Video Game Apocalypse: Day 3

Don’t lie. I’m sure all of us have thought at one point in time, “What would I do if there ever was a zombie attack?”.  I’m double sure many of us have created several zombie survival plans in our head or even have them written down (I myself have 7 different plans). It may sound like science fiction, but there are insects and parasites in real life that have the ability to mind control their hosts. Parasitic spiny-head worms, green jeweled wasps, and many more parasites are out there are just waiting to control another species for its own purpose. Is it so farfetched, then, that our world is doomed to be destroyed by a virus/parasite that turns humans into brain craving lunatics?  Okay, maybe it is.  But in Day 3′s game we get to experience this world overrun with people who want a piece of your mind.

Left 4 Dead 2

(Xbox 360, PC)

Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 take on that popular idea of being an immune survivor to a disease which has turned much of your race into mindless zombies. The concept is fairly simple and straight forward. You are paired up with three other survivors and must try to get from point A to point B without becoming finger food for the zombies. You are given an array of weapons to kill the many zombies that stand between you and your quest. These zombies aren’t your typical Dawn of the Dead zombies where they do the Michael Jackson shuffle towards you. These zombies are the 28 Days Later types of zombies that come barreling at you full force. Alone or in small packs, they aren’t a problem, but when a horde comes rushing in on you from every direction you will need your wits and team around you. Especially when the special infected move in.

What really makes left 4 Dead stand out is its online modes. You can team up with three friends to fight alongside you through the campaign or go into one of the several versus modes Left 4 Dead has and play as both survivors and the infected. And don’t think you can become the lone wolf of the team and go blasting off into the sunset by yourself. Teamwork is essential in this game. Without it, you will find yourself being turned into a play toy for the special infected.

Not only is it good practice for the inevitable zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead is an incredibly fun game and one that is made even better when you’re able to play it with friends.

Day 4 Preview: Only two words needed. Crowbar and cake.

The Weekly Byte for 9/13/2010

New Releases

Tuesday, 9/14 -

• Painkiller Pandemonium – $19.99 – Collection of all the Painkiller games
• Patrician IV – $39.99 – Medievil  Strategy game

News Bytes

Beenox continues it’s trend of awesome PC ports! Known for handling many past PC ports, Beenox has spread it’s wings and made their own, so far well-reviewed game, Spider-Man : Shattered Dimensions.  A game which did not see a PC release, how ironic?  Well, take heart, true believers, Spidey has been confirmed to be swinging onto PC’s everywhere, later this year!  No dates were given, but the information comes directly from an Activision source, so stay tuned for more details as we expose this web of intrigue!

Breaking news, EA has grown a heart, and ears?! In a stunning revelation, EA’s Need For Speed World will now be completely free.  Yes, no catches, no strings, players can go well beyond the original level 10 cap, previously hitting the E-brake on free players.  In their press release, the game’s developers have said that they have been listening closely to the community feedback, in-game and on the forums, and have decided this will be the best option, for the game.  Oh, but you already paid $20 to unlock the full game?  Fear not, speed racer, EA will be granting you some pretty sweet rides, for rent in the game, so check your inbox for those codes, they should be going out shortly!

King Graham finds a Silver Lining. For those King’s Quest fans out there, Phoenix Online has announced that Episode 2 of it’s fan driven continuation of the PC classic, will be up for download, for free, this Saturday, September 18th.  For those not familiar, the firs Episode became available in July, and has been well received.  Phoenix is a group of completely independent fans of the King;s Quest franchise, who were unhappy with the last game in the series, and wanted to faithfully continue the lore and storyline of the game, with episodic content.  If you’ve ever played a King’s Quest game, you owe it to yourself to check out The Silver Lining!

Steam taking a page from Microsoft?! Relax, Steam fans, this, actually, isn’t a bad thing.  Steam has announced that they will be doing a Steam Wallet system online, now, similar to what XBOX LIVE does with Microsoft points.  Steam members will be able to add money to their Steam Wallet, in increments of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 dollars.  This will not replace the existing option for instant purchases, but will supplement as a way to keep credit, in your account, should you be saving for a release, or have some extra money you want to save as Steam credit.  Personally, I think it’s a great idea, especially for parents who’s kids game on Steam, they have money they want to spend, but nothing to spend it on?  Drop it into the Steam Wallet and they can use it later!  Same goes for an anticipated game release, or someone anxiously awaiting one of the lauded Steam sales.  Now if only Microsoft would take a step back and add instant purchases to XBL…….

