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Italy has given permission for 180 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean to disembark from a charity-run ship. The decision comes after a stand-off that lasted more than a week. The Ocean Viking, operated by rescue group SOS Méditerranée, declared a state of emergency on Friday with tensions running high. There were fears for their safety and that of the crew. They are expected to be transferred to a government vessel in Sicily on Monday and will spend two weeks in quarantine. Medics have already tested those on the Ocean Viking for Covid-19. Results are expected on Monday. The migrants are from a range of countries including Pakistan, Eritrea and Nigeria. They had fled the coast of Libya when they were rescued in four separate groups between 25 and 30 June. They include 25 minors, most of whom are unaccompanied by adults and two women, including one who is pregnant. The ship had been awaiting permission to allow the passengers off the vessel in either Italy or Malta. As time went on, those on board had become desperate to reach land while others, unable to contact friends and family to let them know they were safe, had become distraught, AFP news agency reports. A doctor for SOS Méditerranée said he had noted "enormous psychological discomfort on the ship", where the situation was "almost out of control, for guests and crew". An interior ministry source told AFP that a medical team had been sent to the ship ahead of disembarkation. SOS Méditerranée said on twitter that the "unnecessary delay of this disembarkation has put lives at risk". More than 110,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year. More than 1,200 died during the attempt, according to the International Organisation for Migration. It is thought that warmer weather during summer could lead to an increase in the number of attempts.

Admittedly, there's not many options on the market if you're looking for a thin mini-ITX motherboard for Intel's 10th Generation Comet Lake-S processors. Nonetheless, ASRock has launched two new viable options in the shape of the B460TM-ITX and H410TM-ITX. We wouldn't blame you if you think you're seeing double. ASRock practically baked the B460TM-ITX and H410TM-ITX with the same mould. Aside from the chipset, the two motherboards come with identical features. They utilize a 4-phase power delivery subsystem and draw power from a DC jack and a single 4-pin power connector. The setback of this design is that the motherboards can only accommodate Comet Lake-S processors with a maximum TDP (thermal design power) of 65W. The presence of two SO-DIMM DDR4 memory slots means you can use up to 64GB of DDR4-2933 memory in a dual-channel configuration. Storage options are the same on both models. There are two SATA III ports and a single PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 port for PCIe-or SATA-based drives up to 80mm in length. This is where the similarities stop though. Out of B460 and H410 chipsets, only the first supports RAID arrays. So if you plan to use a RAID array, the B460TM-ITX is the motherboard that you need. In regards to graphics outputs, both Intel motherboards provide you with three options. You get two HDMI 1.4 ports, one of which is located in the rear panel and the other and an internal port. One LVDS port is also present. Neither motherboard come equipped with wireless connectivity. The single Gigabit Ethernet port, which is based off the Realtek RTL8111H controller, is your only gateway to the Internet. However, ASRock has thoughtfully placed a M.2 Key-E port on the motherboards so you can always add a wireless adapter if you want to break free of cables. On the audio side, the motherboards utilize the Realtek ALC233 audio codec and supply two 3.5mm audio jacks. To round of the tour, the rear panel os both motherboards house a serial port, four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports with ESD protection. Two internal USB 2.0 headers deliver another two USB 2.0 ports each. ASRock didn't announce the pricing or availability for the B460TM-ITX or H410TM-ITX.

US President Donald Trump is presiding over an event to mark 4 July celebrations at Mount Rushmore, despite concerns over coronavirus. In a speech at the South Dakota landmark, he said it would "stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and to our freedom". "This monument will never be desecrated, these heroes will never be defaced," he told a cheering crowd. Mount Rushmore features the carved faces of four US presidents. Activists have long taken issue with the monument, which was created on land sacred to the Sioux tribe. Two of the former presidents depicted - George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - were slave-owners. The president's decision to hold an event there has been criticised at a time when statues of Confederate generals and slave-owners are being re-evaluated, and in many cases pulled down, amid anti-racism protests. What else is Trump expected to say? President Trump is expected to denounce "cancel culture", and the toppling of monuments during recent anti-racism protests. A Trump campaign official said he would rail against people trying to "tear down" the United States. "The left wing mob and those practicing cancel culture are engaging in totalitarian behaviour that is completely alien to American life - and we must not accept it," the official said, summarising Mr Trump's expected comments. A fireworks display will also be held at the pre-Independence Day event, which 7,500 people are expected to attend. Masks will be available but not required, and social distancing will not be strictly enforced. Welcoming people to the event, South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem echoed the president's tone on protesters, accused them of "trying to wipe away the lessons of history". "This is being done deliberately to discredit America's founding principles," she declared. The fireworks will be the first at Mount Rushmore in over a decade, after a ban was imposed over environmental concerns. The monument is surrounded by a national forest and some fear the display could set off wildfires in the dry brush, though local officials have said the risk is low. Friday's gathering is the latest to be held by President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic, as he attempts to fire up his supporters ahead of November's presidential election. Oklahoma and Arizona recently hosted large events, raising fears they could spread Covid-19 as cases continue to rise nationwide. On Friday, the US recorded its largest single-day total of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. What have Native Americans said about the event? Native American groups have criticised Mr Trump's visit for posing a health risk, and for celebrating US independence in an area that is sacred to them. Many Native Americans do not celebrate Independence Day because they associate it with the colonisation of their tribal homelands and the loss of their cultural freedoms. The Mount Rushmore landmark was carved between 1927 and 1941, but the land it lies on - in the Black Hills of South Dakota - was taken from the indigenous Lakota Sioux by the US government in the 1800s. "The president is putting our tribal members at risk to stage a photo op at one of our most sacred sites," said Harold Frazier, chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Ahead of the event, a group of mostly Native American protesters blocked a main road to the monument with white vans, leading to a tense stand-off with police. They were eventually cleared from the road by police officers and National Guard soldiers, who used smoke bombs and pepper spray, local reports say. The vans were towed away and several protesters were arrested after the police declared the road block an "unlawful assembly", local newspaper the Argus Leader reported.

