+ Tournament In addition to supporting your pals here at SDGT, spending a $1 on this bundle could pay off... because we're gearing up for a PAC-MAN 256 Tournament! We're working out the rules and what the prizes will be. There won't be any candy (momma noooo) but... there will be gift card (you could buy candy with)!
You might be looking at this title wondering what am I getting at... NOW, but I really want you to consider something. I know that there are plenty of gamers out there rocking the latest and greatest GPU's in the market, but you can pull off great looking games with minimum's seen below:
I won't speak on disk space because... content varies and increases with DLC. You might be wondering what game would run on these types of specs, and the answer is... Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Sure the game was released some time ago (2015 to be exact), but at the minimum specs, it still looks good (in 2021). It doesn't stifle the ability to provide better quality via recommended specs or even the highest resolutions, you just open the door to more gamers.
There are games that miss out on a larger audience because the developers limit the range. The higher the specs the lower the percentage when it comes to PC players able to play that game. A game doesn't require specs as low as those seen in CS:GO but look at the audience for CS:GO.
Between May 13, 2021 and May 20, 2021... there were more nearly a million players in-game every single day (according to the Steam Charts).
There are games that look far better than CS:GO and you have to cross your fingers in hopes that someone is online to play with. There are gamers who hold onto yesterday's tech for quite some time, so I think taking a step back could prove to be... a win.
I like to thank Warner Bros. for supplying a copy of this show for my review. My opinions are my own.
I have to be honest. I had no idea what The Alienist: Angel Of Darkness was or what it would end up being. I saw the name of this show and thought it was going to be something related to Aliens being considered the devil or something.
I'm still confused about the title, but the show began to grab my interest a few episodes in. It didn't start off slow, but... my interest increased around the 2nd or 3rd episode.
Story:It started off jacked up, and that... kinda continued with the light of a crime-fighting team of detectives shining through to find out what sinister filth was behind babies being kidnapped and replaced with dolls.
It seemed like a weird pattern of babies being taken and the mothers being charged for their alleged murder.
The dots connected in a way that kept my interest as the detectives began to unravel acts of pure evil, and when I thought the team was getting down to the bottom of it... there was a twist that had me like (holy sugar wrappers). It's not just sinister acts going on in this show, you also get a dab of romance in there.
Sara (played by Dakota Fanning) is the head of a private detective agency, that utilized the skills of Dr. Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl) aka the Alienist and a New York Times reporter by the name of... John Moore (Luke Evans). She also has other members of the team assisting her, but the story revolves around these three as they take down an elusive killer in an 1890's New York setting. You get corrupt institutions, sensationalism, and a spotlight on women in the society at that time as written for the show. What I appreciate is that they didn't make it cheesy while doing this, there were some things in there where they could have potentially taken this woman vs men direction... but I'm glad it didn't go that direction to overshadow the story.
There were things tucked in there that I found quite interesting, like with John Moore. I saw how he was being belittled publically for lacking certain resources and being in a relationship with someone who seemed like she wanted to be with him because she had someone to control financially. I think that was based on her upbringing, but... that's no way to maintain a relationship (when it comes to anyone) or that person wouldn't be authentic. In my opinion, I think that would merely be adapting to a life in captivity, so... I think that's one of the reasons he pours so much time into his work in order to prove himself worthy.
Each of the main characters had something interesting about them, which resulted in something interesting to look forward to as far as their personal lives are concerned.
I did find it most interesting that the Alienist wasn't the main character in the show. Don't get me wrong, when it comes to the Alienist, he played a crucial role when it came to those breakthroughs (he was able to get people to recall memories).
Even if he didn't lead the way, it didn't take away from the show as Dakota Fanning respectfully shined in her role. Overall, the team dynamic was interesting as the detectives inched their way towards taking down the baddies going after innocent little babies for reasons I will leave for you to find out.
Visuals:Visually this show has a good mix of angles that helped with the suspense. I really liked those bokeh shots the team was able to pull off for select scenes where they were able to capture the foreground and completely blur out the back (i.e. the hands are seen but the body is blurred out).
Most of the shots were your standard close-up and medium shots, but there were plenty of long/wide shots, panning, and other dramatic shots to keep it interesting. Even in the daytime, this show still felt dark to me based on the background music and overall environment. Day and night scenes were balanced with crisp visuals, and nothing felt like cheap fluff to sell the 1890's setting.
If I had to knock a scene or two, it would be some of the ones involving the slaughtered pig props. They looked authentic, but the scenes had nothing to do with a butcher, so... I didn't think the pigs were a necessary part of the focal point for some shots. They could be there, but only to an extent that they didn't get that focus. At most, I could have seen them off to the side or something, but... it didn't kill the show.