Ubisoft serves up a well-concealed wrist knife to the throat of PC players. Well, PC gamers may already be frustrated with Ubisoft, not only because, it seems, all their new releases have hit the $60 price point, but also because of the, well known and invasive, always on DRM scheme, employed by all new releases.  Well, we can add another trending dagger to angry PC gamer’s hands – the fact that none of Ubisoft’s AAA titles has released alongside their console counterparts.  Splinter : Call Conviction saw a delayed release, as did Assassin’s Creed II, and now Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood will follow suit.  Console assassins get their bloody hands on the game on October 4th, but the PC iteration has been pushed back to next year’s first quarter.  Am I the only one that thinks this is a knife to the heart of any excitement for the game’s PC version?

Geared Up

Speaking of game delays, Ubisoft should take a page from Arrowhead Studios, on delay announcements.  I know this isn’t a typical entry, for my Geared Up section, but I wanted to shake things up, and I was impressed enough, by this trailer, that I thought it would make a great feature here.  In a mailing we received from Magicka publisher, Paradox, they have announced both a website for the game, and a delay, humorously presented  in a game trailer.  Even if you are not interested in playing Magicka, an action-adventure RPG, I would still highly recommend viewing the trailer, here, just for the humorous approach that Arrowhead Studios has taken.  It must have taken some time to throw the trailer together, and it’s impossible to be mad at the delay after watching the trailer.  For those that are interested in the game, the official website can be found at www.magickagame.com, and you can expect to see the game early next year (they are pulling a Blizzard – when it’s done).

The Weekly Byte for 8/30/2010

New Releases

8/31/2010

• Ghost Pirate of Vooju Island – $19.99 -Puzzle/Adventure game
• Serious Sam HD – $9.99 – Boxed copy release of this classic remake

News Bytes

PC Gamers run over by light cycles. Am I the only one that thinks it ironic that a game/movie franchise centered around being pulled in computer systems has just thumbed it’s nose at gamers who prefer that platform?  Tron has announced a December 7th release date, for it’s new game, Tron:Evolution, and alongside that a nifty Collector’s Edition.  The CE comes packaged with a model lightcycle, forged by the master craftsmen at Sideshow Collectibles, complete with a pretty cool looking display case, that even has a compartment to store your Tron game case.  Sadly, just like many other cross-platform releases, the CE will only be available for 360 and PS3 fans, PC gamers get left out in the cold.  So the Wii gets a bonus, with the Epic Mickey CE, for a reasonable $59.99, but PC gamers get dropped off the grid with this $130.00 version of Tron—-I personally think that’s a little pricey, but it would have been nice to have the consideration.

Neverwinter……Days? Many of us, including myself, were excited to hear that there would be a new Neverwinter game.  I was also among the group of people who misunderstood this announcement, so I’d like to clarify things here.  This is NOT going to be Neverwinter Nights 3, rather a new IP, based in the Neverwinter universe, featuring gameplay, best described along the lines of Torchlight II’s co-op model.  Cryptic Studios, the game’s developer, has stated that the game will be more of a co-op action rpg as opposed to a standard MMO.  From reading descriptions and interviews, this game will be more of an interactive tabletop D&D experience, rahter than a WoW competitor–even including a ‘Forge’ option, that allows players to customize their own experience.  Essentially, to me, that sounds like Cryptic will give you the toolset of the game to allow you to pick a friend as a DMM, and let him/her play that role within the confines of the game universe—-a pretty attractive idea!  The big ogre in this dungeon is that pricing has yet to be announced.  They are still considering all facets—from a Guild Wars style free-to-play all the way to a pay-to-play, subscription based model.  I have to be skeptical, they are going to have to throw up an obscene amount of constantly updated content to carry a subscription fee, while a microtransaction for premium loot model might appease both sides, more readily.  Still, the ability for hardcore D&D players to meet up online in ‘Forge’, and provide visual content to their D&D games, might be enough to draw out enough of a paid subscriber base.  It will be interesting to see more news on this, as Cryptic narrows their options.  Hopefully, it won’t be shooting themselves in the foot with a poison arrow.

