Gov. Mike Parson escalated his war with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday when his political operation published a video doubling down on his attack against a reporter who informed the state that a state website revealed teacher Social Security numbers. From a report: The video is produced by Uniting Missouri, a political action committee created by Parson supporters to back his 2020 election campaign. The PAC continues to raise and spend large sums of money to promote Parson's political agenda. It operates without direct input from Parson on its activities.
"The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is purely playing politics," the ad states. "Exploiting personal information is a squalid excuse for journalism." The ad comes less than a week after Parson's widely criticized demand for an investigation and prosecution of the reporter who discovered the security flaw in a state website, along with "all those involved." Parson read a statement calling the reporter "a hacker" to reporters gathered outside his Missouri Capitol office last Thursday, then left without taking questions. John Hancock, chairman of Uniting Missouri, declined to discuss any specifics about the video.
If you walk into seemingly any corner shop in England and head to the refrigerators you’ll find rows upon rows of energy drinks. Vile cans with gaudy packaging and nonsensical extreme sports affiliates, loaded with so much sugar that even your teeth feel like they’re buzzing after a few gulps. One of the biggest brands is Monster, and you'll recognise its logo - three vertical claw marks, often in neon green against a black background - in countless places outside of corner shops, including motorsports events, the UFC, and in esports. It's also one of the only available beverages in the world of Death Stranding, and protagonist Sam Porter Bridges drinks gallons of it.
Given that the PS5-exclusive Death Stranding Director’s Cut ditches the Monster branding all together, it’d be nice to see an option on PC that lets us do the same.
There are cutscenes in Death Stranding that are punctuated by voyeuristic shots that linger on the glistening aluminium cans for what feels like an eternity. They're so on the nose that it might be more subtle to have Billy Mays shouting “buy now!” from a pop-up message.
Three JavaScript libraries uploaded to the official NPM package repository have been unmasked as crypto-mining malware, once again demonstrating how open-source software package repositories are becoming a lucrative target for executing an array of attacks on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.
The malicious packages in question — named okhsa, klow, and klown — were published by the same
It’s been a long road, but I think we’ve finally reached the part of the game where Morgan can finally begin having agency within the story. Up until now, Morgan has simply been opening doors so she could open the next so she could reach the next door. While this was going on, she was gradually learning the story of Talos-1. She knew all of this stuff at one point, but the neuromod stripping robbed her of the knowledge and context to make sense of things. Now that she’s opened up the station and Alex has promised to stop opposing her, she’s basically all caught up on current events and is now in a position where she can start making informed decisions about things beyond her immediate survival.
Actually, not quite. There’s one last piece to the puzzle.
Your Own Worst Enemy
Look Alex, if those potato-faced goofs in the cargo bay can show up for a face-to-face conversation, then you can too.
Alex invites Morgan to his office. Alex motivates her by offering his arming key. Morgan needs both arming keys – hers and Alex’s – to blow up the station. It’s very sporting of him to do this, since she had no means of obtaining it.
Morgan’s office is a spacious room with a large window overlooking the lobby. It’s impressive, but it’s basically a broom closet compared to the setup Alex has. Alex’s office is a lovely penthouse that sits high inside the domed Arboretum of Talos-1. Morgan has a nice window view of the reception area, while Alex has a friggin’ balcony that wraps all the way around this office / mansion, and which is surrounded by a vast sea of green. From up here you can see all the little people scurrying around below. Or you could, until they were all killed by the Typhon.
When Morgan arrives, she discovers that Alex is a no-show. He’s not ready to poke his head out just yet, just in case someone has some hard feelings about the whole “Death of 93% of the population of Talos-1” thing. Instead, he leaves her with another Looking Glass video. This one was recorded in the same location as the one we saw at the start of the game, where Morgan gave herself the job of blowing up the station. The difference is that Alex is present for this recording, and we’re seeing an even earlier version of Morgan.
Here Morgan demonstrates her Typhon-based superpowers by levitating the cart on the left. This scene makes it clear that Morgan bears at LEAST half the blame for what happened on the station before the Typhon broke containment.
I’ve already spoiled the Big Secret here, simply because it made the analysis easier. But this is where we learn that the story of Talos-1 isn’t a struggle between the virtuous and heroic Morgan vs. her cruel and duplicitous older brother. This is where the game makes it 100% clear – in case you missed the earlier clues – that this place was a team effort between Alex and Morgan.
(And later – if Morgan chooses to help Mikhaila Ilyushin and retrieve information about her father’s death – we can learn that not only was this place a collaboration between the Yu siblings, but that Morgan was the nastier of the two. Alex was in charge of lies and propaganda, while murder and unethical research was Morgan’s purview.)
In fact, this recording is Alex’s idea. He can see his sister is changing. Her personality is shifting. This, combined with the fact that her memory is constantly being wiped, creates a certain danger for Alex. He knows that one of these days Morgan might wake up and see him as an enemy. This recording is his way of avoiding that. If she ever turns on him, he can point her to this recording and show that she’s just as culpable as he is.
As he says when the recording ends, “All I’ve done is everything you asked.”
A More Empathetic Morgan
Yikes. I gotta say I HATE the look of hypodermic needles in this alternate timeline.
I’ve been glossing over it during this write-up, but you don’t have to play Morgan as the hero. You’re free to allow people to die. You can ignore Mikhaila Ilyushin’s sickness and refuse to fetch her medicine. Elsewhere you’ll encounter Dr. Dayo Igwe, trapped in a cargo container and quickly running out of air. You can help him reach safety, or you can ignore him and he’ll die in a few minutes.
Not only are you allowed to let people die through neglect, but you can take things one step further and outright murder people for giggles if that’s what you’re into. You’re free to play Morgan as a full-on psycho if you like.
But despite this freedom, I think the game designer intends – or at least expects – for you to go around acting in a more or less heroic fashion. Statistically, this is a pretty reasonable assumption. I don’t know about the Real World™, but in videogames people strongly favor taking the high road. 92% of all Mass Effect players went Paragon. While I wouldn’t take that 92% figure and attempt to smear it across all players and genres, I doubt anyone is surprised to find out that the masses choose heroic fantasy as their escapism of choice. If the Marvel movies have shown us anything, it’s that people enjoy worlds full of colorful heroes where the line between good and evil is nice and clear and the good guys always win in the end.
But a virtuous Morgan presents an interesting puzzle, thematically. We know that past-Morgan was a cold-blooded murderous jerkface. We know that her personality has drifted as a result of experimentation with technology based on the Typhon. We know the Typhon themselves are heartless and amoral.
Even before the game starts, Morgan has installed more neuromods than anyone else. And after the game starts? Hoo boy. I don’t know about your playstyle, but on my version of Talos-1, neuromod printer go BRRRRRRRRR.
So in a game where Morgan is heroic, it creates a bit of a mystery. Somehow Morgan’s repeated exposure to these uncaring aliens and their derived technology has resulted in a personality shift that turns the evil Morgan of the past into a self-sacrificing hero.
We don’t have to give the Typhon credit for making Morgan heroic, but then who does get the credit? What brought about this change? Was it the neuromods themselves? The constant memory-wipes?
Or perhaps we want to blame it on random chance? Perhaps if you were to try the same process again with a different test subject, you’d get all kinds of wacky outcomes. Heroic personality. Villainous. Sentimental. Whimsical. Eccentric. Megalomaniacal. Neurotic. Childish. Apathetic. Perhaps stripping out mods randomizes your personality a little bit, and we were just lucky that the dice-roll nudged her towards “hero” rather than “needy self-absorbed temperamental basket case”.
Or maybe this is yet another detail that needs to be explained away by the twist ending. I notice that idea is coming up a lot, which is possibly a bad sign. I dunno. We’ll get there when we get there.
Dayo Igwe
Igwe is supposed to be standing at a table, looking down at some papers or whatever. I think Mikhaila was roaming around the room and managed to shove him away from his workstation, and now he's looking down at empty space. Like I said earlier, the NPCs in this game are pretty jank.
Since I brought up Igwe, let’s talk about him. He provides an interesting counterpoint to Danielle Sho and ex-girlfriend Mikhaila Ilyushin.
Ms. Sho apparently hates the Yu siblings. Both of them. She’s hated them since long before the disaster, and despite the fact that she was never privy to their worst crimes. She hates and distrusts them so much that I often wondered why she stayed on the station. Money? Her career? She didn’t want to have to find a new roleplaying group? She doesn’t seem to be aware of Morgan’s Cerberus-style research program. I get the impression that if she ever caught a whiff of a rumor regarding Morgan’s hobbies, she’d lose her shit.
For contrast, Igwe does know all about the experiments in Psychotronics. He knows about the Typhon, the “volunteers”, and Morgan’s experiments. He knows where neuromods come from. He even seems to know about what happened to Mikhaila Ilyushin’s father. And he’s fine with all of it. Even after the station falls. Dayo Igwe remains #1 Yu fanboy. He seems to regard the fate of the human test subjects with a shrug. Meh. That’s just what you gotta do. No biggie.
Both Mikhaila and Igwe find themselves in time-sensitive predicaments where they’ll die without Morgan’s help. Mikhaila will die without her medicine, and Igwe will die if you don’t dock his cargo container with the station before he runs out of air. Rather than hanging out with the other survivors in Cargo bay, these two head for Morgan’s office and hang out there until the end of the game.
If you tell Mikhaila the truth about her father, then Igwe will actually attempt to justify Morgan’s actions to her. He tries to explain that it’s okay, because Papa Ilyushin “volunteered”. He does such an amazingly bad job of it that I wouldn’t blame Mikhaila if she shot him dead on the spot. Igwe’s unnflinching support of the Yus seems almost delusional.
