Category: PC

Left 4 Dead Demo Impressions

As many of us know, the Left 4 Dead demo dropped on XBox Live as well as Steam yesterday, sending gamers into a frenzy much akin to the virtual undead hordes that awaited bullet-pummeling. After a bit of a download time, I managed to nab the demo myself over XBL for the 360, and I couldn’t wait to get into my first game.

The thing that was curious to me from the menus and even once the game started was how much it felt like a game that belonged on the PC rather than the 360. Something about the controls, the HUD, the interface, everything about it screamed PC at me. Even hooking up with a party didn’t feel completely intuitive, though after a bit the matter was settled. So how was the gameplay?

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Left 4 Dead Goes Zombies on a Plane

We all want Left 4 Dead. Zombies and such. Well, part of the goodness that is L4D is the main campaign which can be played as 4 player co-op, or if you have no friends, by yourself. This campaign is split into 4 acts. So far, we only know that one is in the corn fields, one is in a hospital, and some new details have recently emerged about a third act, “Dead Air”, which takes place in an airport.

The dudes over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun have meticulously constructed what they call a Photo Essay of this part of the campaign, spoiling everything and showing you all the details that you could possibly want to know about this great zombie shooter. Beware though, there are spoilers galore, especially considering that this is possibly the last act of the game.

The Left 4 Dead demo also drops on XBL today. Excited much?

Source- Rock, Paper, Shotgun

More KOTOR MMO News

CVG has up some updated information regarding the working KOTOR MMO that everyone in the entire universe (and by that I mean myself) is itching to play. The main feature in this article is about the single player experience, or that the MMO is designed to feel more like Bioware’s single player games, rather than the typical MMO with endless grinding and no substance.

The cool bits of the article relate to character customization, which will apparently be fairly robust as well as the companion characters, which are NPC party members who interact with you just as they do in other Bioware games. It really sounds like they want to give players the KOTOR they’ve been waiting for, in addition to a great MMO.

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Call of Duty: World at War Launch Trailer

Get your grunge rock hats and gaming helmets on, because the Call of Duty: World at War launch trailer is upon us. I can’t believe this game is out this coming Tuesday. Lots of sweet explosions, slow motion headshots, and action galore. Can’t wait!

Sims 3 Developer Walkthrough

Man, the more I see about Sims 3, the more I am intrigued. There is a new video out where the developers show you some of the features in terms of creating characters and your area, etc. While I still am not sure how I feel about getting the whole neighborhood to do stuff with, I really like the way things are shaping up.

The graphics, oddly enough, look awesome, and I love the options that players are going to have at their disposal. The Sims was one of those games that would suck me in for hours at a time, so I’ll have to be careful how I treat this one, but I’m definitely interested. Who else is looking forward to it?

Crazy Impressions of Left 4 Dead

The more I see out of Left 4 Dead, the more I want it like a baseball player needs his next inject. All of the modes of play, the co-op, the hordes of scrambling frothing undead, it all just looks like pure entertainment to me.

That being said, it was cool to read some Left 4 Dead impressions from Rock, Paper, Shotgun today. They go pretty in depth about their experience after delving into the game for several hours, and play through the game on a high difficulty setting.

To me, one of the coolest things is the need for teamwork, the way the “Director” AI makes the game different each time you play it, and the sheer numbers of the zombies. Seriously, they said they killed over 11,000 in their playtime. No lie. Go give it a read if you’re interested in this game!

Source- Rock Paper Shotgun

Left 4 Dead Opening Cinematic

Wow, do I want this game something awful. Here is the opening 4 minutes of Left 4 Dead, Valve’s upcoming co-op zombie shoot-em-up. I for real can’t wait for this. After Gears of War 2, it’s my most anticipated title of the Fall. Just watch it. There’s not much else to say about how awesome this game looks.

Warcraft Retrospective Part II

The second Warcraft Retrospective, titled “Call to Arms” is now up on GameTrailers. This one chronicles Warcraft III and how Blizzard made a gigantic splash with the lore of its universe in Warcraft. Warcraft III is one of my favorite RTS games, so it was cool going back and watching all of this stuff.

I remember me and my friends used to get together to have big LAN parties, organizing raids and doing all kinds of nerdy things. Such great times from a great PC game. Does anyone else have any fond Warcraft or other similarly related LAN memories?

Zombie Infection in WoW

Starting last weekend, zombies began appearing in World of Warcraft, infecting all in their path with their hatred of the living and their love of tasty non-NPC flesh. Basically, anybody that came into contact with a zombie had to get a cure, or become a zombie themselves.

Hundreds of thousands were infected. It was meant to be a fun Halloween game plus a promotion for the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. However, Blizzard had to put an end to the blight yesterday. Why, you ask?  Because grumpy WoW players couldn’t have any fun, and were upset that the zombies were ruining their gameplay experience.

I guess not everyone shares my feelings that Zombies make everything better.

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End War: Parrot Vs Parrot

I know, it’s pretty silly, but it made me laugh to watch this video of two parrots showing down against each other in Tom Clancy’s End War, the voice-activated RTS. When you think about it, it’s pretty remarkable that the game can recognize the commands coming out of the mouths of the parrots.