Slow your Zerg rush! We all know Blizzard is awesome at balancing and adding content, well, Starcraft II players can expect the first major patch soon, with many rebalancing issues planned.  The new patch will address bugs, add mod features and provide support for the 3 people out there using Nvidia’s 3D technology(kidding!, I’m kidding!).  In addition, many multiplayer tweaks are being made, that I won’t detail fully here, suffice to say Terran Marine rushes will nosedive due to tweaking of barracks/marine/reaper build times, and the protoss zealots will see similar affects, taking longer to build and warp in.  Just reading the sitrep, detailed here, not only is it apparent that Blizzard is doing the most it can to preserve the balance and fun of the multiplayer game, it’s amazing to see how they listen to their community!  If you are a serious SCII player, and you have any constructive criticism for the multiplayer, I would encourage you to go to the SCII forums and hit them up!  Look for the patch sometime in September.

What do Tycho, Max, Strong Bad and a TF2 Heavy have in common? Well, I don’t know either, but I can’t wait to find out!  Telltale Games, maker’s of amazing episodic games, such as Sam & Max, Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People and Penny Arcade Adventures, have released a trailer with the above mentioned four silhouettes, teasing a team up, with more news to come on September 2nd.  Stay tuned to www.telltalegames.com this Labor Day Weekend to find out!

ATI secedes? Well, not quite.  Anyone who follows PC technology already knows that not only does ATI fall under the AMD banner, but that AMD is also working to fuse processors and graphics cards into one component.  From what I’ve heard, and don’t quote me here, this new Fusion technology will apply for netbooks, for now, but I can’t imagine AMD isn’t salivating at getting this working in a gaming capacity, to put the screws to Nvidia.  Well, in an effort to seem less confusing to consumers, AMD will now drop the ‘ATI’ brand name, on their GPU’s, and label them all under the AMD brand.  AMD plans to continue to carry the ‘Radeon’ and ‘Firepro’ brands, probably to continue familiarity with the brand names already in existence, but presumably, also the allow for easy differentiation between their GPU’s and the upcoming line of ‘Fusion’ Hardware.  The change takes place next year, and it will be interesting to see if AMD can keep the enormous upswing they’ve had, as of late, continuing, with these changes.

The Weekly Byte for 8/16/2010

New Releases

Tuesday, 8/17 -

• Kane & Lynch 2 Dog Days – $49.99 – trying to make up for the initial flop
• City of Heroes : Collection – $39.99 Collection of CoH MMO & expansions
• Hello Kitty Online – $19.99 Ummm, yeah. I dunno either >:O)

News Bytes

Consumers buying less Nvidia driving GPU changes? Nvidia has reported a 141 million dollar loss for the second quarter of 2010.  Compared to a 105 million dollar loss, during the same period last year, it would seem Nvidia is not quite the cash cow it once was, despite some great new tech on the market.  More interesting is that their earnings report attributes this for a drop in consumer demand for GPU’s and consumers opting for cheaper cards and integrated graphics, rather than a monster new and costly GPU.  Could that benefit the consumers?  Well, we can hope so, because we can clearly see that Nvidia’s earnings report clearly states consumers are tired of paying for high end cards, and voted with their wallets for other options.  As a gamer, my hope is that we see Nvidia optimizing technology to fit a lower budget, without sacrificing performance and lifespan, with their newer cards.

‘Mr McGee, you wouldn’t like me with Rage’. Lots of information permeated QuakeCon 2010, from Dallas, Texas, but it would seem most of it was filled with Rage.  Not only will the game debut on September 13th, of 2011, but John Carmack showed off an amazing tech demo running at 60 frames per second on his iphone.  As much as I am excited to see how Mr. Carmack can revolutionize iphone graphics, I am more excited to see someone make FPS controls for an iphone that aren’t as gimped as they are on the PSP.  You have to see the video to believe it, and although he was running his demo on an iphone 4, he claims it runs smoother than his previous Doom games on a regular 3G.  One interesting Rage demo had all three versions running side by side, to illustrate clarity and resolution changes from platform to platform-which iD has strongly attempted to minimize.  In addition to Rage, there was much to be excited about with updated information on Fallout : New Vegas, Brink and Hunted : The Demon Forge.  I had not realized that Brink had been pushed back until next year, but it looks to be a Team Fortress cooperative team shooter on A-Rod sized doses of steroids.  Brink boasts an amazing graphics engine that seems like a cross between TF2 and Borderlands, with a splash of realism thrown in.  The character customization and creation was part of the highlights, and looks to be extremely promising.  I wonder if TF2 has met it’s match?  Last but not least, iD’s Tech 5 engine will not be licensed out to 3rd party devs, rather stay within Bethesda and iD, and John Carmack has stated that he doubts we will see new iD IP for around 10 years, thoughts?

