Many movies have been filmed in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties throughout the years. The first to receive local acclaim was a short two-reel film called Charlottesvilles Hero that made its debut at The Jefferson Theater on this date in 1930. Financed by The Daily Progress to show just how a movie was made, the movie, using subtitles and live musical accompaniment, was filmed completely in the city and starred prominent residents including Mayor J. Y. Brown. Director Don O. Newland was brought in to oversee the film. Newland was known for his Hero collection of films, each one commissioned by a local newspaper, highlighted a particular small town and contained a standard but customizable plot that often included a head-on car crash to show trick photography and a character that played the role of a town reporter, showing how the newspaper was produced. Newland produced a similar film in Staunton in 1929.

Many townspeople were unaware that they were being filmed until they saw themselves on the screen. In the many Daily Progress articles prior to the movies premiere, the plot was not divulged but readers were told that filming was done at the library (now the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society), the office of The Daily Progress on Market Street, and various other locations in town. The article of this date noted that the audience will find a handsome, heart-stirring hero who would make John Gilbert look like a chronic case of yellow jaundice.

Mayor Browns character, Mr. Henpeck, is described as a throwback to the stone age when men tossed spears and ate raw meathe is a regular he-man. For instance he throws the hero out of the window with no more effort than he would thumps a cigarette pow, just like that.until Mrs. Henpeck grabs his hair to give him a vigorous shampoo, he becomes meek as a lamb and weaker than the sleeping sickness. Miss Clifford Hanckel, as the pretty heroine is clever and beautiful enough to write home about her actingMiss Nancy Doner, as Katrinka, the country flapper, can do more stunts on her roller skates than are ordinarily seen at a circus

Two days following the movie premiere, a review of sorts noted: Interesting indeed were the scenes of the making of a newspaper from the time of the gathering of the news of the accident to the automobiles pictures to the huge and modern linotype machine of The Daily Progress to the make-up department of the composing room where the process of making forms to fit the press that is daily serving Charlottesville with the news of the world.

A copy of the film is not known to exist.

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'Hero' film produced just for Charlottesville featured the mayor, The Daily Progress - The Daily Progress

WASHINGTON Top House Republicans unveiled a rough sketch of a massive health care overhaul to rank-and-file lawmakers Thursday, but a lack of detail, cost estimates and Republicanunity left unresolved the problem thats plagued them for years: Whats the partys plan and can Congress pass it?

At a closed-door meeting in the Capitol basement, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other party leaders described a broad vision for voiding much of President Obamas 2010 statute and replacing it with conservative policies. It features a revamped Medicaid program for the poor, tax breaks to help people pay doctors bills and federally subsidized state pools to assist those with costly medical conditions in buying insurance.

Lawmakers called the ideas options, and many were controversial. One being pushed by Ryan would replace the tax increases in Obamas law with new levies on the value of some employer-provided health plans a political no-fly zone for Republicans averse to any tax boosts.

Were not going to get out of this overnight, Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.

The scant health care progress mirrors a lack of movement on other issues in a capital run by the GOP. No proposals have surfaced to pursue President Donald Trumps campaign promises to build a border wall with Mexico or buttress the nations infrastructure, and Republicans have yet to coalesce around another priority, revamping the tax code.

Senate Republicans have criticized a House Republicanplan to change how corporations are taxed. Trump has said he will release his own proposal in the coming weeks, but nothing had been produced, drawing mockery from Democrats.

The health care outline was aimed at giving Republicans something to exhibit during next weeks congressional recess, at a time of boisterous town hall meetings packed with supporters of Obamas law. Ryan told reporters that Republicans would introduce legislation voiding and replacing Obamas statute after Congress returns in late February, but offered no specifics.

Many Republicans took an upbeat tone after Thursdays meeting, with Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., saying, Were only 27 days into the new administration, so we have time.

But they have repeatedly failed for seven years to rally behind a substitute plan, and there are no guarantees of success in replacing a law that has extended coverage to 20 million Americans.

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Republicans' health care overhaul still a work in progress - Press Herald

Forgive me, for I have sinned. I've spent the entirety of my time so far with Halo Wars 2 not in the company of our beloved motherboards and graphics cards but on the Xbox One with its fuzzy graphics. Microsoft provided early review copies, but the PC version didn't unlock until recently, and the only knowledge I have of it is my couple of hours with it at developer 343 Industries last October.

You'll hear more about the PC version from me soon, but after finishing the campaign and hopping into a few multiplayer matches with our console cousins, I feel confident in saying that Halo Wars 2 is a workable and generally entertaining real-time strategy game that performs smartly with a gamepadnot that I expect many will want to use one on PC.

And it looks alright, even without that extra oomph from a good graphics card. The animations are varied and fun to watch, and the cutscenes ooze with detail and artistry I once would have expected only from Blizzard. This graphical prowess (which hopefully looks even better on the PC) is used to good effect to tell its story, which centers of the crew of the Spirit of Fire as they wake up from almost three decades of hibernation only to find themselves facing down a new Covenant faction called the Banished. There's no Master Chief or Cortana here, but Halo Wars 2 manages to distinguish itself with a fascinating cast of characters. I particularly enjoy Isabel, the sentient AI who contacts the Spirit of Fire, and Atriox, the big baddie of the Covenant himself.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the story here is at least on par with some mainline Halo stories.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the story here is at least on par with some mainline Halo stories. The problem, though, is that it ends without any real resolution (and thus perhaps paving the way for future content), and most of the scenarios seemed aimed at preparing players for the multiplayer mode. It's not even that long. Despite its narrative strengths and memorable characterizations, Halo Wars 2 comes with only 12 missions, which I was able to get through under some severe time constraints in only eight or nine hours.

But on to what really matters: How does it play? Victory in the original Halo Wars for the Xbox 360 was largely a case of amassing a big blob, selecting all, and tossing them at an enemy like a bucket of water on a campfire. You can still attempt to do that here, but it's harder now, possibly out of a desire to make Halo Wars 2 a proper PC RTS, thus allowing for greater nuance than we normally get on a gamepad. For one, multiple missions require multiple objectives, forcing you to have troops in different places. Units move at vastly different speeds, and they'll all end up going the speed of the slowest unit in the group if bunched up.

That's not to say the gamepad controls are rubbish. Halo Wars 2 does a decent job with what it has to work with. Selecting all units with the right bumper allows you to switch though specific unit types with the right trigger, for instance, or you can select an individual unit and then double-tap the A button to select all units of that type. The D-pad enhances the action, too, mainly by allowing quick shifts between bases and other elements. It's never exactly elegant. Halo Wars 2 is never exactly difficult, either, and back in October I remember laughing at how much easier it was with a mouse and keyboard, unburdened by the need to perform acrobatic fingerwork on a gamepad with limited buttons. Even with possible balance tweaks, I expect that hasn't changed.

