It's turning into a bad year for sexual predators. The NeoGAF forums were temporarily offline amid sexual assault allegations against the owner. Just in time for Halloween, Syfy looks at seven essential horror video games. Number six is the incredible Dead Space from now-defunct Visceral Games. And Something Something Soup Something is a web browser game about identifying soup. Hint: You know nothing about soup.

What are you playing?

Kinsey Danzis, Staff Writer, kdanzis@gamingnexus.com
Now that I've finished playing Middle-earth: Shadow of War for my review, I'm playing it for fun in the little free time I have. Marathoning The Lord of the Rings trilogy has revitalized my love for the franchise and made it bearable for my partner, because she now understands what's going on when she's watching me play. There are tons of cool things, I know, but for some reason my favorite thing to do is still tame a small legion of Caragors and ride around with little actual direction, just killing captains that I happen to encounter.

Dave Gamble, Staff Writer, dgamble@gamingnexus.com
I've got Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyries" set to repeat ad nauseum as I get my Apocalypse Now on with a great little MMO called Heliborne. It's loosely based on World of [insert war machine here] but is far more engaging. As implied by the name, the military hardware focal to the entire endeavor is the helicopter. The game starts in the very early days of helicopter warfare, back when military commanders were still trying to figure out the best use for these odd little machines. I've been flying ancient, clumsy machines in the early days of the Vietnam War, although just today I was able to level up to the venerable UH-1 Huey, the only type of helicopter I've ever been able to cadge a ride in.

Graphically, this is a third-person view, but the battlefields of 'Nam are beautifully rendered and absolutely convey the smell of napalm in the morning. As far as play goes, each player gets a squadron of three helicopters, typically chosen to have one each of a scout chopper, a transport, and a gunship. Using these one at a time, a player can use the scout for finding enemy troop emplacements and/or to spot targets for mortar team, the transports for carrying troops ranging from light infantry to mortar teams, RPG gunners, and air-to-air missile-toting troops, and the gunships for air or ground attack. The idea, of course, is base conquest/defense.

Once I level up to some more modern equipment and gain a bit more experience, I'll be doing a review on it. Fantastic stuff at a bargain price.

[A little later, Dave also wrote:]

I swear I'm going to get started on my review of OGRE any day now, but I cannot drag myself away from Heliborne, even with the review already written and submitted. The tech tree is easy to climb, but I'm enjoying the Vietnam era far too much to rush into guided missiles, countermeasures, counter-countermeasures and all of that complexity. Plus, well...there's just something to be said for loosing off dozens of unguided rockets accompanied by Wagner's "Flight of the Valkyrie" that I just love in the morning. And midday. And evening. If it wasn't for my nightly laps in Project CARS 2 and a VR room-escape/unlock-this-door puzzle game that I'm also going to review on a rigid commitment of "eventually," I wouldn't be using VR at all. I never thought I'd see the day when the Rift has gathered a fine patina of dust.

Eric Hauter, Staff Writer, ehauter@gamingnexus.com
This weekend, I'll be taking a second, and maybe third, run through Hidden Agenda, trying to not end up in a heap on the floor. I will also be continuing my endless playthrough of Legends of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel II on Vita, with occasional breaks for Civilization Revolution 2. And if there is time, I will get my son online to battle it out in a few rounds of Korix on PSVR.

Randy Kalista, Staff Writer, rkalista@gamingnexus.com
I'm neck deep in a sea of sand in the land of scarabs. That is to say: Egypt. Assassin's Creed Origins' Egypt. Which means we've finally made it, Brotherhood. After a decade of ignoring what Assassin's Creed players truly want, Ubisoft finally lets us surf down the sides of pyramids, parkour on the Sphinx, and see if Cleopatra looks anything like Katy Perry in her "Dark Horse" video. Assassin's Creed still wrestles with its core conceit, though. For a series that is made all the more thrilling from having a modern day sci-fi element, those elements are always boring as hell to play through. I mean, it certainly makes the player want to return to the historical part of the show. The controls take some getting used to. Ubisoft keeps changing the button mapping every other Assassin's Creed. Like it's still trying to figure out, after all this time, if it's more of a stealth game, a beat 'em up, or a straight up platformer. Time to strap back into the Animus.