Premium memory for HPC applications. If you're interested in premium memory products, you'll be glad to hear that SK Hynix is, at last, kicking off mass production of its HBM2e memory modules. SK Hynix' HBM2e modules operate over a 1024-bit memory interface, which at a frequency of 3.6 GHz translates to an aggregate total bandwidth of 460 GB/s. Of course, it's important to note that these are the figures per stack of HBM2e memory, and coupling multiple units into each device will lead to further increases in performance. SK's HBM2e modules are based on eight-layer tall DRAM stacks. Each layer has a capacity of 16 Gb, and thus the total capacity per HBM2e stack tallies up to 16 GB. "SK hynix has been in the forefront of technology innovation that contributes to human civilization with achievements including the world's first development of HBM products," said Jonghoon Oh, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at SK hynix. "With the full-scale mass-production of HBM2E, we will continue to strengthen our presence in the premium memory market and lead the fourth industrial revolution." Naturally, we can't expect to be seeing this new memory in consumer graphics cards anytime soon. HBM2e is a premium memory product, catering to a very specific audience. Specifically, we can expect HBM2e products to land in HPC, AI, server, and research-oriented GPUs. Among the benefits of HBM2e are, as its name implies, higher bandwidth than the more commonplace GDDR6 memory featured in most products, as well as more efficient operation, higher capacities, and a more compact total package. HBM allows manufacturers to place the memory on the same silicon interposer as the GPU, saving valuable PCB space in tight places.

The US economy created jobs at a record pace in June as firms took on more staff after the coronavirus downturn. Payrolls surged 4.8 million, the most since the Labor Department began keeping records in 1939, helped by the reopening of factories and restaurants. It follows May's jobs rebound, when 2.5 million joined the labour market, and comes after consumer spending data saw a jump in activity. But a recent spike in Covid-19 cases has raised fears for continued growth. June's rise is far higher than the 3 million jobs many economists forecast would be create last month. However, separate Labor Department data also showed that in the week ending 27 June, initial claims for unemployment fell only slightly, to 1.43 million, on the previous week. Oxford Economics called it a "worryingly small decline". Companies, including in populous states like California, Florida and Texas, plan to scale back or delay reopening due to the fresh coronavirus outbreaks, which would hold back hiring. This week, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged the rebound in activity, saying the economy had "entered an important new phase". But he warned that continuing growth would depend on "our success in containing the virus". And despite two straight months of jobs growth, employment is still about 16 million below its pre-pandemic level, with the rate just above 11.1%.

Liquid Software Leader Delivers New Capabilities for CI/CD, SecOps, Helm, and Coins the Necessity of “BinOps” to Manage the Growing Flow of Software Packages JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling liquid software via continuous update flows, has unveiled new capabilities to address the growing problem of software distribution bottlenecks. The newly introduced CDN-based and Peer-to-Peer software package distribution mechanisms empower companies to overcome the challenge of frequently delivering large volumes of artifacts to internal teams and external clients. The announcements took place at JFrog’s annual swampUP user con .. The explosion of both hybrid and edge infrastructure, and the increased adoption of cloud-native apps that rely on compounded artifacts can create a “firehose” distribution problem, increasingly clogging networks with a stream of software updates. Distribution challenges will continue to grow, with IDC predicting there will be more than 520 million brand new digital apps and services added by 2024. Peer-to-Peer and Cloud-Based Distribution Enable Digital-First Economy Unveiling the new Peer-to-Peer artifact download capability, JFrog is serving companies that need to distribute coordinated software updates for hundreds and thousands of connected machines that are updated in parallel but cannot sacrifice speed and security. By breaking the artifact down into smaller pieces and allowing those pieces to be shared between peers on the same network, JFrog can accelerate download speeds by orders of magnitude and increase resilience by expanding beyond a single point of failure. JFrog has also delivered a new CDN-based package distribution function that solves the challenge of distributing software to large communities of external users or partners. This mechanism works in cases where companies need a simple, SaaS-managed solution to enable external downloads, such as distributing software that can be downloaded by anyone including drivers, plugins, and commercial software products, or updates for partners and users. “DevOps in a digital-first economy demands the need for speed and security throughout the entire software release cycle all the way to the edge. We provided our community with the first purely hybrid, end-to-end DevOps and DevSecOps platform, and now we’re extending all the way to EdgeOps,” said Shlomi Ben Haim, co-founder and CEO of JFrog. Kavita Viswanath, General Manager JFrog India said “Major enterprises are facing a clear challenge in distributing packages quickly and fearlessly across their organizations, as well as to clients and partners. The DevOps revolution will not be completed without providing a comprehensive, powerful binary distribution mechanism; this is our commitment to developers, and it is developers’ responsibility to their organizations.” New Upgrades Streamline Pipeline Assembly and Build Testing In a massive upgrade to their Binary Operations (or “BinOps”) toolset, JFrog has also announced new features for its JFrog Pipelines solution that encompasses continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). JFrog has expanded on its existing selection of pre-built common functions, known as “Native Steps,” by allowing users to build their own library of reusable pipeline steps via an Extensions Development Kit (EDK). Now DevOps teams can encapsulate frequent and common actions in their pipelines, offering a much simpler solution than traditional approaches which often involve plugins that conflict with each other, creating a “plugin hell” for users. Extensions can be run in parallel, allowing pipelines to run with multiple extension versions simultaneously. “As the world continues to move towards massive delivery of software, the ‘BinOps’ path of managing your software releases becomes more critical than ever,” said Yoav Landman, CTO and co-founder of JFrog. “Shifting binaries to the left and using immutable release binaries as early as possible in the software delivery pipeline is the only way to achieve robust, trusted and secure releases and maintain stable metadata that relates to these releases. We are proud to lead the way of BinOps with the JFrog Platform.” The First Free, Security-Focused Central Repository of Helm Charts Is Now Available for the Community Lastly, JFrog has added to their portfolio of public artifact centers with a fresh offering focused on managing the increasing volume of microservices-based and containerized applications. Dubbed “ChartCenter,” the free service from JFrog will provide immutable Helm Chart management for developers, who face increasing complexity in managing Helm, Docker and Kubernetes deployments as they grow in the enterprise. About JFrog JFrog is on a mission to enable continuous updates through liquid software, empowering developers to code high-quality applications that securely flow to end-users with zero downtime. JFrog is the creator of Artifactory, the heart of the end-to-end Universal DevOps platform for automating, managing, securing, distributing, and monitoring all types of technologies. JFrog products are available as open-source, on-premise, and on the cloud on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. As a leading universal, highly available enterprise DevOps solution, the JFrog platform empowers customers with trusted and expedited software releases from code-to-production. JFrog is trusted by more than 5,600 customers, and top global brands depend on JFrog to manage their binaries for their mission-critical applications. JFrog is privately held with offices across North America, Europe, and Asia.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the European Union's ambassador to leave the country within 72 hours. Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa's expulsion came hours after the EU placed sanctions on 11 Venezuelan officials. They were sanctioned for acting against the national assembly headed by opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Mr Guaidó declared himself interim president last year but has failed to remove Mr Maduro. The opposition leader has the backing of the EU and the US. In his announcement on Monday broadcast on state television, speaking of the EU, Mr Maduro said: "If they can't respect Venezuela, then they should leave it." He added: "A plane can be loaned for her [Pedrosa] to leave." Venezuela's air space is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier on Monday, the European Council said the 11 officials were added to the sanctions list "because of their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela". There are now 36 Venezuelan officials who have been placed under EU sanctions, it said. Those newly-added to the list include Luis Parra, who in January declared that he, not Mr Guaidó, was the rightful Speaker of the assembly. Mr Guaidó declared himself interim president last year, arguing that Mr Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate. His position at the head of the opposition-led National Assembly was the basis of his claim to be Venezuela's legitimate head of state. He is recognised as such by more than 50 countries, including the US, the UK and most in Latin America and the EU Speaking on Monday, Mr Maduro said the EU "recognises a puppet as president". Some four million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the United Nations, amid a severe years-long political and economic crisis. The oil-rich country suffers from high unemployment and shortages of food and medicine, and hundreds of thousands of people are said to be in need of humanitarian aid.