Speaking of Team Fortress 2, isn’t it about time for another update? No?  Well, you’ll get one anyway!   The least of the new content is not the item trader or the 20 new items and weapons pulled specifically from the Ploycount Contest winners, which can be viewed here.  The greatest would be an unannounced, new game mode for the game!  Brink may be gunning for the team based multiplayer gamers, but it appears that Valve is not resting on it’s laurels and giving up the title.  Could we possibly see the illusive tenth character class in this massive update, as well?  Stay tuned, Valve claims the update will hit next month, so we won’t have to wait long to see!

Fable III is going episodic and print media? Not only will Peter David, of many gaming and sci fi novel fame, be penning an original story in the Fable universe, but those who purchase the book can look forward to a special gift.  Each copy of the novel will include a code that can be used to unlock a unique weapon in the upcoming Fable III game.  So how exactly does one make a sheath for a printing press?

Who likes peanut butter and oysters? OK, me either, but in the spirit of mixing things that weren’t intended, here are a few games that have been announced, with tentative release dates :

• Tropico 4 – By Kalypso Games for the second quarter of 2011
• Stronghold 3 – From Southpeak Games and Firefly Studios for first quarter 2011
• STALKER 2 – From GSC Game World for ‘sometime’ 2012

Geared Up

OK, there was no ‘Geared Up’ last week, you got me.  This week, I don’t have a traditional entry, but with all the buzz this is creating, I couldn’t resist reposting it, here, even if it made the rounds already. Gears of Starcraft???  A Danish modder(not Jordan) has taken the Sarcraft II editing tools and turned the game into a third person shooter, with the player controlling a strange Terran space marine in a tron-themed suit against hordes of Infested Marines.  The video looks amazing, and if it can be taken this far, this soon, I can’t wait to see a full mod.  This can’t hit soon enough, because I’m “Jacked up and ready to go!”.

You can view the video here, Starcraft FPS. (Combat takes place around the 2 1/2 minute mark)

The Weekly Byte for 8/2/2010

New Releases

Friday, 7/30 – Commander:Conquest of the Americas, Strategy/RTS by Paradox $39.95

Tuesday, 8/3 – Metro 2033 Ranger Pack DLC, $3 on XBL, free for Steam users :O)

News Bytes

Reason to traverse radiated tubes, once more! Yes, as you’ve read above, there will be new DLC for this year’s sleeper hit, Metro 2033.  Sadly, I have not had a chance to play it, myself, but I am salivating for a price drop.  The new DLC allows players to take advantage of a Ranger Mode setting, which makes ammo scarce and increases the damage dealt by both sides.  Ummm, am I the only one who doesn’t see the fun in this?  Also, there will be some new items, weapons and achievements, so look for the DLC to pull into your station this week!

Seems like Fable on the PC will be a bedtime story at dusk. Originally planned to launch side-by-side with console versions, Fable II has now been pushed back to an unannounced date.  Microsoft reassures that this is not a cancellation, but an opportunity to optimize the game for the PC platform.  I would not have made Fable III a day one purchase, and I can certainly stand behind a developer taking extra time to customize a PC version of the game, so the news is not as upsetting to me as it may be to some.  I’m still glad to see Microsoft gaming make a return to PC, and I can only hope this Fable will herald more Microsoft gaming tales to be told on the PC.

Have you lost that lovin’ feeling? The void that has been left, since HAWX came out, so long ago?  Well, get to pre-flight, Mav, HAWX 2 is touching down this fall, on September 7th.  Among scarce details in the skies, the multiplayer aspect of the game seems to have undergone a complete overhaul.  There will now be co-op, arcade and survival modes for up to 8 pilots at a time.  You can be my wingman anytime!  Well, that is, if Ubisoft doesn’t eject us from the cockpit with it’s crippling DRM…….

Geared Up

It’s seeming like I should change the title from ‘Geared Up’ to ‘Overpriced Nerd Gear’!  Sadly, I have two entries this week, that seem to be, only for gamers with the deepest of pockets.  A while back, I detailed a statue of Valve Team Fortress 2 character, The Heavy.  Also planned, were Left 4 Dead and Half-Life entries, well, wait no more zombie maniacs, the first Left 4 Dead statue is here!  The Tank, measuring an intimidating 15 inches tall, is now available for pre-order.  Another Gaming Heads creation, the statue looks fantastically detailed, and an exclusive edition includes a pump shotgun(what no molly?).  He comes in two flavors, vanilla, for a whopping $300, or a more limited flavor for $325.  Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?  Oh, and you won’t even receive the goods until early next year.  For the cheaper Valve fan, Aperture Labs is moving in on the Beanie Baby market, with it’s plush GlaDOS Curiosity Spheres, far a slightly more palatable $45.  The full set is available, at a discounted $120, and they are only available via Etsy here.  You can purchase one of four colors, each one features different sayings from Portal by pressing the eye (ouch!?).  Believe you, me, if I had that kind of cheddar laying around, I’d be spending it on games and not dust collectors and chew toys, but who am I right?