So Danielle Sho hates Morgan. Dayo Igwe is a huge fan. Mikhaila Ilyushin regards Morgan with affection, but will turn on you if she finds out that Morgan killed her father. That’s interesting. We’ll have more to say about these three when we get to the ending.
Coral
Here is the Typhon's original cage, which they've filled with coral. Now that they've broken containment, this stuff is all over the station.
Alex promised us his arming key if we played along, but now he’s altering the deal. A bit.
I haven’t talked about it yet in this series, but the Weaver enemy type is in charge of building these glowing orange filaments all over the place. The crew has taken to calling this stuff “coral”. It runs down passageways, fills up rooms, passes through ductwork, and wraps itself around major structures. You can walk though it without being harmed, although your vision seems to blur a bit and there’s a soft tingling sound when you do so. The game doesn’t say what the coral feels like, but it’s clear it creates some sort of sensation when you touch it.
Since breaking containment, the Typhon have been very busy expanding the coral. It was confined to a few areas in Psychotronics at the start of the game, but since then it’s been growing at a steady rate. Every time we come back to the lobby we find the coral is a little bigger, a little denser, and a little more imposing. By the late game, the station itself is wrapped in coral.
Apparently, old-Morgan studied this coral and worked out that it consists of “mumble-jumble neurons mumble-bumble consciousness“. She didn’t know what it was for, but she did work out how to destroy it, because that’s just how old-Morgan did things. She called it the “Nullwave Device”, because old-Morgan was a classy lady and “Alien Genocider” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Well, the work isn’t quite done. There are still a few hanging decimal places in the calculations and we need to make sure this all balances out. Alex wants Morgan to go on a spacewalk around the station and scan a few more nodes of coral just to finish off the research and complete the Nullwave Device. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen? Just because the outside of the station has been sheathed in a glowing mass of alien brain matter in the space of a few hours doesn’t mean that you’re necessarily going to find yourself armpit-deep in Weavers and other high-tier foes out there!
Fun fact:Did you know that if a Technopath blasts you during a spacewalk that it will also disable your jetpack, effectively paralyzing you, on top of disabling your weapon and liquifying the fillings in your teeth? I don’t know why I brought that up. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.
After you do these scans, Alex will totally give you his arming key. For realsies this time.[1]
(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fan-made productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.)
In this edition, watch the recent trailer for "The Batman" from DC FanDome recreated with footage from "Batman: The Animated Series." Plus, watch as master magician David Copperfield breaks down magic scenes from movies like "Now You See Me" and "The Prestige." And finally, see how The Nerd from "Robot Chicken" gets a cinematic education from Martin Scorsese's "MasterClass" sessions.
The Batman Animated Trailer Remix
First up, Darth Blender dug through hours of footage from "Batman: The Animated Series" to recreate "The Batman" trailer that was recently unveiled at DC FanDome. It's kind of incredible how well this footage has been cut together to match up with every frame of the new trailer. It makes us even more excited for the adult animated fare that we'll be getting with "Batman: The Caped Crusader," coming soon to HBO Max.
David Copperfield Breaks Down Magic Scenes In Movies
First up, GQ brought in legendary magician and illusion master David Copperfield to break down and analyze magic scenes from Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige," the comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," the "Now You See Me" franchise, and even the TV series "Arrested Development." How accurately do these scenes reflect actual magic tricks? Are any of the actually possible in the real world? Hear what Copperfield has to say about all these films and more.
Martin Scorsese's Movie History MasterClass From Robot Chicken
Finally, Adult Swim's "Robot" parodied the "MasterClass" series with director Martin Scorsese by having the filmmaker take the recurring character The Nerd through film history. While The Nerd is hoping that Scorsese will explain his "heresy against the Marvel Cinematic Universe," what he gets is a much more eye-opening education of cinema through films like "Taxi Driver," "Psycho," "Bonnie and Clyde," and even "A Trip to the Moon."
If you haven't heard, the movie we've all been calling "Dune," based on the classic science-fiction novel by Frank Herbert, actually bills itself as "Dune Part One" when its title first appears onscreen. Director Denis Villeneuve originally wanted to film Part One and Part Two back to back, but that didn't happen, and over the last year, there's been some concern over whether or not moviegoers would ever get to see "Part Two" of "Dune."
While critically well-regarded, Villeneuve's last film, "Blade Runner 2049," was a commercial disappointment. The pandemic and the decision on the part of Warner Bros. to give all of its 2021 slate a simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max have furthermore thrown into question the commercial viability of a big-budget epic like "Dune."
In a new interview with Total Film, Villeneuve explained why he sees having "Part One" in the title as an essential part of the setup for "Dune," since the story is left half-finished by the end. He explained:
"For me it was necessary. ['Dune'] was always meant to be a two-part movie and it was always meant to have 'Part One' at the beginning because I feel like it would be misleading and dishonest to pretend that it's the whole story being told in a single movie. I wanted the audience to understand, right from the start, that they were about to see the first part of a bigger story."
Not Shooting Back To Back Was A Blessing In Disguise
Villeneuve further elaborated on why not shooting both parts of "Dune" back to back may have been a blessing in disguise for him:
"That's what my first idea was, to shoot them together. Then, like the Lord of the Rings, release one after the other, a year apart. But that was too expensive. And frankly, I'm grateful that it didn't happen as I wished because I would have been too exhausted. During the first one, I needed all my stamina – I needed all my energy. It would have been too much to do both back-to-back shooting in the desert. I learned so much [while filming] Part One that, if ever it happens, I can make a better movie with Part Two. And I'm grateful that it happened in this way. I prefer to be in this position right now than having shot both movies back-to-back and having regrets because I was too tired."
"Dune" opened abroad a week before its domestic debut, and anecdotally, I happened to see the film on a Wednesday evening, the sixth day of its release in Japan. Granted, it was a weeknight, and I was in an auditorium with slightly more expensive deluxe seats ... but I was literally the only person in that theater. Having a private screening where I could sit back and enjoy the thunderous Hans Zimmer score with a solid sound system was good news for me personally—a once-in-a-lifetime moviegoing experience I'll not soon forget. However, it might be bad news for the film's sustained international box office.
NVIDIA has unveiled its next-generation cloud gaming platform called GeForce Now RTX 3080 with "desktop-class latency" and 1440p gaming at up to 120 fps on PC or Mac. The service is powered by a new gaming supercomputer called the GeForce Now SuperPod and costs double the price of the current Priority tier.
The SuperPod is "the most powerful gaming supercomputer ever built," according to NVIDIA, delivering 39,200 TFLOPS, 11,477, 760 CUDA Cores and 8,960 CPU Cores. NVIDIA said it will provide an experience equivalent to 35 TFLOPs, or triple the Xbox Series X, roughly equal to a PC with an 8-core CPU, 28GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a PCI-GEN4 SSD.
NVIDIA
As such, you'll see 1440p gaming at up to 120fps on a Mac or PC, and even 4K HDR on a shield, though NVIDIA didn't mention the refresh rate for the latter. It'll also support 120 fps on mobile, "supporting next-gen 120Hz displays," the company said. By comparison, the GeForce Now Priority tier is limited to 1080p at 60 fps, with adaptive VSync available in the latest update.
It's also promising a "click-to-pixel" latency down to 56 milliseconds, thanks to tricks like adaptive sync that reduces buffering, supposedly beating other services and even local, dedicated PCs. However, that's based on a 15 millisecond round trip delay (RTD) to the GeForce Now data center, something that obviously depends on your internet provider and where you're located.
NVIDIA's claims aside, it's clearly a speed upgrade over the current GeForce Priority tier, whether you're on a mobile device or PC. There's a price to pay for that speed, though. The GeForce Now premium tier started at $50 per year and recently doubled to $100, which is already a pretty big ask. But the RTX 3080 tier is $100 for six months (around double the price) "in limited quantities," with Founders and priority early access starting today. If it lives up to the claims, it's cheaper than buying a new PC, in any case.
A new security weakness has been disclosed in the WinRAR trialware file archiver utility for Windows that could be abused by a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on targeted systems, underscoring how vulnerabilities in such software could beсome a gateway for a roster of attacks.
Tracked as CVE-2021-35052, the bug impacts the trial version of the software running version 5.70. "This
The underwater volcano Fukutoku-Okanoba, located about 800 miles south of Tokyo, erupted on August 13. Two months later, researchers from the Comprehensive Volcano Research Center of the National Institute of Earth Sciences and Disaster Prevention of Japan have found that the eruption has caused a new island to form on the surface of the sea, according to the Smithsonian Institution. — Read the rest
Facebook's Oversight Board has issued a rebuke to the company in a new quarterly report, claiming it was not "fully forthcoming" about its XCheck program for VIP users. The documents shows the limits of the board's power over Facebook, but also its ability to potentially apply public pressure.
"When Facebook referred the case related to former US President Trump to the Board, it did not mention the cross-check system," according to the report. "Given that the referral included a specific policy question about account-level enforcement for political leaders, many of whom the Board believes were covered by cross-check, this omission is not acceptable."
The Oversight Board, sometimes called Facebook's "Supreme Court," started issuing important rulings earlier this year. One of its first major rulings was that the ban of ex-President Donald Trump was "appropriate," though it said an indefinite suspension was outside of Facebook's power.
In the Board’s view, the team within Facebook tasked with providing information has not been fully forthcoming on cross-check. On some occasions, Facebook failed to provide relevant information to the Board, while in other instances, the information it did provide was incomplete.