Halo Wars 2's best prospect for longevity rest in the multiplayer matches, and particularly in the new "Blitz" mode. I haven't had much time to play it yet, but I admire the way it integrates a card game. You build decks with cards representing different unit types, and then use them, Hearthstone-style, to choose a combat unit to put into play from one of five randomly drawn cards. The matches themselves mainly revolve around capturing bases, but the randomness of the cards injects each round with a bit of variety that's sometimes lacking in multiplayer matches with set loadouts. But what makes it fun is also what makes it a little annoyingno matter how well I crafted my deck, I couldn't escape the feeling that luck may have played a greater role in my victory or defeat than my choices.

Above: Wes and James' Halo Wars 2 impressions from earlier this year.

I'm more than a little worried about the stability of the PC version after spending so much time with the Xbox One version. Put simply, the Xbox One version of Halo Wars 2 comes off as a buggy mess. At times the whole game would just freeze up, or worse, it'd crash, and loading screens drag on long enough to allow for bathroom breaks without missing a thing. If the PC version is at all worse, it will be really bad.

Sometime over the next couple of days, I'll post a final review outlining my thoughts after playing with the PC version. If you need an answer right now, though, take this: Halo Wars 2 isnt a bad game, but it will likely struggle to match the many richly rewarding real-time strategy games we've had for ages on PC.

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Halo Wars 2 review in progress - PC Gamer

Michigan players have spoken regularly during the past two years about how they believe their new coaching staffs professional approach to running the team was getting them ready for a future in football. NFL scouts evidently are starting to agree.

Fourteen former Wolverines received invites to the NFL combine at the end of the month, setting a school record and lending some credence to one of the football program's major recruiting pitches. Michigan, which will have more players at the event than any other team, matches Ohio States 14-man contingent from a year ago. So add one more data point to the argument that Jim Harbaugh and company are slowly closing the gap on their rival in Columbus.

Starting at the top, the program's NFL experience has been a much-discussed selling point since Harbaugh's arrival. He had a decorated pro career as a player, and when he took the Michigan job, he brought several coaches to Ann Arbor who helped him lead the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. Seven of the 10 coaches on staff have played and/or coached in the NFL.

Secondary coaches Mike Zordich and Brian Smith share common roots with the Philadelphia Eagles. Together they helped send four of their defensive backs to the combine this year -- five if you include Jabrill Peppers, who spent a healthy amount of time playing a safety role for the nations top passing defense last season.

On the other side of the ball, Michigan added two new staff members with experience as NFL offensive coordinators in the past several weeks. Pep Hamilton, most recently of the Cleveland Browns, replaced Jedd Fisch as the teams passing-game coordinator. Michael Johnson, who coached Harbaugh at the tail end of his playing career, is expected to take a support staff role for the Wolverines in the very near future.

Some of the credit for this years deep draft class belongs to former coach Brady Hoke. He and his staff recruited all 14 of the players on their way to Indianapolis this month. Not for nothing, but Hokes first two recruiting classes in Ann Arbor had almost identical rankings to Harbaughs first two classes. Hoke was 19-7 on the field in those first two seasons. Harbaugh is 20-6. The progress feels different, though, because of the obvious development many of Hokes recruits have undergone since the new staff's arrival.

Thats why the huge group headed to the NFL combine is as good of a sign as any in the past two offseasons that the program is in fact closing the gap on their Big Ten rivals since hiring a new coaching staff. Harbaugh has done plenty of things to make Michigan more attractive since his arrival. He spearheaded the fundraising for a planned $21 million weight room renovation that the universitys board of regents will vote on this week. He helped secure a unique apparel contract with Jumpman, and hes kept the football program squarely in the spotlight through one device or another for much of the past two years.

None of this, of course, means much of anything if Michigan cant translate off-field progress into wins on the field against the likes of Ohio State and other conference championship contenders. As nice as it is to have 14 players heading to the NFL combine, this isnt the trip to Lucas Oil Stadium that anyone had in mind at the start of the 2016 season. Its another tangible sign of the coaching staff producing results on one of their goals. Bigger goals exist, but for mid-February the combine announcement is a victory.

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Combine invites are another sign of progress at Michigan - Big Ten ... - ESPN (blog)

We're breaking down the top segments from Thursday's edition of PFW in Progress radio show so you don't miss a thing.

PFW in Progress 2/16 Podcast >>

0:02:00 - Today's episode of PFW In Progress featured a full cast of characters. With this week being the first full week of off season programming, the PFW In Progress crew began to round into mid season off season form! Andy Hart began today's program hot under the collar about a piece written by CSNNE's Tom E. Curran.

0:30:00 - As the show discussed Rob Gronkowski's off season recovery from surgery, the PFW In Progress Boys began to question his workout and training regimens. Should Gronk focus more on becoming more flexible in order to become less injury prone? Is he doing too much weight lifting?

0:55:00 - The lunch break for today's show was sponsored by our good friend Andrew Halpern from Denver, Colorado. Halp bought the boys lunch, but wasn't the only listener taking care of the crew. Long time PFW In Progress listener Brad from the Eastern Shore sent the show boxes of candies to celebrate the Patriots 5th Super Bowl Championship.

1:10:00 - The show discussed the performance of Trey Flowers in comparison to the production Chandler Jones provided the Patriots defensive line in previous seasons.

1:30:00 - Marcus Cannon's conditioning and weight were a topic of discussion today. Cannon dropped a significant amount of weight heading into the 2016 season. Will he be able to keep it off in 2017? Will he want to bulk up? Read

The rest is here:

PFW in Progress Recap 2/16: Free Agency and Potential Patriots - Patriots.com

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To start the week, the S&P 500 was testing the bottom-side of a trend-line running back to the Feb lows from last year; that line in a hurry become right here to down there. The recent advance after a painful chop through much of December and January is looking a lot like a blow-off top in progress. Were not quite in a parabolic state, but it wouldnt take much more of a rally to put it there. With that said, its hard to say when we will see a meaningful, trade-able top, but its possibly on its way to a theatre near you soon. The time-frame of a blow-off isnt isolated to one; there are short-term exhaustions, then macro. For now, we are mostly concerning ourselves with the short-term.

Being a Tommy Top Picker isnt fun and often times expensive, so well wait for momentum to turn on the longs before digging in from the short-side. Buying at this juncture holds poor risk/reward, unless you are buying intra-day dips which have been fruitful with their very shallow occurrences.

Looking upward, where could the market stall? Perhaps the under-side of the November trend-line around the 2060ish mark and climbing. But, again, these market melt-ups can be vicious, and until we see good price action indicating this move has run its full course we have no interest in being a hero here. On any decline from here we will look to the Feb 16 trend-line as the first area of potential support, currently around 2328 and climbing.

