Left 4 Dead 2
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Left 4 Dead 2 PC gets new Steam patch, Russian subtitles
Valve's just served up a fresh update for Left 4 Dead 2 that aims to give our fellow survivors a gnawed-off leg up on the zombie horde. Most of the fixes deal with backend issues, streamlining the lobby system, and making official dedicated servers preferred when searching for team matches. The game now also has Russian subtitles for our comrades defending the Red Square (which, of course, is really a Burger Tank in the deep south). Remember: communication is paramount to winning the war against the undead. Head past the break for the full patch notes.
Left 4 Dead 2 DLC 'The Passing' to feature L4D1 cast
Not content with unleashing a full-blown zombie apocalypse, Valve has come up with the second most socially awkward event imaginable: inviting characters from the original Left 4 Dead to hang out in the sequel's first DLC campaign. Bill, Louis, Zoey and Francis will meet with the stars of Left 4 Dead 2 in "The Passing," which Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi calls "the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign." It's targeted for release in early 2010 on Xbox 360 and PC. In addition to a co-op campaign (set in rural Georgia) and a new "co-operative challenge mode of play," The Passing will offer new content for Survival, Versus and Scavenge modes. Playing as the L4D2 cast, you can also expect to encounter a new melee weapon, firearm and "uncommon common" zombie. We can't wait to meet up with last year's survivors again ... oh, assuming they really are still survivors.
Left 4 Dead 2 patch on PC now, Xbox 360 'later this month'
In its ongoing support of Left 4 Dead 2 on the PC, Valve has issued another patch for the game, fixing a number of problems including physics crashes and hit boxes on the Charger, Jockey and Spitter. Some of the exploits PC gamers have stumbled upon have also been eradicated, including incapped survivors improving their weapon accuracy by holding the crouch button -- though we wouldn't call that an exploit so much as a natural evolution in the face of the zombie threat. Good, old-fashioned human ingenuity is what will win us this war, people! You can head past the break for the full patch notes. An update for the Xbox 360 will be available "later this month."
Mod adds Travis Touchdown to Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead
No More Heroes' girl-crazy otaku protagonist, Travis Touchdown, must have found the Cosmic Key, because he's crossed over into the world of Valve games -- specifically Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. The L4D mod uses Travis to meet the game's quota for one leather-clad survivor, putting him, in his usual red jacket and Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly T-shirt (but no beam katana), in the place of ultra-pessimist Francis. While an L4D2 mod could address the lack of stabbing and cutting, it would seem mod creator ash_link isn't a fan of Valve's sequel, so, yeah ... that's probably not happening. The Team Fortress 2 mod does about the same thing, replacing that game's Scout with a pint-sized, katana-wielding Touchdown. Head past the break to see for yourself. Seriously, go watch the video now. [Via Destructoid]
Walmart offering $50 gift card with Wii purchase next week, cheaper games now
Sad that you missed all the Black Friday sales? Walmart wants to take advantage of that feeling of being left out, with a series of December sales and price drops. The most exciting offer: for one week (from December 5 -12), every Wii will come with a $50 gift card, effectively dropping the price to a ridiculous $150.Walmart's price drops on games are less dramatic, failing to reach the depths of, say, Amazon's Black Friday weekend drops, but the list provided (after the break) does include a lot of hot games for less than MSRP -- like The Beatles: Rock Band on Wii for $40 and Batman, Dragon Age, Left 4 Dead 2, and a lot more for $50 each. Walmart promises more price drops on its website and in stores. How can it afford to do this stuff?Oh, right, by dominating the entire retail industry.
L4D2 Steam update fixes invincible, burning Witch
Not that we've ever run across an invincible, burning Witch, but we'd say it's probably a great thing that Valve decided to fix that particular bug in Left 4 Dead 2. You see, apparently there's a glitch that allows Witches to become invincible if set on fire, the upshot of this being that the Witch is both invincible and on fire. Sound scary? You bet your ass it is. The patch also fixes a bug that prevented the launch of the game on certain machines. Yet another tweak fixes a bug where "bots would not shoot at Jockeys and Chargers while approaching to save a teammate." Yeah, that one seems kind of important too.
