Steelseries Rival 100 Mouse

You may remember way back 2017 I posted about my AFX M0116 gaming mouse, well 3 years later I have finally ungraded my mouse to one that is a bit more comfortable for my stupidly small hands and just seems to be a lot more responsive.

A few months ago I noticed that my AFX mouse was starting to slow right down, it wasn't responding as it should even after messing around with settings and it was getting quite frustrating so I thought it was time for a change. 

Then I remembered that I actually had a mouse that I had been using for my gaming laptop that I loved, this was the Steelseries Rival 100. 

This mouse has 6 customisable buttons which to be honest I haven't bothered changing at the moment as I am mainly using it for creating content it is perfect the way it is. The 2 buttons on the side work as forward and back switches which can help when I am looking for something specific and I have gone too far. Then you have the wheel in the middle which provides great scroll action. My AFX had really started to frustrate me in terms of scrolling as it always got stuck then it would try play catch up and go too far, but with this one I have had 0 issues.  Plus it has RGB but it isn't in your face with it just a simple light under the logo and the wheel, simple and subtle. 

With the textured grip on either side of the mouse it is really comfortable, I spend a lot of my time at my PC currently just blogging away and working on content & planning for this blog as well as my others. So with me using it for the majority of the day I want something that fits my hand just right and provides comfort throughout the day and this definitely ticks all the boxes. This mouse is really making me think that even my next mouse could be a Steelseries. 

What mouse are you currently using? 

iPhone 11 Pro Unboxing

If you read my upgrade options post you will know that it was time to move away from the iPhone 8 and pick something new. I honestly wasn't sure which phone to go for but with me getting my Apple Watch for Christmas I wanted to stay with the iPhone, so the biggest choice was the did I just get the 11 pro or the 11 pro? One of the things I wanted from my phone was a quality camera so that I had that quality there for blog pictures and Instagram if I didn't want to carry my DSLR with me. So of course I picked up the iPhone 11 pro & here is the unboxing of the phone. 

So as soon as you lift the lid on the box you see the back of the iPhone and it looks brilliant. I love how the 3 cameras look in the top corner of the the phone and I am hoping these really help improve my image quality. I love the space grey colour on Apple products too so of course that is what I went for again. 

So once you take the phone out of the box you see the usual instructions, which of course include the usual stickers. I think this is first time since my first iPhone that I have had to actually take a look at the instructions because I wanted to know how to do different functions now the home button has gone. 

Underneath the instructions you have the earpods with lightening connector which always come in handy if I can't find my other earphones. It also luckily comes with a USB-C power adapter which is brilliant as I don't have any of these yet due to not owning anything else USB-C.

If you take out the earpods you also have a USB-C to lightening cable which again comes in very handy as you can never have too many cables for charging and transferring data with the iPhone as they never seem to last very long for me so it is always great to have back ups. 

I was actually quite surprised with how thin this phone felt in hand without a case but what surprised me the most is the weight I definitely find it on the heavier side. 

I love the look of the phone without the home button and the actually screen being bigger but the lack of a home button after all these years for me is definitely going to take some getting used to. 

Keep your eye on the blog as in a few months I will be doing a post all about my experience with the phone so far. Do you have the iPhone 11? What do you think to it?

Journey 1st Impressions (PS4)

I had heard so many good things about Journey however, I didn't know if the game was really for me or not. But with it being one of the free games for April through PlayStation plus and their play at home initiative I thought I might as well download the game and give it ago.

I like to be given instructions and objectives throughout the game and especially at the beginning so I have some clue of that I am meant to be doing however, with this game you get none of that. You are in the desert and all that is given an image of the controller and are shown that if you tilt the controller you can see around you, this is great and not something you see too often but it didn't help me at all as I didn't understand what I was meant to do.

This game is meant to be immersive as I have seen from many people online but for me it just didn't do anything other than annoy me that I didn't know what was meant to be happening or how I was meant to progress in the game. It is only a short play through but I ended up switching back to FIFA as I just lost all interest of wandering around aimlessly.

I did enjoy the simplicity of the games visuals though just you and the desert with a few buildings that had pretty good graphics and the music was definitely nice and relaxing for a Saturday morning gaming session nothing to simulating as I hadn't been awake for too long.

I might head back to the game in the future but for now it is back to ticking off games in the backlog for me.