Last month, the board asked Facebook to explain its controversial rules for VIPs, saying that the information was key to its Trump decision. Facebook originally told the board that the XCheck program only applied to a "small number of decisions," but later admitted that statement was misleading. The board also said that Facebook provided "no meaningful transparency" on how it determines which accounts should be included in XCheck.
An investigative report last month from the Wall Street Journal, with information coming from a whistleblower later revealed to be former Facebook employee Frances Haugen, showed that the program has actually enabled millions of high-profile users to skirt its rules.
The report also addressed the board's own performance and whether Facebook is following its recommendations. It said it took on average 74 days to decide and implement each case, and only handled a fraction that came up. In total, it has taken on 20 important cases "covering topics from hate speech to COVID-19 misinformation" and ruled on 17 of them, overturning Facebook's decisions eight times. It made 52 recommendations to Facebook, which has not agreed to implement all of them.
Facebook is facing a major fallout in Washington over the Frances Haugen document leak. Earlier this year, it promised to "fully implement" the Oversight Board's recommendations and explain the rationale, standards and review process of its VIP program.
According to the new report, however, Facebook is not following its own plan so far. The board, meanwhile, has been criticized for allowing Facebook to duck blame for key decisions, while having no authority to force Facebook to comply with its own decisions.
However, the board said that today it accepted a request from Facebook to review the XCheck program and make recommendations. Facebook is apparently looking for guidance on how to ensure fairness and objectivity, govern the program and make recommendations on how it can be changed. As part of that, the Oversight Board plans to issue a call for public comments "which we will launch in the coming days."
(Welcome toWill There Be Another Season?, a series where we answer that question and explore what comes next.)
"Panic" arrived on Amazon Prime Video earlier this year, making its debut on the streaming service back in May. For those who took the time to stream it and enjoy it, they may be wondering what the status of the show is, in particular, whether or not we're getting a second season and when we might be able to expect such a thing. Not to pour cold water on the situation right out of the gate here, but fans should not hold their breath when it comes to "Panic" season 2. But we're here to go over what's going on and what we know about a potential second season of the series.
Here is what we know about "Panic" season 2 so far.
What Is Panic?
"Panic" is a one-hour drama series that debuted on Amazon Prime Video earlier this year. The show was created by Lauren Oliver, based on her novel series. The core cast includes the likes of Olivia Welch, Mike Faist, Jessica Sula, Camron Jones, Ray Nicholson, and Enrique Murciano. As a refresher, here is the show's official synopsis:
It takes place in a small Texas town, where every summer the graduating seniors compete in a series of challenges, winner takes all, which they believe is their one and only chance to escape their circumstances and make their lives better. But this year, the rules have changed — the pot of money is larger than ever and the game has become even more dangerous. The players will come face to face with their deepest, darkest fears and be forced to decide how much they are willing to risk in order to win. The Amazon Original series Panic will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories.
Panic Was Already Canceled
And here we get to the bad news for fans of the show. As was reported back in August by Deadline, "Panic" was canceled by Amazon after just one season. Per the report at the time, it is said that the show did not connect with fans on the level that other such YA shows like "The Wilds" did. Also, since the first season told a relatively contained story, the company didn't feel they were leaving fans hanging.
For whatever it may be worth, Lauren Oliver did speak with ET shortly after the first season concluded. She indicated that they had enough material for a sophomore run, and hinted, vaguely, where the story might go:
"We definitely have enough material. I definitely think it's really important for characters to not walk back on character arcs, I think that's really important. A lot things happen over the course of the season and there's a character who doesn't fare so well, and there will certainly be ramifications for that. There's a whole new class of kids who expect to be able to play the game and they've waited their whole lives to play the game. Who knows whether we'll get a season 2. We really hope so and if so, we're more than fine on material."
Why Aren't We Getting A Second Season?
For streaming services, it all comes down to how many people watch a show compared to what it costs to produce. It's all about bringing enough value, in terms of subscribers, against the cost to bring the show to life. It's not quite so simple as ratings for network TV shows, but it does ultimately come down to dollars against viewership. In the case of "Panic," it was liked well enough critically, boasting a 65 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, along with a very solid 80 percent audience rating.
Given that Lauren Oliver indicated they had material for season 2, it seems pretty cut and dry here. Amazon felt that the show did not bring in enough viewers to justify the cost. Unfortunately, that is just the way these things go sometimes. In some cases, these shows can be revived elsewhere, but there has been absolutely no indication of that being explored in this case. Sad to say for those who enjoyed what YA delights this show had to offer, but this one does appear to be one-and-done.
When Windows 11 launched a couple of weeks ago, there were a few notable issues with the new version of the OS. Two, in particular, got the most attention, which affected AMD processors specifically. One decreased the performance of the L3 cache in AMD processors, and the other affected the “preferred core” feature of those CPUs. Today, fixes for both issues are available to the general public, with AMD releasing a brand new fix for the preferred core issue on Windows 11.
Typically, processors can detect which is the best core currently available and assign a thread to it. While the different cores in a CPU are meant to be identical, there are always slight variations, and this feature, called “preferred core”, allowed CPUs to choose the best-performing cores for any given task. After the Windows 11 update, AMD processors could no longer use the preferred core feature, and instead assigned tasks to random cores, which could result in slightly lower performance for tasks that only use one or a few cores.
With the new AMD Ryzen chipset driver update, which is version 3.10.08.506, this problem should now be fixed, and threads should once again be assigned to the appropriate core. While the driver update is mostly targeting Windows 11, you can still install it on Windows 10 if you want to. To see if you have it installed, you can check the Apps & features page in the Windows 11 Settings app. You should see a listing for AMD Chipset Software 3.10.08.506, indicating that you have the latest version. You can download the updated driver here.
As for the L3 cache problem, it was simply a matter of increased latency when accessing the cache built into AMD processors. While a fix was made available to Windows Insiders last week, you can now download it manually and install it on the stable Windows 11 release. The update is labeled KB5006746, and it changes the build number to 22000.282, the same build Windows Insiders got. You can download the update manually here, or check the list of optional updates on your Windows 11 PC. The update will also be included in next month’s Patch Tuesday update, which is mandatory.
There have been a few more issues found in Windows 11 since it launched, including one that may cause Windows 11 to ask users for administrator privileges when attempting to print anything on a print server. Alongside the fix for the L3 cache issue on AMD processors, last week’s update for Windows Insiders in the Beta channel included many more fixes, but that particular problem has yet to be solved.
Update: This article has been updated to include the fix for the L3 cache issue, which is also available to everyone now.
T-Mobile’s Keep & Switch promotion is getting yet another upgrade, and now you can get up to $1,000 per line to pay off your phone when you switch from AT&T or Verizon.
Starting October 22nd, T-Mobile will offer an increased value to their Keep & Switch promotion.
Keep & Switch allows customers to join T-Mobile from a competitor and keep their existing device. Those customers can then bring in their bill from their old carrier or submit it online and get a rebate to offset the cost of paying off their existing phone. T-Mobile will then send a rebate in the form of a virtual prepaid MasterCard card via email for the cost of the device payoff, up to $1,000. The rebate typically takes about 15 days to arrive once service has started.
All of T-Mobile’s current plan offerings are eligible, from Essentials to Magenta MAX and even the discounted plans like First Responder and 55+. It’s a great deal for anyone considering switching carriers but that doesn’t want to eat the cost of paying off their phones.
Originally only AT&T and Verizon were eligible for the promotion, but that list has expanded to include Spectrum, Xfinity, US Cellular, Claro, and Boost.
Only select devices, listed below, are currently eligible for the promotion:
Apple iPhone: 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, SE (2020) 12 Mini, 12, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max
Switch to T-Mobile
We’ll pay off your phone up to $1000
Switch and keep your eligible phone, we’ll even pay it off up to $1,000 via virtual prepaid Mastercard when you switch to T-Mobile.
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Throwback Thursday is our new series where we want to put a spotlight on the beloved classic games. Each week, we will be picking a classic game or a series to revive your memories or to introduce you to those titles. Each game will receive a recommendation from one of us, the people who work here at GOG. We would also like to invite you to the discussion in the comments – let us know if you still love (or maybe not) these titles of yesteryear.
The Throwback Thursday series is done in cooperation with The Video Game History Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating and teaching the history of video games. The foundation is built by passionate people who share the same love of classics as you and we do. They will be helping us to pick the games and recommend them to you. We may have a surprise or two coming for you as well.
If you like what The Video Game History Foundation does for games preservation and want to support them, we encourage you to check their donation page.
Since this is the first Throwback Thursday, we’ve decided to launch it with a bang and prepared not one, but 6 recommendations of games from Ziggurat Interactive – you can check their entire catalog currently on sale.
I'm a sucker for superhero parody, and I'm also a sucker for 90s point-and-click adventure games, so this is a hard one for me to resist. On top of that, the game is designed by Steve Meretzky, an absolute legend. The only thing holding this one back is a bit of interface and design awkwardness due to its age (you might want to have a walkthrough on standby), but I don't think that's going to be a problem for most GOG players!
The American Cheese of video games! This is a perfect encapsulation of the era of Japanese creators making games to appeal to American 80s action movie fans, and it's so over the top that you can pretend like it's a parody. What was with our obsession with ninjas back then, anyway?
A Boy and His Blob Recommended by Frank Cifaldi from The Video Game History Foundation
This is a lovely little lazy afternoon game, a low-stress puzzle platformer with relaxing music. And did I mention the gorgeous 2D animation, by the masters at Wayforward? It's so chill that there's even a dedicated hug button for hugging your little blob friend. Does the hug button actually do anything to affect the gameplay? I don't think so, but I think that's the point.
