Tag Archive for 'valve'

Left 4 Cry 2

December 23, 2008, 1:00 am, FPS, Games and PC
A Downed Tank Infected

A Downed Tank Infected

Its been a while since the last post, being lost in Gaming season will do that. Left 4 Dead met all of my expectations and more. The AI is superb, the graphics are great and the gameplay is top notch.

For those who don’t know, Left 4 Dead is a survival Co-Op game where the object of the game basically is to get from point A to point B without dying. But the AI won’t make it easy for you. The “AI Director” is the driving force behind the zombies. It monitors your progress and will even push you along (with zombies) if you stall for too long. Lagging behind your friends is also not a good idea since the AI has a knack for sending a super infected after you. Super infected are these special zombies with certain abilities.

Each campaign plays like a movie and none of them are connected to each other story wise. The game also sports a Verses Mode where 4 player survivors fight through 4 infected players and their AI brethren.

A Beautiful Day In Africa

A Beautiful Day In Africa

The other game I’ve been playing recently is Far Cry 2. This game is a different beast. A single player shooter where you play as one of many predetermined aliases. The other aliases eventually become your buddies in the game. Certain buddies become your rescue and even give you help in completing missions.

This game did take a while to get into and has a couple of drawbacks. For one, the enemy vehicles will spawn relentlessly at times when you just want to move forward. They become a constant hindrance until you get more explosive weapons that can take them out in one shot.

The other seems to be an oversight, but no patch has corrected it yet. It takes several rounds to down an enemy. Unless you aim straight for the head for a quick kill, they just get up like the Terminator until they absorb enough lead that would kill a cow. Other than those issues and a few others, the game is a great experience especially if you have a machine that can run it.

Chill of an ominous wind

November 10, 2008, 4:48 pm, FPS, Games, MMO, PC and World Of Warcraft

And no its not President Obama, haters.

Two of my most anticipated games are going to be released nearly back to back.
The first of which are….Castlevania! (No, I kid.) The first is actually World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Its a mouthful for sure but its the second expansion in the MMO’s history and brings a lot of new and interesting things to the table. First of all, it revamps the entire game. No kidding. Each class got a retooling, some more aggressive than others. A lot of convenience additions that save bag space. Mounts galore(my favorite is The Hog), 10 more levels to grind, more dungeons, a new Death Knight class, and an entire new continent to explore. PvPers get new arenas and a world battleground. The client was retooled and offers performance enhancements, dynamic shadows, a larger drawing distance and supposedly better water(it looks the same to me). I can’t wait to play this on the 13th of this week!

The second most anticipated(and very much equal in my eyes) game is Left 4 Dead. This 4 player Co-Op mega game is about 4 survivors that have to shoot, explode, punch and burn their way to safety from a legion of zombies that infest the populated areas of the land. These aren’t your mom’s Resident Evil zombies. These are very fast, very lethal, very smart and overwhelming zombies. They pop out from any and every crack that’s bigger than a human person.

The demo was released this week and gave a very AWESOME insight into the gameplay mechanics and Co-Op dynamics. First of all, no Rambos or douchebags or you will be overwhelmed in no time from the lack of cooperation. Second of all, this plays like a Source game. That means it will feel very familiar if you played Half Life 2 or Team Fortress 2.  You are given a pistol and one other weapon, whether if its an Uzi or Shotgun, and a one time use First Aid Kit at the start. From there, you are sent to get from point A to point B without getting sodomized by undead. During the course of the game, they eventually grant you rest time in the form of a Check Point. The Check Point usually has ammo, first aid or weapon upgrades like an Assault Rifle, Hunting Rifle, Automatic Shotgun and extra Pistols. Pistols themselves have unlimited ammo and can be dual wielded (It comes in handy).

In addition to the 4 Survivors, there are 4 types of PLAYABLE Zombies. The regular dime a dozen zombie, The Hunter (Which is VERY Fast and Spider-Man like), The Smoker (which snares with a long tongue) and the Tanker (which should be obvious). These 4 spawn at anytime in addition to the Boomer and The Witch which hasn’t been confirmed as playable yet. The plan for the playable zombies is to give your fellow players on the Survivor team a run for their money (like the AI wasn’t smart enough?). Did I mention that the AI is pretty damn smart and cruel? It learns from your success, and if you succeed a little too much then it will attempt to raise the difficulty on you. The game also has a single player mode so if you rather not play with others, then the 3 AI controlled characters will then become your backup. I can’t wait for the release on the 18th!

And the reason for the Castlevania riff? Its supposed to be IN THE MAIL DAMMIT! USPS is sloooow. Anyway, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, the latest in the Metroidvania DS series was released sometime last month(I think). It took me this long to buy it since well, its Gameageddon. Too many games got released this month.

The Orange Box

November 3, 2007, 3:48 pm, FPS, Games and PC

So I finally got to play and finish all of the orange box and its a must buy for any type of gamer. All games included are very polished and well done.  Portal is my favorite. ITs about some lady who got stuck in a place called Aperture Labs on “Bring Your Daughter to Work” day.

The game actually ties into the main Half Life 2 story. Portal is a puzzle game that uses the portal gun to create wormholes to various places within the various rooms that is designed to test its functions. Things turn for the worst when you find clues about the main computer being off of its rocker. Its a very compelling 3 hours that will keep your interest piqued from start to finish.

Next up is Team Fortress 2 which takes design ques from The Incredibles.  Its a very balanced class based multiplayer shooter and the spiritual successor to the original Team Fortress, however some die hard fans hate it because of its new tightly focused gameplay. The game has enough classes to interest all types of players, even those who are not good shooters at all.

Finally its the very anticipated Half Life 2: Episode 2 which honestly keeps in line with its previous original release and Episode 1. Just like any Valve game, it will keep you interested and on your toes. Especially when you learn about the new Hunter type robot that becomes very annoying towards the end of the game.  The creepy guy in the suit makes his usual cameo spouting the obvious Shakespearean  messages with the usual twist (creepy but entertaining).

If you were fortunate to preorder on the Steam platform, you were given the nice bonus of Peggle Extreme, which is a 10 stage HL2 styled version of the original Peggle.  The reviews about this package is very much true and well worth the money. I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a great gaming experience.