. PREDATOR

Hello , First of all i want to say that we all know the situation that Naser made himself in and he got blacklisted for some Inappropriate answers in his last recruitement , i admit he was wrong with that and he made mistakes but who don't ? i will ask you robila ? you never did mistakes before ? does anyone is perfect ? No one only god is ! The point is , even Naser made mistake he got punished for that and his request got solutioned but he had the chance to request for it again ! The problem isn't in making mistakes but how to not repeat them again and do we learnt the lesson ? As i see many people gave up after getting rejected but naser improved how far he's interested and loyal about our community Moreover his activities increased from the last time and i see that he learnt from his last mistake therefore he deserve his second chance and i'm sure he will never waste it ! Rules says that he must request again after getting solutioned with new activities and he must make sure that he won't make the same mistake of his last request ! I see that he didntt and about appologizing , In his place robila i think you will do the same ! It was like a chance for him but he lost it and he got mad it's not that easy to accept the situation but let me tell you that naser is a good person and totally deserve his moderator At the end this back to administration team not us ! Warmest regards .

Game Informations : Developer: Team Ico, SIE Japan Studio, Sony Interactive Entertainment Publishers : Sony Interactive Entertainment Platforms : PS4, PS3 , PS2 Initial release date: 18 octobre 2005 Shadow of the Colossus for PlayStation 4 is a stunning return to the classic that first wowed us on the PlayStation 2 in 2005. With completely redone art and spectacular lighting, it expertly captures the original’s unique beauty, awe-inspiring scope, and absolutely heartbreaking story while simultaneously fixing a handful of imperfections. The result is not only an incredible remaster, but one of the best and most beautiful games the PS4 has to offer. Part of Shadow of the Colossus’ enduring legacy is in its relatively simplistic design. You explore the vast, gorgeous world in search of 16 unique, terrifying beasts. These range from humanoid giants to airborne birds and massive underwater hydras. Though it’s never actually explained, your motivation is clear: slay them in order to restore life to a comatose woman who is clearly important to you. But while this premise is simple, the act of embarking on this six to eight-hour quest is remarkable. Riding out of the central shrine and using the beam of sunlight reflecting off your sword as a dowsing rod to find your next target is a continually satisfying way to kick off a hunt. And every time I started making my way toward a beast’s literal stomping grounds I was left stunned by just how gorgeous Shadow of The Colossus has become. From the way light drips through a forest to the swaying clumps of matted hair on a colossus to the textures on your character’s cloak, it’s leaps and bounds past most other contemporary games, to say nothing of its source material. It looks great even on a launch PS4, and even better on a Pro. I kept forgetting that I was playing a 13-year-old game. This remaster also does a fantastic job of fixing some of the problems of the 2005 original, while completely modernizing the entire experience to our 2018 standards. The frame rate no longer buckles in the presence of a particularly massive colossus, and when you set it to performance mode on a PS4 Pro it even maintains 60 frames per second with minimal sacrifices in quality. You can see all the way to the horizon while riding across the vast, somber planes, revealing a sense of scale hidden in the original due to short draw distances. And the new control setup remaps the jump and grab buttons in a way that simply makes more sense than the strange original configuration. Combine all of this with a flexible photo mode and a handful of new Easter eggs and this remaster made me forget that I was playing a 13-year-old game. There are still a handful of minor nagging issues that exist: for instance, the scope of some of the battles and your close proximity to a giant, hairy colossus means that the camera will occasionally get lost in tufts of fur and obscure your view at a crucial moment. Likewise, success in a few of the encounters relies on getting the colossus to stand in a very specific position, which can sometimes be a bit like trying to get a dog to stay in a bathtub. This illusion that they’re living creatures creates an internal conflict. But overall, the classic design of Shadow of the Colossus has stood the test of time without a trace of wear. Each of the 16 colossi are puzzles in and of themselves, and they ramp up from simple as you begin to learn the controls and mechanics, to deviously challenging and complex by the end. I love how that initial moment of awe and terror when you first see a beast is quickly replaced by curiosity; surveying a creature and learning its nuanced movements and distinctive behaviors as you map out a path to the top make it feel like you exist inside of a nature documentary. It’s this illusion that they’re living creatures that creates an internal conflict in hunting and killing them, and Shadow of the Colossus twists that knife brilliantly. Likewise, having a minimal set of tools at your disposal – only a sword, a bow, and your awesome horse Agro – means that you need to master each one in order to take down the beasts. There are some cool upgrades that can be gained by completing the optional Time Attack modes, such as stronger weapons, different colored horses, and even a parachute that aids exploration. And while none of these are necessary to defeat any of the beasts, they provide some solid incentives to replay the fantastic encounters. Once you actually hop aboard a Colossus, the entire experience feeds into a fantastic sense of tension. The wonderful and evocative score swells, the creatures try to shake you off, and your grip meter ticks down as you try to find a weak point. This impending sense of dread is heightened by that last point — stamina management leads to awesome cinematic moments where I’d make it to a safe ledge just as my grip fades away. This mechanic brought to mind some of the most incredible moments of last year’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which in retrospect was clearly inspired by the original Shadow of the Colossus. The climax of the story remains as one of the most powerful moments in all of gaming. All of these encounters feed into the emotional arc of the story. The journey of your character and his sleeping sister (Queen? Lover?) is one marked in tragedy. Watching him slowly become less and less human as you slay these innocent beasts, all in the name of saving this person he clearly loves, is nothing short of brutal. It’s a moral problem that’s driven home by every part of the act of taking down a colossus: There is none of the congratulatory fanfare we’re conditioned to expect after a boss fight. You aren’t given XP or money. Instead, you’re met with a notable silence that prompts you to reflect on what you just did. And, without going into spoiler territory, the emotional climax of the story remains as one of the most powerful moments in all of gaming. Verdict The true definition of a classic, the gameplay and story of Shadow of the Colossus are every bit as great and emotional today as they were in 2005. This outstanding remaster skillfully enhances those qualities with improved controls, performance, and sheer graphical beauty. It remains one of the best PlayStation games ever made, and it’s wonderful that Sony has brought it back to the fore so a new generation of gamers can experience it without having to look past its aged facade.

