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Valor Mortis review: even with satisfying parry-focused combat, it's impossible to overlook flaws

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There’s little else quite so satisfying in gaming as a really chunky parry sound effect. When you read your opponent precisely and time a deflection to perfection, hearing that impactful audio cue as a reward is about as good as it gets — especially if you can follow it up with a devastating finishing move. Valor Mortis nails this. I never tired of hearing the reverberated twang of blades clashing in my time with the first-person ‘ Souls -like’ from One More Level. And given how much time is spent duelling with the reanimated corpses of Napoleonic soldiers, body horror monstrosities, and a few unique creatures I won’t spoil, it’s really something the developers had to nail. So, I’m pleased to say that they have, and it’s one reason why I stuck with Valor Mortis through several of its other less successful aspects. Review info Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC Release...
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VisionQuest review: Paul Bettany and James Spader delight in Wanda/Vision TV trilogy capper

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Light spoilers follow for VisionQuest . No Marvel movie trilogy is perfect. That might sound like a loaded statement, but ask any Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU ) fan and they'll concede that even the franchise's gold standards — the original Captain America films, or Guardians of the Galaxy movie series, to name just two — have flaws. So, it falls to Marvel's TV show department to show its big-screen counterpart how to deliver a truly complete arc. And, with two acclaimed entries — WandaVision and Agatha All Along — under its belt, the Wanda/Vision TV trilogy only needed to stick the landing with a strong, final act to stake its claim as the MCU's best three-part story. Thankfully, VisionQuest does exactly that, delivering a scintillating slice of superhero science fiction, and a surprisingly deep and emotionally resonant conclusion to the Wanda/Vision Saga. ...
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Technics EAH-A1000 review: over-ear headphones with class, detail and comfort that err just slightly on the side of caution

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Technics EAH-A1000: Two-minute review If you were expecting a minor update over Technics' previous over-ears in the EAH-A1000, you're in for a surprise. Because in the four-years-and-loose-change since its last over-ear offering, Technics' various audio departments have been very, very busy — and I'm referring to the design team as well as the sonic engineering squad. Here's a novel idea to kick things off: these headphones have Technics' own proprietary, top-secret metallic juice concoction oiling the drivers. Those familiar with the company's hugely successful earbuds (and if you read this publication regularly, you will be) will remember the firm's Magnetic Fluid Driver technology. Technics pioneered it to aid the pistonic motion of those tiny drivers. As they busily move back and forth to create physical sound waves from electrical signals, said fluid helps the...
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Sony ULT Tower 5 review: an affordable bass-heavy beast

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Sony ULT Tower 5 review The Sony ULT Tower 5 is one of the stand-out audio products I've reviewed in 2026. In many ways, it defies belief. Despite being pretty small for a traditional party speaker, it produces almighty audio, with the sort of bass you’d expect from a model twice its size. And, what’s more, it's pretty affordable. Sony has made a bunch of changes to its new ULT range, and they appear to have paid off. Perhaps the highest-profile change is the shift towards newly developed rounded woofers, marking a departure from the almost rectangular X-Balanced woofer units seen on previous ULT models. The tech giant told me that this was in an effort to maximize deep bass — something that’s crucial for a party environment. And this, in my view, was a great choice. As with all of the best Bluetooth speakers in this size-class, the ULT Tower 5 plates up incredibly powerful yet regimente...
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Oscal Pilot 8 rugged phone review

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Oscal Pilot 8: 30-second review Rugged phones usually make one promise: they will survive. Everything else after that tends to be an afterthought or, on some devices, even a distraction. The Oscal Pilot 8 tries to change that narrative somewhat, while remaining reasonably tough. It uses a new Qualcomm Dragonwing QCM6690 chip instead of the usual MediaTek SoC. It includes a 6.83-inch AMOLED screen, WiFi 7, and a 10,000mAh battery. But its best trick is fitting all that tech into a body just 17.9mm thick and weighing just 389g. That makes for a practical, rugged design that fits in a normal pocket, and with a 108MP primary camera, it can capture detailed images and 4K video at up to 60fps. Given these mostly positive aspects, it's reasonable to expect a high price, but the quoted launch price was just $356.99. That was a special offer, and the retail cost is higher, but it still isn’t expensive...
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