The Weekly Byte for 7/12/2010

New Releases

• Disciples III – $39.99, turn-based action RPG
• Don’t forget to download Phoenix Online’s “The Silver Lining”, first episode in King’s Quest fan fiction, FREE on PC only

News Bytes

• Blizzard thaws out after heated Real ID debate. In a not so surprising turn of events, Blizzard has heeded the fan feedback, and abandoned the use of Real ID in it’s official game forums.  However, let’s not forget that the games will still using it—games such as WoW, Starcraft II and the upcoming Diablo III.  I would imagine that most player’s fears are kept at bay, knowing that only online game players and not just every forum troll will have access to our real names, but is this still a cause for concern?  We saw what forum posters were capable of digging up when a Blizzard Community Manager revealed his name on the thread debating Real ID’s implementation.  Granted, limiting our names to in-game use reduces the cause for alarm, but does it quench it altogether?  I would venture to say no, however it will not prevent me from using their products.  If you think differently, or you agree, stop by and vote at the poll we have here, and let us know what you think!
• Team Fortress Engineer Update Goes Live! Yes, all the Golden Wrenches have been found and the update is automatically downloaded, if you haven’t logged in since it’s inception.  Included for the update are some new weapons and maps, highlighted below.  All the details for the update can also be found here.

1. The Wrangler – Replaces the pistol, creates a shield and allows Engineers to control sentries
2. The Gunslinger – New add-on that replaces the wrench.  It boosts heath 25%, adds a combo to the Engineer’s melee attacks, and allows deployment of Mini-Sentries
3. Mini-Sentries – Requires less metal than full sized brethren, Builds four times faster and deploys with full health, however, they cannot be repaired/upgraded and deal significantly less damage than full sized sentries.
4. Frontier Justice – New Shotgun, does not deal critical hits, but gains “Revenge Crits”.  Revenge Crits are critical hits acquired when the Engineer’s Sentries obtain kills or kill assists.
5. New Maps – Upward, Hightower and Thunder Mountain

• Spore blowing into San Diego Comic Con? A newly updated schedule for this year’s Comic Con has a spot reserved for a Maxis to unveil a new game.  One would think that this could be a new Spore game, and that seems to be a correct assumption.  What’s intriguing, is that the revel is supposed to be a Sci-Fi, action-RPG.  I’m not sure how optimistically we should look at this, especially since I drank the Kool-Ade and drowned with the Galactic Adventures add-on.  Either way, it’s an announcement I will be very curious to hear and see, onward true believers!
• Dragon Age with a dash of Valve and a pinch of Sheppard? In an unexpected press release, Bioware has announced that Dragon Age 2 will be hitting store shelves in March of 2011(drawing a few L4D2 comparisons).  Also surprising, is the choice to abandon the many Origins of the first game, in place of a singlular, customizable, male/female lead.  The new character, known only as Hawke, will be a human survivor of the blight, and Bioware has promised the same mechanic of tough choices, we have come to expect from their games.  One must wonder how the success of Mass Effect coupled with the obviously tough undertaking of the varied characters from the first game has impacted this decision.  It is a shame to know that we won’t be importing characters again, a la Mass Effect 2, but we can’t help but wonder if this will be more of an action RPG without the punishing difficulty of the first.  It would appear that Bioware has figured out what appeals to us, and will stay true to that path, but only time will tell.

Geared Up

This week’s Geared Up is the sweet new Civ V Special Edition, recently announced.  The fifth installment of PC gaming god, Sid Meier, releases this September 21st, and the Special Edition of the game looks amazing.  Packaged in is a Behind the Scenes DVD, a whopping 176 page hardcover art book, 5 pewter figurines and a two disk soundtrack.  I’m not enough of a fan of the series to swallow the $99.99 price tag, but I can easily see the draw for the fans.  Yes, it’s pricey game goodness, but I think it more than delivers for the fans, so my hats are off to the Civilization V Special Edition Bundle!

