noticeable software adjustments have been incorporated into the device that many users are sure to miss if they have never used a Huawei device before, let alone a more recent one. Like the “Eye comfort” feature for example, which filters out blue light so it’s easier on the eyes when using the phone in darker lit rooms. This is something that is starting to make its way onto a lot of phones actually, but last year and before it was more scarce. There is also a floating dock that you can enable that gives you access to things like an app cleaner which clears open apps when pressed, a lock button that you can tap, and then it also has the navigational buttons included too, though these three buttons and the lock button feel redundant, as the navigational buttons are already present at the bottom of the display, and tapping the power button will also lock the device. This doesn’t seem to be configurable so you’re unfortunately stuck with those options. If you do like the idea of having it though, you can enable this from the quick settings menu or from the regular settings menu, which is the same for enabling and disabling the Eye Comfort feature.
Huawei also employs a number of gestures within the software which is certainly one of the benefits of EMUI. You can do things like flip the phone to mute it or pick up the device to reduce the ring volume. These are part of the motion gestures, but the P10 also has knuckle gestures available that allow you to use your knuckles for taking screenshots, and you can draw various letters to open up applications from the lock screen. For instance, drawing a letter c would open up the camera, while drawing a letter e would open up Chrome and drawing a letter w would open up the weather. These are also just the default settings, and if you prefer these letters to open up other functions or apps you can configure them to do so, as Huawei is giving you a decent amount of control for this particular feature set. You also have other nice touches like the one-handed UI feature which can enable the shifting keyboard. If you’re a right-handed or left-handed user, you can turn this feature on and shift the keyboard to whichever side suits you best. Though this only works with Huawei input methods and not third-party keyboards. Overall, EMUI 5.1 with Android 7.0 Nougat offers up a nice experience, and although it may be a bit different from some are used to, it’s actually pretty nice and not that hard to become acquainted with.
Sound
Sound quality on the device was pretty good and there were really no complaints, although the device does only have one speaker and it could always be better. That being said, this is still a smart phone and it shouldn’t be expected to carry the absolute best sound you’ll find in consumer electronics, but that also doesn’t mean it has to be bad, and it’s really not. On the contrary it’s actually quite good and this is in spite of only having one speaker.
Music on the P10
What’s more is that Huawei’s placement of this keeps it from being covered up by my palm when holding it in landscape mode for playing games or watching videos, a common issue. If you truly want excellent sound on a smart phone though, you’re still going to have to plug-in a pair of high-quality headphones or connect a really nice speaker as smart phone speakers can only take things so far. In short, users won’t be disappointed with the audio on the P10.
Camera
For most smartphones the camera is either an afterthought or it simply doesn’t have a lot of options to pair with the good photos it takes. That simply isn’t the case with the Huawei P10. Huawei has partnered again with Leica on this phone just as they did on the P9 and the result is a stellar camera that really has to be experienced to understand just how good it is. When it comes to smart phone cameras, being able to take a decent quality picture is only part of the equation. Good software is needed just as much as the hardware, and Huawei has opened things up to an almost unbelievable level on the software side of things, which is excellent if you really love your photography, and still excellent even if you don’t as you’ll still have plenty of options to play with should you decide to venture down that path.
On the face of things, the camera app is just a good camera app and even if you don’t mess around too much with the different options and configurations, it will still take a good picture and that’s the beauty of it.
If you want to open things up though, you will have a lot to comb through at your fingertips.
For starters, the P10 has a pro mode that can be accessed if you slide your finger from the right edge. You’ll know where to slide in from as there is an indicator button to denote the location, and once it’s opened up and you’ve switched over to pro mode, this is where you have all of the major options to adjust and tweak your pictures before you take them.
From adjusting the ISO to increasing or decreasing the Exposure Composition, you can play with these settings to get the perfect picture. In all, the full spectrum of things you can adjust within pro mode are the ISO, the Exposure Composition, the Metering, the Shutter, the Focus, and the White Balance. While most people won’t care to adjust any of these settings and just let the normal photo mode do all of the work, you will generally get a better picture if you tweak these things so long as you know what you’re doing. Aside from pro mode, there are tons of other things to like about this camera.