Game Informations. Developers : id Software. Released : December 1, 2017. Genre : A shooter game. Platforms : Microsoft Windows - PlayStation 4. Bethesda sure are the good guys this Christmas, eh? After coveting controversy with its review code policy over a year ago, the publisher’s really recaptured the adoration of gamers this holiday, supporting fledgling new formats like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation VR. And following on from last month’s transformative virtual reality adaptation of Skyrim, it’s last year’s DOOM reboot that the company’s got in its crosshairs. The question is: can the frenetic first-person shooter land the transition? DOOM VFR really, really tries. Unlike the Elder Scrolls adaptation, id Software’s opted to recycle locations from its 2016 title and build a new story around them. Essentially you play as a kind of scientist who dies right at the start of the game and leverages some clever coding to stay alive as a kind of artificial intelligence – or something. At the end of the day, it’s DOOM so the plot doesn’t matter at all, but the setup does provide some narrative justification for the title’s teleportation. Ah yes, teleportation – perhaps the most divisive mechanic in virtual reality right now. While you’re only forced to use this method of navigation with the PlayStation Move controllers, it’s an important game mechanic on the DualShock 4 and PSVR Aim Controller too, as it replaces the Glory Kills from the main game. Essentially, upon staggering your demonic adversaries, you can teleport into them to finish the job – a neat idea as it maintains the franchise’s frantic pace without prompting you to puke. Of course, you can also move with the left-stick if you’re using a controller that has one, while rotation options include smooth turning and customisable increments. As alluded, the PlayStation Move wands offer none of these controls, encouraging you to pivot on the spot like in SUPERHOT and rely on teleportation to get about. It feels extremely limiting when you’re playing with the motion controllers, and while a dash system does help with your mobility, it just doesn’t feel quite right. But to be honest, none of Sony’s accessories fit the experience as tightly as they should. Take the PSVR Aim Controller, for example: it’s great being able to hold the gun and aim with it, but DOOM VFR’s gameplay is designed around holding each gun in one hand, while the plastic firearm demands two appendages. As such, you’re stuck with a grenade just floating around in your peripheral vision, and later on in the campaign a grenade launcher instead. It’s not great. So what of the DualShock 4, then? Well you get all of the control options of the PSVR Aim Controller, but targeting is instead mapped to head tracking. This works absolutely fine, but it means that both of your weapons are locked to the centre of the screen, following your vision around like they’re protruding out of your neck. The thing is, the game is fully playable with whichever controller you choose, but we’d be lying if we said we felt truly comfortable with any of them. Which is a bit of a shame because DOOM in virtual reality is just about as mental as you’d expect it to be. The sense of scale isn’t quite as grand as other games – although coming face-to-face with Cacodemons is bloody cool – so instead the title impresses via its thrilling sci-fi setting. It just looks so, so pretty with PlayStation VR, as broken computer terminals fizz and illuminate the enormous firearms that you’re rolling around in your hands. The gameplay’s also stellar, too. Obvs. Despite the transition to virtual reality, this is the same destructive gunplay that you’ll remember from last year’s campaign, with superb weaponry and awesome alternative fire options. The teleportation Glory Kills feel good with PlayStation VR, and maintain the intense sense of speed of the series without going too over-the-top. It is quite an overwhelming experience at times, but we were able to play comfortably in two hours sessions. Unfortunately, it’ll only take you a couple of these sittings to beat the game, as it is rather short. To be fair to Bethesda, it’s priced the package appropriately, and multiple difficulty tiers as well as an array of collectibles at least give you a reason to run through it twice. There are also classic maps that you’ll unlock, which allow you to experience retro levels inside Sony’s futuristic facemask. System Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) Processor: CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 or AMD FX 8350 or better Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better Storage: 17 GB available space Bethesda’s really tried to make DOOM work in virtual reality, but despite supporting all three of PlayStation VR’s control options, it doesn’t really feel like the title was designed with any of them in mind. That said, if you can ignore the flaws with whichever peripheral you choose, then the over-the-top action of id Software’s series translates well, and this is arguably one of the better looking virtual reality titles to date. It’s a little on the short side, but the price point reflects that, and the gunplay is still as intense as it’s ever been.