Nicholas Leon, Staff Writer, nleon@gamingnexus.com
This weekend, I'll be doing one thing and one thing only: killing Nazis — in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. It's been an amazing experience so far, and I can't wait to laugh my way through this game again. To laugh with the great writing, not the violence. Although that can be funny, too.

Kevin O’Connell, Staff Writer, koconnell@gamingnexus.com
I am slowly coming down off the high that is Forza 7 and slipping into the abyss of fractured dreams and long waits. There is still no word on the auction house and Forzathon, so i'll be quitting and deleting everything forever!

OK, maybe I will play for just 20 more hours to pass the time and not thoroughly enjoy the game at all — that's what I'll do.

I also took a silver-ball ride on Pinball FX3's anti-coin but dollar-per-use ride and the review is forthcoming. It was pretty good...for all of four tables' worth.

Debating when a good day is to finally buy Destiny 2. John is partaking. Maybe I will, too. Must also get South Park's newest debauchery...so very, very sweet.

John Yan, Senior Hardware Editor, @TheJohnYan
Time to dig to bedrock in 7 Days to Die. Auger does its job. Leave me alone zombies!

Destiny 2 is calling. Time to see what all this hoopla is about. So excited!

Hellboy was a little bit of a surprise for Injustice 2 but a nice addition. There's a reboot of the film currently going on so his popularity is sure to rise again once the movie is out.

In November, Hellboy will be part of the second fighter pack for Injustice 2 and today, NetherRealms released a video of some of his moves.

As you can see, his Good Samaritan gun comes into play a lot as well as his Right Hand of Doom. Overall, he looks and sounds great and should be a fun part of the roster.

As part of PlayStation’s Paris Games Week Media Showcase on Monday, October 30th, Sony will be announcing seven brand new PS4 and PSVR games, and will be updating gamers on 21 more.

The initial announcements and updates will begin streaming at 8:00 AM Pacific, with their full Media Showcase starting at 9:00 AM Pacific.

For more details on how and where to stream, check out the official announcement here:

101 Video Games to Play Before You Grow Up, a recently released book aimed at kids aged 8-12, is a great way to start brainwashing the little gamer in your life into joining us. Author Ben Bertoli has assembled a great list of age-appropriate games that will give kids an amazingly complete introduction into different game systems and genres.

The surprisingly deep list of games covered includes beloved classic RPGS (EarthBound, Chrono Trigger), more recent releases with exclamation marks (BoxBoy!, Guacamelee!), and indie greats (Costume Quest, Bit.Trip).

Each game included has a page or two dedicated to detailing its features, history, and further gaming suggestions if the kid takes a particular shine to the game or genre. The illustrations and layout are kid friendly and fun.

The book itself is well constructed, featuring a Flexibound binding and glossy pages, giving a higher quality look and feel than one might expect for the price. My four-year-old drags our copy around the house and leaves it laying around everywhere. After a couple of weeks of wear, the book is holding up quite well.

101 Video Games to Play Before You Grow Up is available from most major book sellers. For a list of games featured, check out the images on the Amazon page here:

Friday the 13th: The Game is a lot of fun, but there have been some nagging issues that have been plaguing the game since it was released. Gun Media has released a new patch for the game and it looks like a lot of these issues have been ironed out. 

First off, Tommy Jarvis has been completely reworked. Up until now people have always treated playing as Tommy as an extra life when he was supposed to be helping the team. Now when Tommy spawns into the match, the in game message says "save other counselors". Tommy will also spawn with a health spray and pocket knife and will no longer be startled by dead bodies. Tommy will also get a one time XP match bonus for sacrificing himself within the vicinity of other counselors. 

In addition to Pamela tapes, which are incredibly rare to find, the update has added new "Jarvis tapes" which include insight as to what Tommy was up to in between parts 5 and 6 and after Part 6 as well. 

Jason has also been given some new environmental kills as well. These include the stove top, boom box, kitchen knife (throat slit), kitchen knife (stab) and the screw driver. 