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---Written by Paul Robinson, Market Analyst

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You can follow Paul on Twitter at @PaulRobinonFX.

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S&P 500: 'Blow-off' Phase in Progress - DailyFX

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2017 Production of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter is on a good trajectory and is a necessary aircraft in the militarys arsenal to battle high-end threats, service leaders told a House Armed Service Committee panel today.

Providing an update on the the F-35 program to the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces were Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, program executive officer, F-35 joint program office; Navy Rear Adm. DeWolfe Chip Miller III, director of air warfare; Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Jon M. Davis, deputy commandant of Marine Corps aviation; and Air Force Maj. Gen. Jerry D. Harris Jr., deputy chief of staff, strategic plans, programs and requirements.

The programs development, production and sustainment have made significant and solid progress, Bogdan said.

The fleet is rapidly expanding and we're flying F-35s in the United States, Italy, Japan and Israel as we speak, he said. The development program is nearing completion within the cost and schedule boundaries put in place in the 2011 rebase line. And the program is also continuing to successfully ramp up production and accelerating a standup of our global enterprise. The general said todays F-35 program is much different than it was five years ago when he became the program executive officer. It now has a fleet of more than 210 airplanes that have surpassed 73,000 flight hours.

Operational, Combat Ready

The weapons system is considered operational and combat ready by the Air Force and Marine Corps, Bogdan said, adding, It is also forward-deployed today in Iwakuni, Japan, for the U.S. Marine Corps and operated in Israel and Italy by those F-35 customers.

The price tag for an F-35A model costs is about $94.5 million today, marking a first in costing less than $100 million, he said.

We believe we are on track to continue reducing the price of the F-35 such that in [fiscal year 2019], with an engine including all fees, the F-35A model will cost between $80 million and $85 million, Bogdan said. As part of this reduction, we have initiated a block buy strategy for our foreign partners and an economic order quantity contracting strategy for the U.S. services.

Driving Down F-35 Costs

The overarching priority is continuing to drive costs down in the F-35 program while delivering full capability to the warfighter, he said.

We will continue to execute this program with integrity, discipline and transparency and I hold myself and my team accountable for the outcomes on this program, Bogdan told the panel. Our team recognizes the great responsibility we've been given to provide the foundation of future U.S. and allied fighter capability for decades to come.

The F-35B and the F-35C remain a top acquisition priority for the Marine Corps, Davis said.

He said he is becoming increasingly convinced the F-35 is a game changer and a war winner, and added the Corps can't get those airplanes in the fleet fast enough to replace our F-18s and our Harriers, which on average are 22 years old.

With the fifth-generation F-35, We're achieving astounding results in the highest threat scenarios and that across the range of military operations fight, with the F-35. It is changing things in a very decisive way, Davis said.

An Acquisition Priority

Along with the Marine Corps and Air Force, the F-35C is a Navy aviation acquisition priority, Miller said.

The F-35C will form the backbone of Navy air combat superiority for decades to come, he said, adding its unique capabilities cant be matched by modernizing the F-35 fourth-generation aircraft.

With the F-35, the carrier strike group of the future will be more lethal, survivable and able to accomplish the entire spectrum of mission sets to include immediate response to high-end threats, the admiral said.

The nation needs the capabilities of the F-35C on its carrier flight decks, Miller said. The aircraft's stealth characteristics, long-range combat identification and ability to penetrate threat envelopes while fusing multiple information sources into a coherent picture will transform the joint coalition view of the battlefield.

Harris said the airplane is doing exactly what the military needs it to do.

The final F-35A fleet is growing and will become a dominant force in our fifth-generation arsenal, deterring potential adversaries and assuring both our allies and our partners at the same time, the general said.

(Follow Terri Moon Cronk on Twitter: @MoonCronkDoD)

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F-35 Program Makes Significant, Solid Progress, Official Says - Department of Defense

Lenovo's data center group saw fiscal third quarter revenue fall 20 percent from a year ago and the company is investing in its sales, channel and product groups.

The company, which built its data center group largely be acquiring IBM's commodity server business, said third quarter sales were $1.1 billion, down 20 percent from a year ago. Lenovo said it saw quarter-over-quarter improvements in North America, Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa.

However, Lenovo said it needs to build its data center brand, which includes servers, storage, software and services. The company has forged partnership with key enterprise players such as SAP, but lacks the sales and channel infrastructure.

Lenovo added that it is "strengthening our sales teams, investing in the channel, revamping our product lines, building our brand strategy, and adding new partnerships." The company also added to its global accounts team that focuses on Fortune 500 companies.

Overall, Lenovo faced a challenging quarter as all units saw sales stagnate or slide. Lenovo reported operating income of $101 million in the third quarter on revenue of $12.2 billion, down 6 percent from a year ago. CEO Yang Yuanqing said "our PC business remains strong, our Mobile business has made steady progress, and our Data Center business now has a clear improvement plan in place." Yuanqing also noted that it takes time to build the latter two businesses.

The PC and smart devices unit delivered operating income of $431 million on revenue of $8.6 billion. Lenovo said demand in North America was strong as shipments jumped 14 percent from a year ago. Tablet shipments were up 10 percent.

Meanwhile, the mobile unit, which includes Moto and Lenovo smartphones, delivered sales of $2.2 billion, down 23 percent from a year ago. Lenovo shipped 15 million smartphones and said that Moto G shipments were up 12 percent from a year ago due to strength in Latin America and India.

Also: Lenovo enters smart glasses fray, targets business, augmented reality, June availability

Continued here:

Lenovo's data center ambitions remain work in progress following Q3 results - ZDNet

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We only received Halo Wars 2 a few days ago, which was enough time to complete the campaign but not to get a full sense of its several multiplayer modes, or how they work in a live environment. Below youll see my thoughts on what Ive played so far, and soon Ill update with more thorough impressions of multiplayer and Blitz, plus my final score.

I admire Microsofts attempt to expand its prized Halo series into something that spans beyond an endless procession of first-person shooters, and with Halo Wars 2 (and Halo Wars before it) we get to experience this sci-fi universe from the overhead perspective of a real-time strategy game, which emphasizes the scope of its battles. The controls for a game of this complexity may never quite comfortably fit onto a gamepad, but its an otherwise decent if technically rough game with a couple of ideas to throw at the wall to see if they stick.

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Halo Wars 2 is an attractive-looking real-time strategy game that does a good job of representing the Halo universe in both graphics and sound. And the story - while not as large in scope as a main Halo game - introduces a threatening villain as the leader of a new faction that rises from the ashes of the Covenant, the Banished. On the other side, a relatable new AI character carries some cardboard-cutout co-stars, including the returning Captain Cutter and his three interchangeable Spartans. Occasional CGI cutscenes look fantastic, to the degree that they really make me want to watch that Halo movie that will probably never happen.

