left4dead
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Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is Left 4 The Living
16 November --Dear Diary,Manny here. Meche and I decided to go visit Stubbs in the city, ran into a few ne'er-do-wells harassing a quartet of the living. Far be it for me to get in the way of schoolyard play, but these half-living mobs -- they weren't even well dressed! -- were being big bullies. Savages these days.I saw the four not-yet-departed heading toward a nearby theater, so I decided to leave them a shotgun and assault rifle. Hope that helps clear the crowds. I'm not in the travel business anymore, but I'm always for new neighbors in the Ninth. It raises the value of my condo. Time to go, Stubbs is here and he's got tickets for the off-broadway performance of Nightmare Before Christmas.How We Used to Do It (CAD Comics)No Escape (MNC)Limitless Adventure (Penny Arcade)Discontent (Castle Vidcons; context)Guilt Ridden All Over His Face (2P Start)It Takes Two (VG Cats)Crash Test Crummy (Sidescroller)%Gallery-36512%
Outbreak reminder: Left 4 Dead demo is now public
Not just for the pre-order folks anymore, the Left 4 Dead demo is now ready to infect the general population. Try to survive one level in Valve's zombocalypse simulator with up to three other friends online across Xbox Live (1.21 GB needed) or PC.The demo also includes the panic-inducing intro cinematic that sets the stage for the action FPS. The full game will have us running and gunning for our lives starting Nov. 18. Remember, when playing the demo: Stick together or die alone.[Via X3F]
Left 4 Dead TV spot upsells the zombocalypse (bring friends!)
With Left 4 Dead's zombie apocalypse scheduled to touch down in just a few short weeks, Valve's eager to spend all its lunch money before the undead invasion plunges our global financial system into (even worse) disaster. With $10 million in hand, it's buying up billboards, web sites, and even TV commercials in a coordinated effort to open our eyes to our impending fate. Here's the checklist: Zombies. Check! Four player co-op. Check! Apocalypse. Check!Wait a second, what kind of checklist is that? We'd have blown some of that coin on important things, like crates of ammo, health kits, and totally convincing military surplus garb for just the right veneer of wholesome veteran mixed with fringe survivalist.
Valve: Left 4 Dead pre-sales outpacing Orange Box
While we still believe that nothing beats a crowbar for self-defense, the gun-toting quartet in Left 4 Dead seems to be doing pretty well for itself. According to Valve's Doug Lombardi (via GameDaily), "With just over four weeks until launch, Left 4 Dead is showing every sign of topping The Orange Box on both the PC and Xbox 360, at retail as well as on Steam." Lombardi said that retail pre-sales are 65% greater the Half-Life 2 mega-pack at the same proximity to launch. We're sure the 10% off pre-order deal helps a bit. Left 4 Dead will arrive November 18.
Valve's Left 4 Dead box art, now with more puns
Realizing that the original Left 4 Dead box art was lacking an obvious pun, Valve has "corrected" the error by mirroring the previously right-handed image to the left. To recap: The box art is a Left hand with 4 fingers left, with the thumb likely bitten off by the reanimated Dead. The pun-to-word ratio is now a remarkable 1:1. L4D will take a bite out of your social life November 18.
Valve's Newell confirms Left 4 Dead demo
Fear not, 1% of the world that isn't convinced fighting hordes of zombies with three gun-toting friends is totally awesome. Valve managing director Gabe Newell has confirmed with VideoGamer that a Left 4 Dead demo is coming. The demo, for both Xbox 360 and PC, will include single-player and online co-op options to try out. Said Newell, "I don't know what the date is for release on that, though. I think it's going to contain the first part of one of the campaigns. I think it'll probably be [the] Hospital [level] but I'm not sure." We've contacted Valve hoping for more information. Left 4 Dead is coming for you November 18.