2 years with the iPhone 8

So as we head towards July we come up to 2 years of me having my iPhone 8. When I picked this phone out my family laughed asking why I would ever want to return to an iPhone after using Sony & Samsung phones for numerous years. In the end me and my sister both just said we wanted the iPhone and weren't bothered about what others said and do you know what... I am so glad I did get this phone. 

You often here of the iPhone suffering battery issues when it had been used for a while but coming up to 2 years later it still holds it's battery, often I could go from work to my grandparents then the gym and have no issues with battery draining. Plus with the addition of the wireless charging if the phone did need a quick boost it was super easy, I could just have a wireless charger on my desk ready and waiting. 

I think this is also the first phone in ages that has managed to withstand me constantly dropping it, granted I haven't dropped it half as many time as I did my previous Sony time but I still have dropped it more than I should. 2 years later there are no cracks or scratches on the phone which I have to thank my Incase phone case for as thanks to the case coming over the edge of my screen a little adding some extra protection which was definitely needed.

With my previous iPhone (the 5C) when it required an update I always ended up having issues for some time after each update however, with the 8 things were much better, I had no software issues at all which amazed me, it was nice plain sailing using my phone after an update, I aren't sure if I was just lucky or if Apple have genuinely improved the quality and reliability of the updates they roll out. 

In terms of the camera this is what amazed me most, for uploading to Instagram and other social media posts this has been perfect. I get better quality pictures on my Instagram than I do on my DSLR due to Instagram seemingly adjusting the quality. So for me and my blogging and having the social media alongside of this the camera is important and it hasn't let me down, the only issue I have had is after my nephew messed around with my phone and seemed to alter some settings but it was an easy fix and went straight back to normal.

The iPhone 8 definitely brought back my love for Apple products as I had a great experience with it so keep your eye on the blog in the future as there may be more Apple related products on here in the future. As I am writing this post though I have actually started using my new phone as I recently upgraded, you can read about my options here, but check back next week and you will see which phone I picked. 

Have you had the iPhone 8? What were your thoughts on it?

Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 50P (PS4)

When both me and Liam are in the games room it can definitely be noisy, with the sound of his keyboard & sometimes the game he is playing when he doesn't have his headset on plus the sound coming from whatever I am currently playing on the PS4, so it can be a bit distracting and I can easily miss directions in a game or just end up watching whatever he is watching. That is why I have started wearing my headset when playing on the PS4.

My current headset for the PS4 is the Turtle Beach Ear Force Recon 50P, I purchased this one as I use the 50X for my Xbox (which you can read about here) just like the 50X the main reason I picked this up was because it was cheap in price and I didn't think I would end up wearing it that often so it was definitely good value. As I don't play online I don't even have the microphone attached which I am glad about as it is definitely on the big and bulky side. I am glad you get the option to detach the microphone if you want as I wouldn't wear the headset if it was just in my way all the time. 

When I first put the headset on for a gaming session it does initially feel lightweight however, after around half an hour you can really tell it is there and it begins to feel heavy on your head. The actual headband has barely any padding on it therefore it does get uncomfortable quickly as you can just feel the plastic on your head.

Similarly to the headband not being very padded for me the actual ear cups don't provide much comfort either as they may look like they are quite padded but unfortunately when wearing them the don't feel very padded at all. The ear cups are a bit of a strange shape too, I definitely prefer round ear cups but these are a bit of an egg shape and cover much more space than they should, they don't just sit over my ears they sit over half the side of my head which depending on your preference you may or may not like.

One of the plus sides about this headset though is the durability of it. This headset has definitely taken a beating over the years, from being stood on & sat on to being packed in a small box when we moved it has actually held it's shape and hasn't snapped yet which has definitely surprised me.

As for the sound this headset has definitely helped block out the sound of Liam's computer quite a bit however, they aren't fully noise cancelling so I can still hear him talking to me and his computer's sound a fair bit, when it comes to purchasing a new headset I will definitely be looking for something a lot more noise cancelling. It has helped me in terms of gaming though, if you have read my Modern Warfare review you will have seen that wearing this headset helped me hear instructions a little better so there is definitely some decent sound quality provided by the headset. It is really easy to control the volume of the headset too along with it you want the microphone on or not, you just have to use the little controller half way down the wire to control these. Scroll up or down with the side to control the volume or use the little switch in the centre to activate or deactivate the microphone.

If you are looking for a budget headset then I would recommend picking up this headset however, if you are looking for comfort & something you can wear for long periods of time then I would recommend looking for a different option which is what I am going to be looking for over the next few months. What headset for the PS4 are you currently using?