Battle Engine Aquila Recommended by Matthias, Customer Support Representative at GOG
As a kid, I once in a while passed by an electronics store where one could briefly play Battle Engine Aquila on a console. The battles with huge numbers of enemies and allies, plus the ability to shift with one button from ground to air combat, weren't something I've ever seen in another game before and instantly captivated me! After that, I haven't touched Battle Engine Aquila for more than 18 years but just recently I finally experienced the full game... and it plays as I remembered! The battle atmosphere and fast pace ground&air combat are still great fun today!
Uprising: Join or Die Recommended by Matthias, Customer Support Representative at GOG
Uprising: Join or Die has a similar "in the midst"-feeling like Battle Engine Aquila and is a unique mix of vehicle shooter and strategy game. You feel like a true commander when ordering units, requesting bombing runs and fighting yourself at the same time. Additionally, you can upgrade your battle tank and combat units after every level which offers great replay value and another strategic component. It's a truly beautiful game which is well worth your attention!
Darklands Recommended by Judas, Technical Customer Support Specialist at GOG
If you're looking for an RPG that is different from the usual Dungeons & Dragons fare from the early 1990s then look no further. Set in medieval Germany, Darklands offers real-time combat with a pause and an interesting magic system that uses the power of prayer and alchemy. Break apart witch covens, perform quests for the Hanseatic League, and free people from the oppressive rule of various Raubritters (robber barons).
Have you played those games? Share your memories with the whole community in the comments.
Denis Villeneuve's Dune opens today after drawing in about $130m in Europe and at select theaters in the U.S.—an impressive haul for movie yet to go into general release in the U.S., Britain and China. But it'll need to more than double that to be considered a success, given the $170m production budget and the cost of two marketing campaigns incurred by a yearlong pandemic delay. — Read the rest
A rootkit named FiveSys is able to evade detection and slip unnoticed onto Windows users’ systems courtesy of a Microsoft-issued digital signature, according to security researchers with Bitdefender.
As someone who spent most of their college years staring into the void known as Youtube, I distinctly remember following along with Crypt TV. There would always be a new short film featuring a new and fascinating monster or concept. Little did any of us know that years later, Crypt TV would be expanding upon their own creative IP gradually. FIrst within their own Youtube page. Then, with the expansion of “The Birch” via episodes on Facebook. Now, Crypt TV has partnered with Peacock to deliver to us a full-length YA-focused series based on two of their original shorts, “The Door in the Woods” and “The Girl in the Woods,” with the series taking its name from the latter short. While THE GIRL IN THE WOODS series struggles to find its footing in the beginning, it eventually finds its stride.
THE GIRL IN THE WOODS stars Stefanie Scott as Carrie, Misha Osherovich as Nolan, Sofia Bryant as Tasha, Will Yun Lee as Arthur Dean, Kylie Liya Page as Sara, Reed Diamond as Hosea, and Leonard Roberts as Khalil. Krysten Ritter (“Jessica Jones”) directed the first four episodes, including the pilot and Jacob Chase (“Come Play”) directed the last four episodes. Jane Casey Modderno (“The Birch”) serves as head writer. THE GIRL IN THE WOODS was written by an all-woman writing team.
In the first season of the YA supernatural drama, THE GIRL IN THE WOODS, viewers meet Carrie, who has run away from an arguably sus community that gives off dystopian vibes ala The Giver. Fans of the short films that came before will realize straight away what is behind the door that Carrie has escaped from. She finds her way to a sleeping mining town just a little ways away, where she encounters Tasha and Nolan. It’s not long before a friendship is developed, especially when it is revealed that something has escaped with Carrie. While Tasha and Nolan find Carrie to be unreliable and justifiably sus, too many coincidences start lining up to support the statements she has made to them about who she is and what she does. However, after abandoning the door, Carrie has hell to pay and then some.
The premise itself of a guardian to protect all of mankind from the monsters that lurk in the shadows isn’t new. There are a variety of genre stories that follow this particular pattern, especially with a female-presenting character at the helm. That said, there are elements of the series that help it stand out, even if just a teeny bit. The idea of sacrifice and how we can justify the pain that comes with sacrifice is a strong throughline for the character Carrie. Seeing how the pain of sacrifice is explored in a younger character, especially one battling with PTSD from the things she’s experienced, is a smart decision. Though, because I had seen the original two shorts, I did have a moment wondering if the emotional gut punches would hit a bit harder if they aged down the trio a smidge. However, the Carrie we see in those shorts is not the same Carrie we see in THE GIRL IN THE WOODS. This is a new version and the decisions made in the series properly reflect that.
(l-r) Sofia Bryant, Misha Osherovich, Stefanie Scott (Photo by: Scott Green/Peacock)
What truly helps keep the series from sinking, though, is the natural chemistry between the core trio of characters. While Stefanie Scott‘s Carrie starts off as a guarded, traumatized woman, the vulnerability she shows throughout the series feels earned. Especially in her more intimate moments with Sofia Bryant‘s Tasha. The exploration of Carrie’s relationship with Will Yun Lee’s Arthur Dean is also a strong point for her as we get to see how their trials have shaped the two characters and their relationship. Misha Osherovich is dynamite. They easily draw the focus onscreen, bringing Modderno’s multifaceted character to life easily. There’s a certain episode where Osherovich’s Nolan will break your heart and it is in large part due to their performance and Jacob Chase’s direction in that episode.
I do want to dedicate a section to the below-the-line crafts as this is a series that provides plenty to focus on there. Because of how heavily action-focused THE GIRL IN THE WOODS is, the stunts department deserves all the kudos. The fighting scenes where we learn more about Carrie and her community, in particular, are very well done. The costume designs created by Erin Aldrige Orr (and supervised by Dionne Barena and tailored by Savannah Kay Gordon) are most noticeable in that opening episode, creating that visual divide between Carrie and her people and the townspeople just nearby. While the costume design does lean more dystopian-esque for the cult community, it is something that is acknowledged as distinctive within the universe of the show, which aids in grounding the design a bit more. Of course, what would a Crypt TV project be without acknowledging the FX and creature designs? The Brute makes a re-appearance and it is still just as concerning as ever. The other creatures introduced in this series are also a mixture of scary and deceptive, with The Hypnotist creature drawing focus super early on with its distinctive design. Shout out to all involved here!
Overall, THE GIRL IN THE WOODS is a bit of a mixed bag. The first couple of episodes do start off a bit rough, with the writing bearing the full weight of that responsibility. At times, the dialogue is clunky and Scott’s Carrie bears the brunt of the awkward dialogue choices written into the script. That all said, the performances delivered by the cast, especially the core trio are strong. Misha Osherovich, in particular, stands out, providing nuance and that connectivity needed to make us just want to give them a hug. The below the line crafts are strong as well in this, with the stunts, costume design, and FX design drawing the most notice from this critic. Keeping in mind that this series is geared more towards young adults, I would say go into this series cautiously. It’s not a perfect expansion of Crypt TV’s IP, but it does entertain if you can look past its more obvious flaws.
All eight episodes of THE GIRL IN THE WOODS are now available on Peacock.
If you woke up this morning and got yourself a gun, you might be interested in this news: a "Sopranos" prequel TV series might be on the way. Earlier this month we learned that "Sopranos" creator David Chase had signed a new deal with HBO, which immediately lead to speculation regarding some sort of "Sopranos" revival following the recent "Sopranos" prequel movie "The Many Saints of Newark." Now it looks like that speculation was warranted, because Ann Sarnoff, CEO, Studios and Networks, WarnerMedia, has revealed that there are currently talks with Chase for some sort of "Sopranos"-related show. There's also a chance that the project could turn into another movie instead of a series, but no final decision has been made yet. Chase previously said that if he returned to the "Sopranos" world again after "Many Saints" he'd like to focus on Tony Soprano in his 20s. And Michael Gandolfini, who played young Tony in "The Many Saints of Newark," has expressed interest in reprising the role again.
An Entirely New Life
While "The Many Saints of Newark" was a box office disappointment, the film did much better streaming on HBO Max. It also rekindled interest in "The Sopranos," so much so that HBO wants more. According to Deadline, WarnerMedia is in talks with David Chase for some sort of new "Sopranos" project. "We're talking to ['Sopranos' creator] David [Chase] about a new series, 'Sopranos' related, on HBO Max," said Ann Sarnoff, CEO, Studios and Networks, WarnerMedia. Sarnoff added:
"You see The Sopranos pop into the top ten of viewed series on the service and it's given it an entirely new life. It's literally lifted all of The Sopranos franchise in a new way. You can't measure just by the box office."
Sarnoff didn't go into details about what this new "Sopranos" project might be – a sequel series or another prequel. There's also still talk about whether this project will be a movie or a film. But David Chase's past comments give us a pretty clear indication about what he would want to do: another prequel about young Tony Soprano.
Tony In His 20s
When asked if he would make another "Sopranos" project following "The Many Saints of Newark," David Chase said: ""There's only one way that I would do it, and that was if ['Sopranos' writer] Terry [Winter] and I could write the script together. That I would do," and added:
"With Tony in his 20s. That would be interesting to do, and there's a lot of stories that exist already because of the mythology, and working with Terry would be great. He and I in that world again, I think we'd have a good time. I wouldn't do it on my own, and I would not do it with anybody else. If Warners wanted it, they own it, they can do whatever they want."