The spread of coronavirus infections has taken a "swift and very dangerous turn" in the US state of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has warned. "Over just the past few weeks, the daily number of cases have gone from an average of about 2,000, to more than 5,000," Mr Abbott said on Sunday. Several southern and western states have recorded a surge in cases after lockdown restrictions were eased. The number of reported infections in the US has now surpassed 2.5 million. Over 125,000 Covid-19 patients are confirmed to have died nationwide - more than in any other country. What's the latest on the surge in US cases? The spike has led officials in Texas, Florida and other states to tighten restrictions on business again, with warnings that hospitals may soon be overwhelmed. On Sunday, Mr Abbott said that as many as 5,000 people a day were being admitted to hospital for treatment. US Vice-President Mike Pence said that Texas would be issued additional Covid-19 testing kits for as long was necessary. "We are going to make sure that Texas, and your healthcare system in Texas, have the resources, have the supplies, have the personnel to meet this moment," Mr Pence said. The vice-president also urged Texans to wear masks "wherever its indicated", saying "we know from experience, it will slow the spread of the coronavirus". Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was speaking at a joint news conference with Governor Abbott on Sunday, said that a nationwide mandate to wear face coverings was "definitely long overdue". "We have the worst record of any country in the world," she added. In the Texas state capital of Austin, a requirement to wear face coverings in some circumstances in order to help mitigate the spread of the virus led to demonstrations on the city's streets by people objecting to the measure. On Sunday, Arizona also recorded a record daily increase of more than 3,800 cases. Hundreds of people reportedly travelled to rivers in the state to escape the hot weather. The reported increases in infections in southern and western states come after moves in recent weeks to re-open businesses, resulting in people from other areas pouring in. Responding to the level of new cases, Mr Abbott last week told bars to close and limited restaurants' indoor seating capacity to 50%. Restaurants had previously been allowed to operate at 75% capacity, and bars at 50%. In the Texan town of Galena Park, east of Houston, the mayor imposed an overnight curfew on Saturday and warned that hospitals could soon be overwhelmed. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also re-imposed restrictions, ordering bars in the state to stop serving alcohol on their premises. What is the overall situation in the US? On Sunday, Johns Hopkins University said the total number of cases in the country had risen to 2,539,544. While some of the rise was down to more extensive testing, the rate of positive tests in some areas is also increasing. Health officials estimate the true number of cases is likely to be 10 times higher than the confirmed total. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that up to 20 million Americans may have been infected. The surge in cases was being driven by young people - those aged between 18 and 34 - testing positive, especially in the south and west of the US, said the head of the CDC, Dr Robert Redfield. The White House has said that the situation is stabilising in most of the country. At a coronavirus briefing on Friday, Mr Pence hailed the Trump administration's "truly remarkable progress in moving our nation forward", highlighting improvements in job figures and retail sales.

Welcome To CSBD Have fun, enjoy Topic/Closed.

Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has won the country's rerun presidential vote, officials say. He defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday's poll, the electoral commission announced late on Saturday. In February, Malawi's constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika's victory in the May 2019 election, citing vote tampering. The country was bitterly divided in the run-up to this week's election. It is the second African nation to annul a presidential election over irregularities, after Kenya in 2017. Supporters of Mr Chakwera have been celebrating in the Malawian capital, Lilongwe, sounding car horns and letting off fireworks. Why was there a new vote? A rerun of the 2019 election was ordered after the Constitutional Court found the original ballot had been marred by widespread irregularities. That election saw President Mutharika narrowly re-elected by fewer than 159,000 votes. Mr Chakwera, who came second in that election, argued that tallying forms had been added up incorrectly and tampered with using Tipp-Ex correction fluid. Uncertainty around the result sparked months of tension, which spilled over into clashes between opposition supporters and police. February's annulment led some to celebrate, but Mr Mutharika described it as a "serious subversion of justice" which marked the death of the country's democracy. There were concerns over the logistics and safety of carrying out an election in the midst of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Who is Lazarus Chakwera ? The opposition leader, a former cleric, heads up the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Born in Lilongwe to a subsistence farmer, the philosophy and theology graduate has pledged to raise the national minimum wage, among other reforms. Lazarus Chakwera Candidate for the Tonse Alliance Born5 April 1955 Studied theologyin Malawi, South Africa and USA Pastor and lecturerworked at the Assemblies of God School of Theology Authoredseveral books on religion including Reach the Nations Ran for presidentin 2014 and came second. Mr Chakwera leads a nine-party coalition, the Tonse Alliance, and had the backing of former President Joyce Banda as well as the country's vice-president, Saulos Chilima, as his running mate. Mr Chilima - who finished third in the 2019 vote - was once an ally of President Mutharika, but has since fallen out with him.

