Dark

Nu @T r 1 L u L ! L u

9

Nu @RasaK

We've been talking for a while that the storage needs of ordinary users have changed, and with HD content today, low-capacity storage devices quickly fall short. Fortunately, there are times when we find offers like the one we are going to show you today, with a Samsung SSD of 2 TB capacity that is on sale with an interesting discount and makes it more affordable to have fast and high-capacity storage. In the past, we had to settle for having a small capacity SSD for the operating system and little else and then a higher capacity mechanical disk for all content and even programs and games. This trend has changed for a long time and today the most common thing is to have a large capacity SSD for everything, and is that with the price that these devices currently have, it is no longer worth having mechanical disks, at least for Samsung's SSDs are generally quite a bit more expensive than the competition. The manufacturer justifies the price increase in comparison because in cases like this the maximum performance of the SATA 3 interface is taken, reaching 560 MB / s of read speed and up to 530 MB / s of read speed. Indeed, we are facing an SSD with a SATA 3 interface and whose form factor is the standard 2.5 inches, so its performance is what it is but as we have mentioned, it takes the maximum that this interface is capable of giving. In addition to outstanding performance within its limits, Samsung boasts that these new 870 EVO SSDs boast unprecedented reliability with up to 2400 TBW in the 4 TB drive; This 2 TB capacity drive that is the one on sale has 1200 TBW and a 5 year warranty, so we could write 657 GB a day to this SSD, every day for 5 years before exhausting its durability. On a normal gaming PC, an average of 30 GB a day is written, so this means that an SSD like this Samsung 870 EVO would last us a whopping 65 years at this rate, so obviously durability is not something we have. to worry about in this device. Samsung 870 EVO This SSD makes use of 3-bit Samsung V-NAND MLC memory chips and a Samsung MKX controller, with 2GB of dedicated LPDDR4 cache. The device is compatible with S.M.A.R.T., TRIM, Garbage Collection and even AES 256 bit, TCG / Opal and IEEE1667 encryption so you will have all the security and durability tools desirable in a high-performance SSD as is the case. Offer price and availability As we said at the beginning, the 2 TB capacity variant of this Samsung 870 EVO is on sale with an interesting 20% discount, so it is practically on the same level as other SSDs that are generally cheaper but do not provide the benefits that this Samsung model has. Samsung 870 EVO 2000 GB Buy it from Amazon Logo Of course, as always we must warn you that the offer is limited until stocks last, so as soon as the units run out, it will return to its usual price.

Google will allow you to perform quick tasks with the Digital Assistant without having to activate it first with the voice command, with a function that it develops as 'guacamole'. At the beginning of March, work began on the Google 'app' for 'guacamole', the code name of a new feature with which the company has been reserved, according to 9to5Google. 'Guacamole' has turned out to be a new function for the Assistant, with its own section in the settings, which allows you to "get things done quickly" and introduces the activation of voice shortcuts without first having to say the command 'Hey, Google'. This novelty has appeared in the latest beta version of the Google 'app' (v12.5) with Android 11, and as explained in Android Police, it allows quick actions such as answering a call or stopping an alarm.