For example, you have three colour settings that will tweak how much focus goes into bringing out the colours in your shots, these include standard, vivid, and smooth colours. Smooth tends to soften things out just a bit while standard doesn’t really do much but present the colours as they are, while vivid really brings out the brightness of each colour and tries to accentuate the different hues as much as possible. This is sort of akin to how some of the colours might look in an HDR photo that you’d find on other smart phone cameras.
Normal mode with no bokeh effect addedsame photo now added the bokeh effect to your picture
In addition to these settings, there is also an option to widen the aperture which will essentially allow you to add a fairly realistic bokeh effect to your pictures.
When wide aperture is enabled, you can adjust the aperture from 0.95 which is the lowest, all the way up to 16 which is the highest, and this range will allow you to tweak how much focus is put on the subject in the foreground while how out of focus the subjects in the background are. There is also a portrait mode that you can enable that will focus on the highlights of people when you’re taking a shot with just yourself or others, and you can adjust how many people are in the shot with a slider bar at the right of the screen which goes all the way up to 10. The last setting on the left edge just above portrait is the option for all of your different colour effects that can be applied to the picture before taking it, and this is where you’ll find the option to turn your pictures black and white, although there are 7 other filters you can apply as well, and the nice thing is that it puts everything into a preview before you select one so you can see what each filter effect looks like in real-time, with the middle being no filter at all so you can compare them all side by side to a standard shot.
While that pretty much all of the tweaks you can do from the viewfinder, there are still more options to adjust and play with from the settings. In this menu you can adjust the resolution of your shots, and even toggle the shooting in RAW format which will give you a RAW image file as well as the JPEG file every time you take a picture. While most people will stick with JPEG, those who like to process their photos on their own instead of letting the phone’s camera app do the work for them will want the RAW images as they provide all of the detail that the sensor captures. Software aside, the camera itself is just generally really good. It captures an amazing amount of detail and it snaps photos quickly so you can go back to taking another shot. Overall, there was nothing disappointing about the P10 camera and it really does a great job at showing how good a smartphone camera can be.
The Good
Excellent camera
Varied set of picture features in the camera software
Good audio quality
Fantastic design
Plenty of colour choices for consumers who like to personalize their device
Really good screen
Fast fingerprint sensor
Excellent build quality
Great battery life
Fast charging
Performs really well during everyday use and during gameplay
The Bad
Fingerprint sensor is on the front instead of on the back. Feels less natural for unlocking, though this is a personal preference
Verdict
As expected Huawei has put out a really great device with the P10 and there is a lot to love about it, from the unique Huawei touches on the software to the stellar design and build quality that has come to be expected from Huawei and their top-end devices. All around the P10 is just a fantastic phone from head to toe. It might not be to everyone’s tastes, but for those who aren’t afraid to venture out of the ordinary and try something new, giving the Huawei P10 a shot is certainly recommended.
The review sample of the Huawei P10 was kindly sent from Vodafone UK.
Last week saw the release of the first expansion DLC for Tom Clancey’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands for Season Pass holders. Today will see the release of ‘Narco Road’ as standalone DLC for all. This time the player will be asked to create a new Ghost operative who will be given a unique mission objective; to infiltrate three criminal gangs in order to locate and identify a mysterious mastermind known only as El Invisible.
Oh believe me, I was genuinely intrigued by what Narco Road promised having enjoyed the main campaign. Narco Road offers a contrasting gameplay style to the main game in that the story behind it is focused on a solo operative conducting operations behind enemy lines. To this end, the AI controlled squad mates have been removed, you can still invite friends to form a squad to play Narco Road in co-op but if, like me, you choose to follow as the narrative suggests and play it solo, adjusting your style to a solo one offers a different challenge to the main campaign. On paper this expansion offers a lot, sadly in execution it has far more problems than accomplishments.