Mercedes-Benz GLA 220d 2020 review Top-ranking turbodiesel offers 50mpg and much-improved road-manners What is it? This is the car the Mercedes-Benz GLA should have been all along. The first-generation model was, for budgetary reasons, heavily based on the A-class hatch – and it showed. This new one, however, has been granted greater engineering freedom, and is a much more convincing effort. Bucking an industry trend, it’s also shorter than the car it replaces, though width and height are up, giving the second-gen GLA even more crossover-esque proportions and a larger footprint than either the BMW X2 or Audi Q2. Having been impressed by the top-of-the-line GLA 250 petrol, what we have here is the 220d, which is the more powerful of two diesel models confirmed so far. It uses the turbocharged OM654 2.0-litre engine found in so many Mercedes cars, and with 188bhp and 295lb ft is certainly not lacking for output by class standard, developing 40bhp and 56lb ft more than the same engine in the detuned GLA 200d. It’s not without competition, though: the more powerful of Audi’s Q2 2.0 TDI models gets the same levels of power and torque – exactly the same, in fact. This engine is paired with a new eight-speed automatic gearbox built-in-house. To this, the range-topper adds a newly developed 4Matic four-wheel-drive system with electromechanical (instead of the hydraulic) operation as well as more pronounced apportioning of drive to each axle. As much as 80% of torque can be delivered to the front while up to 70% can go rearwards. There’s also a dedicated off-road mode, where the driveline runs a 50:50 split. What's it like? On the move, the GLA220d 4Matic delivers a good deal of torque-infused flexibility and vigor, both around town and out on the open road. It is not particularly engaging, and neither is it totally free of diesel chatter, but the latest incarnation of Mercedes’ four-cylinder diesel offers a good deal of accessible performance that, with the wide spread of ratios from the new gearbox, sees it provide strong off-the-line acceleration and excellent cruising qualities. The handling is also fairly accomplished, with a light but precise feel to the electromechanical steering and good body control with limited roll angles for a car of this type. There’s also plenty of grip and traction. The experience is hardly peppered with feedback, but there is a general cohesiveness and well weighted consistency that make the GLA 220d easy and carefree to drive. The ride is also much better resolved than with the original. There’s a well-damped firmness to the suspension, which is evident in all of Mercedes’ compact car models these days. However, it absorbs nasty intrusions well when combined with the optional adaptive damping control and the 60-section tyres fitted to our test car. Road noise is also well isolated from the cabin. In this respect, the GLA is a quieter and more refined car than before. The on-road character can be further altered via the Dynamic Select function, which now offers a broader range of qualities. There’s greater comfort at one end of the scale and added agility at the other compared to the old GLA. Should I buy one? Ultimately, this is an attractive ownership proposition with a level of everyday practicality beyond that of the A-class hatchback. The GLA 220d 4Matic will suit buyers who intend to pile on the miles and are looking for the added handling security of fourwheel drive. However, those who find themselves more urban-bound are likely to be better served by one of the three petrol and two diesel models in the initial line-up that are solely front-driven. If that’s not enough, there’s also a plug-in hybrid and full electric variant on the way, too.

Loons have been known to defend their chicks against eagles As with global affairs, nature has its pecking order. And in a contest between the bald eagle, America's national bird, and a common loon, which is featured on Canada's dollar coin, few would bet on the latter to come out the victor. But sometimes the underdog comes out on top, as was revealed when an eagle was found dead in the water near a dead loon chick in a Maine lake. A necropsy revealed he was killed by a stab to the heart from a loon's beak. Baby loons are common prey for eagles, which are fearsome hunters. Bald eagles are protected in the US, and typically their remains are sent to the directly to the National Eagle Repository in Colorado. It is a crime in the US to kill an eagle, possess one or disturb its remains, except for special exemptions, such as in the use of Native American ceremonies. Nat Woodruff discovered the eagle dead in a lake But after seeing a dead baby loon chick so near the carcass, scientists began to wonder if the eagle could have been killed by an enraged mother loon in an avian equivalent of David and Goliath. So they sent the eagle not to the eagle repository, but to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin where it could be examined by a loon specialist. Maine game warden Neal Wykes inspects the dead bald eagle There, a pathologist found that the eagle died by a quick stab to the heart from what appeared to be a loon beak, and the chick had eagle talon marks, indicating it had been captured by an eagle. A nearby neighbour also told wildlife investigators she heard a "hullabaloo" the night before. Wildlife biologist Danielle D'Auria, who works for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, shared the news on the department's blog, noting it is the first confirmed case of a loon slaying an eagle. "Who would think a loon would stand a chance against such a powerful predator?" she wrote.