Weekly Byte for 6/28/2010

New Releases

Tuesday 6/29

• All Points Bulliten – $49.99 – The MMO is finally here!
• ARMA II : Operation Arrowhead – $39.99 Stand-alone Expansion
• Fallen Earth : Blood Sports – $29.99 – Basically, a retail version of the MMO with the newly patched Blood Sports content
• LEGO Harry Potter : Years 1-4 – $29.99
• Singularity – $49.99 – Yes, it’s dropping with no PR, could that be bad?
• Sniper : Ghost Warrior – $29.99

News Bytes

Newer Digital Distribution site, Beamdog, has added an MDK2 HD remix into it’s releases, with a Wii release also scheduled soon. MDK was a classic Bioware PC franchise, unlike much seen at that time-or now, for that matter.  The player was an alien sniper/assassin, and the games pushed the limits of what shooters did at that time frame, it’s a great pickup, and even better to hear it’s getting the HD treatment, not sure I can recommend the WiiWare version, depending on the controls.  Sorry fanboys, the game was a PC title, originally, I would still recommend it for PC since Beamdog looks very promising and it’s a steal at $9.99.

China has been know as an MMO paradise, but new regulations may be changing that image. New regulations are cracking down hard on what minors are allowed to be exposed to, but also curious is a new rule not allowing them to take part in microtransactions.  Also limiting microtransactions is another new law that states in-game items cannot be sold for actual money any longer, but must only be paid for by some type of in-game currency.  I had thought the free MMO supported by in game transactions was a staple in China, but I guess that model is being frowned upon from this point on.  I’d be curious to see how this affects the flood of free MMO’s in that region-will they start charging monthly fees or be forced out by these laws?  Guess it doesn’t matter if you are ‘For The Horde’ or ‘For The Alliance’, as long as you are in China, you best not sell those characters and gear you worked so hard to find, for real cash!

More interesting news for online gamers, Starcraft II will have limited LAN access? Apparently, Blizzard has said they will patch the game after launch to allow LAN play for tournament purposes.  Pardon me if I don’t Zerg rush to praise them for this.  They have only stated that this will allow LAN support for tournaments, not for personal use, and it’s a paltry substitution, if I may say so.  Sure it’s good news for the hardcore Starcraft competitors, but it’s not going to allow the viral success of the first game’s multiplayer respawn feature.  Don’t get me wrong, I am anxiously awaiting the single-player game, but am still very upset at the functionality being stripped from the game.  I still need to be convinced that Blizzard is not cutting their thorax off to spite their hive with this move.

If MDK coming back didn’t grab you, how about a walk in the fantasy realm of King’s Quest? Thankfully, Activision has backed down from blocking the publishing of the Phoenix Online Studio’s project, taking player’s back to the King’s Quest realm with episodic content. Originally, the project was on hiatus, thanks to a cease and desist order from Activision, the current license holder.  In a welcome change of events, Activision has rescinded that order and the project is back up, full throttle.  The first episode, The Silver Lining, will be out July 10th, no details on following episodes yet.  So far the screenshots look pretty promising, making this one to watch for the summer.  Definitely keep your eyes here for more news with this game, I am very much looking forward to seeing how POS handles the franchise, and until then visit their site here for more details!

Been out of Counter-Strike for a while? It might be time to come back with the new revamp from the latest Counter-Strike : Source update, already out.  I’ve heard this update touted as making a new game completely obsolete with all the new features brought to the table.  The update adds 144 achievements, a wealth of stat-tracking features, not available before scoreboard and death camera features and that’s just the cosmetic add-ons!  The game has been truly revamped and brought into graphics and Source engine updates that were much needed, go boot it up, get your gear and start fragging to see for yourself!

Deals

I can’t list all of the deals here, mostly because the majority of them are changing daily, but Steam is having a HUGE July 4th sale that will host daily deals from now until the 4th.  One of the most tempting is a THQ Complete Pack for only $49.99—which includes all of the THQ strategy greats, with Dawn of Warr II AND Chaos Rising, along with all 3 COH games, Metro 2033, all 3 Red Faction games, and a ton more.  All for only $49.99, talk about a steal!  Just about every developer on Steam has their games discounted, go check the deals out daily at the homepage here.

Geared Up

Well, there’s bittersweet news for Tron fans out there that were left revving their lightcycles at the sight of some new Tron peripherals.  We have heard that the console controllers for 360, Wii and PS3 were purely show pieces for E3, but one can imagine someone must be thinking about actually manufacturing them after all of the post-E3 interest in them and the media attention they got.  However, on a positive note, PC gamers can rejoice at the announcement that Razer, featured last week here for their Starcraft II PC peripherals, will be making a Tron:Legacy themed gaming mouse and keyboard.  Not many details have come out, I will keep you posted with more, but for now, bask at the pictures below!