And, luckily, there's already a young Tony Soprano at the ready. Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini, took on the younger incarnation of his father's famous character in "The Many Saints of Newark," and he did a damn good job. On top of that, Gandonfili said he'd be willing to play the part again:
"This is such an incredible character and incredible group of actors and incredible filmmakers that I learned so much. This is going to jump to the priority to get to work with David [Chase] or anyone again. But I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony. I think if there's an interesting part after this movie, before the show, that we can explore something about Tony that hasn't been explored, in his youth, in his 20s. After that, we're getting a little too old."
While I'm a proponent of letting things end and not beating a dead horse, I quite enjoyed "The Many Saints of Newark," and would be interested in seeing the younger Gandolfini play Tony again. Stay tuned for more info as it comes our way
Apple did not specify the SD card reader’s data transfer speeds on the 2021 MacBook Pro. While creative professionals and content creators will breathe a sigh of relief that this addition is present in the first place, it is also essential to find out how quickly you can transfer data between the SD card and the MacBook Pro. Sadly, none of the latest portable Macs support the UHS-III or SD Express standard, which may disappoint a ton of customers.
All 2021 MacBook Pro Models Support the UHS-II Standard, Which Tops out at 312MB/s
While it is strange that Apple did not list the SD card reader’s specifications for the 2021 MacBook Pro, all it takes is a little digging around, and we will have our answers. According to The Verge’s deputy editor Dan Seifert, both the 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch MacBook Pro models support the UHS-II standard, not the faster UHS-III or SD Express one. This means that data transfer speeds will top out at 312MB/s, which is still decent as you are getting near-SATA III SSD transfer speeds.
However, keep in mind that to experience such transfer speeds, you will also have to purchase UHS-II SD cards and not the older ones. Sure, the 2021 MacBook Pro’s SD card reader is backwards compatible, but do not expect high data transfer speeds from them. It is a convenient little addition and prevents the need for extra dongles, but if you want to transfer a bunch a high capacity files in the shortest time possible, you will have to take advantage of those Thunderbolt 4 ports, which again, will require you to adopt the dongle life.
Apple has confirmed to us that the SD card slot in the new MacBook Pro 14/16 is UHS-II (over 300Mbps). Not as forward looking as UHS-III (over 600Mbps) would be, but thank god it's not UHS-I (about 100Mbps) . https://t.co/MN1ZCLyC4T
In case you forgot, the 2021 MacBook Pro models also support microSD cards, but to get them working, you will have to first fit them in an SD card adapter, then plug them in the reader. If you are still bummed out about seeing a slower UHS-II card reader on the latest MacBook Pro line, bear in mind that there are pricey Windows 10 laptops that continue to ship with just a UHS-I supported SD card reader, which can only reach transfer speeds of up to 100MB/s.
Then again, do you feel Apple should have added the faster UHS-III or SD Express card reader? Tell us down in the comments.
CPU coolers, as the name suggests, are designed to handle a CPU’s thermal output and keep it running cool at all times. They’re critical to avoid thermal throttling and help your CPU achieve its full potential. Not having the right cooler can also be a limiting factor when it comes to overclocking the CPU. We believe picking the right CPU cooler is just as important as, say, choosing the best PC case, best SSD, or any other core component of a PC build.
CPU coolers come in dozens of shapes and sizes, and they all fall into one of three main categories:
Air coolers
Closed-loop or all-in-one (AIO) coolers
Part of a custom or open-loop cooling setup
Air coolers and closed-loop liquid cooling solutions will be our primary focus for this collection. We’ll top it off with a custom cooling kit for those who want to dip their toes in the liquid cooling world. Here’s a quick look at our picks for the best CPU coolers to buy:
Before we dive in and take a detailed look at each item, we wanted to highlight a few things to keep in mind before buying a CPU cooler :
Contrary to popular belief, buying an aftermarket CPU cooler isn’t a necessity — unless your CPU manufacturer didn’t include one in the box of course. For most people, the best CPU cooler might just be the stock cooler included in the box. Perhaps use the money for other peripherals like monitors, keyboards, webcam, etc.
It’s important to check for space before buying air coolers. Some of the coolers included in our collection demand a lot of space and clearance in your motherboard and PC case. Make sure your case is ready for your purchase.
Air coolers will be ineffective without proper airflow inside your PC case. Make sure it has enough vents and fans to move air in and out of the enclosure.
Not all PC cases are ideal for AIO liquid coolers due to the lack of proper radiator mounting options.
While AMD has confirmed that you can use the same CPU coolers with its upcoming AM5 platform, Intel’s Alder Lake processors will make you install a new cooler mount.
Lastly, a sophisticated cooling system requires a lot of space for things like radiators, pumps, coolant reservoirs, tubes, etc. We recommend only full-tower cases for such installations.
It’s no secret that Noctua makes some of the most sought-after air coolers on the market. Their flagship product NH-D15 is our pick for the best air cooler you can buy for your CPU. It’s the successor to Noctua’s award-winning D14, and there’s a lot to like about this beast of a cooler. Even without any RGB lights or flashy colors, the Noctua NH-D15 would still be the most striking component of your PC due to its sheer size. This massive cooler has six heat pipes attached to the heatsinks. The cooler’s dual tower design allows it to have two 140mm fans in between for optimum airflow.
The NH-D15 has a wide 150mm fin-stack and there’s enough space between the heat pipes to allow uniform heat distribution. The cooler also comes with two NF-A15 140mm fans for both heatsinks. These fans support PWM for convenient automatic speed control and Low-Noise Adaptors (L.N.A.) for quiet operation. In addition to moving air from the heatsink, these massive fans also provide good airflow over surrounding components.
It’s recommended that you pair this CPU cooler with a good quality airflow case for the best results. Not having optimum airflow will prevent the hot air to escape the enclosure. This is true for all air coolers since there are no tubes, coolant, or radiators involved to move the heat away from the CPU. The Noctua NH-D15 supports a variety of sockets ranging from Intel LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA2011, LGA2066, and AMD AM4, AM3(+), AM2(+), FM1, FM2(+). The cooler also comes with thermal paste for installation. If you need any help, you check out our essay on how to install thermal paste.
What’s impressive about the Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler is it runs quiet even when the CPU is under load. Its massive size makes it look like it’ll make a lot of noise handling high temperatures, but that’s simply not the case. In fact, we think it’s one of the best air coolers if you want something that makes less noise. Most other air coolers tend to make a lot of noise with the fans rotating at high speeds under load. If you aren’t a fan of liquid cooling or don’t have enough radiator mounts in your PC case, then the Noctua NH-D15 is the way to go.
Noctua also makes an all-black version of this air cooler called the “NH-D15 chromax.black”. It’s perfect to cool the CPU in an all-black build to maintain the aesthetics. The only drawback of this case is that it demands a lot of space inside your case. As a result, the RAM clearance takes a hit and you’ll be forced to use the standard low-profile DIMMs. Noctua addressed that with a different version of the CPU cooler called the NH-D15S. It has an asymmetrical layout with only a single fan and it offers more clearance for RAM (up to 65mm). It’s also good for LGA20xx in which the RAM slots are distributed on both sides of the socket.
Second best air cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition
Our second pick for the best CPU air cooler is a budget option for those who don’t want to spend close to $100 on the Noctua NH-D15. The Cooler Master Hype 212 Black Edition is a $35 CPU cooler that trades blows with some of the best coolers out there. Cooler Master’s Hyper 212 cooler has been around for well over a decade now. These coolers have been a part of recommended lists for many years and yet Cooler Master somehow manages to update them in meaningful to keep them relevant. The Hyper 212 Black Edition brings all the expertise from some of the older coolers in the form of a stealthy black-colored variant.
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition cooler features four direct contact heat pipes, an aluminum heatsink, and a 120mm high airflow fan. It’s has a fairly straightforward design to efficiently carry the heat from the CPU IHS. The included PWM fan has a maximum RPM of 2,000. Cooler Master says it has 42CFM airflow and makes up to 26 dBA noise under heavy load at max RPM. It’s a simple air cooler that supports a variety of sockets including LGA2066, LGA2011-v3, LGA2011, LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA1366, AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, and FM1. As you can see, it’s made to be used with a wide variety of CPUs on the market.
The Hyper 212 Black Edition may not the most powerful CPU cooler out there. However, it’s proven to be better than the stock CPU coolers which is why we recommend it as a good entry-point for most people. Even the AMD users rocking a stock Wraith cooler can upgrade to this for better cooling. One of the best things about the Hyper 212 Black Edition cooler is its size. It’s not a massive unit with a huge heatsink and a bunch of fans. The simple design also makes it very easy to install on the motherboard. You don’t have to be a professional PC builder or an enthusiast to install this cooler. The Hyper 212 is also compact enough to keep its distance from other components like RAM.
We think the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition is a fantastic air cooler for anybody who’s looking to ditch the stock CPU cooler. It may not be enough for a high-performance unlocked CPU running at upwards of 5.0GHz at all times, but it’s a solid option for users with a basic budget build. There’s also a variant with RGB lights if you want a touch of RGB in your build. In fact, Cooler Master has a few variants of the Hyper 212 with subtle differences in design. It’s the most affordable cooler in our collection, and we’re yet to find a worthy replacement for it. You can use the same cooler with the new AM5 platform and Cooler Master will most likely launch an adapter to support the upcoming Alder Lake CPUs too.
If you prefer an AIO liquid cooler over an air cooler, then we recommend the Cooler Master’s new MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion. It’s our pick for the best closed-loop liquid cooler on the market right now. It offers excellent cooling performance, making it a reliable cooler to tame the high-performance unlocked processors. Be it the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X or an Intel Core i9-11900K, this should do the trick. It features a large 360mm radiator which allows for an even distribution of the coolant inside the tank. It also looks fantastic thanks to the translucent water chamber dome and three MF120R ARGB fans. This is one of the new few AIOs on the market with a translucent water block.