Game Informations : Developer: Ryan Davis Platforms: PS4 Initial release date: February 16, 2007 at 5:54PM PST When it originally appeared on the PSP late last year, Tokobot delivered a novel platforming experience with a strong puzzle element and a unique future-antiquities setting. Tecmo has sanded down and polished up the package for the PlayStation 2 with Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri, which distinguishes itself with new levels, expanded storytelling, and some minor mechanical tweaks. More talking anime heads between levels and before boss fights isn't much of a bonus, and the gameplay alterations feel a little inconsequential, but more levels is definitely a good thing, since a short run time was one of the most prominent flaws in the original Tokobot. Though the wide-eyed anime art style of Tokobot Plus feels a little generic, the game's setup is interesting. During the opening narration, it's explained that thousands of years ago, there was an advanced civilization that developed all kinds of technological marvels before the civilization itself mysteriously vanished, leaving its vast machinery and robotic caretakers as the only evidence of its existence. Without much understanding of how this ancient technology works, the current, relatively primitive civilization has since built itself on top of the ruins of the old with the development of steam power. You play the part of Bolt, a speechless young boy in the employ of an archaeologist, and during a fateful dig you uncover a group of knee-high automatons, which you dub as Tokobots, that take an immediate affection to you. The voice acting is of standard-issue TV anime quality, and the story itself almost immediately devolves into lots of good-guy-bad-guy back-and-forth, but the steampunk premise helps set the game apart and gives the proceedings a bit more weight. The Tokobots will heedlessly follow you anywhere you go, which is usually some giant, ancient ruin filled with puzzles, unfriendly guardian robots, and some treacherous grave robbers. On his own, Bolt is a regular guy. The Tokobots serve as a Swiss army knife of sorts, though, and he can accomplish a lot when he uses them in unison through a process called "jointing." There are three basic Tokobot formations that can be switched at the touch of a button, and each allows for specific abilities. Depending on their formation, Tokobots can be stacked into a ladder, used as a springboard, swung like a giant club, spun like a helicopter blade, and more. http://www.gamereactor.eu/media/85/tokobotplus_108562.jpg You'll find more Tokobots to add to your entourage early on, and as you progress, you'll earn new ways to use existing formations. You'll also earn overdrive abilities, which let your Tokobots change their shape entirely and momentarily form into a single robot. Overdrives can be useful both for combat and solving puzzles, and over the course of the game you'll transform your Tokobots into a sword-wielding samurai robot, a crane, a giant hammer, a catapult, and more. Additionally, you can purchase power upgrades for your overdrive forms, as well as time-attack versions of levels you've previously explored and health vials in between levels by trading in artifacts you find during your adventures for cold, hard cash. Tokobot Plus is at its best when it focuses on the puzzles, which can be tough but usually quite intuitive, and the difficulty ramps up at a reasonable pace. The game gets a lot of mileage out of your basic abilities, and it takes its time in familiarizing you with new mechanics as they're introduced. You always know when you need to employ a specific overdrive ability, as the game presents you with large, well-marked floor tiles, and it's rare that you'll be unsure whether you're looking at a puzzle that you can solve or a dead end. The combat is also pretty straightforward, since there are only a handful of enemies and all of them wear their weaknesses in plain sight. Some of the boss battles can get a little tricky, but even then it doesn't take long to figure out their attack patterns. It can get hectic when the game throws three or four enemies at you at once, but it seems like a lot of the difficulty in combat stems from the game's camera, which moves slowly and has a tendency to get snagged on bits of the environments. You'll occasionally have to backtrack to an area that was previously inaccessible as you gain new abilities, but the game is mostly quite linear. Though Tokobot Plus introduces two additional challenge levels not found in the original Tokobot, it's still a rather short game, something that's more pronounced now that it's on a full-fledged console. This also holds true for the game's presentation. The game's crisscrossing of ancient tombs and advanced technology gives the ruins you'll explore an interesting feel, but they're also small and boxy. You just don't get the sense that you're exploring particularly vast spaces, which makes the intermittent frame rate problems puzzling. Some alternately upbeat and urgent music fits the game's cheery tone well, but most of the sound is sufficient and not particularly remarkable. Despite its much longer title, Tokobot Plus: Mysteries of the Karakuri isn't that different from the plainly named Tokobot for the PSP. In the transition from a handheld to a console, though, the game has lost some of its charm, and its relatively limited scope has become more pronounced. The basic puzzle-solving is still good fun, and there's an accessibility here that makes it a good fit for those with less experience with platformers, but the new content won't be enough to draw back those who've already played through the original. System requirements: PC compatible Operating systems: Windows 10/ Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

3

1500

78

Nu @KFC

★Nickname: Tyso. ★CSBD username: @xXxNekoxX ★Rank: Semi-elder (Test 1 week).