Left 4 Dead 2 sold 2 million at retail in 2 weeks
Valve apparently threw Boomer bile all over Left 4 Dead 2, because hordes of consumers gobbled up two million retail copies globally since its release a couple weeks ago. Valve won't release the Steam digital distribution sales data, so that's not included in the retail count. According to the developer, sales are currently double that of the original, with "Black Friday" helping to push copies into the hands of players (who now have their hands full with two Tanks, a Spitter, a Hunter, and a Jockey coming in for the kill). Valve also noted that information about L4D2's first batch of downloadable content would be coming very soon. %Gallery-64704%
PSA: Futureshop slashing prices on Dragon Age, Left 4 Dead 2, NFS: Shift
Hey Canadians! Yeah, you guys and gals huddled together attempting to maintain sustainable body heat. Just a friendly reminder that big-box retailer Futureshop is currently slashing prices on a slew of new video game titles. Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, Brutal Legend and Need for Speed: Shift are all on sale for $39.99. Wait, what's this? NHL 10? Oh, Canada. You're so adorably predictable! The online and in-store sale ends on December 3, so make sure to defrost your car, dust off your skates and hit the store ASAP. And before you ask: Yes, Rock Band 2's special edition is priced at $99 and does include a free mullet kit. We don't know what that is, but we know we want it. More Canadian deals can be found after the break.Update: Best Buy Canada is offering similar discounts.
Amazon.com's Cyber Monday deals available now
In the market for Nathan Drake's latest adventure but not trying to spend a hidden fortune on it? Amazon.com's Cyber Monday deals are here to help, offering Uncharted 2 for only $40, among other great deals. How about Left 4 Dead 2 for $40? Or maybe you'd prefer a 60-hour-long fantasy RPG for the same price? Amazon has you covered. Look, we'd keep listing deals here, but there's kind of a lot. So pick your console of choice (Nintendo Wii / DS, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360) and check out all the savings for yourself. While it's not quite Steam levels of insane price drops, we're quite partial to games for a third or more off normal retail price. Aren't you?
Valve: Keep listening to your customers, keep listening to your developers
Regardless of what some developers may say about Valve's digital distribution service, Steam, the Left 4 Dead 2 developer remains steadfast in its belief that listening to customers and developers is the best way to stay on top of the game. Ars Technica spoke with Valve director of business development Jason Holtman before his keynote at the Montreal International Games Summit, and Holtman explained his company's one-two-punch plan of listening to Steam customers and developers for advice on running the operation. "They're actually usually far better predictors of success than we ever could be," he said. He was also quick to point out that, despite the cyclical claims that PC gaming is "dying," Steam has been enjoying strong digital sales for years. During his presentation in Montreal, he noted that Valve's games have doubling sales numbers (or more) when they're put on sale, with Team Fortress 2 sales having jumped by as much as 520 percent when the Sniper vs Spy update was released. With numbers like that to back up his claim, it's starting to make a lot more sense to us why developers were so happy to defend Steam last month.
EA takes 30 percent off several PC games until Monday
EA's online store is running an exciting Black Friday sale, with downloadable PC games getting 30 percent off from now until Monday. We're talking about discounts on a bunch of games here, with standouts such as Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box for a cool $21 and Mass Effect for a very reasonable $14. Not everything is on sale, however -- some of the newer titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and the Dragon Age Collector's Edition don't qualify (though the regular version of the latter is on sale for $35). If you're determined to get good deals on some of these newer games, we have a feeling you'll be able to find 'em somewhere. [Via Big Download] .nounderline a { text-decoration: none; } Check out Joystiq's Black Friday Game Deals Hub or jump to a retailer guide below: Best Buy | GameStop | Kmart & Sears | Target | Toys"R"Us | Walmart For more Black Friday coverage, check out Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Sales, And other Black Friday 2009 stories today from Walletpop.com
Valve addresses Left 4 Dead 2 server lag on Xbox 360
What's the only thing worse than having two dead team members, an approaching wave of special infected, and a fresh sheen of Boomer puke on your person? Having to suffer all those things while also -- fighting -- server la -- tency issues. Fortunately, that experience has become less common, as Valve recently did a bit dusting around their network infrastructure, reducing lag during bouts of Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox 360. Of course, even without the lag, you're still going to die. But at least now you'll be able to see where it's coming from. (Hint: It's probably from those three oncoming tanks.)
Dell severs $20 off Left 4 Dead 2 PC price
Yes, Dell, maker of PCs and occasional gaming deals, is now selling the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 at a drastically reduced price. The company has marked down the game from $49.99 to a mere $29.99. That's twenty whole dollars, which is probably the same price Valve will charge on Steam precisely ten minutes after you buy it from Dell. But hey, it's a deal right now and it's hard to argue with that. Or is it? [Thanks, Eric!]