We hope your PC case has decent radiator mounting space because this liquid cooler comes with a 360mm radiator (hence the name ML360). Even though the cooler is bundled with 3 aRGB fans, you can use any 120mm fans for the radiator. The PWM fans included with the cooler have a maximum RPM of 1,800. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion uses a dual-chamber pump. It helps to keep both the temperatures as well the noise levels low. The cooler supports LGA2066, LGA2011-v3, LGA2011, LGA1200, LGA115x, AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, and FM1 sockets. This can also be used with the upcoming AM5 platforms and we believe the company will also have adapters to support Alder Lake CPUs.
The MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion is a tried-and-tested AIO with consistent cooling performance. It’s one of the top-performing CPU coolers on the market right now and it goes head-to-head with other AIOs like the NZXT Kraken X72 and the Corsair H150i Pro. Cooler Master also has another variant called the MasterLiquid ML240 with a smaller 240mm radiator. We recommend opting for that if your PC case doesn’t have space for mounting a large 360mm one. In fact, the smaller 240mm variant is perfect for mini-ITX builds with limited space. You can also buy a compact version of the cooler with just a 120mm radiator, however, that’s not going to be enough to cool high-performance CPUs.
The ML360 is also bundled with an addressable Gen 2 RGB controller that works with Cooler Master’s MasterPlus+ software to help you customize the lights. However, it involves fiddling with a lot of cables, making it difficult to work with compared to other coolers. While the MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion isn’t the most affordable CPU cooler on the market, we think it’s perfect for power users, gamers, and overclocking enthusiasts looking to push the limits of their CPUs. The MasterLiquid ML240, as we mentioned earlier, is also a solid option if you don’t mind working with a smaller radiator. Corsair also has some quality AIO coolers on offer, however, they’re slightly more expensive than other options in this collection.
NZXT’s catalog of AIO liquid coolers includes a bunch of options in the form of the Kraken Z, Kraken X, and Kraken M series. While the Kraken Z series coolers are the most popular ones, we’ve picked the Kraken X53 AIO as the second-best liquid CPU cooler you can currently buy. This isn’t as expensive as the Kraken Z series coolers, and it only lacks the display on the water block. The cooling performance should more or less be similar to NZXT’s other 240mm AIOs. This AIO comes with a 240mm radiator coupled with two 120mm Aer P fans to blow the heat out of the case.
The water block is made out of copper and plastic, and it features a rotatable top to re-orient the logo. The rubber tubes are covered with nylon mesh sleeves to protect the component from any accidental leaks. It’s compatible with LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA1366, LGA2011, LGA2011-3, LGA2066, AM4, AM3, sTRX4, and TR4. The Kraken X53 can be used with almost all the relatively newer CPUs on the market, but we don’t recommend using it if you plan on overclocking your CPU. The 240mm radiator isn’t going to be enough to control the thermal output of high-performance CPUs, especially the overclocked ones.
The water block is the only component of the Kraken X53 with RGB lights. The included fans don’t have RGB, but you can use any 120mm fans with the radiator. NZXT itself has a bunch of RGB fans that are compatible with this AIO cooler. The Kraken x53 syncs with the NZXT CAM software to let you control the RGB lights. A fully decked-out NZXT build with, say, an NZXT case, fans, etc. will work well together and they can be controlled easily via the CAM software. NZXT users have mixed opinions about the CAM software, but it’s a fairly easy to use software and most importantly, it gets the job done.
The Kraken X53 is NZXT’s most affordable X-series AIO, but it delivers reliable performance. Just to reiterate, we don’t recommend this AIO for cooling a high-performance unlocked processor like the Core i9-11900K, though. This 240mm AIO should be enough to handle the thermal output of, say, Intel’s Core i5 or the Ryzen 5600X CPU. It’s safe to say that this AIO should be able to handle just about low to mid-tier CPUs on the market right now.
NZXT also has other AIO liquid coolers under the Z-series. These coolers have an LCD display on the water block that can be customized to show many things including the CPU temperature. The Kraken Z73 is also a great cooler, albeit a bit expensive. NZXT coolers are best paired with the company’s own PC cases to maintain the overall aesthetics of the build, but they can be installed on pretty much any case with enough for the radiator. NZXT hasn’t launched any new CPU coolers in a while, so you might want to wait and see if they come up with something new just in time for the holiday season.
A high-end CPU requires some sort of a powerful cooling solution involving either fans or a liquid cooling loop that make a lot of noise. But Noctua wants to remove the noise from that equation with its NH-P1 passive CPU cooler. A passive cooler, in case you don’t know, solely relies on the heatsink to move heat away from the CPU IHS. The lack of any fans or a liquid cooling loop makes it completely silent. Passive CPU coolers have been around for quite some time, however, the older ones were extremely limited when it comes to their cooling capability.
But unlike the older passive cooling solutions that’d force you to use an underpowered processor or limited clock speeds, Noctua’s passive cooler is good enough to cool an Intel Core i9-11900K. Passively cooling your CPU is not for everyone though. Noctua has a set of setup guidelines and a CPU compatibility list to help you prepare a build involving the cooler. The company also has a list of recommended cases for you to choose from. The cooler is compatible with all modern CPU sockets and it also has 100 percent RAM clearance on LGA1200 and AM4. This makes it even better than the NH-D15 in terms of RAM clearance.
Passively cooling an Intel Core i9-11900K sounds like a fantastic idea, but it’s not something we recommend. The i9-11900K might fall below base-clock under continuous full load and there’s a good chance that you might not be able to take full advantage of the turbo boost speeds too. That being said, the NH-P1 can be paired with a mid-tier CPU for the best results. CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5600X should work just fine with this cooler.
You should also be prepared to give up a whole lot of space in your chassis to use this cooler. It’s an absolute unit at 1.2Kg. Not to mention, you’ll also need a case with decent airflow. Having mesh panels and lots of ventilation is a must to passively cool your PC without any fans. We recommend using Noctua’s NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fans with this cooler, though. You can set these fans to come to a dead stop at 0 percent PWM, giving you complete control over when the fans are active.
Overall, the Noctua NH-P1 is an impressive CPU cooler. It achieves what most powerful CPU coolers struggle to do even with a set of aggressive fans spinning at high RPMs. It’s the kind of sophisticated components enthusiasts love to work with, and it’s a worthy addition to this collection. Noctua’s coolers are also known to work well with newly launched CPUs. So you can pick this up if you’re planning to start an Alder Lake or AM5 build with the upcoming CPUs.
The Noctua NH-L9i is officially one of the oldest products to have made it to one of our collections. Much like Cooler Master’s Hyper 212, this cooler has been around for many years and Noctua has done a fantastic job of keeping it relevant to date. The company found a niche in the market and they’ve been serving it for many years with this quality product. The NH-L9i is a tiny 1.46-inch air cooler designed for mini-ITX enclosures. This specific cooler only supports Intel-based platforms, but Noctua also makes one for AMD systems.
There are two U-shaped pipes to draw heat away from the CPU to be dissipated via the heatsink. The fan takes over there to throw the heat away from the CPU. The included low-profile fan with the cooler is among the quietest in the business. The cooler dimensions are small enough to fit on most motherboards without causing any clearance issues too. It comes pre-installed with mounting brackets and the CPU contact surface is nickel-plated, typical for a Noctua cooler.
Just like many other Noctua coolers, we love the NH-L9i for its build quality. The company also throws in some thoughtful extras with the NH-L9i cooler like the rubber inlays for the included fans and a cable to control its RPM. You can also ditch the stock fan to install a thicker one by means of spare screws that also come bundled.
The Noctua NH-L9i is not meant to cool a high-end CPU. It’s a low profile and we recommend using this cooler in low to mid-tier builds. It’s a solid entry point for most people who are looking to replace their stock CPU coolers for the first time. Given its dimensions, this cooler won’t stick out like a sore thumb inside your cabinet. This is perfect for those who complain about CPU coolers taking a centre stage inside PC cases these days. It’s just as small as some of the stock coolers you get with most CPUs. It’s good for small form factor PCs (Cube PC cases) and mini-ITX builds. That’s assuming you’re not going for a high-end build in an ITX form factor, in which case you should be looking at AIO coolers.
The Cooler Master Hyper 212 may seem like a better cooler for the price, but the Nocta NH-L9i is targeted at enthusiasts interested in small form factor PCs. The Hyper 212 budget cooler is more suitable for a mid-tower build. We recommend the Noctua NH-L9i for its low-profile design, impressive build quality, easy installation process, and reliable cooling. Don’t forget to pick up the right variant to go with the CPU socket. You might also want to wait a bit longer to see if this will support the upcoming Alder Lake CPUs. But given how popular these coolers are, there’s a very slim chance of Noctua turning a blind eye towards this cooler.
The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120R RGB is essentially a compact version of the MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion we mentioned earlier as the best liquid cooler. So it’s hardly a surprise that we added the smaller, more compact version of the cooler to the collection too. Besides the smaller radiator size and the lack of a translucent water block, the MasterLiquid ML120R RGB is identical to the standard cooler. However, it’s not ideal to control the thermal output of high-performance CPUs on the market.
It supports all modern CPU sockets including Intel’s LGA 2066, 2011-v3, 2011,1151, 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 775, and AMD’s AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, and FM1. You’ll also be able to use it with AM5 platforms and we believe Cooler Master will also provide adapters for the upcoming Intel Alder Lake CPUs. You get two 120mm fans with a maximum of 30 dbA noise and 66.7 CFM airflow. The pump features a copper cooling plate seen on many other Cooler Master AIOs.
