Usually, game trailers are nothing to be called "news," because they are just trailers, and that's all, but when we're talking about long-awaited games, like Diablo 3 or Starcraft 2, then it's more than "just another trailer." Let me say just this: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky!

Although released after S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky is a stand-alone prequel, expected to consist of a 50/50 salad of old levels, which were remade or altered, and totally new areas. Its expected release date is the 29th of August, 2008, and I hope there won't be any delays. Now, the movie...

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So...what should we expect? Basically, we're talking about a game engine updated to version 1.5, and DirectX 10 support, while the AI is being overhauled in order to accomodate the new "faction wars" feature. What about it? Well, now you're not going to be simply a stalker, being offered the chance to lead one of the eight faction in the game, and become a rich and influential character in the virtual world of the game.<-125x125 Button - right->

Well, that should be it for now, but you can bet we'll get back to this title. Anyway, if you missed Shadow of Chernobyl, don't worry - there's still enough time to get busy with it or, maybe even better, you should wait a little, play its prequel, then get on with it. What do you think?

Day of Defeat: Source is a World War II shooter developed by the notorious Valve Corporation (if that doesn't ring a bell, I am sure Half Life or Counter Strike should do that!) and distributed online through Steam, while the retail distribution is handled by Electronic Arts.

In this game, you can choose the US Army or the German Wehrmacht, each having six player classes available, and the scenarios available are all inspired by historic World War II engagements in the European Theatre of 1944. Today, this game just got a major update...

...called Palermo and adding no less than 51 achievements, an improved avatar able to display the scoreboard and win panel, and now the detailed player statistics are integrated with the Steam Community features.
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At last, it should also be noted that the Palermo update brings in popular features introduced by Team Fortress 2, such as "nemesis/revenge" freeze cam, as well as new effects that have been made possible by the particle system introduced to the Source engine for Team Fortress 2.

Wait...need I say why the update is called "Palermo?" Obviously, we're talking of a new map here, which is basically a remix of the most popular community map, dod_salermo, created by Magnar "insta" Jennsen. These being said, I hope you'll enjoy your return to Second World War, and maybe we'll even get to fight together in Day of Defeat, one day...

Without any doubt, Call of Duty 4 is a masterpiece. Don't come here saying that Crysis is better, because I have something you don't have anything to counter - please, tell me how is it possible for Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare to run that well on mid-range systems with details pushed to the maximum, while Crysis will surely crawl on those systems? I rest my case here, because we're not here to fight over COD4 vs Crysis. Something BIG is waiting, and that thing is nothing else but...Call of Duty 5!!

<-250x250 Square - left->According to Activision, the fifth installment in the notorious Call of Duty series takes us back into the World War II, and is going to be called Call of Duty: World at War.

The fifth game in the series is taking things to a whole new level, but if they take a step forward as big as COD4 did, I am sure that COD 6 will require brain implants! Here's what Mark Lamia, Studio Head for Treyarch, has to say: "With Call of Duty: World at War, we’re redefining what it means to play a WWII game. We’re excited to give players a host of new enemies that employ entirely new tactics, as well as new, groundbreaking tools – like co-op and the flamethrower – to succeed in the epic fight."

The game will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and all these versions will support online cooperative play for up to four players, while the Wii version, expected to drop by pretty soon, will also have support for split-screen offline cooperative gaming! Oooh, my, remembering me about good old Nintendo times...

Team Fortress 2 needs no introduction, but if you missed it so far, it's enough to say "team work," "cartoon style" and "shooter." I know this is not enough, because I wouldn't become suddenly interested in a game after hearing a few keywords, so I think you should better go and read the Team Fortress 2 review we have here, on PlayerzBlog. These being said, let's move on and see what should one expect from the Pyro Update for the PC Team Fortress 2, all right?
According to Valve, the long-awaited Pyro Update features no less than 35 new achievements, as well as 3 new unlockable weapons. All these will become available on Thursday, but there's even more, because 2 user-created maps, yet unknown, are also going to arrive as an additional bonus, to "highlight the great work being done in the community and distribute those works to all TF2 players."

For those already having the game, here's the list of achievements to be added:

Hot on Your Heels: Kill 50 enemies with your flamethrower, from behind.
Next of Kindling: Ignite an enemy, and the Medic healing him.
Second Degree Burn: Kill a burning enemy who was ignited by another Pyro.
Weenie Roast: Have 2 enemy Scouts on fire at the same time.
Baptism by Fire: Force 10 burning enemies to jump into water.
Fire and Forget: Kill 15 players while you're dead.
I Fry: Ignite 10 disguised Spies.
OMGWTFBBQ: Kill an enemy with a taunt.
Got A Light? : Ignite an enemy Spy while he's flicking a cigarette.
BarbeQueQ: Cause a dominated player to leave the server.
Dance Dance Immolation: Kill 3 enemies while they're taunting.
Hotshot: Kill a Soldier with a reflected critical rocket.
Firefighter: Kill 500 enemies.
Fire Chief: Kill 1000 enemies
Attention Getter: Ignite 100 enemies with the flare gun.
Pyromancer: Do 1 million points of total fire damage.
Hot Potato: Reflect 100 projectiles with your compressed air blast.

Since this is a free update to a game that - obviously - requires you to pay for it, Valve will host another Free Weekend starting on Friday at 11AM PDT, allowing newbies to try the game via Steam.

In the "games I didn't manage to play yet" collection, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition holds a special place. If you played it already, you know why. If you haven't, I won't tell you, because this is not about me or Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, but about the following "gold edition" of this game, entitled Lost Planet: Colonies. What about it? Screenshots!



<-125x125 Button - left->Well, Capcom released a bunch of new high resolution screenshots, but there are also some details available about this upcoming addition to the successful PC and Xbox 360 title release in early 2007.Did I say something about the new things to arrive in Lost Planet? Oh, yeah, here's what you will get, apart from the new multiplayer maps and modes: four single player modes - FPS mode, Score Attack, Off-Limit, and Time Trial.

Other than the above, I should remind you that Lost Planet: Colonies is scheduled to be released in Europe and the US on June 6 and May 27 respectively. To find out more, feel free to visit the official Lost Planet website.