SPOTLIGHT
- NEW SITE!Welcome to our newly designed
website created by our very own Yorick.
There's been a big reshuffle and lots of
new content added so check it all out!
You can begin to preload your copy of Left 4 Dead 2 today and be ready to play the game the moment it's released on November 17th.
If you haven't pre order your copy yet, it's not too late to get the 10% discount on the game plus a Team Fortress 2 hat..A HAT, there's no deal better than this.
You can read a short interview with Chet Faliszek from CVG here, where Chet talks about coming out the other side of boycott problems and gives us an interesting stat: Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders are four times that of the original game. So things haven't gone so bad for L4D2.
Moving on, G4TV went to visit Valve and put together 3 videos which can be found on the Left 4 Dead 2 blog. The first of the videos can be seen below, where Chet takes us through Realism Mode in detail (after the details he gave me last week) showing how it's going to make the more experienced players struggle.
This weekend I managed to pop down to the Eurogamer Expo in London to chat with Chet about Left 4 Dead 2, Scavenge mode & to see if I could get any other information out of him!
Chet spoke about how realism mode works, what kind of things we can expect from the Hard Rain campaign, how scavenge mode came to exist & how he works stays in touch with the community and forums. Also it seems that Valve are busy back in Bellevue. Being mad hatters. Check out the interview with Chet Faliszek here, which also includes my thoughts on playing with the new special infected in scavenge mode! Gameplay videos I took from the expo are below:
Well I wouldn't say it has been the smoothest of launches I've seen from Valve over the years, but the Left 4 Dead 2 Demo has finally been unlocked on Steam. Be aware there will be chaos with servers for a while.
The demo will include the first two maps from The Parish campaign (The Waterfront & The Park), all available melee weapons and new special infected. Note the demo is only available to those who pre-purchased L4D2, the demo will become fully public from 3rd November. Go play and...
Kill all sons a' bitches
Also I'd like to mention that we have a YouTube group now, so you can upload your videos and submit them to the group homepage, so other members can vote and comment on your fail moments. Submit your gameplay videos here.
Valve has revealed the first Left 4 Dead 2 television commercial which is created in collaboration by Valve and GameStop. This TV Spot highlights the exclusive in-game melee weapon (baseball bat) offered to those who pre-order the game at GameStop.
It will start airing across North America this week. Watch this commercial on our channel on YouTube.
If you have pre-purchased L4D2 you will be eligible to play the demo on 27th October, this applies to both Steam & 360 players. To be ready for the 27th pre-load the demo now and it will be available immediately on Tuesday.
A reminder of the dates the demo will unlock for everyone else:
Xbox 360 LIVE Gold members AND PC players (who haven't pre-ordered) can play the demo from 3rd November. Lastly, all Xbox 360 LIVE members will have the demo available from 10th November.
Delay till 28th, latest Update: Please wait for more info - current source
A high quality trailer dubbed the Zombie Survival Guide has been leaked by an unknown source according to Shacknews. The trailer shows plenty of cinematic action with the four new characters, new infected and new weapons including the chainsaw. Check out the video below (also available in HD).
October 27th is when customers who have pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 will be able to play the demo. Today Valve have released details on what the demo will contain:
The Left 4 Dead 2 demo will feature gameplay taken from "The Parish" campaign, set in the New Orleans French Quarter. Playable by 1 to 4 players over local or Internet connections on both the Xbox 360 and PC (with two-player split screen available on the Xbox 360), the demo features all the new boss infected zombies and all the new melee weapons included in the full product.
If you have pre-ordered for PC via Steam or retail you should be playing on the 27th October. Xbox 360 LIVE Gold members AND PC players (who haven't pre-ordered) can play the demo from 3rd November. Lastly, all Xbox 360 LIVE members will have the demo available from 10th November.
Xbox360achievements.org revealed today the final achievements list for Left 4 Dead 2. The list confirms Hard Rain and Dead Center campaigns and also reveals a defibrillator to revive Survivors. Here's some of the achievements:
SHOCK JOCK: Revive 10 dead Survivors with the defibrillator.
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD: Revive 10 incapacitated Survivors while under the speed-boosting effects of adrenaline.
CL0WND: Honk the noses of 10 Clowns.
FRIED PIPER: Using a Molotov, burn a Clown leading at least 10 Common Infected.
GUARDIN' GNOME: Rescue Gnome Chompski from the Carnival.
From the news we've heard on Left 4 Dead 2 since it was announced, Valve have told us that it will ship with 5 campaigns (all of which will support versus). We saw Parish to begin with, then Swamp Fever and most recently Dark Carnival. The remaining 2 have been unknown (including the opening campaign) but it seems today the last 2 posters have been leaked on a Taiwan website. They are:
Dead Center - A mall campaign with the tagline - Prices aren't the Only things getting Slashed
Hard Rain - Industrial setting around a refinery with the tagline - Come Hell and High Water
Hard Rain is likely to utilise the new AI director's ability to control weather, whereas Dead Center is set to fill that much anticipated mall setting players have demanded. The campaigns are linked with a more developed storyline this time round, so can we work out the order in which they will play in? See the posters below.
Left 4 Dead 2 has been given an MA 15+ rating after it was refused classification last month.
according to the classification board report, the modified version removes amounts of gore from gameplay, it no longer contains depictions of decapitations, dismemberment, wound detail, or piles of bodies lying about the environment. And is now able to be accommodated within the MA15+ classification.
Valve are also appealing the original classification decision and still hope to release Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia in its original. The appeal ruling is expected to be made on October 22.
Scavenge - essentially combines Left 4 Dead's Versus and Survival modes. It has four survivors fighting to find 16 gas cans across the game map to use them to fill up a generator. While the opposing team (The Infected) will try their best to stop them.
This new mode (designed to be shorter than the traditional competitive) has four survivors fighting to find 16 gas cans across the game map. Using the cans, the goal is to fill up a generator to win the match. Split up over six rounds (three per team), each starts with 120 seconds; each gas can will add an additional 20 seconds to the overall time. If time runs out, yet one survivor is still holding a gas can, the game will go into overtime until the generator is up and running or an infected knocks it from their hands.
On the opposing team will be the Infected, who are doing everything they can to feast on human flesh and (of course) stop the survivors from restarting the generator. Not only can infected knock the gas cans from the hands of the survivors, but special infected like the "The Spitter" can light the cans on fire with its phlegm. Survivors must also watch their fire -- one stray bullet can set the can on fire as well.
Valve are planning to ship the "Scavenge" with 6 maps each, reconfigured maps from the game's campaign.
Update: G4TV have the first hands on preview of the new mode and they liked it!
My take? The mode is really fun, emphasis on really, and very different from anything we've seen so far. Each game last 3 rounds of each side taking turns at survivor and infected. Good communication is key and the fast game play will sate appetites that don't have the attention span for proper versus matches.