Despite the smaller form factor, the ML120 cooler is full of RGB lighting. One of the best things about this cooler is that it comes with aRGB (addressable) technology. Both the fans as well as the water block features aRGB lights and they can be easily controlled using the bundled RGB controller. Yes, you also get an RGB controller with this cooler which is quite impressive for the price.
The included RGB controller is powered using a SATA connection and it features additional ports to allow users to add more RGB lighting to the case. You can also avoid using the controller entirely and customize the lights using the motherboard software. Alternatively, the cooler can also be connected to an existing RGB controller.
The MasterLiquid ML120RS RGB is a compact cooler best suited for builds with a limited amount of space. This particular cooler works best with mini-ITX enclosures with limited radiator mounting options. It’s relatively easier to make space for a 120mm radiator than struggling to mount a full-length 360mm radiator. As mentioned earlier, the ML120R RGB is not meant to be used with high-performance CPUs. The smaller 120mm radiator might not be enough to efficiently cool something like a stock Ryzen 5950X or an i9-11900K, let alone overclocked. It’s good for entry-level to mid-range CPUs.
At $109, the MasterLiquid 120R is not the most affordable compact liquid cooler on the market, but it’s a reliable option that borrows a lot of great features from the bigger cooler. If you don’t mind giving up on some of the RGB lights, there’s also the MasterLiquid 120L for $64. However, this one only comes with a single SickleFlow 120mm fan as opposed to two 120mm units. NZXT also has a couple of 120mm AIO coolers, however, they’re more expensive than this one.
The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120R RGB is one of the best compact AIOs you can buy for your small form factor builds. This is suitable for cooling a low to mid-tier CPU.
The Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 is unlike any cooling solution we’ve seen so far in the collection. It’s a custom cooling kit that comes with all the necessary parts to create a custom liquid cooling loop for high-end builds. The highlight of this particular kit is the full-copper NexXxos XT45 radiator — a 45mm thick unit enough to cool an entire overclocked PC and then some. The kit also includes a water block, a pump, coolant, a 3-way fan splitter, a thermal compound, a handy funnel, and more.
Unlike other coolers in our collection, the Alphacool Eissturn Hurricane Copper 45 will take some effort to install. The process involves figuring out how to route the tubes for passing the coolant. It’s not as straightforward as closed-loop AIO coolers. As an open-loop cooling solution, you can add more components to the loop including the GPU and the SSD, but you’ll need respective water blocks for those components and more tubes to pass the coolant too. The included Eisblock XPX for CPU supports a variety of sockets including Intel’s LGA 2066, 2011x, 1366, 115x, 775, and AMD’s AM4, AM3(+), AM2(+), FM1, FM2(+), and TR4. These kinds of kits are usually updated to support newer CPUs sockets too, so you can rely on the manufacturer to provide adapters for upcoming CPUs.
The Eisblock XPX features a nickel-plated copper base polished to a mirror finish. It has grooves at the bottom, allowing the metal mounting brackets to maintain even pressure on the CPU. Just remember to apply the thermal compound before installing the water block. The kit also includes the VPP755 pump, which you’ll be pairing with the 250mm acrylic reservoir to make a safe space for the coolant.
The NexXxos 45 radiator features seven G1/4 fittings to enable versatile loop configuration. The kit also includes a trio of Eiswind Pure Edition 140mm fans for the massive radiator. It goes without saying that you’ll need a large case to install a sophisticated cooling solution like these involving reservoirs, pumps, tubes, and more. We recommend installing this cooling inside a full-tower case like the Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic XL case, for instance.
The Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 is an ideal solution for enthusiasts looking for a high-quality water cooling kit in a single box. There’s always an option to shop for individual parts to build a more customized cooling solution. However, a single box kit like this will save you a ton of time searching for reliable and compatible options. At $380, this is the most expensive cooling solution in this collection, but it’s also more than just a CPU cooler. A bunch of other manufacturers like Corsair also have their own custom-cooling range if you don’t mind spending a little more money.
The Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 is a complete kit for enthusiasts who likes to get their hands dirty. This type of cooling is perfect for high-performance overclocked machines.
That concludes our list of the best CPU coolers you can buy for your PC build. It includes some of the best coolers on market for high-end rigs, small form factor builds, and everything in between. The Noctua NH-D15 is a fantastic air cooler capable of cooling even the most powerful CPUs, and it’s our pick for the best air cooler you can buy. Our second-best option, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition is also an excellent air cooler for those who want a relatively smaller solution for a mid-tier build.
All-in-one liquid coolers, on the other hand, have their own advantages over air coolers and we think the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 Illusion is the one to go for. It’s our pick for the best AIO liquid cooler on the market for its excellent cooling performance, stunning design, ARGB lights. The NZXT Kraken X53 is another high-quality AIO that’ll save you some money for the other core components of your build. Lastly, for those who want the absolute best cooling experience for low temperatures with silent operation, we recommend buying an open-loop cooling kit like the Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45.
As we mentioned earlier, most CPUs are bundled with a stock cooler, and many of them are enough to keep your CPU ticking for a long time. Buying an aftermarket cooler isn’t necessary, but they tend to have advantages like silent operation, and better aesthetics among other things. With excellent aftermarket coolers like the Hyper 212 starting at $35, it also doesn’t hurt to spend more and keep your CPU buzzing. Remember, it’s not always necessary to go all-out when it comes to PC building. It’s a long process that can be tackled by focusing on one component at a time.
While Windows 11 was released earlier this month, it almost flies under the radar that Windows 10 is alive and well. In fact, it’s supported for another four years, so as expected, there’s a version 21H2 coming for the OS. Thanks to a blog post today, we now know that it will be called the Windows 10 November 2021 Update.
The big news is that it’s available for everyone in the Release Preview channel, and ISOs are available. It’s also confirmed that build 19044.1288 is likely going to be the final build, something that’s actually called RTM in another dimension.
Prior to this, the Windows 10 November 2021 Update, then only known as version 21H2, was only available to commercial users in the Release Preview ring, and people who were booted out of the Beta channel. The reason that some people were kicked out of the Beta channel is that when Windows 11 was announced, it had much higher system requirements than Windows 10, so when Windows 11 hit the Beta channel, a whole bunch of Windows Insiders were moved to the Release Preview channel. As a sort of consolation prize, they got to test out Windows 10 version 21H2.
Strangely, ISOs have been available for Windows Insiders for a while too. While you couldn’t test the update by enrolling your PC in the Release Preview channel, you could test it by clean installing an ISO. What’s new today is that there’s an ISO for build 19044.1288, the final build that should ship to non-Insiders that are still on Windows 10. The company also released new ISOs for the latest Dev channel build, build 22483.
As for what’s actually new, there’s not much. The Windows 10 November 2021 Update is really aimed more at businesses who might not be ready to upgrade to Windows 11 yet. If you’re a consumer and you want new features, Microsoft would rather you buy a new PC.
Here’s the full changelog:
Adding WPA3 H2E standards support for enhanced Wi-Fi security
Windows Hello for Business supports simplified passwordless deployment models for achieving a deploy-to-run state within a few minutes
GPU compute support in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Azure IoT Edge for Linux on Windows (EFLOW) deployments for machine learning and other compute intensive workflows
As you can see, it’s not much. The Windows 10 November 2021 Update comes in the form of an enablement package, as did Windows 10 versions 21H1 and 20H2. That means you’re still getting the same bits as Windows 10 version 2004. All four versions will get the exact same cumulative updates, but some features will be hidden depending on what version you’re on. That’s all the enablement package does; it enables features that are turned off on your system.
As for when the update will be released to everyone, Microsoft didn’t say, but thanks to the name, we’re betting on November. The first week would probably be the safest bet, since the second week is Patch Tuesday and that will change the build number.
Microsoft is getting ready to roll out Windows 10 version 21H2 (also known as the "November 2021 update") next month, and the update is now available for all “seekers” in the Release Preview ring. Microsoft has also released the ISO ... Read more
A free weekend is now underway on Steam for Fallout 76, allowing everyone a free sample of the Windows edition of the RPG prequel for the next four days. As is often the case, the game is also on...
When Google shut down its internal Stadia game development studios earlier this year, Stadia general manager Phil Harrison said the company planned to "work with partners seeking a gaming solution all built on Stadia’s advanced technical infrastructure and platform tools." We're starting to see that strategy in action, as Google is now licensing Stadia tech to other companies.
As first reported by 9to5 Google and confirmed by IGN, AT&T is using the tech to offer wireless subscribers the chance to streamBatman: Arkham Knight(which isn't available on Stadia proper) for free. Customers can play the game for a limited time at up to 1080p through Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
"This is being powered by the Stadia technology," an AT&T spokesperson told IGN. "For this demo AT&T created a front end experience to enable gamers to play Batman: Arkham Knight directly from their own website and the game is playable on virtually any computer or laptop."
Oddly enough, subscribers can't take advantage of this offer on a smartphone, despite it seeming like a solid opportunity for AT&T to show off its network capabilities. AT&T even offered six months of Stadia Pro access to 5G and fiber internet customers this year.
Harrison said in February that offering game streaming tech to other companies (without Stadia branding in this case) was "the best path to building Stadia into a long-term, sustainable business that helps grow the industry." Although Google isn't making its own games for Stadia anymore, it has continued to add third-party games to the store.