Game Informations : Developer: Mojang Studios, Double Eleven Publishers : Xbox Game Studios Platforms : PS4, Switch, Xbox One , Microsoft windows Initial release date: 26 mai 2020 When I first saw Minecraft Dungeons gameplay, I was like "Is that Diablo, but with Minecraft?" Now that I’ve played it, I’m like, yeah: Minecraft Dungeons is basically Diablo with a Minecraft skin. Sure, it doesn't mine the same mechanical depths as Diablo, and plays it safe with the formula instead of blazing its own path with bold Minecraft-inspired ideas, but it has all the fun combat, and loot it needs, and it’s accessible to just about anyone. I don't understand how Minecraft's intentionally low-res art style can look so high quality, but Minecraft Dungeons is the most beautiful Minecraft world I think I've ever seen. The Diablo series’ hellish inspirations and iconography are swapped out for Mojang’s blocky creepers and zombies, and it’s set in familiar locations like swamps, mountains, and villages made with vivid and gorgeous color. Even in the dark recesses of caverns and dungeons, everything looks great. I was particularly struck by some of the more subtle lighting effects: heat emanating from lava warps and bends the light behind it, for example, and in one level a lightning storm rages outside as you storm a castle and flashes through stained-glass windows to throw colored light on the floors and walls below. It's just lovely. Even in the dark recesses of caverns and dungeons, everything looks great. Music and sound, too, are excellent. It has a soundtrack different from the main game, but it does a phenomenal job of keeping the lo-fi style of the original's music while tweaking the feel just enough to make it thematically appropriate for a dungeon-crawling adventure. Levels with higher stakes near the end, for example, have much more dramatic music, but it never goes overboard or feels out of place in the Minecraft universe. You could transplant the Minecraft Dungeons soundtrack into Minecraft proper and it would feel right at home. One of my favorite levels is an autumn-themed village that’s been pillaged by the forces of the Arch Illager. Its orange and yellow foliage sways gently in the breeze, and jack o'lanterns and harvested wheat bundles lay by the wayside in the ruins of the town. The rustling leaves and whispering winds of the ambient sounds took some primordial part of my brain to the same place it goes at the start of the actual fall season. I feel like I could just sit in the middle of the level and soak it up and still enjoy it. You could transplant the Minecraft Dungeons soundtrack into Minecraft proper and it would feel right at home. As far as graphical performance goes, I'm playing Minecraft Dungeons on a GeForce GTX 1080-powered gaming PC, and all the graphical settings automatically maxed out to their highest by default when I first started it up. I also set the frame rate to 120 (my monitor has a 144Hz refresh rate), which also caused no problems or hesitation, and I could probably go higher. It's a pretty low-impact game, and even when the screen fills with mobs, projectiles, and magic, I didn't notice any performance issues. There's a definite advantage to a world constructed from the intentional low-fidelity building blocks of the Minecraft universe, especially with none of that pesky building or destroying to complicate things. The story is simple and exists only to tie together the dungeon-crawling levels. The main villain, the Arch Illager, stole an Orb of Power from the other Illagers and uses it for generic evil. You spend next six to eight hours chasing him down and defeating his minions until finally you face him in his castle. That's pretty much it – don’t expect the kind of swing-for-the-fences attempt at storytelling that Telltale went for with its Minecraft: Story Mode spin-off adventure. Good Family Fun When I first started a new game, I was thrilled to see a massive selection of what I initially thought were player classes, but it turned out you just choose from a list of pre-made skins. There's nothing different about them from a gameplay perspective, which is a bummer, especially since that’s all there is as far as character customization. Some of them do look pretty cool, though – I went with the guy with the mohawk, because he’s clearly a badass. This isn’t a Diablo game, but fundamentally the gameplay is just as sweet by any other name. You play through a level fighting enemies, searching for treasures of various levels of rarity, battling a boss, and then collecting a chest upon victory. One distinctive tweak is that, rather than a traditional skill tree, leveling up gains you an enchantment point you can use to add different powers to your items. For example, my current suit of armor has an enchantment where melee attacks cause magical thorn damage to any enemy in close range. There's a decent amount of enchantments available on a per-item basis, and some items have two enchantment slots. My most recent bow, for example, throws out a fan of five arrows with each shot; this pairs well with the second enchantment where a certain percent of arrows pass through one enemy and into another, damaging them both. It’s not a ton of depth but it’s something to experiment with and can create formidable weapons. This isn’t a Diablo game, but fundamentally the gameplay is just as sweet by any other name. You get two weapons: a close-range melee weapon and a long-range weapon. For a ranged-based character build, I prefer the Hunter's Armor, since it gives bonuses to your arrow capabilities, but there are other armors to suit the needs of a tank playstyle, a fast "assassin" or a soul-collector heavy on soul-infused artifact usage. You can slot three artifacts to your character with different offensive or defensive effects, which is just enough to expand your abilities in battle without overcomplicating things. There are also wolves, llamas, and other creatures you can call upon with artifacts, and they can make a big difference when you're being rushed by dozens of lower-level enemies like zombies and need backup. Combat feels just right in a Fisher-Price: My First Dungeon Crawler sort of way: it's not too complex but still gives you the abilities to confront enemies at range or face to face. Speaking of ease, when I first started playing Minecraft Dungeons I thought the normal difficulty skewed a bit on the easy side. I was able to thoughtlessly hack and slash my way through the first few levels... but as I leveled up, so too did the difficulty. The latter half of the campaign is much more of a challenge, and required me to approach battles thoughtfully and carefully manage my potions and artifact usage. By the end, the difficulty felt just right for a first playthrough. In fact, for the final boss, I'd go so far as to say it was a little harder than I anticipated. Co-Op Options As is the case with basically all loot-based crawlers, Minecraft Dungeons is much more fun to play with friends. It supports up to four players in online multiplayer as well as couch co-op, which is just lovely. Playing with my son on our PCs, I found nothing groundbreaking (get it?) about multiplayer, especially given the lack of player classes to synergize abilities between, but it works great. Beating Minecraft Dungeons unlocks a higher tier of difficulty for the character you beat the game with, and there are more granular grades of difficulty depending on your power for each mission. For example, in the default difficulty set at the outset, you can move up or down a few notches in the individual levels, but beating the game unlocks a higher tier of difficulty with gradated difficulties per mission. That means you can turn the difficulty down if you just want to grind through some enemies for a quick experience build-up, or you can crank it up to earn more experience and better loot by killing tougher enemies, but the very real possibility you'll get smacked down and sent back to your base camp. There's no penalty to your equipment or stats for losing, so even when you lose you've still made progress. You only have three chances per level: get defeated three times, and you're out of luck. It can be frustrating to lose to a final boss and have to crawl through the entire level again, only to face the boss and lose again. As infuriating as it can be, there's no penalty to your equipment or stats for losing, so even when you lose you've still made progress. Gimme the Loot Probably the single most important mechanic in a dungeon-crawler is the loot, and Minecraft Dungeons has plenty of it. Levels are designed to encourage exploration, and if you venture off the beaten path you're often rewarded with money, chests, or even maps unlocking secret levels. Some chests and areas are pretty cleverly hidden, but I found exploration a little inconsistent. Decades of video game loot tropes led me to believe I'd find a chest at the end of a long, dead-ended area on the map, but often they yielded nothing at all. On the flip side, occasionally I'd stumble into an otherwise-nondescript corner and find a chest containing rare loot. Levels are designed to encourage exploration, and if you venture off the beaten path you're often rewarded. The loot system doesn't try anything new, and it doesn't have to. You can trade in your cash at your home camp to either a blacksmith (for gear) or a travelling merchant (for artifacts), and there's still a thrill when you pull a Unique-level item. Items are completely randomized, and if you don't get the loot you want you can salvage it for gems. One thing I liked about the salvage system is if you salvage an enchanted item you’ll get those enchantment points back without penalty. What surprised me about the loot system was that it lacks a crafting system, which I don’t usually demand except that this is a spin-off of a game built entirely around that concept and even still has the word “craft” in the name. There's a crafting table in the house in your base camp, and when I first saw it I started clicking it wildly, expecting a crafting dialogue to pop up. There's also no mining or greater-than-typical breaking of things in Minecraft Dungeons, so its source material references are largely skin-deep. That's not to say setting a dungeon crawler in the world of Minecraft is a fail; far from it. It's charming as hell. But it definitely minimizes the "Minecraft" and maximizes the "Dungeons." Verdict Minecraft Dungeons is a beautiful and fun dungeon crawler with a simple but tried-and-true set of systems in place. It plays it extremely safe, though, without bringing anything mining or crafting spins to the genre to accompany Minecraft’s signature look and feel. Still, it's just so damn charming, and so fun, it's hard to fault it for going the safe route. With tons of loot, secret areas to uncover, and progressively more aggressive difficulty levels to unlock, Minecraft Dungeons has a fair amount of replayability beyond its relatively short six to eight-hour story mode. But who plays Minecraft for the story, anyway? Here are the Minecraft Dungeons System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: Core i5 2.8GHz or equivalent RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 10, 8 or 7 (64-bit with the latest updates; some functionality not supported on Windows 7 and ? VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 or equivalent DX11 GPU PIXEL SHADER: 5.0 VERTEX SHADER: 5.0 FREE DISK SPACE: 6 GB DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 2048 MB

Eid mubarak for you and for the muslims nation !