The single-player campaigns 12 missions took me roughly eight hours to complete, including restarting a couple of them a few times. The designs are nothing special though they avoid the trap of basic go destroy the enemy base, they lean heavily on hero-focused objectives of leading your Spartans around the map and holdout missions against waves of enemies. Theres enough variety to keep them from feeling repetitive, but only a couple think outside the box of what StarCraft did almost 20 years ago, and the static base management on pre-determined plots doesnt give a lot of flexibility when it comes to build orders. Much of it is in the vein of the campaign as tutorial for multiplayer model, teaching you which units counter what and how to capture the majority of a maps control points to win. Each one does come with a range of side objectives (such as keeping a unit alive, destroying extra bases, or collecting resources from the map) to give them replayability on top of simply turning up the difficulty, though.

Halo Wars 2 feels most limited is in its controls - and that's not surpising.

Where Halo Wars 2 feels most limited is in its controls, and thats not at all surprising. Gamepad controls for an RTS are always going to be clumsy at best, and though I didnt expect it to fully solve this problem, developer Creative Assembly doesnt seem to have done a lot to design around it, either. For example, the speed with which units tend to die in combat isnt very forgiving when you consider how slowly most people are likely to be able to react. Its definitely workable, using a very similar layout to what the first Halo Wars has, with some clever changes like using a double-tap of the right bumper to select all units. But even things like that cant make up for the shortage of buttons and precision on the controller relative to a mouse and keyboard.

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If, for instance, youre trying to get your Warthogs and Scorpion tanks out of range of the anti-vehicle gun of a Hunter before they can inflict real damage and move up your anti-infantry Hellbringer flamethrower units to counter, its tricky to pull off in the heat of battle. You have to select all units on screen using the right bumper, then use the right trigger to cycle through the available unit types which can be a lot in a large army and then you can move that unit type independently. It works, but usually not quickly enough, especially if you have multiple vehicle types to move to safety. Then it might be faster to double-tap a unit with the A button to select all of that type, then hold right-trigger and double-tap one of the other types to select both at once. Good luck with that if youre working with air units.

Most people will likely throw all their units at a target and hope for the best.

That said, its impressive that Creative Assembly was able to pack all the controls you need, with the ability to assign up to four control groups to the d-pad and even queue up move commands, onto a gamepad. The catch is that much of that is accessed by holding the right trigger to change the functions of the rest of the buttons, which means you basically need to learn twice as many controls as you do for most games. Again, its not insurmountable or unusable, but its no picnic. Im sure some people out there will get good enough with these controls to be relatively fast and become competitive with them, but by and large I expect most people will get through the campaign and many multiplayer matches largely by selecting all units on screen and throwing them into battle to fend for themselves.

Seemingly to compensate for the lack of micromanagement dexterity, youre able to turn the tide of many of those battles from above by casting support abilities that can buff your troops or rain down fire and reinforcements on the enemy. Some of these are strikingly powerful when fully upgraded, such as the Archer missiles that destroy a swath of enemies and the extremely useful ODST soldier drops, and using them at the right moment feels great.

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What did not feel great about the campaign was the frequent bugs I encountered when playing on Xbox One (Ive yet to try the PC version), which was much greater than I expected from a Halo game. Ive had crashes, infinite loading screens, five- to 10-second freezes, stuck units, mission events failing to trigger (forcing me to replay the mission) and more. I got through it, but I was surprised to see such technical roughness. Fortunately, thus far the glitches have been limited entirely to the campaign.

Domination gives support powers lots of moments to shine.

Most of Halo Wars 2s long-term appeal is in its multiplayer modes, which are to its credit significantly more diverse and in some ways interesting than you typically see in an RTS. On top of the standard deathmatch mode theres the territory-control Domination style (reminiscent of Relics Company of Heroes and Dawn of War 2 multiplayer) which really gives the support powers a lot of moments to shine. Spotting a bunch of enemy units camped on top of a control point is an excellent time to use a bombardment ability, for example. And because youre given the choice of one of six commander characters (three per side) with different sets of support abilities, you have lots of options there - including some who can temporarily cloak groups of units or create holographic diversions. But again, the base building options feel limited by the predescribed locations and very limited build orders, which means much of the variety is going to be down to which of the handful of maps youre playing on.

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In its own section of the menu, separate from the conventional multiplayer modes, is Blitz a faster, more frantic mode where instead of building bases to produce resources and more troops, you summon soldiers using a deck of cards youve prepared ahead of time. I generally like this kind of randomization because it prevents you from falling into patterns and repeating the same successful tactics over and over again, because you might not have access to the card youd want to use at the moment you want to use it. Improvisation feels good. Alas, I dont think its a great fit for a competitive multiplayer game, because all too often you win or lose based on a combination of your own luck and the enemys, rather than the test of skill on the asymmetrical but level playing field I expect from an RTS.

Blitz's dependence on luck may shorten its long-term appeal.

Blitz is fun, but I think that dependence on luck is going to shorten its long-term appeal. And when that luck extends to giving you random new cards, some of which are unique to the six leaders, in upgrade packs that are also for sale in the store, I worry even more. You cant directly buy the power you want, but you can buy another shot at it. Hopefully the matchmaking system is smart enough not to pair people with crazy-powerful cards in their decks against those with more modest decks, but that remains to be seen.

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Finally, theres a single-player and co-op variant of Blitz called Firefight thats about holding out against ever-increasing waves of enemies as they try to overwhelm you and capture two of three points on the map. Im having some good fun in there, where the randomness is about creating unexpected scenarios without the shame of losing to another human you think you shouldve beaten, and the balance is tweaked so that swarms of enemy units explode easily under my Banished lasers. Thats a very good use for the card mechanic.

I'll keep playing and will have more to say about multiplayer by the time Halo Wars 2 fully launches on February 21 (it's now available for early access with a preorder), so check back then for my final score.

Dan Stapleton is IGN's Reviews Editor. You can follow himon Twitterto hear gaming rants and lots of random Simpsons references.

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The Swedish network giant Ericsson will have a lot of prospective 5G equipment to show to gearheads at Mobile World Congress later this month, but the future cloud capabilities it demonstrates may be just as important for a subscribers experience.

In addition to fast broadband speeds, Ericssons technologies for next-generation networks will be able to guarantee enterprises the same type of service around the world and shift applications to the edge of a network to shrink transmission delays, the company said in an MWC preview on Wednesday.

Those concepts arent new, but building the back-end infrastructure to support them much of it defined by software is part of the ongoing move toward true 5G deployments coming around the end of this decade.

On Wednesday, Ericsson highlighted several features of its 5G Core System, which takes advantage of SDN (software-defined networking) and NFV (network functions virtualization) to give mobile operators more flexibility in the services they offer subscribers.