I haven’t played an RTS in a while, but the more I see, the more I’m interested in End War. Who’s grabbing it when it comes out on November 4th?

The Fallout Retrospective

In continuing with its tradition of getting us ready for big releases, GameTrailers has put up a retrospective about Fallout that I found terribly interesting. I’ve actually never played the original games, but I can’t wait for new one (which releases tomorrow, incidentally), so it’s cool to go back and see the roots of the series.

Definitely worth a watch if you’re dying for the new game. Hype train- engaged!

CoD: World at War Nazi Zombie Gameplay

Since Treyarc announced CoD: World at War’s Zombie co-op mode, I’ve been dying to see a little bit more gameplay. What you see here is some of the basic components of the mode, including the economy system, where players can buy pieces of lumber, furniture, etc, to barricade the zombies from attacking.

To me, the cool thing is that it’s all of the WWII action tropes combined with something you don’t always play. Plus, it’s limitless, so that’s a good time. Looks like a blast.

Call of Duty: World at War Announces Zombie Mode!

Wow, this may have just solidified my purchase of Call of Duty: World at War. Treyarc just announced on GameTrailers TV that there is going to be a Nazi Zombie co-op mode, where 4 players man a base against an endless wave of Nazi zombies.

Players fend them off for as long as they can, moving up in levels as they do so. There’s also a money system that allows players to buy materials for barricades, ammo, different, guns, etc.

If you want to watch the whole thing, head over to GameTrailers and check it out. I’d post the whole thing, but they don’t split up the eps for a few days.

Who else things this is freaking cool? I mean, zombies enhance everything, right?

Source- GameTrailers TV

Warcraft Retrospective, Part 1

I’m a huge (if I could write that word really big and spray fireworks off it I would) fan of the Retrospective series of videos from GameTrailers. They’ve tackled Star Wars, Final Fantasy, Zelda, and so much more. Each one bringing its own sense of nostalgia, along with some great nerdy info you couldn’t get without reading loads of wikipedia pages, no doubt.

The newest entry into the Retrospective series is titled “WarCraft: The Drums of War”, and is the first in a several part series which will chronicle the many iterations of the universe of WarCraft, as well as its evolution. Definitely informative and pretty interesting, even if like me, you’re not into WoW.

Penny Arcade Episode 2 Out Next Week

As if there’s not already enough great games to play, Penny Arcade’s Xbox Live Arcade and PC title, “On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode 2” is going to hit next week, on October 29th. It will run about $14.95 in moneyz or 1200 MS Points, depending on which medium you choose to play it in.

Supposedly it totals in at around 6-10 hours of gameplay, with more levels than the first, new areas, and new jokes, of course. I’m not sure how many of you guys were able to play the first game, but I found it to be pretty enjoyable, especially for an XBLA title. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’ve got the MS points, or if you’re a fan of PA in general.

Also, Episode One is finally hitting the PSN this week as well, so if you’re a Sony guy, you can finally experience that.

Source- Kotaku

Alan Wake Trailer Has Extra Sizzle

So Alan Wake is a game that made quite a splash a couple of years ago, but has been scarcely seen since then. It boasted a unique atmosphere, cool cinematics and what looked to be an interesting story about an author whose books take on a life of their own, apparently.

Finally, some more news has resurfaced, with a brand new trailer out that shows some pretty awesome cut scenes. Obviously, we’d like to see some more gameplay, but what’s going on here is relatively hot, and looks to be in real time for at least a few of the shots. Looking forward to more info on this.

Bioware Announces the New KOTOR MMO

Ah, at last we have arrived. Even though people have known about this project for months, it’s finally official: Bioware is indeed working with LucasArts to create a new KOTOR MMO titled The Old Republic. It takes place about 300 years after KOTOR, and centers on the war between the Old Republic and the Empire.

IGN has a writeup of one of the pillars of the game– characters and story, something that’s lost in MMOs typically. Bioware’s goal is to let you feel like you are actually part of the narrative. Rather than having some big general story that everyone kind of participates in, there is an overarching story for each class. Sounds incredible and ambitious.

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Left 4 Dead Achievements

I’m sure most of you know this, but Left 4 Dead is less than 30 freaking days away. November 18th is when it hits, to be more specific. Since the release is drawing closer and closer, it seems like more info is coming our way in those final moments. Today, the list of the Left 4 Dead 360 achievements was released, informing those of us who are achievement whores about what lies in store for our profane hunting.

Some of the more notable ones include the Zombie Genocidest, which involves killing a total of over 53,000 zombies. There’s also the 101 Cremations achievement that you receive after setting 101 zombies on fire. Definitely worth a look if you’re interested in the game, and many of them seem do-able with a lot of work and patience. Excellent!

Source- XBox360Achievements

FarCry Fridays Video

As one of the bigger releases of the holiday season, I think FarCry2 has gone a bit under-hyped in terms of some great first-person action. Just a look at this video shows some of the great things that the first game was loved for. Namely, the graphics, the variety and all the crazy explosions. Looks like a good time.