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Game Informations. Developers : Lince Works. Released : October 8, 2016. Genre : Action-adventure, stealth. Mode : Single-player, Multi-player. Platforms : Microsoft Windows - OS X - PlayStation 4 - Xbox One - Linux - Nintendo Switch. Aragami is a sight for sore eyes if you're a fan of the stealth genre. While we have incredible games integrating its conventions with Dishonored, Assassin's Creed, and even Wolfenstein: The New Order, they treat stealth gameplay as an equal alternative to action rather than the only realistic option. Seasoned game series like Metal Gear Solid and Thief are primary examples of the latter, emphasising stealth to the point of making combat a major threat. Aragami falls in line with this traditional focus on stealth gameplay, but is it worth leaving in the shadows or exposing to the light for all to see? One thing for sure is that our eponymous hero prefers the dark. He's a dark spirit made incarnate from the afterlife, summoned by Princess Yamiko because of his unfulfilled vengeance in life. He must save her from the clutches of the Kaiho clan, which is an army of light that ruthlessly took down her empress and the Nisshoku people. Now it's up to you to find talismans associated with Yamiko that the Kaiho have spread across the lands, and by gathering them where she is imprisoned, she will be rightfully freed to restore what was lost. However, this isn't your typical "princess in a castle" story, as the game humorously pokes fun at itself at one point. There's a rich history to explore with flashbacks that Aragami experiences with memories of his prior life and Yamiko's past. Exposition through dialogue and lore with collectable scrolls reference key players and events that give more context to the conflict between the Kaiho and Nisshoku. While we thought it would be uninteresting fluff, it's surprisingly deep and worth investing in. You'll be able to more easily follow and understand the campaign's extraneous details and plot twists, and with that comes a more enjoyable story. Along the way, you'll be travelling across tranquil forests and cobbled streets to reach the city of Kyuryu, where Yamiko is trapped. This affords plenty of settings where dozens of bow wielders and swordsmen patrol your surroundings, which you must carefully navigate in the shadows. However, shadows aren't just an obvious choice for your character to take advantage of – they're a necessity to fuel his dark abilities. This is indicated by a neat implementation of UI info with his cloak's design, which not only shows what ability you have equipped with cool illustrations, but also white lines that drain if you use shadow-based moves that only fade back when you're immersed in darkness. You can naturally run, crouch, and perform assassinations, but when it comes to abilities like teleporting à la Blink in Dishonored or becoming temporarily invisible, you have to be aware of your limits and environment to keep these powers up. That's why lamps, fire, and the light-endowed soldiers you come across can result in instant failure. Not only can you be exposed, but also devoid of your usual abilities. This forces you to evaluate your approaches to every area, which can be great fun whether you choose to spare or slaughter your foes in silence. It's incredibly reminiscent to how the Tenchu series works, but the addition of harnessing shadow mixes things up. There are six abilities total, and they're evenly split to cater to pacifists and murderers. By collecting those scrolls, you unlock skill points that can be put toward the ability to create a shadow facade that distracts guards or another that blinds someone for a few seconds. More violent alternatives allow you to throw a shadow kunai or summon a dragon behind someone that instantly drags their body into the nether realms. These moves and more are essential to incrementally evolving how you navigate levels and deal with foes, which prevents the gameplay from becoming too familiar over time, especially when you're able to start stringing together two to three moves to satisfying effects. You're rewarded by fully erasing or avoiding your enemies, so we switched back and forth between these two playstyles to keep things fresh. While we could tell the former was the greater and more arduous task compared to the latter on average, we never felt like either strategy was too simple. While some areas may be easier if you ignore soldiers, picking off people one by one was admittedly a better option on occasion. This shows great attention to level design and AI placement to prevent players from favouring one playstyle too much, which should be rightly commended. But that doesn't mean the game gracefully sneaks past our watchful eye. The AI did baffle us on rare occasions by instantly seeing us from the shadows and noticing our presence when they were turned around. Aiming can also be aggravating when trying to Shadow Leap to ledges or casting a brief shadow over an unlit surface, which would result in us trying to aim ever so precisely to find the right spot until we could execute either move. However, the biggest shadow looming over Aragami is intrusive performance issues. It ran around 20-25 frames-per-second most of the time, with major stutters between cutscenes and during gameplay, too. When you throw in some rough edges evident in the animation quality, we have to say that the game's appeal is slightly hindered with issues like these, which we hope are partly addressed in a future patch. Despite these grievances, Aragami still has a lot going for it. The cel-shaded art style adds to the appeal of environments and character models, even if some of the finer details and textures aren't that impressive. But that's not the case for the music. It's excellently composed by Twin Feathers and the glorious Videri String Quartet with violins, percussion, flutes, female vocals, and the occasional Hyōshigi or Shamisen. They contribute to a haunting, suspenseful soundtrack that always fits the mood. Well, excluding when electric rock guitars came in during the mediocre boss fights, which we thought were based more on circumstantial luck than skill to beat. When you do reach the end after over 10 hours of play, there's even a campaign multiplayer mode. While we weren't able to test it for ourselves, we see a lot of awesome potential in the collaboration this mode could bring forth. Having a partner allows opportunities to carry out complex tactics to eliminate multiple foes at once, and we think that the game would be even more entertaining this way. So, if you play mercifully solo, we'd highly recommend ramping up the death toll with a friend the second time around. System Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 Processor: Intel Core i5 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 2GB of Video Memory, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660, AMD Radeon HD7870 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 6 GB available space Sound Card: Integrated audio interface Additional Notes: Required: Keyboard and Mouse with Secondary click enabled or gamepad (such as PS3 controller, Xbox 360 controller for Windows or Logitech gamepads). The patient, cunning mindset Aragami puts you in with its strictly stealth gameplay is something we long for with more titles. With simple yet smart level design and mechanics, it proves to be a focused title with heart and soul that has learned much from its old masters. But the game does lack polish in its performance and appearance, and the AI can be irritating at times. Fortunately, the release's story, visuals, and sound design ultimately help lift it out of the darkness.

Native American groups are planning to protest against President Donald Trump's visit to Mount Rushmore at the start of the Independence Day weekend. Activists have long taken issue with the South Dakota monument to former US presidents, which was built on land sacred to the Sioux tribe. Mr Trump will bring fighter jets and fireworks to Mount Rushmore on 3 July as his campaigning tour continues. The controversial trip comes amid heightened racial tensions nationwide. Mount Rushmore features the 60ft (18.2m) high faces of four US presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The monument was carved into the granite rock face between 1927 and 1941. But the land the memorial lies on - the Black Hills of South Dakota - was taken from the indigenous Lakota Sioux by the US government in 1800s. Its sculptor was reportedly a white supremacist with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Some Native American activists say the land should be returned to the Sioux and the monument brought down. Others say indigenous groups should receive economic benefits from tourism to the site. Oglala Sioux President Julian Bear Runner told the Argus Leader newspaper that Mr Trump did not consult with tribal leaders about his visit. Another tribe member and local activist Nick Tilsen told the Associated Press the monument "is a symbol of white supremacy, of structural racism that's still alive and well in society today". "It's an injustice to actively steal Indigenous people's land then carve the white faces of the conquerors who committed genocide." The row over Mr Trump's visit comes as across the US, statues of leaders with ties to slavery have come down in the wake of the George Floyd protests. The president is expected soon to sign an executive order to make any vandalism or destruction of public statues and federal monuments punishable by jail time. On Thursday evening, he told a Fox News town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin: "Every night we're going to get tougher and tougher [on statue protesters] and at some point there is going to be retribution because there has to be. "These people are vandals, but they're agitators, but they're really, they're terrorists in a sense." Monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson - who both owned slaves - are among those that have been removed or torn down. A statue of Theodore Roosevelt, featuring the former president flanked by a Native American man and an African man, in New York is also to be removed - a plan Mr Trump called "ridiculous". But South Dakota's Republican Governor Kristi Noem rejected the notion that Mount Rushmore would be next, tweeting: "Not on my watch." Mr Trump's planned visit made headlines earlier this month for his decision to host the first fireworks at Mount Rushmore in over a decade, despite environmental concerns. The monument is surrounded by a national forest and some fear the display could set off wildfires in the dry brush. But park officials said they were "confident" the fireworks could be conducted safely, the Washington Post reported.