Game Informations : Developer: Aaron Thomas Platforms: PS4 Initial release date: February 16, 2007 at 5:54PM PST If imitation truly is the most sincere form of flattery, then the folks who work for Hot Shots Golf developer Clap Hanz must be blushing nonstop with all of the flattery coming from Eagle Eye Golf, a budget-priced game that's absolutely shameless in how it apes the po[CENSORED]r PlayStation golf series. The golfers look similar, the presentation is similar, the courses are similar...even the font used on the front of the box is nearly identical to Hot Shots Golf. Seeing as they have so much in common, it would be reasonable to assume that Eagle Eye Golf is just as entertaining as Hot Shots Golf, but that's not quite the case. The areas in which Eagle Eye deviates from the Hot Shots formula are some of the game's weakest points, and while it can be a fun game if you can look past these problems, the simple fact is that there are many other golf games that are better than this one. Eagle Eye Golf has a variety of single- and multiplayer game modes. Single-player options include tournament, stroke, mission, survival, and training. You might think that training is where you go to learn the basics, but it isn't; here you just play a basic practice round. The closest thing the game has to a tutorial is mission mode, which is a series of short challenges where you'll have to learn how to shoot fades and draws, as well as how to read greens and judge the wind. You'll also be a master of creative shot-making by the time you're halfway through since you'll routinely find trees and other obstacles placed between you and your target. Mission mode can be entertaining, but it runs out of steam about halfway through, thanks to a lack of variety--you'll be doing the same sorts of things over and over again. In survival mode, you simply take on a series of golfers and try to win as many matches in a row as you can. Whoever wins the first hole, wins the match. If you lose, it's game over. You're supposed to be able to unlock items in survival mode if you win enough matches, but we won nine in a row and never unlocked a thing. Eagle Eye's multiplayer lets up to four people play on a single PlayStation 2 using one controller. All of the modes found here are pretty standard. There's stroke and match play of course, as well as skins, best ball, and sudden death. Because of its odd name, 2ball4some may sound somewhat unique, but it's just team-based alternate-shot stroke play. There's no online support to speak of. Tournament play is more like a career mode since you'll be taking a golfer through a series of tournaments and earning attribute boosts along the way. You can create a golfer using the game's limited, and somewhat offensive (there's a character model called "chubby Asian"), character creation options, or use one of two unlocked golfers. Hopefully you're happy with the available choice of golfers, because it will be a long time before you get to play as anyone else. According to the game's Web site, the only way to unlock new golfers and courses is to win tournaments, but neither the game nor the manual ever explains this. After hours upon hours of play, and many tournaments won, we never unlocked a new golfer, so it's anyone's guess as to what it takes to do so. Two things you can earn and unlock, however, are skill points and new items. Making birdies and eagles during stroke or tournament play gives you points that can then be used to power up your golfer. Winning a tournament will net you a new club, glove, ball, or shoes. As it does with so many of its other aspects, the game does a poor job explaining how attribute points and items affect your golfer, and a cumbersome menu system doesn't help either. The tournaments themselves are standard, though there are odd cutscenes featuring someone that's supposed to be your rival, which play before and after the event. Your rival's pretty nice and rather humble, and the game never explains why this person is your rival, so it's all kind of pointless. There are just seven courses in the game, none of which are real. Most of these feel as if they could have easily been in a Hot Shots game. There are a few neat courses, though, such as the Las Vegas course that's played only at night and the course that takes place in a theme park. Should you tire of the included courses, you can head to the course editor to create your own links masterpiece. The course editor could hardly be described as robust, but it does allow for some interesting designs, and it's easy to use. On the course, Eagle Eye plays quite a bit like less-fun Hot Shots with a tiny bit of some watered-down Tiger Woods thrown into the mix. Rounds are quick, and you can fast-forward through your shots with the press of a button. One thing the game introduces is the concept of your