New phone? Setting up Google Authenticator is easier than ever. Here's how One of the first things you should do when setting up a new phone is to transfer Google Authenticator so you don't lose access to your accounts. Whether you just picked up a new iPhone SE, Samsung Galaxy A51, or any other phone, one of the first things you should do -- after you've processed the initial rush of excitement -- is an important task that will help keep your phone secure and in smooth, working order. Transfer the accounts being used by your Google Authenticator app so you can access your two-factor codes on your new device. Otherwise, you may find yourself unable to log into some of your online accounts. Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to your online accounts by requiring a randomly generated six-digit code after you've successfully entered your password. As privacy concerns continue to rise amid breach after breach, two-factor authentication is increasingly recommended as a way to help fortify your online security by making it harder for others to log in as "you." Most websites give you the option to receive your 2FA codes through SMS texting or using a dedicated app like Google Authenticator, but we don't recommend using SMS. Hackers have had a lot of success tricking wireless carriers into switching the SIM card associated with a person's phone number and in turn, receive the two-factor codes sent to the actual user's phone number. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is a prime example. Google recently updated the Android version of its Authenticator app, the first update in a few years. It adds a fancy new transfer tool that removes the painstaking process of individually moving your accounts between your old and new phones, which makes moving your 2FA codes simpler than ever. We'll also explain how to do this on an iPhone. Android users have it easy If you're switching from one Android phone to another, make your life easier by using the new transfer tool. Make sure you have the latest version of Authenticator on your old phone by checking for updates in the Play Store. Of course, you'll need to have Authenticator installed on your new phone, too. Then follow these steps on your old phone: 1. Open Authenticator then tap the three-dot menu icon followed by Transfer accounts. 2. Select Export accounts and enter your PIN code when prompted. 3. Pick the accounts you want to transfer then tap Next. On your new phone: 1. Open Authenticator, tap Get Started, 2. Tap Import existing accounts? located at the bottom of the screen. 3. Select Scan QR code. Your old phone may have just one or multiple QR codes for you to scan. Follow the prompts to finish the transfer process. You'll see a confirmation prompt for each successful transfer. iPhone users have to do some extra work Google hasn't updated the iPhone Authenticator app with the same transfer process yet, so you'll need to use the old school method of manually transferring your Authenticator accounts, one by one. Here's what you'll need to do: 1. Install Authenticator on your new iPhone. 2. On your computer, visit Google's two-step verification site and log in to your Google account. 3. Click Change Phone in the Authenticator app section. Select the type of phone you'll be using and follow the prompts. If you want to disable Google Authenticator altogether, click on the trash can icon and confirm your decision. Google will then revert to delivering your 2FA codes via SMS. 4. Open the Authenticator app on your new phone and tap Begin > Scan barcode. Scan the QR code displayed on Google's website with the Authenticator app, then enter the six-digit code to verify everything is working properly. Once that's done, the codes on your old device will no longer be valid. Repeat this process for each service you currently use with Google Authenticator, be it Apple, Facebook, Dropbox, or Amazon. Don't delete the Authenticator app off your old phone until you've moved all accounts to your new phone, otherwise, you'll be locked out of those accounts -- and nobody wants that. Now that you've transferred Google Authenticator to your new phone, take some time to learn all of the iPhone's hidden features or master Android's hidden features. Still trying to figure out what to do with that old phone? We have some suggestions for iPhone and Android alike.

Report: AMD A520 Budget Motherboards Landing in September DigiTimes has reason to believe that AMD's extra budget-oriented A520 motherboards will launch in September. The time frame coincides with the date the Ryzen 4000-series (codename Vermeer) Zen 3 desktop CPUs are rumored to arrive. ASMedia has benefited greatly over the years from manufacturing AMD's chipsets. Sources close to DigiTimes claimed that ASMedia expects its profits to skyrocket in Q2 and the year on a whole, as AMD will reveal its next-generation platform in the upcoming months. Apparently, AMD has even put in orders for the new 600-series chipset with ASMedia. The B550 chipset comes with limited PCIe 4.0 functionality. With the lack of information available, it's hard to guess whether the A520 chipset will follow in the B550's footsteps. A520-based motherboards will reportedly be the lowest-priced budget boards, so PCIe 4.0 support is hard to imagine. (Of course, we'd love for AMD to prove us wrong.) Back in April, DigiTimes pegged Vermeer's release date for September. The latest report suggests a broader timeline,, with a launch either at the end of Q3 or early Q4. AMD originally planned on bringing Zen 3 support to B550 and X570 motherboards only. It changed its tune after a pitchforked-armed group of AMD enthusiasts managed to convince the chipmaker to backpedal on its plot and broaden support to the B450 and X470 motherboards. Although AMD has kept a tight lip on A520, there's reason to believe the chipset would support Zen 3 as well -- and this time without the furious uproar.

Video: Watch the 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 at the Nürburgring Prototypes for Stuttgart's track-ready 911 show off naturally aspirated flat-six wail in latest spy video Porsche has been testing the upcoming 992-generation 911 GT3 at the Nürburgring for some time now, and now a video of the track-focused model reveals its flat-six soundtrack. Although it's hard to be sure, it sounds like the 992 GT3 hasn't lost any of the outgoing model's volume and tone, despite the addition of a petrol particulate filter and other emissions-reducing tech. Telltale GT3 styling cues are plain to see, including the large fixed rear wing, splitter and diffuser, and the classic GT3 centre-locking wheels. This latest prototype has shed much of its pre-production camouflage, revealing a pair of sizeable air intakes in the bonnet, a bespoke front splitter with a wide lower grille and a prominent rear diffuser. Also seen at the end of the video is a GT3 minus the trademark wing, suggesting the sought-after Touring model will make a return. Further details have yet to be revealed, but we do know the 911 Speedster’s heavily revised 4.0-litre flat-six engine will be carried over to future GT models as Porsche’s GT division persists with naturally aspirated engines. GT boss Andreas Preuninger said: “We’ve invested in the future with this engine. I can’t comment on future projects but we would be stupid not to re-use this engine somewhere. “Our philosophy in GT cars is to stay naturally aspirated. We want to keep that engine for the future and that’s why we’ve made such a tremendous effort to get the engine right without taking emotion and performance away.” The Speedster, a swansong for the 991 generation of the 911 priced from £211,599, uses the same powertrain as the outgoing GT3 but receives a host of updates. Chief among the updates, and in order to extend the regulatory life of this big-capacity direct-injection flat six, Porsche has fitted two sizeable petrol particulate filters – one integrated into the exhaust tract that exits each side of the block. And yet owing to the use of thinner steel, nickel and soldering techniques rather than welding, the exhaust system now weighs 10kg less than before, despite the additional hardware. Power has also increased, from 493bhp to 503bhp, and continues to arrive at 8400rpm. To achieve this with an engine that is not only cleaner but also suffers from an increase in exhaust back-pressure owing to the new filters is no mean feat. The fuel-injection system now operates at 250 bar rather than 200 for improved propagation, and each of the engine’s six cylinders now gets a dedicated throttle body. The combined effect – but particularly due to the new throttle bodies – is even sharper throttle response, says Porsche.