Multinational companies may benefit from what Ericsson called federated network slices. This capability builds on network slicing, a key emerging feature of 5G that will let carriers dedicate different parts of their network capacity to different subscribers and applications. This is the technology that will allow one 5G infrastructure to be both a fast broadband network for smartphones and an efficient, low-power platform for IoT communication, for example.

Federated network slices will put different operators on the same page about what needs special performance and how to deliver it, Ericsson says. If a global company or a traveling employee needs a certain kind of network slice, or the service characteristics of that slice, then every network he or she uses around the world can give that experience.

Ericsson said Germany's Deutsche Telekom and South Korea's SK Telecom demonstrated federated network slicing this week, implementing network slices on each other's networks that were optimized for augmented reality and maintenance services.

With the new technology, subscribers won't have to set up individual agreements with multiple carriers in order to get consistent performance. But the carriers will need to embrace an enhanced cooperation model where they open up their networks to host a partner's services.

Also on Wednesday, Ericsson previewed a distributed cloud capability, which will let carriers move applications and workloads closer to their access networks, the cell towers and small cells that users see and connect with over mobile devices.

By bringing computing resources closer to the edge, a distributed cloud can reduce network latency, an important goal for applications like vehicle control, augmented reality, and real-time face recognition. This technique also cuts down the amount of data that has to traverse the network behind the cells.

Ericsson isnt the only vendor working on back-end features to make 5G more than just a speed boost. For example, earlier this week Nokia announced Multi-access Edge Computing, which uses computing and storage near the edge of a network for low-latency enterprise applications like object tracking and video analytics. It can span private and public networks on licensed and unlicensed spectrum, starting with LTE and Wi-Fi and later evolving to include 5G, said Jane Rygaard, head of Advanced Mobile Solutions marketing at Nokia.

You really benefit from low latency because you have no round-trip through the network, Rygaard said.

Stephen Lawson is a senior U.S. correspondent for the IDG News Service based in San Francisco.

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Officials in Northern California said Wednesday they are making "great progress" on repairs to the damaged spillways of the nation's tallest dam before new storms hit the area in the next couple of days.

Bill Croyle, the acting director of the California Department of Water Resources, said the lake behind the Oroville Dam continues to drain rapidly, and has dropped nearly 20 feet since overflowing into an emergency spillway Sunday when it reached full capacity.

"We want to keep that rate of release up as we continue to move out of the reservoir to handle wet weather," Croyle said at a news conference.

A series of storms expected Wednesday and later in the week are expected to be smaller than previous ones that filled the reservoir to capacity, according to Croyle. The damaged main spillway "has been stable for a number of days," Croyle said.

Croyle said crews "are still removing more water from the reservoir than we would receive from the storm system coming in."

National Weather Service forecaster Tom Dang told the Associated Press the first two storms were expected to be light. The first could bring 2-3 inches of rain Wednesday followed by an even smaller accumulation from the second storm.

However, the third storm, starting as early as Monday, could be powerful, according to Dang. "There a potential for several inches," he told the AP. "It will be very wet."

The sheriff of Butte County, Kory Honea, reminded residents that while the risk level was reduced to let people back into the area, "this is still an emergency situation."

Honea said that the nearly 200,000 residents allowed to return home should use the time this week before the next set of storms to fully prepare in case another evaluation is needed.

The initial evacuation Sunday was "chaotic," Honea acknowledged.

"People should start planning where they might go and how they might get there to make things more orderly," he said.

There were a number of homes in the evacuation zone that have been burglarized, but arrests have been made, according to Honea.

The sheriff also called on private drone operators to refrain from flying the devices over the dam, which can interfere with repair work.

Dump trucks and helicopters have dropped thousands of tons of rocks and sandbags over the past couple of days to shore up the dam's spillways, and avoid what officials had warned could be a catastrophic failure and flood downstream.

Croyle said teams were working on plans for permanent repairs to the dam's main spillway that could cost as much as $200 million.

Long-term repairs will likely begin after the spring runoff, when crews can close floodgates for an extended period without the lake refilling with melting snow.

President Trump ordered federal authorities to help California recover from severe January storms a disaster declaration that also assists state and local officials with the dam crisis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Officials making 'great progress' on California dam repairs, remind residents to stay vigilant - Fox News

OROVILLE, Calif. --Authorities have lifted an evacuation order for nearly 200,000 California residents who live below a dam with a damaged spillway that threatened to collapse and cause catastrophic flooding.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Tuesday that residents should stay prepared in case the situation changes. He says the water level at the lake behind Oroville Dam, the nations tallest, is low enough to accommodate expected storm.

Crews have working around the clock atop the crippled Oroville Dam, making progress on repairs ro the damaged spillway. The work led to the lake level reducing by at least 8 feet overnight at a Northern California reservoir that has been central to the life of the towns around it for a half century.

Workers hoisted giant white bags filled with rocks, and at least two helicopters planned to fly in rocks Tuesday then release them into the eroded area of the spillway. Dump trucks full of boulders also were dumping cargo on the damaged spillway.

Backhoes load boulders into dump trucks as emergency personnel work to fix the damage below the emergency spillway at Oroville Lake

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The first test of these fixes will come as early as Wednesday, when a series of storms this area, CBS News John Blackstone reports.

The lake that for five decades has brought residents holiday fireworks and salmon festivals could have brought disaster.

Never in our lives did we think anything like this would have happened, said Brannan Ramirez, who has lived in Oroville, a town of about 16,000 people, for about five years.

Recent reports indicate that environmental activists and local government officials warned more than a decade ago about the risk of catastrophic flooding below a major Northern California dam, the very scenario that threatened to unfold in Oroville over the weekend.

State and federal regulators dismissed those fears at the time, saying they were confident the hillside that helps hold back hundreds of billions of gallons of water was stable and did not need to be reinforced with concrete.

In this Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, aerial photo released by California Department of Water Resources shows the damaged spillway with eroded hillside in Oroville, Calif.

William Croyle/California Department of Water Resources via AP

That decision has come under scrutiny now that the hillside, which acts as an emergency spillway for the reservoir, was put to its first test in the dams nearly 50-year history.

The acting head of the states Department of Water Resources said he was unaware of the 2005 report that recommended reinforcing with concrete an earthen spillway that is now eroding.

Im not sure anything went wrong, Bill Croyle said. This was a new, never-having-happened-before event.

Evacuee Crystal Roberts-Lynch didnt buy the explanations.

I know that somebody did not pay attention to the warning signs, she said. Someone in charge was not paying attention. It was their job to pay attention to what was going on with the dam.

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Nearly 200,000 people evacuated from their homes in Northern California are still unable to go home. If an emergency spillway at the Oroville Dam...