golfer having stamina. Supposedly hitting lots of shots tires your golfer out, but this never seems to come into play. If you've ever played a golf game before, the controls are mostly straightforward. You swing by pulling back on the right analog stick and then moving it forward when you've reached the desired level of power on the meter. This works OK, but because your swing doesn't take place until after you're done moving the stick, there's a disconnect between your input and what's happening onscreen. You can add power to a shot by pressing the square button beforehand, and you can hit a slice or a fade by pressing left or right on the D pad as you swing. Adding backspin or topspin to a shot is done by holding down or up on the D pad during your swing. For the most part, this system works fine, and it's rather forgiving, but there are occasions when the game really punishes you for not moving the analog stick forward or back in a perfectly straight line, especially in mission mode. Putting, on the other hand, is a complete mess. The game is totally unforgiving when deciding what putts will and won't go in. Like in so many other golf games, a grid is placed over the green, and little dots move along the lines to denote the direction and severity of the slope. Unfortunately, the greens in Eagle Eye slope when there aren't any moving dots, and the dots that are here have a nasty habit of disappearing when you move the camera. It's also extremely difficult to judge how hard you need to hit the ball. There's an indicator at the bottom of the screen that shows how severe the slope is, but there's little rhyme or reason as to how hard you need to hit the ball in relation to what the indicator is showing. None of this would be so bad if the game were a little less selective about which putts do and don't drop. It's agonizing to watch putts constantly wind up as close as "0.0" feet away from the hole without falling in. If you were hoping that a three-inch putt would be easy, you'll be disappointed to find that unless you pull down and push up on the stick as fast as you can, there's a good chance the ball will fly right over the cup. Even though the putting is all jacked up, the game's actually rather easy. You don't have to put much thought into upgrading your golfer, the CPU golfers don't put up much of a challenge, and the courses are mostly forgiving of poor shots. Eagle Eye Golf is not a good-looking game. The character models are passable, though there isn't much variety to their animations. They may look decent, but the designs themselves are rather bizarre--mostly in a "Why is this person in a golf game?" way and not in a "Neat! That's a zany character!" way. Among the group are a baseball player, a woman with huge breasts in a low-cut shirt, a basketball player, some lady that looks like Guile from Street Fighter, and a guy that bears a close resemblance to that famous golfer Abraham Lincoln. The courses are colorful and have a few nice touches, like animated trees and ducks swimming in ponds, but for the most part they look like they're from a first-generation PlayStation 2 game. There aren't many trees, the frame rate occasionally chokes for no apparent reason, and the textures are dismal. All of the grass is completely flat, so it's tough to tell the difference between the fairway and the rough. And the greens are just, well, green. Say what you will about the rest of the game, but it all shines when compared to the audio. The music is simply dreadful and doesn't fit the game well at all. The same goes for character voices. It's bad enough that the golfers say "ungh!" after every shot, but for some reason the game also puts the text on the screen when they say it. All of the golfers have a number of irritating sayings at their disposal, ready to be shouted out with the press of a button. The game is relentless with these idiotic quips, and unless you hit the ball right away, the CPU will pepper you with obnoxious sound bites chiding you to play faster. Toss in a nerve-racking wind sound effect that makes a 4mph wind sound like 100mph, and it's tough to come up with any way Eagle Eye could sound any worse. For all of its problems--and there are many--Eagle Eye isn't all that bad of a golf game. The Hot Shots formula from which the game borrows so liberally is a good one, so it's possible to have a good time--it's just difficult to do so for more than a few rounds. For each thing the game does well, like fast-paced play and (mostly) accessible gameplay, it does a number of things poorly. The graphics are dated, the sound is terrible, many aspects of the game aren't explained well, and the putting is broken. In light of these problems, it's tough to recommend Eagle Eye Golf when you can purchase the very game that it tries to emulate so closely, for the same price, or even less.