Tanya Chan (C) said this was "the saddest day in Hong Kong history" Pro-democracy activists say they fear "the end of Hong Kong", after China announced plans for a new security law. The US said the move could be "highly destabilising" and undermine China's obligations on Hong Kong's autonomy. China's National People's Congress will on Friday debate the law, aimed at banning sedition and subversion. Supporters say it is needed to tackle the violence in political protests that erupted last year. Opponents fear it will be used to remove basic freedoms. Why has the move caused such a furore? Hong Kong has observed a "one country, two systems" policy and a "high degree of autonomy" since Britain returned sovereignty to China in 1997. But activists, and the pro-democracy movement, feel that this is being undermined by Beijing. What is the Basic Law and how does it work? Why are there protests in Hong Kong? All the context you need Last year, millions took to the streets over seven months to protest against a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. Many of the protests turned violent. The bill was eventually paused, and then withdra The security law is more controversial still. According to the Basic Law, the territory's mini-constitution, Hong Kong's government is required to pass national security legislation. However, an attempt in 2003 failed after 500,000 people took to the streets in opposition. That is why an attempt now to force through national security legislation - which one legislator on Thursday called "the most controversial [issue] in Hong Kong since the handover" - has caused such outrage. The BBC's China correspondent, Robin Brant, says that what makes the situation so incendiary is that Beijing can simply bypass Hong Kong's elected legislators and impose the changes. China can place them into Annex III of the Basic Law, which covers national laws that must then be implemented in Hong Kong - either by legislation, or decree. Pro-democracy activists fear the law will be used to muzzle protests in defiance of the freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law, as similar laws in China are used to silence opposition to the Communist Party. What have opponents of China's move said? A number of pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong, including Democratic Party leader Wu Chi-wai, said the announcement was the death of "one country, two systems". Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok said "if this move takes place, 'one country, two systems' will be officially erased. This is the end of Hong Kong." His colleague Tanya Chan added that this was the "saddest day in Hong Kong history". Student activist and politician Joshua Wong tweeted that the move was an attempt by Beijing to "silence Hong Kongers' critical voices with force and fear". Meanwhile, the US state department said that "any effort to impose national security legislation that does not reflect the will of the people of Hong Kong would be highly destabilising, and would be met with strong condemnation". President Donald Trump said the US would react strongly if China followed through with its proposals, without giving details. The US is currently considering whether to extend Hong Kong's preferential trading and investment privileges. It must decide by the end of the month. Former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten: "UK should tell China this is outrageous" The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, called the move a "comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy". A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said that the UK expected China "to respect Hong Kong's rights and freedoms and high degree of autonomy". What is China's position? Sources at the National People's Congress (NPC) have said that Beijing can no longer wait for Hong Kong to pass its own law, nor can it continue to watch the growth of what it sees as a violent anti-government movement. One source told the South China Morning Post: "We can no longer allow acts like desecrating national flags or defacing of the national emblem in Hong Kong." Zhang Yesui announces the move ahead of the opening of the NPC Beijing may also fear September's elections to Hong Kong's legislature. If last year's success for pro-democracy parties in district elections is repeated, government bills could potentially be blocked. Announcing the move on Thursday, spokesman Zhang Yesui gave little away, saying the measure would "improve" on one country, two systems. Mr Zhang said: "National security is the bedrock underpinning the stability of the country. Safeguarding national security serves the fundamental interest of all Chinese, our Hong Kong compatriots included." Profile: Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Hong Kong's year in seven intense emotions After debating the issue, the NPC - generally a rubber stamp - will vote on it next week. The matter would then not advance until June, when it goes before the Standing Committee. An editorial in the state-run China Daily said the law meant that "those who challenge national security will necessarily be held accountable for their behaviour". In Hong Kong, the pro-Beijing DAB party said it "fully supported" the proposals, which were made "in response to Hong Kong's rapidly worsening political situation in recent years". Pro-Beijing lawmaker Christopher Cheung told Reuters: "Legislation is necessary and the sooner the better." What is Hong Kong's legal situation? Hong Kong was ruled by Britain as a colony for more than 150 years up to 1997. The British and Chinese governments signed a treaty - the Sino-British Joint Declaration - that agreed Hong Kong would have "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs", for 50 years. This was enshrined in the Basic Law, which runs out in 2047. As a result, Hong Kong's own legal system, borders, and rights - including freedom of assembly and free speech - are protected. But Beijing has the ability to veto any changes to the political system and has, for example, ruled out direct election of the chief executive. Hong Kong saw widespread political protests in 2019 but these became much smaller during the coronavirus outbreak. However, there were chaotic scenes in Hong Kong's legislative chamber on Monday, when a number of pro-democracy lawmakers were dragged out during a row about a bill that would make it illegal to disrespect the national anthem. A group of 15 prominent pro-democracy activists also appeared in court on Monday charged with organising and taking part in unlawful assemblies related to last year's protests.

