Valve posts

In perhaps the least surprising news item for the past week, Valve's zombie co-op shooter sequel Left 4 Dead 2 climbed up to the top spot on Steam's top 10 sales list. The list, based on revenues, shows that despite the first game in the series being released just over a year ago there's still an audience for even more infected shooting action.

Infinity Ward's controversial military shooter Modern Warfare 2 secured the number two spot on Steam's sales list while the regular and special edition versions of BioWare's fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Origins made the third and fourth positions on the list, respectively:

1. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
2. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
3. Dragon Age Origins - BioWare/EA
4. Dragon Age Origins Digital Deluxe Edition - BioWare/EA
5. Borderlands - Gearbox Software/2K Games
6. Torchlight - Runic Games
7. Frontlines: Fuel of War - Kaos Studios/THQ
8. Crysis Maximum Edition - Crytek/EA
9. Overlord Complete Pack - Triumph Studios/Codemasters
10. Counter-Strike Source - Valve

Don't you want to feel the ride of a zombie jockey on top of your playable character? We answer that question with, "Who wouldn't?" Yes, we know that's answering a question with another question. What of it? Besides you still want the chance to experience this feeling for yourself, don't you?

Well, if you enter and win one of the five Steam download codes we are giving away for Left 4 Dead 2 you will have the sweet, sweet pleasure of being able to play Valve's zombie co-op shooter sequel. That includes being able to have that jockey jump on your character and have him guide you to near-certain doom. If you are eligible to win, you still have time to enter. Head over to the official contest web page by 11:59 pm Eastern time tonight to get your entry in. Good luck.

As usual, Valve is quick to respond with issues found in their PC game releases. On Saturday they issued their first major patch for their zombie co-op shooter sequel Left 4 Dead 2. The update, which is of course automatically issued via Steam, fixes a number of problems that have shown up since the game's launch on Tuesday.

You can check out the full release notes on the Steam web site but a couple of the notable bug fixes include fixing some problems in the game's matchmaking system along with patching a performance issue "when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks with shotguns." You can expect to see lots more updates for the game in the coming months.

As you prepare to shop and give presents to your family and friends you may want to give those gifts a certain special something. Valve's online store has some newly available holiday greeting cards that should give your gift giving efforts some extra "oomph."

The three sets of cards cover Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2 and the new Left 4 Dead 2 (which you can see above). The cards have that weird humor theme that always seems to creep up in Valve projects (we especially like the Spitter card in the Left 4 Dead 2 set). Of course there's also lots of t-shirts and other items in the online store that would be perfect for any Valve fan for the holidays (we want the Midnight Riders tour shirt please).

As you prepare for next week's long (for some of you) Thanksgiving weekend, some of you may want to play some games in between turkey and watching football on TV. But wouldn't that turkey go down smoother if you had a FREE GAME to play? We think it would which is why we are giving you the chance to win a free game; the just released Left 4 Dead 2 in fact.

Our giveaway contest is giving out five free Steam codes for the Valve-developed zombie shooter to someone; so it might as well be you, right?. If you want your shot at one of them and are eligible to win (always important to find out) head over to our contest site to enter now. You still have plenty of time as the contest ends on Monday night.

Earlier this week we reported that the web site address seen in Left 4 Dead 2's Dark Carnival campaign for the Midnight Riders band was in fact an actual (and Valve owned) site in the real world. Today that site just got more interesting with lots more info about the fictitious Southern Rock musical group. For one thing we now know the names of the four bandmates (Ox on drums, Smitty on vocals and rhythm guitar, Jake on bass and keyboards and Dusty on lead guitar).

We also learn some of the history of the band and their last blog entry indicates that despite the "Green Flu" they still had plans to play a set at the Whispering Oaks Fairgrounds (now identified as being in Griffin, GA). There's also a link to a You Tube channel where two music tracks from the band can be checked out. While you can't buy their latest album, you can get the next best thing; the official Midnight Riders tour t-shirt (via a Valve store link). All of this makes us think even more that we may be getting a new Left 4 Dead 2 campaign before too long.

Valve has yet to release the mod tools for Left 4 Dead 2 (we assume they are coming soon-ish) but in the meantime that hasn't stopped some enterprising mod creators from shoehorning the characters, new zombie bosses and items from the just released shooter sequel into the original Left 4 Dead campaigns.

The L4DMods.com site has the full instructions on how to make this happen. The site puts up plenty of warnings that this kind of thing is not for folks who are unfamiliar with opening up and altering a PAK file but as you can see from the above screenshot it is possible to get Coach, Nick, Noelle and Ellis up north to battle the infected.

[Via Kotaku]

It's been just a few days since we have given anything away. So let's do this thing. Today the folks at Electronic Arts and Valve have given Big Download five Steam codes that can be used to download the full version of Left 4 Dead 2. Are you ready to shoot some zombies with your friends? You had better be if you are one of the folks picked to win this very cool prize.

As with most of our contests, entering the giveaway is simple:

• To enter, post a comment on this contest page.
• The comment must be left before 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 23
  
• You may enter only once.
• Five winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Those five winners will be sent a Steam code that can be used to download a full copy of Left 4 Dead 2 (valued at $49.99 each)
  
• Click Here for complete Official Rules. You must be a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec) who is 18 years or older to enter this contest.

Our thanks to EA and Valve for the donation of the prizes. Good luck.

If you haven't gone through the entire campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 you might want to avoid reading the rest of this post . . . . ok, for the rest of you, you likely know that in the Dark Carnival campaign for Valve's just released zombie shooter sequel, there are mentions of the Midnight Riders, a fictional Southern rock band that was set to play at the amusement park at the center of the campaign before the infected apocalypse hit. Indeed the final campaign level has the four survivors facing off against the zombies on the Midnight Riders' stage.

The campaign level has posters for the group which showed a web page. Checking out the web page in the real world shows the image you see above. The big question: Is this just some viral fun from Valve or a hint that we could see a Left 4 Dead 2 DLC campaign featuring players controlling the rock group? Hey, there are four members there.

Let's admit it, this whole "zombie" thing in pop culture has pretty much run its limits. Not only do we have tons of zombie based games come out, but movies, TV shows and novels seem to be in love with the undead. However, the phenomenon doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

With that in mind, playing Valve's zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2 feels a lot of the like a retread of the original game that came out a year ago. Like before, the is designed for four players to come together and shoot fast moving "Dawn of the Dead remake/28 Days Later" infected humans alongside special infected sporting extra abilities. However, even though it's generally a well-made game, it's hard to not think of Left 4 Dead 2 as a glorified expansion pack.