Oroville is a Gold Rush town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, some 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, nestled near the foot of the dam. The dam was completed in 1968 and is the nations tallest, at 770 feet. Houses and churches are perched on tree-lined streets near the Feather River. Old, ornate Victorian homes sit alongside smaller bungalows.

Everybody knows to go there for the Fourth of July, Roberts-Lynch said of the lake. Then theres festivals wrapped around the salmon run. The mother of three, who has lived in Oroville for 10 years, was staying at a Red Cross evacuation center in Chico.

Local businesses, including one that sells supplies for gold-panning, dominate a downtown area that spans several blocks. A wide range of chain stores sit a short distance away along the main highway.

The lake brings in an enormous part of the economy for the town. It definitely is a people-catcher, said Brannan Ramirez, who has lived in Oroville for about five years. We get people from all over the country.

Cities and towns farther down the Feather River also are in danger.

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More heavy rain and widespread flooding is expected in the western U.S. Chief meteorologist Eric Fisher from our Boston affiliate station WBZ is ...

Yuba City, population 65,000, is the biggest city evacuated. The city has the largest dried-fruit processing plant in the world and one of the largest populations of Sikhs outside of India.

The region is largely rural and its politics dominated by rice growers and other agricultural interests, including orchard operators. The region is dogged by the high unemployment rates endemic to farming communities. There are large pockets of poverty and swaths of sparsely populated forests, popular with anglers, campers and backpackers.

For now, its all at the mercy of the reservoir that usually sustains it, and provides water for much of the state.

If anything, we would have thought that the dam would have been constructed better, Ramirez said.

Over the weekend, the swollen lake spilled down the unpaved, emergency spillway, which had never been used before, for nearly 40 hours, leaving it badly eroded.

Officials defended the decision to suddenly call for mass evacuations late Sunday afternoon, just a few hours after saying the situation was stable, forcing families to rush to pack up and get out.

There was a lot of traffic. It was chaos, said Robert Brabant, an Oroville resident who evacuated with his wife, son, dogs and cats. It was a lot of accidents. It was like people werent paying attention to other people.

California Gov. Jerry Brown

AP/Nick Ut, File

Gov. Jerry Brown said Monday that he sent a letter to the White House requesting direct federal assistance in the emergency, though some federal agencies have been helping already.

Brown has had harsh words for President Donald Trump, and the state has vowed to resist many of his administrations efforts.

But the governor said at a news conference that hes sure that California and Washington will work in a constructive way. Thats my attitude. There will be different points of view, but were all one America.

The governor said he doesnt plan to go to Oroville and distract from efforts, but he tried to reassure evacuees.

My message is that were doing everything we can to get this dam in shape and they can return and they can live safely without fear, Brown said.

But evacuee Kelly Remocal said she believed the public officials working on the problem are downplaying everything so people dont freak out.

I honestly dont think theyre going to be able to do it, fix the problem, she said. This requires a little more than a Band-Aid. At this point they have no choice but to give it a Band-Aid fix.

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California officials lift evacuation order for 200000 threatened by damaged dam - CBS News

Birmingham Business Journal

Huntsville-based Progress Bank to acquire Birmingham's First Partners Bank Birmingham Business Journal Two of Alabama's most successful banks in the last year are joining forces, with the Huntsville-based Progress Bank set to acquire Birmingham's First Partners Bank - creating the eighth largest bank headquartered in Alabama. Upon closing of the ...

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Huntsville-based Progress Bank to acquire Birmingham's First Partners Bank - Birmingham Business Journal

Andrew Caplan @AACaplan

Elected officials and city employees packed into the Hall of Heroes at the Gainesville Police Department Tuesday for the annual State of the City address and heard how Gainesville is becoming the New American City.

At the address, Mayor Lauren Poe sat with University of Florida President W. Kent Fuchs to sign an agreement that signifies a city and UF partnership. The agreement will address disparity issues and growth throughout Gainesville in hopes of achieving goals outlined in each partys strategic plan.

Fuchs said he hopes the public signing will encourage citizens to hold all parties accountable moving forward.

This (memorandum of understanding) formalizes that were not just going to consult with each other or loosely collaborate, Fuchs said. We will actually address problems together.

Speakers at the event included Poe and Fuchs, as well as City Manager Anthony Lyons, Gainesville Regional Utilities General Manager Ed Bielarski and UF Vice President Charlie Lane.

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Lyons told the room Gainesville is on the cutting edge of redefining how cities support the aspirations of its people.

Lyons said four areas of focus which revolve around having a stronger economy, greater equity, a better future and becoming a community model will guide city officials along the way.

We will not stop, we will not be satisfied until Gainesville and UF are recognized as preeminent leaders and partners in this growing movement, he said.

Bielarski outlined moves GRU recently made to move towards becoming a 21st century utility. He said the way it deals with the biomass plant has been the most obvious change in recent years.

GRU has withheld almost $8 million from the biomass plant through disputed billings, he said, which is being discussed through arbitration. While keeping the biomass plant on standby and buying cheaper energy elsewhere, Bielarski said, GRU has saved more than $12 million under its current contract with the biomass plant. Bielarski said customers have reaped the benefit by having fuel rates cut by more than 10 percent.

Rate relief is GRUs absolute, top priority, Bielarski said.

Bielarski added that GRU discontinued electric shutoffs for customers on Fridays, reducing loss of service over weekends. Additionally, a dispatch agreement with Jacksonville Electric Authority has resulted in $1.8 million in savings for eight months of 2016, he said, and anticipates between $3 million to $5 million in savings annually in future years under the agreement.

I believe our actions prove that our potential to enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve has never been greater, Bielarski said.

Lane took to the podium to speak about UFs strategic plan and how it plays a part in the citys development goals. He said the plan calls for development eastward in the city and includes addressing environment issues, housing, education and health.

Poe wrapped up the event by pointing out other recent accomplishments, such as the opening of Depot Park, but spoke of shortcomings across the city.

Poe said the city has recently seen a reduction of violent crimes and juvenile arrests, but still has the highest concentration of poverty in the state. The city also has one of the highest rates of income disparities in the nation, he said.

After the address, Poe said the agreement with UF, in part, acknowledges that neither party will be successful if the other isnt.

What I hope to see out of this is a model, a partnership that can then be expanded to include all our other local institutions and organizations, he said. We have the chance to do something special if we get it right.

Contact reporter Andrew Caplan at andrew.caplan@gvillesun.com or on Twitter @AACaplan.

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City, UF sign partnership for progress - Gainesville Sun

We're breaking down the top segments from Tuesday's edition of PFW in Progress radio show so you don't miss a thing.

PFW in Progress 2/14 Podcast >>

0:02:00 - Fred, Paul, Andy, and Erik were all on today's episode of PFW In Progress. Foxboro is digging out of it's second major snow storm in the last five days, but the action on the show was not lackluster. Today began with a bang as Fred Kirsch voiced his disappointment in Patriots Nation.