Valve selling Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead-themed greeting cards
We know how boring most holly jolly holiday cards can be, so we were glad to see that a handful of Valve-ified greeting cards are now available for purchase at the game maker's online store. Featuring characters from Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, and Team Fortress 2 in compromising holiday situations, there's no doubt that we'll actually – finally – send out greeting cards this year to everyone in our little black book. We're quite partial to the handful of TF2-themed images you see above (just look at The Spy, back with The Scout's mother!), but we're sure there's something for everyone in your list of Source Engine-loving holiday card receivers. [Via Big Download]
Left 4 Dead 2 gets patched on PC
A few minor glitches which Left 4 Dead 2 players on Steam were experiencing have been squashed by a recent patch. The update includes fixes for an error which impeded matchmaking for players looking for higher difficulty games, for a bug which allowed special infected to team up on players who are being pummeled by a Charger, and for performance problems which cropped up when the game rendered too many decals, "notably when fighting Tanks with shotguns." Well, thank goodness for that. If there's a better way to kill a Tank than with a few well-placed shotgun blasts, we've yet to find it. Check out the full list of changes after the jump!
Modders pump L4D1 maps into L4D2
There's some good news for the PC players of Left 4 Dead 2. You no longer have to worry about whether Valve will be bringing the original Left 4 Dead campaigns into the sequel. You see, crafty modders over at l4dmods.com have already implemented the original maps into Left 4 Dead 2. Valve hasn't actually released an SDK for Left 4 Dead 2 yet, so making this mod work will require users to change some files in the original game (and yes, you do have to own both games to make it work). There are some known issues and bugs and, needless to say, it's not the most user-friendly mod out there, but it's probably a small price to pay for the dedicated users. So, if you want to see a Spitter on the roof of Mercy Hospital (and we know you do), you can. Watch a video of the mod in action after the break. [Via Kotaku]
Metareview: Left 4 Dead 2
Considering the devilishly heightened difficulty of Left 4 Dead 2, we're surprised enough outlets managed to complete a single campaign in time to submit a review for the title. We have to imagine GameSharks were somehow involved. Regardless, here's what other sites are saying about Valve's follow-up to last year's Zombocalypse survival sim. Eurogamer (9/10): "Whereas once we treated Left 4 Dead as a stopgap between Half-Lifes, this is no longer a weird little side project with modest expectations, and Valve is confident enough to play around with it, safe in the knowledge that you can trust your players. Left 4 Dead proved it. And whereas that game had a personality, this one is overflowing with it." IGN (9/10): "It remains one of the most distinctive co-operative titles out there, and allows for some of the most nerve-searing team-based multiplayer gaming on the market." GameTrailers (8.7/10): "Though not an astounding improvement over the original, Left 4 Dead 2 successfully rekindles that magical zombie-hunting feeling with great new content, and a cool competitive multiplayer mode to boot." Giant Bomb (4/5 Stars): "The core of Left 4 Dead may have lost some of its newness in the last 12 months, but the wealth of additions in this sequel ought to keep you blasting zombies and munching on brains for a good long while."
Review: Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360)
When Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2 during Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference -- less than seven months after the release of the award-winning original -- gamers were, perhaps rightfully, shocked. This was the same Valve that spent nearly ten years iterating on Team Fortress 2 and whose experiment in episodic gaming has forced us to reevaluate our expectations for future installments of Half-Life 2 using the "Star Wars–definition" of episodic. So when Valve announced a direct sequel to the ground-breaking Left 4 Dead on what could only be considered an accelerated schedule for normal developers (and an impossibly accelerated schedule for Valve) we had every right to be shocked. Valve answered this concern with assurances that Left 4 Dead 2 was an entirely new game, with changes that could not be simply grafted onto the original. And the team was right! ... But that's the problem. %Gallery-67753%
Left 4 Dead 2's Midnight Riders get a gloriously bearded teaser page
Zombie obliterators who've managed to survive Left 4 Dead 2's "Dark Carnival" campaign are probably familiar with the Southern rock outfit known as the Midnight Riders. While they're not exactly an enormous focus in the game's overarching story, a teaser page featuring the heavily bearded band (and a cryptic "Coming Soon") is leading some folks to believe that the Riders will soon play a much larger role in the game's proceedings. Given the number of facial hair-sporting members of the band (see: four), we're really hoping to get some form of DLC that turns them into playable characters. Perhaps even a new campaign, in which they cure the global zombie infection using nothing but the power of their rock music. How about it, Valve?
Left 4 Dead 2 delayed in UK, due 'by Friday morning'
We'd usually say it's a good thing when a zombie invasion gets postponed, but not when we're talking about Left 4 Dead 2 releasing in the UK a couple days after the rest of the world. According to Valve's own L4D2 blog, "copies of the game are still arriving" across the pond, with assurances from the developer that it will "have everyone in the UK playing Left 4 Dead 2 by Friday morning." Wait -- everyone in the UK? Whoa now guys! While Xbox 360 owners and PC gamers who still buy physical copies of software are out of luck, Valve says that everyone in the region who pre-ordered L4D2 via Steam can play it right now. Of course, those left waiting can pretend they're fighting to survive the scariest of all Left 4 Dead campaigns: "Delay of Game" (tagline: "Patience never killed anyone -- until now!").
