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
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  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.

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.

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.