Game Informations : Developer: Deep Silver Volition, Sperasoft Studio, LLC, Deep Silver Volition, LLC Publishers : Deep Silver Platforms : PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS , nitendo switch Initial release date: MAY 21, 2020 Saints Row The Third was the first game in the franchise that I ever played. Skipping over the first two games, I assumed they were simple Grand Theft Auto clones but The Third looked like something else. After experiencing Saints Row’s brand of insanity, I played the original game, the sequel, and then went on to play Saints Row IV and Gat Out of Hell when they were released. While the series did indeed start as a humble GTA ripoff, it grew into something far more absurd, irreverent, and wonderfully childish. Now, it’s been over five years since the last Saints Row title (Agents of Mayhem doesn’t count) and nearly a decade since The Third originally released. But the Saints are back and it’s time to see how time has treated them. Saints Row The Third Remastered marks the latest re-release of a THQ game from Deep Silver. After THQ closed its doors and Deep Silver purchased many of their IPs, it seems like it’s been their mission to re-release most of the defunct company’s library. Given that THQ’s final years produced some of my favorite games, I won’t complain. Like most of Deep Silver’s remasters, The Third is not a full remake but features updated character and vehicle models, as well as improved particle effects and lighting on top of the original game and all its DLC. While the original game was made by Volition, the remaster was handled by Sperasoft. With a remastered game, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish whether you’re judging the original game or the remastered. For Saint Row The Third Remastered that’s not so difficult. The Third holds up surprisingly well even after almost 10 years. Mechanically the game is very similar to other open-world titles from the time. There are no towers to climb, no fog of war darkening the map, no wild animals to hunt and skin to make a bigger wallet, no constant internet connection requirement, and no loot boxes. Instead, The Third offers 15-20 hours of increasingly wacky single-player fun. The moment-to-moment shooting and driving in The Third are decidedly solid even though they’re not particularly deep, but they are elevated by the engaging scenarios that you find yourself in. Things start bombastically strong with a bank heist gone bad and the first of two sky diving sections. The Saints, who had reached global po[CENSORED]rity with their own clothing brand, energy drinks, and movie deals, are brought low by the crime organization known as the Syndicate. After jumping out of an airplane to escape certain death, the Saints find themselves in Steelport, a new city separate from the previous games. With the Saints once again finding themselves at the bottom of the pile, you must build them back up and take down the Syndicate. While The Third offers a crazy fun ride, there are two main problems with the campaign, the first of which is the early death of Johnny Gat. It bothered me when I first played it but the scene (or lack thereof) where Johnny Gat dies is terribly done and it’s even worse now. Gat’s death is the impetus for much of the plot of Saints Row The Third; these characters care about Gat and make a lot of rash decisions in the wake of his death. A death that occurs unceremoniously and off-screen. It’s awkward to watch and I remember not realizing the character was actually dead for an embarrassingly long time when I first played the game. Saints Row IV uses the fact that Gat is killed off-screen to bring him back for that game but it doesn’t make the sequence any better here. The second issue with the campaign is the slump during the mid-section. After dealing a decisive blow against Morningstar, one of the three gangs that make up the Syndicate, the Saints take on three new members: Angel, Zimos, and Kinzie. Before the story can get moving again, the game requires you to perform three missions for each of the new gang members. The problem is that the missions are simply side activities in disguise. While some of them are fun and they don’t take that long to complete, it feels like a pointless roadblock in the story. Thankfully you are rewarded with the zaniest missions in the game after that lull. From sky-diving in a tank to fighting enemies as a toilet to competing in a wrestling match a luchador, The Third definitely goes places. The side activities are generally centered around the two main game mechanics: shooting and driving. Driving activities range from riding a flaming ATV through race markers to driving precariously in order to please your passengers. Combat-based activities generally see you causing as much damage as possible within a time limit. Insurance Fraud, the longstanding favorite where you intentionally get hit by vehicles and rack up hospital bills using the game’s ragdoll physics, is as fun as ever. The worst activities are the escort missions: Trafficking and Guardian Angel. Thankfully, you only have to do each side activity once and then you never have to touch them again. Like all Saints Row games, you can customize your character as you see fit. You can change your ethnicity, gender, voice, and expressions at the start of the game and also during the game at plastic surgery stores. Clothing, jewelry, and tattoos can also be purchased to further customize your character. All of these stores, as well as abandoned properties, can be purchased to gain control over neighborhoods and net you a regular income. Side activities and upgrading your cribs also increase your income. All in all, Saints Row The Third is still a great open-world game and it’s mostly made better by the remaster. Buildings, foliage, characters, and vehicles have not merely had their resolution increased but have been completely remodeled. Vehicles and environments see the greatest graphical improvements. Characters, on the other hand, have had a more stylistic change. Skin looks much more natural and the cartoony/action-figure aesthetic of the original version is gone. For the most part, the new characters look good but different. Shaundi, Pierce, and Cyrus Temple look like different characters, whereas Oleg, Kinzie, and Johnny Gat all feel like faithful interpretations. Lightening and other effects have also seen a huge overhaul. Light looks like it’s actually coming from light sources, a problem that has plagued Volition games for ages. The improved lighting also has an impact on shadows, allowing them to be much more contrasting. Because of this, the game looks excellent at night with deep shadows, beautiful neon lights, and a gorgeous moon. The visual effect when you use nitro has also been improved, no longer looking like Vaseline is smeared on the edges of the screen. Unfortunately, pop-in with vehicles, shadows, and foliage, is still an issue. These enhanced visuals are nice but no one is going to mistake The Third Remastered as an open-world game made for 2020. While most of the updated textures and models look good, there is one aspect that is objectively worse than any other. It has to do with the way darker skin is handled. Like many games, The Third allows you to give your character various facial features such as scars, black eyes, and freckles. However, with the updated graphics, those facial features no longer look right on characters that aren’t white. It’s ridiculous and sad that this wasn’t caught and fixed before the game was released. Hopefully, it will be soon. In addition to the scars, the only other change that is flat out worse in The Third Remastered is the weapon sound effects. Music, dialog, and vehicles are untouched and as good as ever but weapons are notably quieter and less impactful, and even absent sometimes. The original version didn’t have the punchiest weapon sounds but they sound amazing compared to the remaster especially considering the chaingun produces no sound except that of casings hitting the ground. It doesn’t affect gameplay in any way but I noticed the change in quality despite not having played The Third in almost seven years when went to review the remaster. Things that did affect the gameplay were several bugs. While I played the game, it was patched twice and I finished the game at version 1.03. I played the game on PS4 Pro and in my time I experienced three crashes to the system home screen but the game never crashed twice in the same spot and the liberal autosave means I never lost more than a few minutes of progress. I did have to restart a mission (Pimps Up, Hos Down) twice because two different doorways would not allow me to walk through them. There’s also an issue with the crib Safeword (which is coincidentally the same location where Pimps Up, Hos Down takes place), where it does not display any visual changes when you upgrade it. The Third also has online cooperative play. You can play the entire campaign from start to finish with a friend. Given that I played the game before it launched, I was never able to matchmake with anyone. Co-op worked in the original version and I have no reason to believe it would not work in the remaster but I could not verify that. The Third features a wave-based combat arena inspired by Gears of War’s Horde mode called “Whored Mode.” Unlike other modes of its ilk, Whored Mode sets goofy parameters around every wave. One wave might make all of your enemies tiny while the next sees you being the tiny one. One wave will give you unlimited rockets while another only gives you a giant purple dildo. It’s kind of a throw-away mode. I could see it being a fun drinking game but there are no secrets to unlock nor are they any trophies associated with it. Just as in the original version, it’s completely unintrusive but feels very tacked-on. Given the nature of remasters and DLC, The Third Remastered does feature all of the DLC from the original game. That being said, I wish Sperasoft had taken greater care in integrating the DLC into the campaign. As it stands, the three DLC missions are available from the start and they reward you with much more money than early campaign missions do. Also, a lot of time can be invested earning money to purchase clothing and upgrading vehicles but that is broken by the immediate access to the DLC. From the start, you have a closet full of clothes and access to vehicles that only appear near the end of the game. This is the way the game has been since the DLC released but I feel like it’s a missed opportunity not to have integrated it more seamlessly into the game. In 2011, Saints Row The Third was seen as a huge departure for the series. Much of the gangster aesthetic was lost and while Saints Row 2 was comedic, The Third established an even more bonkers tone. But if The Third took things to 11, Saints Row IV took things to 14. Now, nearly a decade later, that change in direction and that modicum of restraint help Saints Row The Third stand out as the best game in the series. The combat and driving are solid, the customization options are engaging, and the missions are wild. Volition did a fantastic job with the original version and Sperasoft has done good work updating the game but has also introduced several issues and missed some opportunities to improve the game. If you haven’t played a Saints Row game before, The Third is the best place to start. And if you’re a fan of the series, it’s just as good as you remember. Recommended Requirements, Predicted OS: Win 10 64 Processor: Intel Core i7-7700 4-Core 3.6GHz / AMD Ryzen R5 1600 Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB System Memory: 16 GB RAM Storage: 30 GB Hard drive space