Rumor: Left 4 Dead coming to PS3 via EA in-house development
According to the latest issue of the Official PlayStation Magazine, the survival horror/first person shooter title Left 4 Dead is heading to the PlayStation 3 after all. In a one-liner, OPM states the following: "Valve's survival horror game Left 4 Dead is coming to PS3, but EA will be taking on development duties in-house." No other information is given. All we are saying is, if EA wants us to give their port of Left 4 Dead a chance, it better be nothing like the "slideshow" version of the Orange Box that PS3 owners got.[Via Joystiq]
Valve reveals new cast for Left 4 Dead
At the Electronic Arts press conference, Valve's Gabe Newell revealed that Left 4 Dead sports a new cast of main characters. Here's your quartet, shown above, with bigger pictures in the galleries. Left 4 Dead will leave you stranded in November.%Gallery-22771%
Left 4 Dead 4 November
You've been 4-warned. Valve's PC and Xbox 360 zombie apocalypse sim, Left 4 Dead, will be overturning store shelves in a frantic search for essential supplies on November 4th. We highly recommend that you and three of your best friends shoot through the throbbing, mindless masses of a dilapidated modern society, if only so you can get home quicker and load up the game. Be sure to read our hands-on impressions before you brave the undead hordes. And for heaven's sake, never go back for the dog. That's just stupid.%Gallery-22771%
Valve: Left4Dead will come to PS3 if another dev wants to port it
Valve's multiplayer survival-horror romp Left4Dead is due out later this year, but it won't be coming to the PlayStation 3. Said Valve's Doug Lombardi, "We're not PS3 developers -- we're doing PC and 360 like with Orange Box" (Via CVG). He said that Valve would consider a PS3 port if L4D ends up a success and if another dev wanted "to take on that investment and risk" to port the game.Lombardi explained that the PS3 port of Orange Box came about after Electronic Arts offered to do the port -- and we've all heard the story of that one.
Valve acquires Left4Dead dev Turtle Rock Studios
Valve Corporation today announced that it has acquired Turtle Rock Studios, developers of the upcoming zombie survival game Left 4 Dead. The company has also contributed various maps for Counter-Strike: Source, including a remake of cs_militia. Given Turtle Rock's close relationship with Valve, we're not too surprised by this move. Previously, Valve has hired developers of Counter-Strike, Team Fortress and Narbacular Drop, the latter title serving as a spiritual precursor for Portal.Left 4 Dead, originally announced November 2006 and utilizing the Source Engine, is a four-player co-op game where a team of survivors take on a horde of zombies and four player-controlled "super zombies." It is slated for release later this year.
Yahtzee travels to America, visits Valve
We all know that Yahtzee -- of Zero Punctuation fame -- has a bit of a skewed view on American culture. So perhaps it's fortuitous that Valve invited him to fly out to Washington to visit their studio, fire guns, and witness the wonder that is modern American airport security.No video this time, folks. Yahtzee takes it all in through the ancient medium of travelogue, with a few pictures mixed in for good measure. Still, the tone is undeniably his, and you can practically hear the dulcet rhythms of his accented vulgarity. Check out the piece for some new tidbits on Valve's survival horror title Left 4 Dead, as well as some keen insight into the team's design process.
Today's most zombified video: Left 4 Dead 'Subway Outbreak'
Zombies are fast. Zombies are hungry. Just remember that it you don't have to be the fastest person out there -- you just need to be faster than the guy next to you. This direct-feed footage from Left 4 Dead show four survivors (sorry, no footage of someone playing as a super zombie) making their way through a bloodied, abandoned subway system. It looks intense; it should make for an interesting team game when it hits Xbox 360 and PC in early 2008.
Valve not looking to leave EA (4 Dead)
After enjoying a healthy relationship with EA during development of The Orange Box, Valve will likely stay in partnership with the publishing giant for 2008's zombie apocalypse epic, Left 4 Dead. Valve MD Gabe Newell told Eurogamer that it would only be a "natural consequence" of the time spent on October's orange offering. "Everybody always tells us what a horrible monster EA is supposed to be and we keep waiting for the hair to sprout out and the fangs to grow." Newell, who's obviously never seen the ending to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," now shares a tree with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, who earlier this month praised EA for the "freedom" (see: money) it provided throughout the creation of Crysis. Such freedom may hopefully and helpfully extend to Left 4 Dead, with Newell considering a free launch weekend for the first-person, undead person shooter. "It's definitely a game that requires you to play it - you can describe it until you're blue in the face, but five minutes of playing it is definitely better than watching a 30-second spot on MTV to try to get you to understand why Left 4 Dead is going to be worth your time and money."