Now we get to some of the updates that fans have been waiting a long time for such as Jason will now get credit for kills if someone quits during the animation, Jason's grab range being nerfed and important items now showing up on the map after they have been dropped. 

Finally, another counselor has been added to the game and it's none other than Fox from Part 3.  

Check out the full list of patch notes on their official website.

Well this is a pleasant surprise. According to Nintendo of America's Twitter, Minecraft New 3DS Edition is getting a retail release on November 10th. The box art also indicates Amiibo support, and personally I'm hoping that might give you Nintendo-themed costumes based on the Amiibo you scan, but I'm just blue-skying here.

I thought Minecraft wasn't the best fit for the 3DS as it's currently lacking a multiplayer mode (if you want portable Minecraft, the Switch version is the way to go) but I also felt that standing on its own, it was a perfectly serviceable port. It's nice to see that this version is getting some strong support; there are plenty of great indie titles that aren't getting a physical release, but apparently Minecraft's popularity warrants a retail version.

I do not envy the combat designers working on Kingdom Come: Deliverance. They had to develop a melee system that could be mapped to a simple gamepad, but took a wide array of factors into account. The combat in Deliverance not only accounts for the physics and weight of the weapons you use, but also your character (and opponent's) armor, stamina, balance and fighting style. It's extensive enough that if your character doesn't have a good meal before he goes into battle, fatigue from fighting in heavy armor is likely to do him in before an enemy does.

I'm not even getting into using shields and the huge variety of authentic Crusades-era weapons available in the game. Warhorse Studios did an exhaustive amount of research, but compressing that down into an accessible, enjoyable game played on a PS4 controller is pretty incredible. This is the game I was dreaming about as I struggled with the brilliant but cumbersome Die by the Sword back in the late 90s.

Presumably 4k monitors and systems are becoming more prevalent, at least for console players. What was the critical clue that enlightened me to that fact? Well, how else would you explain Rockstar's pending release of L.A. Noire in glorious 4k video?

Scheduled to be released on November 14, L.A. Noire will be available in ultra-high resolution graphics for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Ninendo Switch.

PC players are not totally left in the shadows: L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files for HTC Vive will present those that didn't buy the Oculus Rift [cough cough - that would be me] will have 7 cases to solve in glorious Virtual Reality. This too will occur on November 14.

There is a trailer available at this link, but I have to say that it reminds me of the early days of HD TV when they were running commercials intended to demonstrate the vastly superior imagery to people watching on SD TVs.

Surely that masks whatever benefit they're trying to show....

I’m a sucker for a good gimmick. Dangle something a little different in front of me, and I’ll bite almost every time. My house is littered with the detritus of past indulgences. A nest of tangled light guns from my infatuation with the PS1 shooter Point Blank. A Mario Dance Dance Revolution pad, wadded up in the corner. A couple of dusty Dreamcast VMUs tossed in a basket with a set of Donkey Konga Bongos. So when I caught wind of Supermassive’s new PlayLink game Hidden Agenda, I knew I had to check it out, and I had to drag my family along for the ride.

PlayLink is the new Sony initiative that allows players to engage with gameplay using their smartphones. Unlike the Jack Party Pack games (which are played via a web browser), PlayLink games require players to download dedicated apps, which allow for greater interactivity and functionality. So basically, PlayLink is a gimmick, which means that I was automatically hypnotized into checking it out.

It's a banner week for the Nintendo Download, as we're not only getting Mario's latest and greatest adventure but also the debut Animal Crossing mobile game. Super Mario Odyssey is stealing the show with Mario's unsettling ability to steal people's bodies using his cap capture. I'm still not sold on the game's around the world in 80 days theme but I am looking forward to a true sandbox Mario game after the more linear Galaxy and 3D world titles.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp will also be taking smartphones hostage across the country, allowing players to manage a campsite full of quirky animal friends. Per usual you can gather resources and craft furniture and other housewares to make your campsite the envy of all your friends. Personally I've just never gotten into Animal Crossing as it feels like all those home decorating shows on daytime TV, but a number of my friends are absolutely hooked on the series.

There's other great stuff on the eShop this week besides Mario and Animal Crossing, so check out the full list after the break.