The DLSS is one of the spearheads of NVIDIA against AMD, the games that support it can achieve higher frame rates at output resolutions where without the use of this technique it would not be possible. This fact has been what has made the GPUs of the NVIDIA RTX ranges the current leaders in the GPU market, but the NVIDIA DLSS has a trap and we will tell you what it is. If we have to talk about the two spearheads of NVIDIA for its GeForce RTX it is clear that they are Ray Tracing and DLSS, the first is no longer an advantage due to the implementation in AMD's RDNA 2, but the second is still a differential element that gives it a great advantage, but not everything is what it seems at first glance. DLSS on RTX depends on Tensor Cores NVIDIA DLSS NSIGHTNVIDIA DLSS NSIGHTNVIDIA DLSS NSIGHTNVIDIA DLSS NSIGHT The first thing we have to take into account is how the different algorithms, commonly called DLSS, take advantage of the console hardware and nothing better than doing an analysis of the operation of the GPU while it is rendering a frame with the DLSS active and without it. The two screenshots you have above these images correspond to the use of the NVIDIA NSight tool, which measures the use of each of the parts of the GPU over time. To interpret the graphs we have to take into account that the vertical axis corresponds to the level of use of that part of the GPU and the horizontal axis the time in which the frame is rendered. As you can see, the difference between both screenshots of the NSight is that in one of them you can see the level of use of each part of the GPU when using the DLSS and in the other not. What is the difference? If we do not look closely we will see that in the one corresponding to the use of the DLSS the graph corresponding to the Tensor Cores is flat except at the end of the graph, which is when these units are activated. DLSS is nothing more than a super-resolution algorithm, which takes an image at a given input resolution and outputs a higher resolution version of the same image in the process. That is why the Tensor Cores when applied are activated last, since they require the GPU to render the image first. DLSS takes up to 3 milliseconds of the time to render a frame, regardless of how fast the game is running. If for example we want to apply the DLSS in games at a frequency of 60 Hz, then the GPU will have to resolve each frame in: (1000 ms / 60 Hz) -3 ms. In other words, in 13.6 ms, in return we will obtain a higher frame rate in the output resolution than we would obtain if we were to render the output resolution natively to the GPU. DLSS Operation example Suppose we have a scene that we want to render at 4K. For this we have an indeterminate GeForce RTX that at said resolution reaches 25 frames per second, so it renders each of these at 40 ms, we know that the same GPU can reach a frame rate of 5o, 20 ms at 1080p. Our hypothetical GeForce RTX takes about 2.5 ms to scale from 1080p to 4K, so if we activate DLSS to get a 4K image from one at 1080p then each frame with DLSS will take 22.5 ms. With this we have been able to render the scene at 44 frames per second, which is greater than the 25 frames that would be obtained rendering at native resolution. On the other hand, if the GPU is going to take more than 3 milliseconds to make the resolution jump then the DLSS will not activate, since it is the time limit set by NVIDIA in its RTX GPUs for them to apply the DLSS algorithms. This makes lower-end GPUs limited in the resolution at which they can run DLSS. DLSS benefits from high speed Tensor Cores The Tensor Cores are essential for the execution of the DLSS, without them it would not be possible to perform at the speed that runs in the NVIDIA RTX, since the algorithm used to perform the increase in resolution is what we call a convolutional neural network, in which Composition we are not going to go into this article, just say that they use a large number of matrix multiplications and tensor units are ideal for calculating with numerical matrices, since they are the type of unit that executes them faster. In the case of a movie today, decoders end up generating the initial image in the image buffer several times faster than the rate at which it is displayed on the screen, so there is more time to scale and therefore you end up requiring much less computing power. In a video game, on the other hand, we do not have it stored on a support as will be the following image, but it has to be generated by the GPU, this cuts the time that the scaler has to work.