I found that Narco Road magnifies all the niggles and complaints I have about the main campaign and it baffled me at times how almost lazy it felt to see certain aspects just re-used from the main campaign despite Narco Road wanting to offer a different experience both in narrative and gameplay. When creating my new Ghost I wanted to immerse in the premise of a lone Ghost operative having to go undercover in criminal gangs so made the appearance more in tone with that. Now without realising that I had ultimately placed WWE’s Roman Reigns into my game world. But once he was in the game world he then had the same voice as my created Ghost Agent in the main campaign. So now I have two completely different agents in Wildlands with the same voice and for me, experience breaking.
The dialogue that was so cringe worthy at times in the main story is just as over the top in Narco Road. In order to win trust with each of the three crime gangs; Los Kamikazes, Death Riders and Los Jinetes Locos, you must impress their leaders by completing missions for them. Believing you are a mercenary gun for hire, the leaders will contact you once you enter their region. Talking with each leader showcases the lazy dialogue that really grated on me as I progressed through, each one a stereotypical exaggeration of the style and persona of that leader and gang. It would have been more entertaining if more care and thought had gone into the dialogue exchanges outside of being told what to during missions but instead it is all forgettable and at times painful to listen to.
Each of the gang leaders will set you missions to prove your skills, loyalty or just to impress them enough so that eventually they will give you the information you require to chase down El Invisible. Just like the main campaign, you work your way through a few missions before unlocking the final mission for that leader and gang. Some are multi-step missions and I found on occasion that some would glitch out on me, either not completing the missions despite doing what was required or failing to trigger dialogue to explain a step correctly which meant restarting the whole mission. Without the AI squad you are used to having as back up does raise the challenge level quite a bit considering the amount of enemies you can face is not reduced. It can get overwhelming at times when you enter a camp or base as part of the mission only to have five Unidad soldiers suddenly spawn right on top of you. Some may be run of the mill but some can be very much fun to play but when the break at times it just becomes frustrating. The level of trust you have with each gang is measured by a social media “follower bar” where completing story missions and side missions in that gang’s region will earn followers. The final boss mission will require a certain amount of followers to unlock it, so just doing the story missions will not be enough. Side missions readily available so completing a few will get you to that point and for the completionists out there, the follower bar extends far beyond what is needed to complete the leader’s missions so you can go back or just do all of them in the region to complete the bar, something I really did not feel any compulsion to do sadly.
New vehicles have been added with monster trucks and custom cars that look as though even Fast and Furious films looked at and thought “nah just a little too much”. Each one has an insane Nitrous Boost feature which is great for missions that have a time limit and good distance to traverse but for me, they helped using shortcuts such as simply getting on a motorbike and blasting the Nitrous to get me over hills and mountains. Vehicle use is just as cumbersome as the main game, the monster trucks can be a pain to control at speed and when taking a vehicle to full speed with the nitrous boost caused the screen to flicker as I approached warp speed for some reason.
Narco Road overall just felt as though it needed more effort into giving the player experience it wanted to deliver. It does highlight a lot of the issues the main game has due to it being a compact version of the main game. If you have done all you can do in the main campaign then Narco Road will give a few more extra hours of things to do, being separate from the main story means you can play it even if you have yet to finish that campaign, serving as a stand alone story campaign. What ultimately annoyed me was how underwhelming the ending to the story was. It picks up really well as you approach El Invisible but it has a very confusing ending that almost unravels the intention of the entire DLC which sadly left me scratching my head as to why they chose or decided that it was a good way to reward the player.
As an expansion Narco Road is ultimately riddled with issues and a lackluster ending but does give more things to do in the Wildlands world and would be more fun when played with friends in co-op but I hope the developers take on the feedback from this and the main campaign to deliver a fuller and richer experience in the next expansion because this just felt pretty meh by the conclusion.
This month of releases for Xbox One has included console exclusive Beep Games Voodoo Vince: Remastered, console launch exclusives Thimbleweed Park from Terrible Toybox and Cities: Skylines Xbox One Edition from Paradox Interactive, and dozens of others, also just surpassed 500 games released through the ID@Xbox program.