Audio + Extras:As far as the audio goes, nothing really stood out to me. That's not a bad thing though, everything worked for the good of the experience and the sound was balanced. You have the background music that plays without overpowering the vocals of the characters, and keeps the tension where it should be (whether it's high or they merely want your attention because the team is on to something).
Extras include Inside The Alienist: Building the World, Walking the Set 2.0 with Luke Evans, Kreizler Season 1 Recap, Dressing a Modern Woman, Series Overview. I didn't get the time to dive into all the extras, but I'd suggest leaving these untouched if you didn't watch the show prior to the release on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital.
Price:When it comes to price, you can get The Alienist: Angel of Darkness on Blu-ray for... $29.99, and DVD for... $24.99 or... get it on sale here! The MSRP isn't bad because you don't get those disappointing ups and downs that drag a show out unnecessarily, it feels more like a movie that keeps things paced throughout 8 episodes... but it doesn't have money either.
Overall, The Alienist: Angel of Darkness is a very good show... and I think it's a good thing that it's a limited series. A limited series has more of a sharper focus on the writing in my opinion because you don't have to figure out how to keep it going season after season because you have set objectives... and this show delivers the goods without at a worthwhile pace through a likable cast.
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Before I jump in, shout out to the firm grip team for supplying the product for this review!
I don't think there's much to say outside of the categories below... so let's jump right in.
Build: First and foremost... I want to point out that these gloves are described as having 3D Knit technology, which gives them a second-skin fit. I'll come back to the way they feel based on this tech, but for now, I can say that the gloves are durable as far as the build quality goes. The top of the glove features the knitted area which I confirm is a tight breathable knit.
Firm Grip's palm side features these little triangles in a nice useful pattern, which covers the full palm, fingers, and even around to the purlicue and the inner sides of the thumb + pointer fingers. So the gloves ensure that you can grip pipes and just about anything else without exhausting the hands to hold whatever you're trying to grip up. The look of these gloves reminds me of MMA & ATV gloves, which is awesome... because there is a sea of plain work gloves out there.
As seen here, you get a velcro strap to ensure that your gloves remain in place. What you don't see (at a glance)... is the padded area that covers the knuckles and upper area of the fingers. Nice touch because some gloves give no cover in this area and sometimes you have to lean or get up or down on your fists, but also let's not forget about those times where our hands hit something by mistake. Knuckle + Corner of a Board = Brace yourself for some pain... unless they're protected!
These gloves feature a little grip near the wrist area so that you can easily pull the gloves up and on. Firm Grip: Dura-Knit Work Gloves also feature little holes in the palm side area to keep the hands cool. If you're familiar with how hot your hands can get with certain gloves, I'm sure you appreciate this feature.
Comfort: These gloves are described as having 3D Knit Technology, and... have a second-skin fit. I'd say that you should get the right size to make it true because you don't want these gloves to be loose while trying to grip something (say no to slack). They feel better than some other gloves I've worn, and I did get this Spiderman vibe while wearing them, but... I still had to take the gloves off for intricate things (but they are work gloves). The intricate things I mention, refer to things like trying to screw tiny screws into something.
I won't say that everyone will have the exact same experience because we don't all have the same fingers & hand sizes. I tried to pull the gloves on as far as I could and strap them on, but I still got a slight looseness (very slight). I'm pretty sure someone with my hand size and slightly longer fingers would be good to go. Overall, they feel good, they aren't restrictive and I've been able to use my phone with ease, carry boards, etc. I mention the phone... because you don't have to take your glove off to make a call, answer the phone, or whatever else you plan on using it for during your handy work.
Comfort-wise I can't complain, the holes spare my hands the sweat along with the knit (no pruney fingers so far). I wore them for a max of about 3.5 hours, and you end up forgetting about them while working because they don't give that weird stranglehold on your hands with no room to breathe. I like that, because if you have a long day... you need good gloves so that you don't have to give your hands a break outside of lunchtime.
Grip:The grip on these gloves is made of silicone and actually provides a solid grip.
Don't believe me? No worries... click the play button!
The grip of these gloves had me wondering if they could assist with free running. I won't say that I'm ready to run out and parkour at the risk of landing on the back of my head... but I must say... I thought about it for the Spiderman cosplay fans and whether the gloves would help with scaling half walls.
Price:Pricewise the Firm Grip: Dura-Knit Work Gloves come in at... $14.97. This is deep in the impulse purchase area because they're $15, they don't suck, I'm loving the grip + comfort, and... I can use them for a variety of things (outdoors & indoors). These gloves are available now at Home Depot & HomeDepot.com (duh of the day!).
