Stranger is a real-time strategy game, with elements of role playing games set in a world, split in two parts, surface and a subterranean one, which are in a tenuous balance. Stranger will also feature multiplayer, although details beyond "The players may play on their own, or unite in teams" are a bit sketchy.

Valve announced that it will soon start pre-loading Ritual Entertainment's episodic FPS SiN Episode 1: Emergence via its Steam online delivery system. One month before its release Valve will also preload and launch the first in a series of its own episodic Half-Life 2: Episode One. Counter-Strike: Source will get 2 new player models and an HDR enabled version of de_dust, while Day of Defeat: Source is due for a new map that will introduce a new gameplay mode.

The past week has been pretty productive in terms of demo releases, so in order to make it easier for people to track down their favorite game, here is a quick roundup of what was released in the past week :

'Tomb Raider: Legend' - Demo
'Daemonica' - Demo
'Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday' - Demo
'Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends' - Demo
'GTI Racing' - Demo
'Pathologic' - Demo
'Condemned: Criminal Origins' - Demo
'Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords' - Demo
'Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII' - Demo
'Stoked Rider featuring Tommy Brunner' - Demo
'Fire Department 3' - German Demo
'Evolution GT' - Demo

Click on the link to be forwarded to the appropriate files.

Condemned: Criminal Origins allows players to experience an unnatural level of psychological tension as they use their instincts, forensic tools, and melee combat to track serial killers and bring them to justice.

Embark on your adventure to become the one mighty ruler of them all and take control of vast worlds, sprawling towns and cities or even control the world's horrific monsters to wreak havoc on your cowering enemies. For the first time ever you can rise to rule them all and with it the true destiny of Chantra is under your control...

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• Justice League Heroes [PSP/PS2/Xbox] - Teaser Trailer
• Sword of the Stars - Cinematic Opening Trailer
• The Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript - French Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

Sudden Strike: Resource War is a World War II game, based on real historical events, uses the original Sudden Strike 2D engine, and is all about gathering resources. This patch fixes the well-known zeppelin bug and also adds the USSR campaign to the "Campaigns" menu.

Test Drive Unlimited challenges players online to experience the most exotic and fastest vehicles on more than 1000 miles of diverse Hawaiian roads. Gamers win races, challenges, missions and tournaments to earn credits and purchase new cars, bikes, rare performance parts, clothes, apparel, homes and garages.

American McGee Presents: Bad Day L.A., a third-person action/adventure game with a tongue-in-cheek comedic twist. Set in modern day Los Angeles, Bad Day L.A. combines a fantastical art style, groundbreaking collaborative gameplay elements and a heavy dose of dark satire to create a truly unforgettable experience.

Republik Games announced today that it had not completed an anticipated round of equity financing and as a result, is suspending production on its flagship game, Spend the Night.

The Blood Magic is an original 3rd person perspective RPG where the weapon of choice is magic. In this game, the player controls an Unlikely Hero in an ambitious search through many hostile environments looking for Modo, the ethereal being bent on destroying the world.

Another day, another batch of game trailers was released. Instead of giving them all their own posts, we grouped them, and so far there are trailers for:

• Paradise - Trailer #3
• Tomb Raider: Legend - Trailer (4)
• Far Cry Instincts Predator [X360] - Launch Trailer
• Armed Assault - Russian Gameplay Trailer
• 
  
  We will update this throughout the day when new trailers become available. Read more for download links ...

In Tomb Raider: Legend, Lara comes alive with intricately animated expressions, moves and abilities. An arsenal of modern equipment, such as a magnetic grappling device, binoculars, frag grenades, personal lighting device and communications equipment. This demo allows you to try out the Bolivia mission.

Daemonica is an intriguing 3D interactive murder mystery that offers an immersive storyline with unexpected twists, extensive dialogues with believable characters, puzzles and both mandatory and optional quests. This demo allows you to play for 60 minutes, but includes all content, so you can unlock the full game afterwards.

"While there have been numerous rumors about Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix has never released any information about the title. The recent online article stating that the title will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and shown at E3 is not based on any official information obtained by us. I hope readers will remember April Fool’s day is tomorrow and many Print and Online outlets pull pranks every year, before they get their hopes crushed by a joke."

LucasArts presents the first in a series of feature stories about LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (working title). You can expect stories like the one to follow periodically, until the game's release across multiple platforms this fall, each article further detailing certain aspects of the game.

Bet On Soldier is a first-person shooter with a corporation-takes-over-the-world-style plot, where you bet on the outcome of encounters with specific enemies. Frogster has released the v1.2 Win32 dedicated server supporting gamespy, 32 players, maprotation, auto balance and serveral other features.

Building upon Monster Hunter and Monster Hunter G (Japanese release only), which were originally released on the PS2, Monster Hunter Freedom is the ultimate package, including new missions, additional features and content adapted for the PSP system.

Runestone Game Development, developers of the upcoming MMORPG Seed, and WarCry are having a dev chat, which will take place on the WarCry IRC network Tuesday the 4th at 3:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5) or 8:00 p.m. GMT. You can participate by connecting to irc.warcry.com, and joining the moderated room #seedchat. Before, during and after the chat you can talk openly with other attendees at #warcry.

War Front: Turning Point explores an alternate World War II, one in which Hitler is assassinated in the early days. You will take command of experimental weapons, prototype vehicles and units rarely seen in strategy games in an attempt to alter or secure the historical outcome of World War II.