Doom Eternal is the final boss of the concept of video games. It is the most video game that has ever video gamed. It is a lot of things, but what everyone can agree on over it is that the game is just The Most. It is also strangely dividing in a way a bit similar to Doom 3. While there’s fans who love it, who are definitely the majority, there’s also a lot with more mixed feelings, and some who disliked it for changes to the formula and tone. It has had its own controversies, and there’s this feeling it’s going to end up in a strange place in the history of both Doom and Id Software.
If you were wondering if Doom Eternal was good, just know that Doom Eternal rips so hard. It is also extremely different from Doom 2016. They share a lot of the same foundation, but the details have been completely rewritten. You learn quickly as you can’t melee zombies in a glory kill state and have to use ammo, the chainsaw refills when empty and you can have up to three charges, and there’s a weakpoint system in place that lets you weaken enemies, put them in a glory kill state, or do extra damage with the right weapon or mod. Oh, and you start at sixteen shells because ammo is now severely limited compared to the last game.
Your equipment is now down to two tools, but they’re far more useful. The frag grenade has a better arc and can be used to put cacodemons in a glory kill state via indigestion (they eat the grenade), but the ice bomb is the real star as it freezes enemies for a window of free damage or a quick chainsaw kill. You also have the flame belch as a separate button, which sets enemies on fire, making them drop armor when damaged or killed. Runes have been simplified into a set of nine different buffs and abilities, including very useful mid-air slow-mo, and they can no longer be mastered.
Your armor can be upgraded via big coins earned from level challenges and force ghosts, which now upgrades a more useful set of perimeters. You have fundamental upgrades, environmental ones that also make explosive barrels drop ammo, your two different grenades, and your map. Sentinel crystals act as argent cells this time and can also unlock six different perks to improve your flame belch, unlock better item pick-up, and your new blood punch power that can be used to break barriers and do big melee damage to a wide swath in front of you.
The weapons have been tweaked all over. The pistol blaster was removed (now hidden in the command console) for a starter shotgun, which loses the charge blast for a full auto mod, grenade shots replaced with sticky bombs that can shoot out three in a clip. The heavy canon, the new assault rifle, works the same but is far more useful now for sniping weakspots with the scope mod. The plasma gun is way more useful with a much stronger heat blast mod (plus a new microwave beam that explodes enemies after a bit of time), while the rocket launcher is still trash.
The balista is the new rail cannon, charge shot detonating after a second and scope replaced with a wide beam good for frozen enemies. Chaingun keeps the mobile turrent mode for max dakka, with a new energy shield mode for tanking. The BFG is the same, but the super shotgun now has a meathook that chains to an enemy and drags you to them for a close up shot, plus lights on fire when mastered to help drop armor. There’s also the late game crucible (replaced with a hammer in the second DLC that can stun enemies) that one shots even the largest demons, and the unmaker returning as the Unmakyr, which now fires huge projectiles that tears through enemies like nothing else and runs on BFG ammo. Getting it requires doing six slayer gate challenges hidden in levels.
Add in the new dash ability, similar to Shadow Warrior 2013‘s, and the far more aggressive enemies, and you have a very different experience from the last game. The loop is now not just move and shoot, but you have to remember to chainsaw low tier enemies for ammo (now called fodder enemies), light enemies on fire before glory kills or blood punches for maximum armor gain, shoot off weakpoints, take down more aggressive threats quickly or move around them while picking off lesser threats, and so on and so forth. Doom Eternal is a character action FPS, in a Ninja Gaiden and Metal Gear Rising mastery gradient compared to ULTRAKILL‘s free-form and stylish Devil May Cry inspirations.
To succeed, you have to fight like the Doomslayer would fight, and that involves replenishing yourself with violence so you can do more violence. It’s a brilliant idea that’s extremely well utilized to keep things chaotic, downplaying pick ups or passive perks for a focus on skillfully keeping yourself stocked and alive against ridiculous odds all around you. It’s the concept of the glory kill system taken to an extreme, and when it clicks, it is an absolute blast that will leave you sweating.
It takes awhile to get used to it, though. You have a mess of new mechanics to remember and get used to, and while the game is trying to get you used to it, it’s also getting you used to the new enemy tier system by throwing arachnotrons and cacodemons at you in the first level, and rolling out the hell knights by level two when your only weapon able to handle them eats all of your shotgun ammo very quickly. It’s also getting you used to environmental hazards thrown out here and there for variety that have you avoiding electric water and walk through slowing ooze, not to mention the ammo wasting tentacles. Also also, there’s now platforming, as you can grab onto certain walls to climb them and have to go through platforming challenges with floating platforms that will fall after a short time. It’s initially overwhelming, especially because a lot of this happens before you have the tools you need to navigate them comfortably.
This is a major point of contention for some, but the other major issue seems to be the tone and story. The game looks fantastic and has some really fun and interesting settings for levels, from buildings under siege to titans fallen in an ancient city, but the framing is a bit messy. Doom Eternal was apparently designed to be sort of like an over the top Saturday morning cartoon (with more blood) and succeeds in terms of sheer scale and stupidity. The Doomslayer has to kill three hell priests to stop the demonic consumption of Earth, and eventually fight the alien named the Kahn Makyr in charge of it all – someone he has a past with.
Mick Gordon’s soundtrack may be one of the best in the entire genre, a build up of Doom 2016‘s style with a lot more of a metal bent that keeps pushing you into ultra violence. The Only Thing They Fear Is You is the stand out, using a steady rhythm and some hard rocking guitar and strong production to make a rush of a piece that doesn’t go too fast as to lose the player, bonus points for the standalone version ending with a metal choir screaming “RIP AND TEAR!” Super Gore Nest also sticks out for sounding like a howling beast, and The Icon of Sin is just the perfect final boss theme. A loud mix of familiar motifs, excellent use of the metal choir, and a steady, pounding beat that feels massive and oppressive. Mick Gordon sadly didn’t finish the OST version mixes in time and was let go for the DLC, but Andrew Hulshult of all people managed to make a great set under messy conditions. Not as many stand outs, but the tracks fit the scenes and characters like a glove. The closest his tracks hit to the main game are Part Two’s final boss, which I sadly can’t share due to huge spoilers, but it’s pretty sick.
The art direction matches the bombast, with more goofy and violent animations for glory and chainsaw kills, some demon designs tweaked to make them more expressive or have more human features. The new Makyr race has a cool high tech angel aesthetic, while the hell priests and the marauder (a unique enemy you have to duel and counter) have a fitting decrepit flesh look matched with gaudy garments and armor. The sentinel race are also mostly just space barbarians, but they mix old European (mainly Nordic and similar regions) style with some brown and green style tech of their own that look like sword and sorcery hangovers. The game is filled with color and is never difficult to read.
On paper, this should work, except for the fact that Doom Eternal is a wildly different game in most every way to every Doom game before it. See, old Id games could be argued as accidental mood pieces, hitting certain tones that carried the game despite a lack of narrative, particularly in Quake. Doom (2016) had a similar mood to it, flesh and metal, violence and excitement, horror and thrills. Red, oppressive, and extremely rad as Hell (literally). There was a uniform look that sticks in your brain, while Eternal struggles more with this. There so many different styles for all the factions that none of them fully stick in your head as strong, and the music is now less centered on the world around you but instead two things: Cool Techno Fantasy Stuff, and Cool Doomslayer Committed Demon Murder.
That’s a small issue, but what is more significant is that the game has a story that is Bad and Cringe. Doom Eternal has a great idea for a story, exploring the Doomslayer’s past, fleshing things out and his connection to the old games, expanding on the fracking Hell stuff, ect. Problem is the game seems scared to actually explore any of this and hides behind the Slayer just getting to the point (with Gun) shtick from the last game but less amusing, and when it finally does explore it…the game has the Doomslayer quote the Doom comic.
He mumbles the phrase, in a moment of severe PTSD, “huge guts.”
This is played completely straight with a voice actor who has no idea how to make this work.
Doom Eternal has no idea how wacky or serious or anything it wants to be. Where Serious Sam 4 nailed switching between moods and tones for all of its aims, Eternal shrugs and steps on a rake here and there. The hell priests aren’t even characters so much as objectives. The Kahn Makyr is poorly built up beyond being Samuel Hayden but a far worse manipulator. The new lore is just extremely unnecessary and adds basically nothing outside what it adds to Sam and VEGA, who’s dialog with the Slayer is constantly great stuff. Shame Sam doesn’t appear for half the game.
The DLC campaign, The Ancient Gods, does not help. Mostly a harder expansion that costs $40 in full, it ends the first part with a lot of great character stuff, possibly even suggesting the Doomslayer is in the wrong for once, and then the second part undoes all of that in the ending with one of the worst reveals in gaming history. If you were expecting the Doomslayer to remain a single normal guy who rose above his station to become a demon killing badass like his nazi killing ancestor, well bad news, the lore is here and it brings retcons!
A lot of decisions were made with Eternal‘s narrative, and very few of them worked, which is a problem when going through the campaign can take up to twenty hours. There’s a lot of cool moments, but it’s not enough to balance out the failed drama. They also gave the Doomslayer a man cave with a gaming PC and a Funko pop shelf.
Doom Eternal (2020)
Doom Eternal is still rad, though, a masterclass in action game design and a truly unique FPS. It has ideas here that would be enough to make a game around and it just keeps going and makes it all work. It’s just going to have a really odd place in the franchise’s history, as a lot of people are still trying to figure out how they feel about the whole package. The meat is good, you found the meat, could use better preparation. At least there’s a ton of goodies to find and a multiplayer with a more unique hook now, plus tons of goodies to find on a regular event and seasonal schedule. You’ll get your fill, but it leaves one wondering what in the world Doom could be after this.