New Microsoft Teams features now available in preview. Microsoft Teams for Android and iOS is set to receive a host of new features designed to make the app more useful in non-professional scenarios. In a bid to address the need to communicate virtually with family and friends, the po[CENSORED]r collaboration platform will open up its text, chat and video conferencing facilities to non-business users - as well the ability to share photos, videos and GIFs. Once a group has been created, users will be able to organize themselves collectively using a dedicated dashboard that hosts shared to-do lists and calendar items, which can also be assigned to specific individuals. Microsoft Teams will also allow mobile users to share documents securely between individuals or within groups, and now comes with a built-in lockbox for storing private information such as passwords and account credentials. Free for all personal users, the new features are currently available in preview on Microsoft Teams for mobile, but are expected to enter general availability later this year - at which point desktop and web clients will also receive the new functionalities. Microsoft Teams update Although Microsoft Teams was originally designed specifically for business use, the coronavirus pandemic has seen millions of users turn to video conferencing platforms to keep in touch with their loved ones. The latest changes to the Teams platform are grounded in the inevitable overlap of personal and professional lives that came about with the widespread transition to working from home. “With the new features, we hope to extend the power of Teams beyond work scenarios to your personal life,” reads a blog published by the firm. “Whether you’re a busy parent managing daily family life or just trying to stay connected and in sync with those who matter most, the new features are designed to alleviate the need for disparate tools and instead offer one central hub for individuals, groups and families to collaborate and stay connected and organized.” To activate the new features in preview, users that already have a Microsoft Teams account for work can navigate to the settings pane and select ‘Add an account’. Once a personal account has been tethered to the app, the user can switch back and forth via the same settings tab. Those that have never used the service before can sign up using an existing Microsoft account, or use a phone number to create a new one.

Reuters reports that Italy has approved a three-year state-backed credit facility in the wake of the pandemic Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has secured a €6.3 billion (£5.7bn) credit line backed by the Italian government, Reuters reports. Previous reports from mid-May suggested FCA was attempting to secure a share of the government's coronavirus emergency financing scheme. Reuters says the court's approval came following an endorsement from the economy ministry, and that the loan will be issued by Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest retail bank. The firm, which has its financial headquarters in London, earlier scrapped its dividend payments to shareholders after a planned £7.4bn sale of reinsurer PartnerRe, owned by the holding firm of the Agnelli family alongside the controlling share of FCA, collapsed. The PSA Group, which has agreed a tie-up with FCA to create the world’s fourth largest car-making group, also scrapped its dividend for 2020. The decision allowed them to keep just under £1bn for day-to-day operations during the coronavirus crisis. Italian state investment into FCA has been a controversial issue because the company's holding is registered to the Netherlands. Any conditions imposed upon the loan by the Italian government remain unconfirmed. Almost every car manufacturer has suffered extensive financial setbacks or share price drops during the pandemic, which caused car registrations during April to fall by 97% in the UK alone. Europe is only now easing out of its lockdown measures and it’s expected the market will gradually return to healthier figures. A primary reason for FCA seeking the merger with PSA was to bolster its European arm, which has struggled over the years with poor sales, low margins on po[CENSORED]r cars and underfunded premium brands such as Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The French group’s expertise in the market, along with its superior progress on electrification, is hoped to help FCA recover its success in the region.

EU ambassadors meet on Wednesday to plan reopening external borders on 1 July, and travellers from the US could be among those not allowed in. A number of European countries are keen to open up to tourists but others are wary of the continued spread of coronavirus. The 27-member bloc must first agree the measures that non-EU countries should meet before deciding on a safe list. The virus is spreading in the US, so it is likely Americans would be barred. Brazil, Russia and other countries with high infection rates would also be left off a safe list, according to reports from Brussels. The EU is not yet thought to have agreed how they will assess which countries meet health standards - one of the criteria for entry. Part of the problem is assessing reliable health data, reports say. Comparing infection rates with other countries Latest figures from the EU's health agency, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, highlight Brazil, Peru, Chile, Panama and Saudi Arabia as countries with the highest "case notification rate". Russia and the US have a lower rate of cases per 100,000 inhabitants but are still higher than most of Europe. The US has seen 2.3 million infections and 120,000 deaths and cases are climbing in several states. The European Commission is advising ambassadors only to consider countries that are comparable or better than the EU average when it comes to new infections, the trend in new infections, as well as testing and tracing. Reports said member states were assessing two different lists. The Politico website said one covered countries with less than 16 cases per 100,000 people and the other with up to 20 cases, which would include Canada and Turkey. The New York Times said the list would be revised every two weeks, so the US could be added later. Other criteria also being considered are reciprocity and links to the EU. France wants the EU to give access only when it is reciprocated by other countries, while Spain is said to be keen to reopen the border with neighbouring Morocco. Earlier this month the European Commission also stressed that reopening borders with non-EU states in the Western Balkans was a priority from 1 July. The US may also be a problem diplomatically, as on 14 March President Donald Trump unilaterally closed US borders to countries in the EU's Schengen border-free zone. The EU condemned the move at the time. Why this is a fraught decision for EU countries Which countries' travellers are allowed in and which not? At first this may seem a practical decision for the EU: if a country outside the EU and Schengen area has high rates of infection, its citizens won't be allowed in to the bloc. If infection rates are similar or lower than the EU average, then willkommen, bienvenue, welcome! Except it's not that simple. Producing a list of outside countries "acceptable" for EU travel is also a political - and economic - decision. Tourists bring much-needed revenue to Coid19-ravaged economies, of course. And, as is so often the case, opinion between the EU's 27 countries is divided. Some worry that barring a particular country over Covid-19 could cause political friction with allies or worsen already-existing tensions. EU relations with Washington and with Moscow are already delicate, shall we say? Then there's the issue of reciprocity. France is particularly attached to this. In other words, if a country bars entry to tourists from an EU or Schengen nation, then that country should be allowed to return the "favour", thinks Paris. Also, if a non-EU country grants access to EU visitors, should the EU be diplomatically obliged to respond in kind? This is all under discussion, so don't expect a speedy decision. The EU hopes the travel criteria will be decided by the end of play on Wednesday. The actual list of barred countries is scheduled to be published on Friday. But, you guessed it, that's far from certain. Don't forget, the list would also be constantly updated, depending on Covid-19 (and political changes) in the weeks to come. Can Europe save its tourist season? The EU is split into two groups that include those hoping to salvage something from this year's summer tourist season and those that fear for the health situation. Although the EU urged the 27 member states to reopen internal borders from 15 June, several countries have moved carefully to avoid a second spike in infections. Denmark, which was among the first European countries to start lifting its lockdown, has begun reopening its borders more slowly than others. Denmark is a Schengen state but it still has strict criteria for those visiting the country. Tourists were allowed to return from mid-June from Norway, Iceland and Germany, but not from neighbouring Sweden. Greece, meanwhile, opened its borders to a number of countries on 15 June in a bid to kick-start its tourist season. Japanese, Israeli, Australian and New Zealand travellers are allowed in while higher-risk countries such as the UK and Belgium face compulsory testing and quarantine.