Inside Xbox 7th May 2020 - What Will I Be Picking Up?

The 7th of May saw Xbox's latest Inside Xbox show which was apparently to show what is in store from some of the 3rd party developers that will be putting their games on Xbox. This Inside Xbox was apparently to show off game play trailers, but to be honest I was left a little disappointed with what was shown as it was just like any other trailer you would see before a games release. However there was definitely a fair few games shown, some I aren't too sure about and a few I will definitely be buying.

So before we saw any trailers we heard how the Xbox Game Studios are doing everything in their power to work safely and keep moving forward towards unveiling game play from the Xbox Game Studio's starting in July, which I am really looking forward to.

The latest reveal though on the 7th featured optimised for series x trailers and also an explanation on the smart delivery which is going to be available for certain games. Smart delivery is where you buy a game once and get the best version on whatever Xbox you play on for no additional cost which I think is fantastic if the game comes out before the Series X or if you are holding off buying the Series X for a while.

So here are the games we saw at the reveal...

Bright Memory Infinite

This game gave me Titanfall vibes and looked really good. What really amazed me is that this game was created by just one person which for how good it looks is absolutely amazing. I think I will be on the look out for more information about this game with a view to picking this up.

Dirt 5

Dirt 5 is going to be available with smart delivery, although the game does look quite good and is set in different environments with different style of cars and buggies I think I might be passing on this one as it is a racing game and I just can't get into them. If you do like this sort of game though it looks like you might be in for a treat.

Scorn

Scorn is going to be available on the Game Pass, the trailer of this game gave me vibes of Alien and looked very strange. I will be looking into this more before its release to see if I will be picking it up as I don't have a right good history of these types of games if it is even the slightest bit scary.

Chorus Rise As One

Another game that is going to be available with smart delivery, This space sim is very futuristic looking and you take on the role of Nara and her quest for redemption. I don't know about this one to be honest and maybe if it eventually drops to a cheap price I might pick it up but just like driving I aren't really god at games that involve flying.

Madden 21

I haven't had a Madden game in years but my love for the NFL has grown quite a lot lately so I think this might be the year I pick up a copy once again. Let's just hope the game play is as good as the trailer.

Vampire The Masquerade : Bloodlines 2

Again this games is available with smart delivery, but I aren't 100% sure about it. Maybe I will have to give the original game a play through first to see what I think after playing that. The trailer looked really good but I need to give the first one a go first I think.

Call Of Sea

Another one available through smart delivery but this one looks really interesting and I think it might be one I definitely pick up, out of all the reveals I think this was one of the best and just from what I saw I want to purchase the game.

The Ascent

With a variety of mutant looking characters this game looks like one for me to keep my eye on. For the very small trailer we got from Inside Xbox I already want to know more so who knows you might be seeing more about this game on the blog in the future. Again this is available with smart delivery.

The Medium

Coming to the Game Pass is The Medium, a psychological horror game coming to the Xbox Series X. Now if you like horror games this game looks like it will be right up your street but for me it is going to be a definite pass as it gave me Until Dawn vibes with the horror.

Scarlet Nexus

Another one available on smart delivery, this Bandi Namco game looks quite fun from what I have seen so far. There were an interesting variety of characters shown in the trailer which makes me want to buy the game that little bit more. This is another game I will be keeping a very close eye on.

Second Extinction : Reclaim Earth

Evil mutant dinosaurs have taken over earth and you and your team need to try reclaim it. This 3 player co-op FPS looks fantastic, maybe if I can find some friends that play this game with I will pick it up as it looks brilliant, I really do need to start playing some games with others in the future instead of sticking to single player games and this might be the way to start.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon

Another one available with smart delivery. Yakuza: like a dragon looks like it is a game any fan of the franchise will be picking up however, as some one who hasn't played any of the Yakuza games before it has made me want to give the game series a go when I get the chance. This might be a game I pick up when it drops in price.

Assassins Creed Valhalla

The main reason I watched this Inside Xbox is so that I could see the game play trailer for Assassins Creed Valhalla and I was a little bit disappointed with what we saw to be honest, it was more of a motion trailer than a game play trailer. Again this game is available with smart delivery which is fantastic if you want to play the game without getting a new console just yet. With the rumours earlier in the day of this game not being as big as the previous few my interest was definitely gained, and after seeing what was to offer by watching Inside Xbox I am sold on the idea even more. With new features and dual wielding this game should be great. There is apparently a fresh take on progression, reinvented combat and fast loading as you take on the role of Eivor a viking raider travelling from Norway to England a hostile place where you can go raiding, battling, gain alliances and make choices to live a Viking life.

