Editors’ Picks: Digital Discoveries

Senior editor, Jarred Walton, and hardware staff writer, Joanna Nelius, kick back and enjoy the simpler things

RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

Who doesn’t want to roam the plains of the Wild West, staring off into the beautiful sunset? Forget the bank robberies and other hijinks, Red Dead Redemption2 on PC is the definitive way to play, and it looks stunning. Or at least, it can.

A heads-up before you even think about cranking all the settings to maximum: Your PC almost certainly can’t handle the truth. And the truth is that even at 1080p with an RTX 2080 Ti and a Core i9-9900KS, you’re going to see dips below 60fps—and that’s before enabling 4xMSAA. I recommend sticking to high quality settings, which look nearly as good, and allow for a relatively steady 60fps or more with a 2060 Super or faster GPU. Also, turning down reflections and volumetrics doesn’t affect image quality much, but can boost performance.

There’s a lengthy single-player story that can take 100 hours or more if you start wandering off the beaten path. Or you can stick with RedDeadOnline and lose yourself in the company of friends and strangers for the next year or more. If you’re like me, and don’t bother with consoles, come join the fun on the best gaming platform around. Long live the PC.

$60, www.rockstargames.com

RAZER KRAKEN ULTIMATE

I’ve been spending time with Razer’s Kraken Ultimate headset. One of its features is THX support—the audio quality assurance system that has been synonymous with the motion picture industry since the 1980s. While other headsets tout 7.1 virtual surround sound, the Kraken Ultimate takes 7.1 further with its THX compatibility. Not only is this the first headset I’ve worn that fits the contours of my head, but it also sounds fantastic.

To get 7.1 to work, just download and activate the driver from the Razer website. The bass is warm and deep without creating an uncomfortable vibration inside your ear canal, and the treble is smooth and balanced alongside the bass. There’s no rattling, even with the volume cranked to the max. The binaural response is also good, which makes it easy to tell where approaching footsteps or gunfire are coming from in a game. The only downside is the mic, which takes some adjusting to increase the volume of your voice, but then I still haven’t come across a headset mic that I like better than my Blue Yeti.

$130, www.razer.com