 "Top reviews this week: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Battlefield 4 and more!")
This week, we got our hands on Samsung’s latest phablet offering, a few new games as well as a brand new graphics card from AMD. Check out our reviews of these products, in case you may have missed out over the last seven days.
Asus R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 (8/10)Asus’ R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 has shaped up to be a damn good graphics card
AMD’s new R9 and R7 series of graphics cards are already creating quite a buzz in the Indian market, even though they are yet to hit retail shelves. In terms of appearance, the card is good looking and well designed as well. The R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 features the famed Direct CU II cooling system with Asus’s proprietary CoolTech fan. If you look at the fans a bit carefully, you’ll notice that they are different and that’s because they both serve a different purpose. The special CoolTech fan has a hybrid blade system for much better outward force. This should help keep the heatpipes relatively cool even during the most intense gaming sessions. After taxes, the graphics card will set users back Rs 23,210, a good price considering the very good custom cooler and factory overclock.
An origin story?
Warner Bros obviously wants to turn the Batman Arkham franchise into a regular series, much like Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed. However, after the massively successful Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, WB decided to take Rocksteady Studios off the franchise and opted to give the reins over to an in-house studio—WB Montreal—for Batman: Arkham Origins. Graphically, not much has changed. Arkham Origins still runs on Unreal Engine, so we get the same beefy Batman we got back in Arkham City and Asylum. What has changed, however, is that Origins is a prequel. Not, as the name might imply, an Origin story for the Caped Crusader, mind you. It is an origin story for the events that take place in Asylum and City. The title will set you back Rs 2,999 and is available for PC, Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
The new design doesn’t quite give the premium look and feel
Despite receiving heavy criticism for its overwhelming size, Samsung managed to make this niche segment wildly popular, not to mention highly profitable. Everyone has a 5-inch and above handset today but they exist mostly due to pressure from the competition and to have that extra checkbox in their line-up. The Note is now in its third iteration and continues to have a clear distinction from the competition thanks to its S Pen. You can find the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 retailing online for about Rs 47,000, which is still a very high price for what’s on offer. Granted, the phone is packed to the gills with the latest hardware and specs but it lacks that premium look and feel.
Battlefield 4 (7/10)The game really does look beautiful
EA has been trying hard to fight the behemoth that is the Call of Duty franchise. While the Medal of Honor series failed in its attempts to bring Activision’s FPS series down, the Battlefield franchise has managed to stay strong. EA released what can arguably be considered the best game in the franchise back in 2011—Battlefield 3. After a couple of years and a ton of DLC, the company has now released the next game in the series. Aptly named Battlefield 4, it was recently released on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is priced at a hefty Rs 3,499.
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