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Get notified the day your stimulus check arrives in the mail. Here's how The US Postal Service can send you a notification when your stimulus money is coming in the mail. We show you how to set up the free post office service. If you're constantly checking your mailbox to see if your stimulus check arrived, the US Postal Service may be able to save you some time and anguish. We'll tell you all about a free service that will show you a digital image of your envelope and even send you an alert when your payment is in transit. The free service, called Informed Delivery, does have some limitations, so you might prefer to start by tracking your payment through the online IRS tool. This should give you a ballpark estimate of when your payment will arrive. After that, Informed Delivery verifies that the check has in fact been processed by the Postal Service and is on its way. A word before you begin. If you're using the IRS' online tracking tool, which is called Get My Payment (remember, this is separate from the USPS service), there's a chance you could run into trouble, like an error message that's hard to discern or issues identifying who you are. If you do, here are 12 possible explanations for what's going on and how you might be able to work around them. If you're starting to get nervous, here are nine reasons why you may not have received your stimulus check yet. And if you're hearing chatter about another economic relief bill, here's what we know about the possibility of a second round of stimulus checks. How do I know if I'm getting my stimulus check in the mail? At this point, you're more likely to receive your money in the mail than in your bank account. That's because the IRS deadline to provide your direct deposit information passed on May 13. The federal revenue agency said it is now turning it attention to sending payments in the mail through the post office -- either as a paper check or as a prepaid debit card called the economic impact payment, or EIP, card. Read on to track your payment envelope in the mail. Make sure you're eligible for Informed Delivery When the USPS runs mail through its automated mail sorting equipment, it creates a digital image of the front of all letter-size mail, and that includes your stimulus check. The Informed Delivery program uses this digitally captured information to notify you when each piece of mail is on the way. The service is available to many residential and personal PO box addresses but not businesses. It also won't work for some multiunit buildings where the Postal Service hasn't yet identified each unit. Here's how to check whether it's available in your area: 1. Head to the Postal Service's Informed Delivery page and tap the Sign Up for Free button. 2. Enter your mailing address, and tap Continue. If the service is available, you can continue to set up an account. Set up the Informed Delivery service If you're eligible, here's how to set up your account. 1. On the Postal Service's Informed Delivery page, if you haven't yet, tap Sign Up for Free. 2. After you enter your mailing address and confirm it's in the service, accept the terms and conditions and tap Continue. 3. On the next page, choose your username, password and security questions; enter your contact information; and then tap Continue. 4. On the next page, you'll need to verify your identity. Tap Verify identity online if you want to receive a verification code on your phone or tap Request invitation code by mail if you want the Postal Service to mail a code to you. If neither method works for you, may also be given the option to visit a post office to verify your identity in person. How to see what's coming in the mail The IRS said it can take three business days to activate your account after you set it up. Once it's live, you will receive an email each morning Monday through Saturday if mail is scheduled to arrive, notifying you of mail that will be delivered, along with a grayscale image of the front of the letter. You can also use the free Android and iPhone Informed Delivery app to be notified. For more on ordering and receiving packages during the coronavirus pandemic, here's how to find household goods when Amazon and other online stores are out of stock, how to order beer and wine online, and how long the virus can survive on packages.

Intel Acquires Killer Wi-Fi Owner Rivet Networks Taking ownership of gaming networking. Intel has acquired a rival in the Wi-Fi space. It purchased Rivet Networks, which makes the Killer-branded Wi-Fi cards and Ethernet in gaming laptops from Alienware, Dell, Lenovo, HP and more. No price was disclosed when Intel announced the news via press release. The Rivet Networks team will join Intel's wireless solutions group, a subset of Intel's client computing group. Intel will roll the Killer brand into its own Wi-Fi lineup. Rivet also produced the Killer-branded software that minimized latency and allowed users to prioritize which software got access to bandwidth. "Intel will continue to sell Rivet Networks’ software technologies and the Killer line of products to customers," an Intel spokesperson told Tom's Hardware. "Intel plans to continue the vast majority of Rivet Networks’ existing products and services. Some minor changes may be made after full evaluation in alignment with Rivet Networks’ customer commitments." Intel has done manufacturing for Rivet Networks before, but now Windows PCs might have one less competitor in the field (and most premium laptops and gaming laptops were already using one or the other). In it's press release, Intel wrote that it will "contribute to the developer ecosystem and deliver new value for our PC OEM customers."