This Inside Xbox provided us with a sneak peak of what is to come from some of the 3rd party developers and it wasn't too bad but I am looking forward to what is to come from Xbox especially if all goes to plan and we see the what the Xbox owned studios are coming out with in the July Inside Xbox. This really was only the beginning and I am exited to see what is coming up for both the next gen consoles... come on Sony we are ready for more PS5 information now.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 (PS4)

Lately I don't often get chance to sit and roll the credits on a game due to just been busy working on other things in fact the last game I managed this with was Detroit : Become Human which you can read about here. However, with this lockdown I decided it was time I tried to tackle one of the games in my backlog... Call of Duty Modern Warfare. In the game you are working against terrorists to retrieve stolen gas whilst trying to stop the world going to war. What I love about this game is that you are teaming up with the rebels to help them with their agenda against the Russians who have invaded their country. 

I have to admit I dragged out this play through just because it took me so long to install the game thanks to it's massive download size and the fact it constantly seemed to need an update. 

Call of Duty is a franchise where I have never actually bothered to complete a campaign on, I would always start but then just move onto something else and forget about it but this one seemed to grip me and I just wanted to get to the end to see what was going to happen as the different perspectives of characters helps create twists and really held my interest. Although I think I preferred it when I was playing as Alex.

As I say I dragged the campaign out a bit but if you really wanted to I bet you could roll the credits in 5-6 hours. Another reason it took me a little longer to complete due to it bugging out and not letting me do anything during the embassy mission, but after a quick google it seems this is a common issue so just beware of that if you do play this yourself. I then ran into another issue later on in the game during the captive mission, whenever I went near a specific door the game would start lagging and eventually crash. For the issue in the embassy all I did was restart the mission (I really didn't want to) and that seemed to fix the issue, however with the captive issue I just had to persevere with it as I just couldn't get it fixed, once you are away from that door though everything is fine. Even loading the game up at times went quite quickly on occasions which I aren't used to these days as my PS4 seems to take ages with FIFA.

One thing I loved about this game is that it is set in the same time frame as it was released so it is very up to date and I don't know why but I prefer this to when games are too futuristic or way back in time, it is quite strange though seeing a modern Piccadilly with the events that occur in the game.

 As well as the actual game play capturing your attention I found that I actually enjoyed sitting and watching all the cut scenes too. Normally I would skip a cut scene or sit and scroll through my phone but with this game I was genuinely interested in watching them and paying attention so I didn't miss any of the story.

In terms of ease of the game it was very enjoyable but I did start getting annoyed in certain aspects, like when I had to be sniper, the controller was handed to Liam after 5 tries from me as I just really don't like sniping but luckily there weren't too many instances of this. I did struggle at certain parts due to the darkness of the setting too, no matter what I tried I just couldn't get my eyes to adjust so I really struggled and Liam again had to help me through those bits just so I could see and wasn't straining my eyes too much. As with all Call of Duty games I had to alter the sensitivity of the aim and movement as the preset one is just too much for me but I love how you can still change it on these games as some games I have played recently don't give you the option to change it.

 Other than some settings looking a little bit darker than I would like on the screen the graphics and details in the game are brilliant. As for the sound in the game I preferred to play whilst wearing my headset as sometimes I couldn't hear the instructions given to me over the gunshots and I didn't really want to alter any sound settings, so I threw on my headset and everything just sounded a lot better, I could hear the voices much clearer and could hear the shots better too. I don't know whether that is just because of the headset blocking out any background noise or if it was just psychological but it did make game play much easier for me so I think I might have to wear my headset more often.

Overall I really enjoyed this game and I am so glad I stuck with the long download time and carried on regardless of any slight snags in the game as it is a truly enjoyable game. If you are into shooters and haven't played this yet I would definitely recommend it. As for the replay value who knows in the future I might go back to the game to try get some more trophies but right now I aren't too bothered about them I just want to work on my backlog. 

Publisher : Activision

Developer : Infinity Ward

Available ON : PC, Xbox One, PS4

So that is game number 1 in the backlog complete, keep an eye on here over the next few weeks as there is going to be plenty more content coming every Tuesday & Thursday.