Game Informations. Developers : Ninja Theory. Released : August 8, 2017. Genre : Action-adventure, hack and slash. Mode : Single-player. Platforms : Microsoft Windows - PlayStation 4 - Xbox One - Nintendo Switch. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice opens with a warning screen, which tells you all you need to know about Ninja Theory’s challenging new character action game. Developed in conjunction with physicians and mental health patients, the title tackles the taboo subject of psychosis – a disorder which causes hallucinations and delusions. As you may suspect, this makes for difficult viewing at times – but the Cambridge-based company must be praised for its dedication to depicting the disease in the right way. Senua, the title’s dreadlocked protagonist, is a Celtic warrior from north of the English border. Upon witnessing the mutilation of her lover at the hands of the invading Vikings, she succumbs to insanity, and is cast away by her family in order to live out her illusions in a nearby forest. It’s here that she embarks upon a journey into the underworld – an alternate reality conjured by the demons which haunt her mind. Much of the story is garbled – and intentionally so. You’ll need to be paying close to attention to piece together the thrust of the narrative, which can be difficult to parse given how “busy” it is. The game deliberately tries to overload you, be it through the number of voices speaking concurrently (more on that later) or the frequent use of visual effects, which fragment and distort the image on screen. This makes the title surprisingly stressful to play, but effectively helps convey Senua’s state of mind. Ultimately, it’s a challenging game to play – and not necessarily in the way we’ve become accustomed to. The camera is pulled unnervingly close – uncharacteristically so for the genre – in order to create a sense of claustrophobia, which is leveraged particularly well during combat when adversaries will spawn behind you, making them difficult to keep track of. Bouts become all about positioning and enemy management, with no user interface or heads-up display to guide you.The game instead utilises “the voices” that compose part of Senua’s illness to alert you to danger or provide hints, and it’s impressive how well this aspect has been married to the gameplay. You’ll constantly be hearing whispers throughout the six or so hour campaign, and while these do notify you to foes creeping up on you and important environmental details, they also deceive you, which creates some interesting scenarios where you won’t ever be quite sure who to believe. This is where the sound design is so important. Ninja Theory’s used binaural microphones – similar to those you may have experienced in, say, ASMR videos on YouTube – to capture the positional data of every sound, and when paired with a decent pair of cans it can feel like there are other people in the room with you. All of this put together – the fragmented visuals, the goading voices, and the close camera – help to give a small idea of what suffering with mental disease may feel like. In fact it’s only the final pillar of the psychosis depiction that falls short. Many with the disease say that they find meaning in everyday objects that others can’t see, and so a lot of Hellblade’s puzzles revolve around perspective similar to some of those found in The Witness. Unfortunately, the mechanic is overused, and scouring the environments for hidden runes soon becomes a pace-sapping hindrance that you’ll grow to loathe. Thankfully, not all of the puzzles are poor: one section finds you virtually blinded and cleverly relying on sound to navigate a labyrinth and avoid enemy encounters; another introduces torches and light sources to help you combat an unseen antagonist who only appears in the dark. The game’s really good at keeping you on the edge of your seat, as evidenced by a mechanic that sees Senua gradually overcome by the darkness with each time you fail. The threat is the most important part, as this isn’t a particularly difficult game in the traditional sense. The combat is satisfying, owing to a time-slowing mechanic and the fact that your adversaries cut and bleed the more you attack them. But you should see the campaign through without too much resistance, which may disappoint those looking for complex character action experience. Ultimately, though, that isn’t really the purpose of the game. No, a vast chunk of your time will be spent simply wandering through stunning locales. Given the pseudo-indie budget attached to this project, it’s alarming that it rivals The Order: 1886 at times for sheer photo-realism. There are parts of the game that do seem purpose designed to show off Ninja Theory’s new facial capture technology, but given how convincing it is we can forgive the developer that. The studio’s penchant for iffy FMV does continue here, too, though we’re not convinced it fits. System Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows 7, 8, 10 Processor: Intel i5 3570K / AMD FX-8350 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GTX 770 with 2GB VRAM / Radeon R9 280X 3GB DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 30 GB available space Additional Notes: Minimum spec screen resolution: 1280x720 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is not going to appeal to all tastes, and nor does it try to. As a character action game, it has decent if underdeveloped combat and a mixture of some excellent and some overplayed puzzles. But it’s the way that the title utilises the unique attributes of the medium to raise awareness of mental health that elevate this release beyond the sum of its parts.

Oculus will stop selling the Go at the end of this year. The Oculus Go will soon be no more. Oculus announced today that it will no longer ship the Oculus Go -- what has been the best VR headset for budget shoppers since it debuted two years ago -- after this year. Instead, Oculus will focus on the Oculus Quest as its standalone headset of choice. Both the Go and Quest are operable without being tethered to a gaming PC or smartphone and without the need for external base stations for tracking. However, the Quest allows for 6-degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking, compared to the Go’s 3DOF. That means the Go doesn’t track when you’re walking around, which, admittedly, is a hindrance to the whole ‘immerse yourself in an alternate reality’ play. “The community response has been overwhelmingly positive, and you’ve told us loud and clear that 6DOF feels like the future of VR,” Oculus said in a blog post today. “That’s why we’re going all-in, and we won’t be shipping any more 3DOF VR products.” Those who already have the Go will still be able to enjoy Oculus security patches and bug fixes until 2022; however, the headset won’t see any new features or apps as of December 4. It’s not surprising to see Oculus buckle down on the Quest. It’s the VR HMD we recommend most due to its balance of price and performance. From a business perspective, it’s already garnered Oculus over $100 million through content alone. Gaming in particular is doing well, with 10 games driving more than $2 million in revenue via the HMD. However, it’s still sad to see a budget option leave VR. Many enthusiasts still aren’t willing or able to spend a lot on another tech platform, especially one that’s still in its earlier stages. The Quest is a good option for VR newcomers as it doesn’t require a powerful PC. But the Quest’s currently selling for $399, while the Go starts at $149. However, with Oculus soon to be focusing on one standalone headset instead of two, maybe we’ll see more consistent stock of the Quest. Speaking of more readily available offerings, Oculus also announced changes for developers as of “early 2021” that should help with Quest app availability. ‘This will enable developers to share their apps to anyone with a Quest, without having to be accepted into the Oculus Store, and without the need for sideloading,” the blog explained. The vendor didn’t get into further details but claimed this would help make the Quest accessible to more developers and give Go developers time to switch gears in favor of the Quest.