Mercedes R&D boss: synthetic fuel not a viable option German firm will flow money into electrification efforts instead The use of synthetic fuels in cars isn’t viable in the mid-term, according to Mercedes research and development boss Markus Schäfer, who said the firm is focusing investment on electrifying its cars. While some manufacturers – such as Bentley, Mazda, McLaren and Volkswagen – are seriously researching synthetic fuels as a credible alternative to petrol and diesel as well as newer and cleaner alternatives, Schäfer said Mercedes won’t go that way. “We have made a clear decision that our way will be electric first,” he said. “When we develop new platforms, we think electric first. We have to watch regulations and customer behaviour, but this will be our main road.” Explaining his reservations concerning synthetic fuels, Schäfer said: “If you have an abundance of energy, the best use is to put it directly into a battery. To transform green energy into an e-fuel is a process where you lose a lot of efficiency. “If there were more clean energies available, then the first customers would probably be in the aviation industry. Far, far later – I don’t see this in the next 10 years – will come the car industry.” Mazda’s research on the topic is around recyclable liquid fuels made from microalgae, while McLaren is looking at a CO2-neutral synthetic fuel to power its V8. Audi got as far as producing its own synthetic petrol and diesel for testing in 2018, while Volkswagen’s technical chief recently said that such fuels will extend the life of the combustion engine, despite the VW Group’s huge investment in electrification.

Raffle organiser Peri Cochin with Picasso's 1921 oil painting Nature Morte An Italian woman has won a painting by Pablo Picasso, worth about €1m (£900,000; $1.1m), in a raffle after being given the ticket as a gift. The winning ticket was pulled out during a live draw at Christie's auction house in Paris. The event, which was fundraising for Care charity, had been postponed twice - first to sell more tickets, and then because of coronavirus restrictions. The prize painting, Nature Morte, is a still life from 1921. It is a relatively small artwork - measuring 9in by 18in (23cm by 46cm) - which shows a glass of absinthe and a newspaper on a table. In total €5.1m was raised for the charity by selling 51,000 raffle tickets at €100 each. About 29% of the tickets were sold in France, followed by the US and Switzerland. Billionaire guilty of trying to smuggle a Picasso Picasso painting attacked at Tate Modern Art detective finds stolen Picasso after 20 years Organisers said that €4.2m of proceeds will go towards clean water projects in schools and villages in Madagascar, Morocco and Cameroon. David Nahmad, the billionaire collector from Monaco who supplied the Picasso painting, will be given €900,000. He also donated €100,000 to Care, organisers said. "Picasso would have loved an operation like this, because he was someone with a lot of interest in humanitarian and social causes," sale organiser Peri Cochin told Reuters news agency. "This coronavirus crisis has made it clear how important it is to wash your hands, and that can only be done with clear water."

Game Informations : Developer: 2K Czech, Feral Interactive Publishers : 2K Games , Feral Interactive , 1C Company , Connect2Media Platforms : PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS Initial release date: May 19, 2020 Decentfellas Mafia II is a period piece, a brash spectacle of organized crime backdropped against a romantic vision of 1940s and 50s metropolis americana. It has old-timey slang, cars that drive like boats, and big band radio hits. There's also narcotics trafficking, racketeering, grand larceny, and murder. Ten years after its initial release, the remastered version of Mafia II ends up feeling like a period piece itself. It's a throwback to when open worlds weren't staggeringly large and meant to pull the player in a million different directions. It's a reminder that games used to struggle to tell stories outside of cinematic cutscenes -- and Mafia II has more than two hours of them. In retrospect, they may not have been better times but they were certainly simpler times. This macabre mafioso coming-of-age tale is a winding narrative that starts with antihero Vito Scaletta struggling to pay his dead father's debts. Eventually, Vito rises through the ranks of a prominent Italian mafia family by showing unwavering loyalty to the mobsters above him. It's very much a Goodfellas-type arc, a biopic of sorts that details the rise, glory, and fall from grace. Mafia II manages to tell a compelling and convincing story mostly thanks to how tightly it controls its plot. This isn't so much an open-world game, but rather a game that takes place in an open world. There's little in the way of extraneous activities apart from some super-optional collecting. Mafia II whisks Vito from plot beat to plot beat without so much as a breather to enjoy the spoils of his newfound success. Even though Mafia II always moves at a breakneck pace, it often struggles to maintain momentum. Too many chapters are strung along by completing menial and tedious tasks. There's a scene early on where Vito tries making an honest day's living by loading crates onto a truck. He makes it about two minutes before turning to a life of crime, our indication that Vito isn't content to earn his keep like all those other suckers. Then, he spends a day unloading cigarettes off a truck, which is really just the illegal inverse. However, Mafia II delivers the goods more often than not by putting its biggest conflicts in pulpy settings. These corridored shootouts in places like distilleries, skyscraper hotels, and Chinese restaurants inject a dramatic sense of action anytime Mafia II starts to verge toward dull. The pacing is all very uneven -- especially screeching to a halt every time Vito's forced to drive cross-city during a mission -- but it doesn't distract much because of how quickly the narrative moves along. Also, seriously: The shooting is so bare bones even by 2010 standards. It's the most basic of cover-based shooting, sitting hunkered down behind crates until an enemy shows his head. Trying to play mobile is a death sentence, as breaking from cover turns Vito into a bullet magnet. There's no option but to play Mafia II as a pop-up shooting gallery where the targets shoot back. The most criminal of Mafia II's missteps is that developer Hangar 13 created such an incredible faux-New York in Empire Bay, but there are no interesting landmarks in the entire city. Areas are distinctive by racial divides and social class, but most places end up blurring together anyway. Empire Bay is a city that you want to immerse yourself in, but Mafia II gives you no reason to spend time dawdling about and interacting with the world. As for this remastered version, there isn't much that's significantly new. Visuals have gotten the requisite overhaul to support 4K resolution. It mostly looks fine with its new coat of paint. All of Mafia II's post-launch DLC -- The Betrayal of Jimmy, Jimmy's Vendetta, and Joe's Adventures -- are included too. There's so much about Mafia II that feels like a relic of a bygone era. Video game design has long surpassed and evolved beyond this approach to storytelling. Still, I find myself oddly charmed by it. I've played Mafia II twice now, once in 2010 and once in 2020. Its foibles that irritated me a decade ago seem more forgivable now. Maybe it's because I knew to expect a flawed experience, maybe it's because I'm getting more lenient in my old age. Whatever it is, I relished blowing through a thrilling mobster drama over the course of a weekend, knowing I wouldn't have to dedicated the better part of the next month to finish it. In a lot of respects, Mafia II hasn't aged all that well; strangely, that's why I think it's a better game than it was 10 years ago. Mafia II: Definitive Edition Recommended Requirements CPU: Intel i7-3770 or AMD FX 8350 RAM: 8 GB OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit VIDEO CARD: 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 or 4GB AMD Radeon R9 290X PIXEL SHADER: 5.0 VERTEX SHADER: 5.0 SOUND CARD: DirectX Compatible FREE DISK SPACE: 50 GB DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4 GB