Spelunky 2 official artwork and logo

[Update]: Twelve years after the original, the PC version of Spelunky 2 has now been unleashed!

While it didn't invent the genre, Spelunky is one of the key games behind the growing popularity of roguelikes. There is just something special about its combination of punishing-but-fair difficulty, cutesy art style, randomized levels, and absolutely insane secrets that require both knowledge and skill in order to unveil.

With that in mind, I am very glad to say that Spelunky 2 has now been announced at the Paris Games Week 2017 convention! Unfortunately, there are currently no details available as it was only briefly mentioned before the main show, but I'm sure we'll get more information in the very near future.

Killing Floor: Incursion screenshot of close quarters combat

Much like the main game, Killing Floor: Incursion is all about shooting, slicing, bludgeoning, or exploding your way through vast hordes of mutants. You can expect to see a five-stage campaign delving into the secrets behind Horzine and their relationship with the Zeds, an endless horde mode where you have to fight to your last breath, a variety of different weapons that range from axes to sniper rifles, and most importantly, the ability to play solo or in co-op.

If you're wondering what all of this might look like in-game, wonder no more as the developers have recently released a rather lengthy launch trailer. Have a gander, it should give you a pretty damn good idea of what to expect from Incursion:

Call of Duty: WWII PC screenshot from the eastern front

Call of Duty: WW2 is set to arrive this November 3rd for PC and consoles, a mere few days from the time of writing. So if you're wondering what sort of PC you'll need in order to even run it, as well as what extra features you can expect to see, wonder no more as the developers have now released all of the information.

The full list of features and imminent bug fixes is a bit too long to summarize, so if you're interested in an all of the details you should head on over to Steam. On the other hand, if you're just interested in the system requirements, you'll find them right below. Have a look:

Friday the 13th screenshot of Jason entering a building

[Update]: Friday the 13th: The Game's very final update has now removed Dedicated Servers.

The asymmetric multiplayer murderfest Friday the 13th will soon be getting a brand new game mode by the name of Paranoia. I'm afraid the details are still shrouded in mystery, but what I can tell you is that the new game mode will come as an entirely free update in the very near future.

If you're willing to indulge a bit of speculation, however, I believe the new game mode will start with the killer masquerading as one of the camp counselors. So instead of constantly running away from the nigh invincible Jason Voorhees, the survivors will have to figure out which one of them is the killer and then act accordingly. It would certainly fit well with the "Paranoia" theme, and more importantly, it would be a fun scenario for both sides to play around with.

Official artwork of Raziel from the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver artwork

Crystal Dynamics, the studio that created the original Legacy of Kain games, recently released a simple but interesting tweet. Its just a high quality image for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver alongside a quote from the intro: "I am Raziel, first-born of His lieutenants. I stood with Kain and my brethren at the dawn of the empire."

This could mean absolutely nothing, but if Crystal Dynamics simply wanted to celebrate one of its older series they could've done so without the unnecessary mystery, as they have done for Gex: Enter the Gecko for example. Given the circumstances, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to hear that a lot of people have since then latched on to the idea that Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is getting a proper remaster.

Dead by Daylight screenshot of Freddy from the  "A Nightmare on Elm Street" themed DLC

Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer horror game where one player gets to mess around as a monstrous killer, while four others have to try their very best to not become a colorful stain on the living room floor. After already adding a couple of classic horror characters such as Leatherface, the developers have now taken things to the next level by creating an entire DLC themed around "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

As you might imagine, the DLC allows you to hunt down the pesky survivors as Freddy Krueger himself. In order to do so you can pull survivors into the dream world where your power is the strongest, so if they don't manage to wake themselves up or find someone else to do it for them, their journey is going to meet a very sharp and bloody end. And if that wasn't horrifying enough, grabbing one survivor closes the exit gates for everyone, meaning the survivors will have to come and try to save their friend before they can actually leave. Not the most pleasant of situations.

Europa Universalis IV official artwork and logo for the Cradle of Civilization expansion

Continuing the tradition of releasing two expansions at the same time, Paradox has just announced that Europa Universalis IV's Cradle of Civilization DLC will be coming in mid-November alongside Crusader Kings 2's Jade Dragon. The upcoming expansion will bring with it a variety of improvements to the Middle East, including new mechanics and features related to government, trade policies and religion, as well as the ability to exploit a region in order to quickly gain some cash or manpower while essentially sabotaging its future.

If you would like to learn a little bit more, as well as see what all of these new mechanics might look like in-game, I'd recommend checking out the recent Feature Breakdown video. It's a little bit on the lengthy side, but it should give you a good idea of what to expect from the Cradle of Civilization expansion. Have a look:

Screenshot of the Steam Digital Gift Card

In an announcement that I must admit comes as a massive surprise, Valve has now finally introduced digital gift cards to Steam. You would expect that the biggest and most successful digital marketplace for games would have this system up and running years ago, but apparently that was not the case. 

Still, its better to have this sort of feature arrive later than never, especially since the giant Halloween Sale has just kicked off. You can learn more about the gift cards, as well as how you can buy them yourself, over at the official website.

Papers, Please short film adaptation screencap

Papers, Please is essentially a 'bureaucracy simulator' intertwined with a story about human misery and the difficult choices one has to make in order to simply survive, let alone do any sort of good. Its not exactly a cheerful story, and the gameplay itself is intentionally terrible, yet the message Papers, Please conveys is so powerful that it became immensely popular regardless.

If you would like to see what it's all about, but you don't feel like slogging through all of the objectively tedious gameplay, you might be glad to hear that there is a short film adaptation in the works. The details are still very scarce so I can't exactly reveal much about the plot itself, but what I can show you is the recently posted teaser trailer. Give it a look, its surprisingly good at conveying the same sort of emotions as the source material:

Helldivers screenshot of combat from the PC version

Helldivers is a challenging co-op twin-stick shooter from the creators of Magicka. It features non-linear and procedurally generated levels, a variety of different weapons and enemies to use them on, a challenging difficulty system that also includes friendly fire, a solid amount of replayability, and the list goes on for a while.

If all of this sounds like something you would love to try out, you're in luck as Helldivers is currently having a free weekend. Simply head on over to Steam, click that giant green "Play Game" button, and you'll be able to vaporize aliens by the hundreds for the next two days.