The Weekly Byte for 6/7/2010

New Releases

Prince Of Persia : The Forgotten Sands – 6/8, retailing at $49.99

News Bytes

• Mass Effect Deathmatch? Apparently that’s the newest rumor.  Job listings for Bioware Montreal were looking for ‘programmers  capable of adding multiplayer components to an already rich single player base using the unreal engine’.  Of course, these postings were ripped down, the minute they made headlines, but it would seem the damage is done.  The only Bioware property to use the Unreal engine is Mass Effect, and further rumors have a captured screen of one of the ads, shown here, getting into gross detail about the requirements.  Let us know how you feel about multiplayer in the Mass Effect universe.  I, for one, think it’s completely unnecessary and will divert resources that should be focusing on the awesome single player experience that the previous games brought-but, then again, I never would have predicted some of the things Bioware has pulled off before, so I guess we will see.
• Move over Torchlight, dungeon crawlers are crawling out of everywhere! Those of us who can’t wait for Diablo III, now have Dungeon Siege 3 to look forward to!  And it will simultaneously release on consoles?  Press releases have confirmed the sequel, designed by Obsedian with some Chris Taylor input, and a sprinkling from Square Enix.  Co-op has also been confirmed, but all other details seem to have Town Portaled back to E3 for a more spectacular reveal, so stay tuned!
• You shall pass, without fees! It would seem that Lord of the Rings Online will follow in the footsteps of Dungeons and Dragons online, and become free to play, later this year.  Hold onto Sting and your Lembas bread, players will still have to pay to unlock the content from the expansions, and some other features.  There will be ‘VIP’ access, but those details have not been outlined yet.   If your lucky, maybe you will be able to storm Mordor in the closed Beta, venturing forth on the 16th of this month.
• In other RPG news, Elemental : War of Magic, from Stardock, will be unleashed this September. Stardock’s Brad Wardell posted a lengthy video demoing the game’s opening dozen turns, in the beta engine.  For those unfamiliar with Elemental, think a fantasy-style Total War game with some Magic : The Gathering and Heroes Of Might and Magic elements thrown in.  The game is Stardock’s newest entry into the 4x strategy genre, and has not seen much in the way of details. The trailer is a whopping 12 and a half minutes long, but lacked the grand scale teasers that have come before, opting, instead, to show off the game’s basic mechanics and strategies. UPDATE : Release date confirmed for 8/24 2010!
• Survival horror on Mars? That’s the feeling we have gotten from the newest Red Faction trailer, announcing the new game, Red Faction : Armaggeddon, slated for March 2011 release.  So, the game takes place about 50 years after Red Faction : Guerrilla, and you take the role of the grandson of that game’s character.  Oddly enough, aliens have now been thrown into the mix, begging the question, where were they for the last few games?  Taking a page from Aliens and Dead Space, it will be interesting to see how this new mechanic plays out, as I’m sure we can all admit some new mechanics were needed, for the franchise.  I’m sure our own, Eric Bouchard, will be able to unearth more details at this month’s E3, and let us know if he got any hands-on squashing bugs with the game’s fabled hammer!
• Ready for some more Star Wars MMO action? No, I’m not talking about The Old Rebuplic and please don’t mention Galaxies!  The new, younger audience attracting online game is titled Clone Wars Adventures.  This fall, the free to play online game from Sony will be unleashing it’s clones on us, but don’t think typical MMO!  The game is more a collection of puzzle games, with some overarcing elements-reminding me of Puzzle Pirates, by description.  Early hands-on reports have force pushed nay-sayers aside, and reported that the minigames have tapped into the best addictive flash games and innovated them with a little Lucas magic.  Needless to say, I am intrigued, and my little clones at home will play anything emblazoned with the Star Wars logo, so you can be sure to find plenty of details here, as soon as I can get them!
• OK, I know I’m known as the MMO hater, but I’m all about the FREE! Another, free to play online game, this time sanctioned by Bigpoint and Universal, will take place in The Mummy film universe.  Supposedly, the game will be a browser based, action RPG featuring many of the characters and environments from the film series, in your quest for ancient treasure.  Unfortunately, the only details we have are speculation, but it will be interesting to see if this trend continues as well as to see how well this particular title will turn out.
• Last, but not least, some bittersweet Aperture Labs news. Yes, I know, this story already opened up on our own, ‘Daily Bits’ segment, but it bears repeating for PC fans.  In an oddly worded press release, from Aperture Labs, Valve canceled it’s ‘Portal 2′ event at E3, but said that there would be a surprise-the time and details of which would not be released until it was time for the surprise.  Also, to clear up any accusations, the memo also stated that the cancellation was NOT the surprise in question.  I think we will see that Eric Bouchard’s prediction of Portal 2 releasing with an Orange Box type bundle successor are coming to fruition, but I, admittedly, am not sure what to expect in it!  I think, if a Half-Life game is in the works, Valve will skip Episode 3 and just launch right into the next full game-especially if we are to believe the changes teased in the way of bringing back proper scary games.  I would have to think that a worthy Team Fortress 2 replacement would be in one such collection, but who knows if it’s Counter-Strike related, or a new property.  I can’t imagine Team Fortress 2 needs any work or new iterations right now, it is standing well enough on it’s own feet. Stick around for the emerging details from E3!

