Halloween is a time for surprises so, with that in mind, boo! Sci-fi FPS-RPG Natural Selection 2 was due to emerge from its leathery egg on that spooky day, but developer Unknown Worlds has announced it is coming early. Only a little, given that Halloween is tomorrow, but it's quite welcome.

NS2 was slated to launch at 12:01 a.m. Pacific on Halloween, 10 years to the day after the launch of the original Natural Selection mod for Half-Life. However, that meant poor limeys such as myself would need to wait until the next morning, missing all the launch night fun. So now it's hatching at around 5 p.m. Pacific today, midnight in the UK, giving us time to squeeze in a few rounds before we drain the dregs of our last cuppa and clamber up those walky-blocks to visit Constable Plod in the Land of Nod.

You now have slightly fewer hours left to pre-order NS2 and score a free upgrade to the Digital Deluxe Edition. Oh no, aliens: