The summer is typically a time for Hollywood to dump its least intellectually stimulating but usually visually impressive movies into theatres nationwide in an effort to cash in on a largely ignorant populace that is all too eager to part with their hard earned money. Thankfully, Inception is not one of these films. While this film specializes in being visually stunning and thoroughly engaging on a visceral level, it also functions quite well as a “smart” film, one that requires a little more thinking than the average brainless action movie that’s so common in mainstream cinema.
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Editor’s Note: Halo 2 was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004. Thus, I will be treating this review as if I am reviewing it in 2004. All comments are made in regards to the standards of that time period, as I don’t believe it is fair to review an older game in comparison to the standards of today unless I am doing so in retrospect.
Halo: Combat Evolved for the Xbox is one of the greatest First Person Shooters ever created and is perhaps the best launch title a system could ever hope to receive this side of Super Mario 64. Many believe that without this one game, the Xbox brand would not exist as it does today. It demonstrated that the First Person Shooter genre could be done, incredibly well at that, on consoles. College dormitories and apartments across the nation were host to countless Halo LAN parties because Halo is, without question, one of the best multiplayer experiences you’ll find on a console even after all this time. That alone is quite an impressive pedigree to live up to. While Halo 2 isn’t without its faults and does fall short in some areas, there’s no doubt that this is an excellent sequel.
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For nearly four years, Ubisoft had been hard at work on Splinter Cell: Conviction. Originally unveiled as a very different game from what the Splinter Cell series has represented in games prior, Splinter Cell: Conviction was a very intriguing change to the established Splinter Cell formula, forcing former secret agent Sam Fisher to hide in plain sight, using improvised weaponry and tactics to outwit or avoid his opponents. Unfortunately, the game was taken back to the lab and re-tooled significantly, resulting in a game that’s very much unlike the initial concept and more akin to a third person shooter with tacked on stealth aspects. The end result released earlier this year on the Xbox 360and PC is a game that, while decent, seems like it could’ve been so much more.
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Introduction
First and foremost, a big thank you goes out to Fang at Head-Direct for sending me a sample of the RE-ZERO IEMs for review.
If you’ve been keeping up with Musical Musings, you’re probably well aware of my current love affair with the HiFiMan RE0 IEMs. They are the current crown jewel in my IEM/headphone collection and hardly a day goes by in which I don’t pop them into my ears for a listen. With that in mind, when the HiFiMan RE-ZERO (yes, that is their name) IEMs were announced this year prior to the 2010 CanJam Head-Fi event that was held in early June in Chicago, I was understandably excited about them. Envisioned as a 1000-unit limited edition to commemorate the three year anniversary of the RE line of IEMs, the RE-ZEROs immediately piqued my interest. Featuring a much lower 16 Ohm impedance, and a silver coil for “more real bass”, these were intended to be used portably, straight out of a DAP or other source without the need for an amp.
Over the past week or so, I’ve been listening to the RE-ZEROs almost exclusively and for a great deal of time in each session. I say “almost exclusively” because I’ve also been comparing them to the RE0s, HiFiMan’s other inexpensive heavyweight. So, do the HiFiMan RE-ZERO IEMs offer Hi-Fi sound quality at Mid-Fi prices like the RE0s and are they worth the $20 price increase over their predecessors? Read on to find out.
Check out the rest of this review on Musical Musings