Geared Up

Geared Up is taking a hiatus this week, it was a full news week, and we are awaiting some of the E3 goodness heading our way.  In the meantime, if you have any entries, send them to me over at chris@everydaygamers.com!

Left 4 Dead 2

When Left 4 Dead 2 was first announced I was surprised, but I wasn’t one of the people planning to boycott the game. Yes, it caught me off guard, but I was excited none-the-less.

In my opinion the original L4D was too short and not worth the $60. Yes, it was a really fun game but I didn’t think it was a $60 game. Especially if you never play the multiplayer modes. I completed L4D2′s campaign yesterday and unlike the first I felt the campaign actually had a nice length to it. I was very satisfied. At first I felt like the game was too hard and I wasn’t having much fun because it didn’t feel like anything new to me, just shoot the zombies like always. I was playing through it with my wife and we both agreed that it was really frustrating and difficult. This is because the emphasis of “work as a team” is really enforced in the sequel. It’s not as easy as the first, where you can run ahead and finish the level without having to work for it. This was annoying at first but once I accepted the fact that I needed to stay close to my team I started to really enjoy the difficulty.

Another thing that took me time to appreciate was the melee weapons. I didn’t plan on using them but about halfway through I got the samurai sword and the machete. With these melee weapons I came up with the strategy of backing myself into a corner and just slicing all zombies that came up to me. Melee weapons are a huge addition to the game. I found myself using them more than my shotgun. They made everything a lot easier. All you have to do is run up to a zombie and slice rather than try and aim for each individual zombie with your gun, specifically the shotgun. The game felt totally different once I learned to appreciate the melee weapons. I became a zombie slaying ninja assassin running through hordes of zombies without breaking a sweat. This didn’t feel like the original game at all, but it was still a lot of fun if not better.

Left 4 Dead 2 brings a lot to the table especially with the new special infected. My least favorite addition has to be the Jockey as I found him to be the most annoying. He often took you away from the crowd and made it hard for them to save you. I do however like the addition of the Spitter, the green slime spewing beauty.

Another thing  I liked about the game was the addition of new items such as the boomer bile vial that you can throw on anything to attract zombies to it. You also have special explosive ammo and a defibrillator kit that lets you revive dead teammates. In addition to the pills you have a adrenaline shot that boosts health and agility.

Overall Left 4 Dead 2 is a very satisfying experience. My fingers are still crossed that they will somehow incorporate both the original and this one into one game so that you don’t have to switch between the two. With the recent announcement of a new DLC campaign I am hoping that Valve will continue to support L4D2 and make it something that I can keep coming back to for a while.

Check out my video review of the game below:

For more Zombie action check out Act 1 and Act 2 of our Left 4 Dead parody.

L4D Survival Pack Priced for the Masses, Free!

In an extremely classy move Valve brings word that their recently announced “L4D Survival Pack” will be on the house.  How they won over Microsoft to release free content we may never know.  In an effort to surprise well…nobody, the PC content will also be free.

February 11, 2009 — The recently announced Left 4 Dead Downloadable Content (L4D DLC) will be delivered to Xbox 360 and PC gamers free of charge.

Due for release this spring, the DLC for 2008′s best-selling new game property on the PC and Xbox 360, is dubbed the L4D Survival Pack and introduces a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode (Death Toll, Dead Air). A Critic’s Choice Edition of the game will be heading to retail stores this spring, and will include access to all the content introduced in the L4D: Survival Pack.

Left 4 Dead is a survival action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 25 industry awards from outlets around the world.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

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