This incredible milestone is not just for us at ID@Xbox and the independent game developer community; its a milestone for everyone who loves great games. In 2016 alone, tens of millions of people played an ID@Xbox title on Xbox One or Windows 10 whats more, those players spent more than a billion hours playing ID@Xbox games.We’ve seen some great titles recently, like Firewatch from Campo Santo, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime by Asteroid Base, and of course Inside by Playdead (a big winner from the recent British Academy Game Awards). And let’s not forget other fan favourites like Superhot team Superhot, Night School Studio’s Oxenfree, Hi-Rez Studio’s Smite, Pit People from The Behemoth, Studio Wildcards Ark: Survival Evolved, Wizards of the Coast’s Magic Duels: Origins, Roblox Corporations Roblox, The Molasses Flood’s Flame in the Flood, Spotlightor Interactives Candleman, ToyLogics Happy Wars, Other Ocean’s #IDARB, and many more.
With more than 2000 studios having dev kits in hand, more than 1000 games currently in development, and Project Scorpio coming later this year (which I can’t wait for), the future is bright for both the gaming community and ID@Xbox program. With an incredible slate of hotly anticipated ID@Xbox games on the horizon including the hotly-anticipated Xbox One exclusive Cuphead from StudioMDHR, and console launch exclusives like Capybara’s Below, AURORA44’s Ashen, and Fullbright’s Tacoma.
To celebrate the released of Fallen, we have a DVD bundle to give away.
Based on the worldwide best-selling book series, romantic adventure FALLEN is coming to EST on April 24th before arriving on DVD and VOD platforms from May 1st courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
When Luce (AddisonTimlin; That Awkward Moment, TV’s Californication) is sent to Sword & Cross reform school, accused of a crime she didn’t commit, she finds herself torn between two students: dangerous Cameron (HarrisonGilbertson; Need For Speed, Haunt) and mysterious Daniel (JeremyIrvine; War Horse, Great Expectations). Tormented by strange visions, Luce begins to unravel the secrets of her past and finds she must choose where her feelings lie, pitting Heaven against Hell in an epic battle over true love.
Lauren Kate’s ‘Fallen’ series has repeatedly topped the New York Times Bestseller list since the first book was released in 2009 and has been published in more than 30 countries around the globe. The product of a truly global success story, FALLEN is the film the series’ legion of fans have been waiting for. Also starring Joely Richardson (TV’s Emerald City, Vampire Academy), FALLEN is a love letter to those fans and a love story for the ages.
How to enter to win
We have a DVD bundle to giveaway which includes Fallen, along with Sing Street, Get A Job, LOL and Nerve.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter below:
To celebrate the release of Urban Trial Freestyle 2 on Nintendo 3DS, we have 5 digital codes to give away.
Urban Trial Freestyle 2 brings back all the mad, stunt bike action seen in the original, this time exclusively to Nintendo 3DS, taking full advantage of touch screen technology to create the ultimate track editor that also allows players to share their creations online with friends. Create a race track that, let’s say, is completely made of hot dogs, send it to your friend to see if they can beat your times and wait eagerly for their mind to be blown.
How to enter to win
We have five digital codes for Urban Trial Freestyle 2 to give away.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to enter below:
Call of Duty returns to its World War II roots with Call of Duty: WWII, developed by Sledgehammer Games.
More details are incoming during the game’s Worldwide Reveal livestream on Wednesday, April 26 featuring Sledgehammer Games co-studio heads and founders Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield. Fans will be able to tune in to get a first look at Call of Duty: WWIIand get intel on the studio’s vision for the game.
Nostalgia has a habit of creating fond memories associated with some games that someone used to play growing up. It might be a title hailing all the way back to the early nineties or even one released in the age of online gaming. Regardless, it’s a powerful tool that many companies have been making efficient use of and the latest effort comes from Capcom in the form of The Disney Afternoon Collection.
Paradox Interactive today announced that the city builder Cities: Skylines is now available for Xbox One, bringing all its deep gameplay and unique charm to console players for the first time.
Newly optimized for play on a controller by Tantalus Media, the Xbox One Edition brings the creative management game to consoles along with Cities: Skylines – After Dark, the game’s nightlife-focused expansion. Xbox One players finally have the opportunity to experience the award-winning management game, available for purchase via disc (in European markets only) or download, starting today. Cities: Skylines – Xbox One Edition retails for £31.99 / $39.99 / €39.99