Video: Left 4 Dead co-op zombie slaying
We have to admit it, the concept behind Left 4 Dead is awesome-on-a-stick. Like most gamers, we love cooperative gamin, we love squad based shooters, and we love killing zombies. Left 4 Dead takes all those things and combines them into a delicious sushi roll of carnal delights. Oh, and don't forget that the zombies (known as "the infected") are playable as well, which provides the final touch of wasabi to the aforementioned, metaphorical sushi roll. We rounded up a couple of off screen videos of the game from QuakeCon 2007. Check 'em out and dream of the day you can join in the fun (which should be this winter for 360 owners).Be warned: videos are violent and possibly NSFW.
Watch Left 4 Dead 4 6 minutes
We hate zombies with the fiery, white-hot intensity of 1,000 seat belt buckles left too long in the August sun, so we're glad to see any footage of their foul breed being wholesale slaughtered, as in this new six-minute clip of Left 4 Dead shot at QuakeCon. This looks to be a good simulation of what we believe it will be like when the zombies come for us and the people we love ... and they will. We imagine that, especially when the fat zombie is splattered all over the pavement, you will feel something primal awaken within you, an instinct pushing you to kill the approaching undead threat. Know that you are not alone, and give thanks that cruel evolution has not deadened what will one day be the most crucial of impulses.
Video: Shaky Left 4 Dead zombownage
Video footage has surfaced from the showdownLAN of the upcoming PC and Xbox 360 zombie vs. human shooter, Left 4 Dead. Brought to us by Turtle Rock Studios and Valve, who made a little ditty called Counter-Strike. The video above shows four survivors fighting off a bunch of the Infected. Gameplay looks fast, furious, and bloody. Not shown in the video are the "Super Infected' which are more formidable than the fodder shown above. We'll be sure to keep a keen eye on this as more details emerge.[Via Joystiq]
Today's most interesting shaky cam footage: Left 4 Dead at showdownLAN
Footage from showdownLAN has surfaced on showing off a public playtest of Left 4 Dead, an ambitious zombie-centric -esque team game from Turtle Rock Studios (Counter-Strike) and Valve. Four survivors take on waves of the Infected (think 28 Days Later) and four Super Infected as they make their way to a helicopter landing point.Shown in the clip is footage from four player-controlled survivors. Though the Super Infected can also be player-controlled, we don't have any video of that in action. There is, however, a moment where you can spot The Smoker strangling a survivor with its tongue. The video is grainy and shaky at times, but it's the best we've got on this so-far reclusive game.Left 4 Dead 411 has impressions from people who attended showdownLAN, as well as a gallery of the event. The game is due out this summer for PC and this winter for Xbox 360. Video embedded after the break.
Left 4 Dead: co-op zombie slaying action [update 2]
Let's talk about great game conventions. Let's see, there's guns. Everyone likes those. Zombies, gotta love zombies. What else? Ooh, co-op. There's nothing like good co-op. Turtle Rock Studios, the team behind the AI bots in Counter-Strike, looks to combine all of these things in one glorious package with their latest offering, Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead puts players in the middle of a contemporary setting in which an incredibly virulent strain of rabies has overtaken the general populace. So, we're not dealing with zombies per se, but definitely crazed people with a penchant for biting their neighbors. Players will create a group of four different survivors, each with different personalities and backgrounds, and fight for survival. Players will cooperate in a survival horror setting, blasting their way through several different "campaigns" which are essentially a series of connected maps that end in a final standoff as players wait for rescue. But here's the twist: the enemies (the "infected") are playable as well. Whereas the human survivors have the same basic weapons and skills, the infected are divided into classes. Some enemies can vomit blood to attract other infected, others can reel in survivors with a long tongue, and the "tank" class can even power through concrete walls. Finally, Turtle Rock claims that their next gen AI technology will allow human players to drop in and out of the game without affecting the overall experience or restarting the scenario.The idea of playing an online enabled, co-op survival horror game with playable enemies is positively dreamy (though not exactly original). If all that wasn't enough, the game is expected to hit the 360 by the end of 2007. Looks like we might have one more to put up on the big board.[Via Xboxygen] Update: Replaced crappy not moving image with awesome trailer. Thanks for spotting this, Mike.Update 2: Turtle Rock implemented bots into CS. They didn't create the game.