0:10:00 - Paul Perillo's expense report was a fascinating topic of discussion on today's show. Just how many Diet Millers did Paul consume while in Houston?

0:15:00 - Patriots tight ends coach Brian Daboll was in the news yesterday as his name is being linked to the vacant offensive coordinator position at Alabama.

0:30:00 - The future of Jimmy Garoppolo will be a topic that continues to be discussed during the off season editions of PFW In Progress.

0:55:00 - The PFW Boys discussed the potential intentional grounding call that was missed on Tom Brady during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI. The play in question occurred at the start of the game tying drive.

1:30:00 - Fred Kirsch read a heartfelt email from Kat in Chicago asking for help for a fallen PFW In Progress listener. Steve in Kileen, TX passed away this fall. Steve was a fantastic contributor to Patriots.com Radio and an all around great person. He will be sorely missed by everyone in our PFW In Progress community.

1:45:00 - Tom Brady's missing jersey is still missing. Could it potentially turn up this far removed from the Super Bowl? Read

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PFW in Progress Recap 2/14: Patriots Offseason Outlook | New ... - Patriots.com

The Daily Progress and the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce have established The Daily Progress Greater Charlottesville Business Hall of Fame. Initial member inductees will be announced later this year.

We are excited to initiate this new regional business Hall of Fame to recognize and honor businessmen and businesswomen in our community who have made an enduring, transformative achievement and contribution to business enterprise in Greater Charlottesville and our community, said Rob Jiranek, publisher of The Daily Progress.

Induction is determined by a selection committee upon thorough research, assessment and consideration of candidate business leaders since 1892, the inaugural year of The Daily Progress. The selection committee comprises representatives from The Daily Progress, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and area business leaders.

Inductees will be honored by a magazine insert in The Daily Progress, at a Daily Progress Greater Charlottesville Business Hall of Fame Luncheon on June 13 at the Boars Head Inn and on a mural of recognition in a prominent community location to be determined. The luncheon will be coordinated by the chamber.

Bob Gibson, a senior researcher at the University of Virginias Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service who spent more than 30 years as a journalist for The Daily Progress, is leading the effort to capture the history and achievements of the eventual inductees for the Hall of Fame magazine.

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Daily Progress, chamber establish regional business Hall of Fame - The Daily Progress

China accounted for a third of Asia's military spending in 2016 and was looking to sell more arms abroad, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in a report on Tuesday.

China's overall defense budget last year was $145 billion (137 billion euros), 1.8 times higher than South Korea and Japan combined.China's spending was topped only by the United States which spent $604.5billion (572 billion euros) on defense in 2016.

On air power, China "appears to be reaching near-parity with the West," IISS said, adding that Chinese-made drones had been seen in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

Its sales in Africa had moved beyond Soviet-era designs to exports of systems designed in China itself, thethink tank's report found.

China's air force had introduced a "highly capable" short-range missile in a class only a handful of leading aerospace nations had been able to develop, it added.

Additionally, China's longrange air-to-air missile seen on exercise last year posed a risk for aircraft tankers and AWACS surveillance aircraft that previously loitered safe out of range.

GivenChina's advances Western dominance "can no longer be taken for granted," said IISS director John Chipman.

NATO members falling short

Across all nations, there was a "growing proliferation of lethality," the IISS concluded, warning the West that increasing sophistication was "complicating" its military options.

In a reference to NATO, the institute said European nations were "only gradually" increasing their defense spending, an issue highlighted by the new US President Donald Trump.

Only two European NATO nations - Greece and Estonia - met the aim of spending 2percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense in 2016, concluded the IISS.

The report also noted that Britainspent 1.98 percent of its GDP on defense, falling short of the 2 percent NATO target. A spokesman with the British Ministry of Defense denied the shortfall, saying that "NATO's own figures clearly show the UK spends over 2 percent of its GDP on defense."

Both British officials and the IISS emphasized that the UK's defense budget is still the largest in Europe.

Resurgent Russia

With $60 billion in spending, Russia remained the "principle security concern," said the think tank. It stressedthat Russian equipment outranged the missile and rocket artillery systems of NATO's most capable power, the USA.

"The Kalibr cruise missile, for instance, is being fitted to an array of Russian naval vessels - including an arctic patrol vessel," it said.

NATO would need to "refocus" on spending targets that lead to real capability improvements among systems that were increasingly complex, the IISS recommended.

Ahead of NATO talks in Brussels on Wednesday and the Munich Security Conference next weekend, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the "picture is still mixed" with some allies "really struggling."

He was responding to a question about budget constraints in Italy, which is trying to reduce its budget deficit following the euro zone crisis.

ipj/rs(Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)

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China's military progress challenges Western dominance, says IISS - Deutsche Welle

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For Honor, Ubisoft's weapon-based combat game, has the makings of a brutal power fantasy. Its bleak, war-torn medieval world is populated by three of history's most iconic warrior classes: Knights, Vikings, and Samurai. Due to the focus on multiplayer, my time playing so far has been brief. The servers have only gone live recently, which has given me little chance to dive into everything For Honor has to offer. Fortunately, I've managed to complete the first of the game's three story mode chapters (in just under three hours). While there's still a lot more to play, what I've experienced so far has me excited to dive deeper into the subtle nuances of For Honor's distinct take on melee-action.

Rather than feel like a full-on single-player experience, For Honor's story mode comes across more like a tutorial for multiplayer. Each scenario acts as a means of introducing you to the game's various mechanics. For example, one stage presents the rules of the "capture the point"-inspired Dominion multiplayer match, while another acts as a tutorial to familiarize you with a faction's specific hero class. The function of story mode has made it an enriching undertaking so far, despite the hollow characterization of the ongoing storytelling that attempts to link each of the scenarios together.

While For Honor's story mode is straightforward, there is a multitude of engaging one-on-one battles to be had, even against AI. The ruthless combat system is by and large its standout feature, managing to be both elegant and simple, while displaying a level of nuance in the restraint it demands. Quick reflexes are needed to win, but victory also requires steady, deliberate movements and well-timed attacks. Button mashing drains your character's stamina, leaving you vulnerable to attacks. For Honor punishes recklessness, forcing you instead to follow its more measured pace.

The slow speed of combat can easily breed impatience at first, as it demands you to unpack years worth of habits that faster-paced melee-action games might have instilled in you. Coming out on top in a fight is more about patience and your ability to read a foe than the execution of brute force or button mashing. Even against an AI-controlled warrior, this level of patience and skill is paramount. I can only imagine how this all feels when put into practice against a human opponent, who also fully understands these tenets.