Microsoft will update in the coming weeks the Windows 10 toolbar with an icon that will inform about the weather conditions of the area where the user is and that, when opened, offers more information about other content such as news, sports, Stocks and traffic . The new icon will be located by default to the left of the system and notification icons on the Windows 10 toolbar, based on snapshots and video shown by Microsoft on the Windows blog. The images also show that the icon will give visual information on the current weather - and the forecast for the next few days - through a drawing such as a sun or clouds, textual information on the temperature and an indication of whether the weather is "sunny" or if there are "storms". The user can configure that only the icon or the icon with text is visible. The rest of the services are activated by passing the course on the icon, which will open a tab with a carousel of cards of different colors with images and text that include content on news, sports, Stock Market and traffic. The user can click on any content to obtain more information through a browser. All these services can be deactivated or configured at the user's discretion. The company indicates that content can be personalized by changing interests through a specific manager. Content sources can also be customized through the Windows content ecosystem. News and interests in the Windows toolbar will begin to appear in the coming weeks, although general availability will take a few months, as Microsoft has warned.

1455

5

Nu @SATAN001

1445

71

Voted.

Summer is just around the corner, and with the arrival of it will come the heat. If you want to prepare your PC for the rise in temperatures, there is nothing better than a high-end AIO liquid cooling kit like the ones from NZXT, although it is true that they are generally much more expensive than the average. Today things change, since we have compiled a series of offers for you through which you can buy your NZXT AIO kits at a reduced price, do not let them escape! IT HAS A 10% DISCOUNT AND IT GOES FOR 224.99 EUROS This is a liquid cooling kit with a 280 mm long radiator, which obviously comes with two 140 mm fans each to cool the whole. This NZXT AIO has the particularity that in the pump they have installed a 2.36-inch LCD screen capable of displaying a 24-bit color system and that of course is configurable, so that it will help us to monitor system parameters such as such as the CPU temperature or the running speed of the fans. It is compatible with all current Intel and AMD sockets, although for the AMD TR4 socket it does not include the docking kit (sold separately). WITH A 13% DISCOUNT, NOW YOU CAN BUY IT FOR € 129.98 This kit, as you will suppose, is an alternative and cheaper version of the previous one; it also has a 280mm radiator and two 140mm fans, but the pump lacks a display. Instead, NZXT has installed a configurable RGB LED ring from its software (NZXT CAM). Same as above, it is compatible with all current Intel and AMD processor sockets but the anchor for the TR4 socket is not included. YOUR DISCOUNT IS 13%, AND IT CAN BE YOURS FOR € 188.99 This NZXT AIO Liquid Cooling Kit is a smaller version of the first; belonging to the Z series, it also has the LCD screen installed in the upper part of the pump that allows us to monitor system parameters, and the difference is that the radiator is in this case 240 mm long and comes with two cooling fans. 120mm controlled by PWM. Like the above, it is compatible with all modern processor sockets from both Intel and AMD but does not include the anchor kit for the TR4 socket used by AMD Threadripper processors. THIS KIT HAS AN 11% DISCOUNT AND GOES FOR € 149.98 In this case, this NZXT AIO liquid cooling kit stands out as a larger version of the X63 that we saw before, and therefore the length of its radiator is 360mm as it comes with three built-in 120mm fans. Your pump has an RGB LED ring configurable from the software, and like the rest of the models we have seen so far it is compatible with all current Intel and AMD processor sockets but does not include the AMD TR4 socket anchor kit . WITH AN 18% DISCOUNT, NOW IT COST 208.99 EUROS Finally, this liquid cooling is the same as the previous one, with a 360 mm radiator and three 120 mm fans each, but with the peculiarity that in this case the fans have an RGB ring configurable from the software (NZXT CAM). The pump also has an RGB LED lighting ring, and is compatible with all current Intel and AMD sockets but does not include the docking kit for TR4.

There has been a 145 percent increase in the use of cyberbullying and espionage applications (known as 'stalkerware' and 'spyware', in English) in Spain since the confinement measures were implemented in March last year, as has cybersecurity company Avast alerted. Stalkerware is unethical software that allows someone's location to be tracked, without their knowledge or the victim's consent. As explained from Avast, it allows the attacker to access photos, videos, emails and other communications made through the victim's personal applications, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, as well as listen to phone calls and make covert recordings of conversations through from Internet. In the last year, the company has protected 2,782 users in Spain from applications capable of spying, and 165,049 worldwide. The volume of cyberbullying and espionage applications in January and February of this year has experienced an increase of 145 percent compared to the same period last year, before the restrictions were established by Covid-19. From Avast they indicate that in Spain, from March 1 to April 15, 2020, online consultations multiplied by 650 percent to the number of care for victims of violence, according to data from the Institute for Women. Avast is part of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, a cross-sectoral organization committed to fighting domestic abuse and harassment, addressing the use of stalkerware, and raising awareness about this issue. In 2019 alone, the cybersecurity firm's mobile threat researchers identified and worked to remove eight 'stalkerware' apps from the Google Play Store.