The city of Celaya in the Mexican state of Guanajuato was the scene of violent clashes over the weekend between members of the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel and Mexican security forces. Twenty-six people were arrested, including the mother, sister and a cousin of the cartel's leader, José Yépez, known as "El Marro" (Stingy). The gang had earlier torched more than 20 cars and set alight six shops. The cartel has so far mainly dedicated itself to fuel theft. What's the background ? Celaya in central Mexico has seen a spike in violence as the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel has tried to defend its criminal enterprise in the central state of Guanajuato, which include extortion rackets and fuel theft. The group has not only been involved in a deadly feud with its rivals, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, but has also seen heavy bloody infighting with José Yépez and his former sidekick, Noe Lara Belman, better known as Puma, both claiming leadership of the gang. More than 1,000 people have been killed in gang-related violence in the state in the three months from March to June, according to a tally by consulting firm Lantia Consultores. What happened over the weekend? Security forces said the gang set alight more than 20 vehicles and a number of businesses across Celaya on Saturday as police moved in to detain key suspected members of the group. A total of 26 people were arrested and weapons and vehicles seized. Following the arrests, cartel leader José Yépez recorded a video shared on social media threatening "to blow up" the government in retaliation for the arrests. Appearing to be close to tears, he thanks his gang members for their support and says he will fight "until I die" even if he's "left alone like a dog". It is not the first time José Yépez has issued threats via video. In 2017, he appeared in a recording surrounded by armed men telling the much bigger and more powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel to stay out of Guanajuato. The illegal siphoning off of fuel from pipelines belonging to state-oil company Pemex is big business in Mexico. The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador made the dismantling of the fuel theft gangs such as the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel one his main priorities in 2019. But attempts to detain José Yépez have so far failed, with the gang leader reportedly escaping through a network of tunnels when the security forces moved in on him in 2019 in the town his cartel is named after.

Game Informations. Developers : Zoink. Released : February 16, 2018. Genre : Action-adventure, metroidvania. Mode : Single-player. MSRP : $19.99 Platforms : Microsoft Windows - PlayStation 4 - Xbox One - Nintendo Switch. Fe is the latest project from the Swedish studio Zoink! Games, and is a wide departure from its previous work. Swapping out quirky, comical adventure games like Stick it to the Man for something more straight faced, the developer's experiment is a decent effort, but unfortunately falls short of greatness. You play as the titular creature, a small, agile thing that can sing and climb trees. Your primary task is to learn the languages of all the animals of the land, which means exploring woodlands, marshes, caves, and more besides. However, standing in your path are the Silent Ones, a mysterious group of faceless baddies who appear to be wrecking the environment for some sort of sinister purpose. At the start of the game, you can only sing in one language, but this is enough to befriend a couple of critters, and it's not long before you learn more. Each song helps you traverse the environment in new ways; learning the bird song, for example, allows you to ask giant owls for a ride on their back, while the deer song enables the use of fan-like flowers, which boost you to new heights. It's all very pleasant, although you'll find you use some songs far more than others throughout your journey. Alongside this harmonious system, you'll also want to keep an eye out for pink gemstones, collectibles that, once you find enough, enable new abilities for your Fe. Once you can clamber up trees and glide around, you're able to explore most of the game's world, which feels somewhere between a generous sized sandbox and a more linear series of rooms and corridors. These abilities, combined with the traversal options that emerge from your singing, give you plenty of freedom. Unfortunately, the world doesn't offer a huge amount for you to see. Exploration is rewarded; you'll find dozens of the aforementioned gems, but you'll also come across old Silent One helmets that offer a glimpse of story from their perspective, or giant tablets adorned by symbolic murals. The problem is that these storytelling elements don't ever feel like they amount to much. They left us puzzled, when it feels like they're supposed to entice you. The story in general seems to be shooting for something profound and impactful, but we were left wanting as the credits began to roll. Another problem lies in some of the basics. While the controls are mostly fine, the camera and platforming can be extremely fiddly. It's not always clear which platforms you can clamber up and which ones you can't, and making big leaps or more precise jumps is much more difficult than it needs to be, thanks to some finicky mid-air manoeuvrability. You'll also need some patience when attempting to "speak" with another creature, as the volume is analogous with the amount of pressure you apply to R2, which is a nice idea, but it can be tricky finding the right tone. Encounters with the Silent Ones are bothersome, too; you need to stealth your way through, but it's all a bit trivial. You can hide in spiky bushes and, regardless of whether you've been spotted or not, you'll be safe, as long as you stay put. There are plenty of opportunities to navigate above their heads, but if you miss a jump, they make very quick work of you, which can become frustrating. There are also some performance issues as the game loads in new areas. It's not the end of the world, but there are noticeable frame rate dips throughout. Aside from this, Fe looks rather lovely. The angular, low poly look is like a gloomier version of Grow Home's aesthetic, and it works. The soundtrack is good, too, dynamically shifting from pretty, peaceful tones to more sinister music when the Silent Ones are around. System Requirements: OS: Windows 7 64-bit, 8.1 64-bit or Windows 10 64-bit Processor: Intel core i3-2100T @ 2.5GHz / AMD Phenom II X3 B73 Memory: 4096MB RAM HDD: 3GB Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460, or AMD Radeon 5870 or better; 1Gb RAM Direct X: DirectX 11 Input: Mouse and Keyboard, controllers recommended Fe is a decent puzzle platformer with some nice ideas, but it all rings a bit hollow in the end. The various songs are a fun way to interact with the world, but some are barely used at all, while you'll rely on others almost constantly. It can also be surprisingly difficult to control, with a camera that isn't always cooperative and platforming that isn't as tight as it needs to be, especially in an environment as vertical as this. The story, which strives to be poignant, fails to leave an impact, and while the world is a nice place to explore, there isn't a whole lot in it. Ultimately, it's a fine game, but it struggles to leave a lasting impression.