One-on-one battles are fun and challenging for the way they punish you for thoughtless play. But this heavily contrasts with fighting For Honor's AI minions, which frequently feel mundane; defeating them simply requires mindless swinging rather than the calculated execution of one-on-one combat. Fighting these "opponents" also proves middling due to the inability to lock onto them directly. More often than not you'll find yourself swinging your weapon wildly at the air rather than hitting them.

Despite these evident shortcomings, For Honor already has the workings of a well-made multiplayer fighting game. However, I still have a lot to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of each class, and how to exploit them in the heat of battle. So, for the next few days, I'll be fighting my way through the rest of its single-player campaign, and facing off against other combatants online once the servers are populated with more players.

Stay tuned for our full review in the near future, and in the meantime, check out our For Honor footage and features below.

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For Honor Review In Progress - GameSpot

Theres more than one way to kill a fascist. My favorite method in Sniper Elite 4 is pretty vanillaa bullet through the helmet from very far awaybut I also enjoy using the occasional explosive barrel or net full of cargo (dropped on a head). Once I filled a neighborhood with mines, fired my rifle into the air three times, and ran away. Any fascists who werent turned into mist walked into my scope. This is easily the best game in the Sniper Elite series.

Theres no voice in your ear telling you what to do: Youre on your own against a map full of AI soldiers.

I havent been able to try Sniper Elite 4s multiplayer yet, so Im not committing to a final review right now, but I suspect the co-op and competitive modes will only make me like it more. I have played most of the campaign as of now, and its really good. The WW2 story about Allied subterfuge in fascist Italy is routine war game stuffthough I do like that I get to team up with Italian partisans and the mobbut the yappy cutscenes dont intrude on hours of skulking through complex maps with a Springfield rifle and a pocket full of tripwire.

Each mission drops you into a large mapthink Battlefield size or a bit largerwith tons of enemy soldiers, multiple primary objectives, and several secondary objectives. Your main tools are: A) a set of binoculars to tag enemies with, B) a sniper rifle, C) an SMG and pistol, and D) medkits, mines, and as many satchel bombs as you need.

Theres no voice in your ear telling you what to do: Youre on your own against a map full of AI soldiers, who are thankfully an improvement over Sniper Elite 3s buggy Nazis. I havent encountered a single noticeable bug in SE4 yet, even in the pre-release review build I was provided.

It's a game with gruesome slow-mo x-ray shots of organs exploding, including brains and balls, so I wouldnt expect to find sleep darts.

The enemies are still simple-minded, though. Take a shot and theyll hear it and take cover. Take another shot or two from the same location and its on: they know where you are and theyll open fire. But they dont have great eyesight. Run away without being respotted (a red ghost image of yourself shows you where they think you are) and hide for a minute and theyll feebly search for you and eventually return to their routines. Classic videogame enemies: they witness you shoot the spleens out of a hundred of their friends and then go back to strolling around and mumbling.

If you wait for sound coverplanes overhead, artillery fire, or malfunctioning generatorsyou can ghost snipe. I once plopped down in a bush and spent 20 minutes killing soldiers on a bridge, using the explosions from a railway gun to mask my shots. I enjoy camping, though opportunities to have a nice lie down are rare. Sniper Elite 4 would rather you pack up and relocate often, but it does give you more opportunities to snipe quietly than Sniper Elite 3 did thanks to small supplies of suppressed ammo you can carry.

You can also sneak into objective sites and use melee takedowns and suppressed pistol kills, but stealth in SE4 isnt quite as fun and playful as it is in similar games, namely Metal Gear Solid 5. Sneaking is slow and the gadgets are straightforward: rocks to toss, a whistle, and explosives. The complexity maxes out at luring enemies to a spotwith a corpse, or an explosion, or a tossed rockand blowing them up or shooting them when they get there. There are no cardboard boxes or nonlethal options. Granted, it is a game with gruesome slow-mo x-ray shots of organs exploding, including brains and balls, so I wouldnt expect to find sleep darts.

I can't help but think of the Crypt Keeper whenever this happens.

I started having more fun after I stopped striving for stealth perfection. Instead of how can I sneak in here and take out my target silently, the game has become how can I kill every fascist on this map?

One tactic Im fond of is to take a shot to make some noise, then circle around the alerted soldiers and embarrass them, shooting the backs of their heads while they look the wrong way. Or Ill fully play it as an action game. On one big, green section of the Italian countryside, for example, I decided that a certain hill was mine, and disregarded stealth altogether. I ran to one side, then the other, and then back again for I-dont-know-how-long, killing every soldier who tried to climb the hill and root me out. After that, I strolled up to formerly locked down objectives, satisfied by the knowledge that everyone who used to be guarding them was in a heap at the bottom of a hill.

Sniping is as simple or difficult as you want it to be. You can remove ballistics all togetherbullets always go where the crosshairs meetor include gravity and wind in the equation. Even with those influences turned on, letting out your breath slows time and produces a big red box that shows you where your bullet will go, so its still not hard to hit an eyeball. Bump up the difficulty to Hardcore, however, and its up to you to judge distance and wind.

Using the guide removes most of the challenge to aiming (its probably different using a controller) while having no guide requires intimate familiarity with a rifles bullet velocity, and is something Id only attempt on a second playthrough. It does feel markedly better to sink a shot without such direct help, though, so I wish there were a middle ground. Maybe the red box fades away after a moment? Its a tough thing to solve. I also wish the custom difficulty settings were more granular. I haven't found a way to remove the guide without playing in Hardcore mode, which removes a bunch of other HUD elements, such as the minimap and ammo counter. It's possible I'm missing something, so I'll keep trying different settings, but it isn't obvious.

Getting good enough to play without any UI help takes practice.

Another minor annoyance: Sniper Elite 4 tends to autosave in the middle of fights rather than during safe moments, and I've ended up reloading into near-death situations. Thankfully its possible to manually save whenever you want, which becomes a necessary discipline. The weapon progression isnt great either. So far Ive had no incentive to try guns other than my starting Springfield, which has better stats than any of the other rifles I could unlock thanks to upgrades Ive earned by using it. And before the games even out, there are multiple greyed out rifles marked DLC, which is disheartening.

Sniper Elite 4 runs great, though. The big levels take seconds to load on my SSD, it supports ultrawide resolutions, and outside of tiny graphical glitches Ive noticed during cut scenes, it looks sharp. The animations and environments lack much in the way of charactermost of it is best described as World War 2 videogame artbut the Italian hills and villas are pretty, and on my old Nvidia GTX Titan it runs at a comfortable 60-80 fps at 2560x1080.

Theres still a lot for me to play withthe entire campaign can be played in co-op, plus theres a co-op survival mode and competitive multiplayer modesbut Id be happy with Sniper Elite 4 if it were just the solo campaign. It's out on Tuesday, and I'll have a full review after I've done some sniping with friends.

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Sniper Elite 4 review in progress - PC Gamer