Game Informations : Developer: Brett Todd Platforms: PC - Plastation Initial release date: February 16, 2007 at 5:54PM PST The Blitzkrieg real-time strategy franchise enters its fourth year with another stand-alone expansion in Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich, which is a happy title for some of us because it indicates that CDV may be coming to the end of the line. This has been a pretty good series overall, but at this late date, everything has been done, and the developers at Nival Interactive are now just spinning their wheels. This is essentially a mission pack rounding up some of the climactic battles from the eastern front in the waning days of WWII. There are two separate campaigns. In one, you try to guide the Soviets into Poland, while in the other, you desperately attempt to hold off the Red Army with Hitler's forces. Each campaign features some fairly offbeat historical battles that you don't normally find in WWII RTS games, particularly the German one that kicks off in the Baltic states. But the missions themselves are totally formulaic and will seem like old ground for anyone who has previous experience with the series. Virtually every assignment begins with your having to achieve some relatively simple goal, such as capturing a train yard or destroying an armored column, and progresses to what is almost always a huge battle over an enemy-occupied town. Every aspect of the game is so predictable that you could set your watch by it: Take your opening complement of troops and tanks into the fray; watch them be whittled down by a tremendous number of enemy antitank guns, soldiers, and tanks; order up reinforcements, which almost always consist of armor because tanks generally make more sense than soldiers, artillery, or aerial support; and throw everything together to make a big push into town. Occasionally, events are a bit more mixed up, as in one Russian mission that opens with you leading commandos to take out German artillery, but the end always seems to be a street-to-street scrap over a village. The only thing that interrupts this cyclic action is grueling difficulty. "Brutal" doesn't begin to describe how tough the campaigns are, even the opening missions. Odds are usually stacked against you to a ridiculous degree. Countrysides and towns are packed with antitank guns, artillery, tanks, entrenched soldiers, and machine-gun nests. If Hitler really had this much hardware remaining in 1945, people would be speaking German in Vladivostok right now. It's funny how much armor comes rolling out when you venture into a town because there typically seem to be too many tanks to fit on the small streets. You get the sense of clowns spilling out of a tiny car. Still, you can't really laugh at any of this because the sheer numbers you face make most levels almost impossible, even on the "easy" difficulty setting. Special objectives that often have to be completed before getting into the mission proper are particularly hard. In the commando mission described above, you guide a couple of dozen troops against practically an entire enemy platoon, bolstered by a pile of artillery that can chew you up long before you get close enough to do any damage to it. Even when the field of battle is somewhat level, it often feels like you're being cheated because your units frequently get incinerated by fire from unseen artillery units. Awkward controls make things even tougher. A single enemy light tank, partially hidden behind a collapsed building or a wall, can often blast an advancing column of a dozen or more tanks into scrap metal because it's hard to navigate through narrow town streets. These cramped conditions also wreak havoc on targeting, with tanks stubbornly refusing to fire on enemies that they are right on top of when they are near a building or wall. This makes it tough to coordinate an effective town assault. Thinking tactically always leads to frustration, and all-out tank rushes tend to break on the heavy defenses. You've seen everything else before. There are a few new armored units and rewards, but nothing stands out. Multiplayer is exactly the same as it was in the original Blitzkrieg 2. Visuals and sound are also held over, which is hard to complain about because both have aged pretty well. The graphics do a great job of depicting the explosiveness of armor combat, while the audio is suitably bombastic, if a bit too heavy on repetitive yells when the infantry goes into battle. Still, don't expect this game to be comparable to something modern, such as Company of Heroes. For dedicated fans only, Blitzkrieg 2: Fall of the Reich is overly familiar and far too difficult to be enjoyable. Don't sign up for this tour of duty unless you're a glutton for punishment. System requeriments Radeon 9800 Pro or GeForce FX 5500 to meet recommended requirements running on high graphics setting, with 1080p resolution. This hardware should achieve 60FPS. Your GPU is expected to be able to deliver DirectX 9.