left-4-dead posts

Looks like the so-called "protest" by a group of gamers against the release of Left 4 Dead 2 had just about zero effect on pre-orders for Valve's zombie shooter sequel. According to Computer and Video Games' Valve's Chet Faliszek stated that pre-orders have come in at "four times" the amount of the original game released just a year ago.

And what about those protesters who feel that releasing Left 4 Dead 2 just over a year after the original would split the community and is simply a way for Valve to get more money? Faliszek states that there will always be someone complaining about something and adds, "Honestly I made the joke and it's true: If you put $20 in a box and charge $10 for it someone would complain you didn't put $50 in a box."

Gallery: Left 4 Dead 2

This mod adds the 'Dead Before Dawn' Campaign to Left 4 Dead. It's inspired by the movie Dawn of the Dead. Installation instructions are shown after the jump.

"The custom campaign Left 4 Dead fans have been clamouring for has finally arrived, bringing Valve's zombie shooter to the Crossroads Mall--the setting for Zack Snyder's zombie movie remake Dawn of the Dead.

Dead Before Dawn contains 5 maps--the sixth, the finale is not included in this beta--for both co-op and versus play. For that complete shopping mall experience, there are hundreds of new props along new music, new voice-overs and randomized special events. "

Download Left 4 Dead 'Dead Before Dawn' Campaign (1.1 GB)

Gallery: Left 4 Dead

In comic books, crossover events between two super hero universes are considered to be a huge deal. Remember when Superman met Spider-Man? When Batman met Predator? When Archie met The Punisher? Well two of Valve's game universes are about to have a (tiny) crossover of their own.

The deal is if you pre-order Valve's upcoming zombie shooter sequel Left 4 Dead 2, not only do you gain early access to the game's demo and pay 10 percent off its regular price but if you also happen to own Valve's multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2 you get an extra in-game bonus. It's Bill's hat. Yep, now your TF2 characters will be able to wear the same hat design Bill has for Left 4 Dead 1. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. The Heavy mowing down the Tank in a game? We would love to see that.

Scenario: The zombie apocalypse is at hand. What do you do? What DO you do? If you the four person teams in Left 4 Dead and its upcoming sequel Left 4 Dead 2, you run around and start shooting as many of the undead as you can as you move from place to place.

The original game from Valve takes place in areas of Pennsylvania while Left 4 Dead 2 is in New Orleans and the surrounding Louisiana area. But what if the zombie apocalypse hit other US cities like they did in Valve's games? We decided to look at 10 such cities and postulate what would be the good, the bad and the worse thing that could happen to those cities if flesh-eating folks invaded. For how other cities around the world would do the same thing check out Game Daily's sister feature.

Games that are coming out soon have a lot of unknowns that the average person might not know. Who is this character inspired by? Is all the talk of volumetric fog or cel-shaded graphics really worthwhile? Do the game mechanics really seem solid, or are they lackluster? In All You Need To Know we provide information to help you fully appreciate what these upcoming games have to offer.

Feed your head after the jump.

Check out our collection of Left 4 Dead 2 related downloads here on Big Download!

We had a feeling this would happen anyway but this week it became official. Five months after a bunch of nerds gamers decided to form a boycott against Left 4 Dead 2, the group's leaders made the decision to break the group up, claiming that their goals have been accomplished.

If you remember, the goals of the boycott were were to get Valve to continue to support the original game in their zombie shooter series (something they said they would do ever since Left 4 Dead 2 was announced) and that Left 4 Dead 2 be either a free expansion or have some kind of discount (Valve is giving folks a 10 percent discount via Steam and even more with their four-pack arrangement, the latter of which they also had for the original game). Valve even flew up the two main organizers of the boycott to their offices to play Left 4 Dead 2.

In their farewell statement the organizers state, " . . . we have paved the way for Developer-Community relations in the future." We are not sure about that since Valve has always listened to their community and taken their statements to heart many times. However, the two organizers got their free Valve trip. We guess that's something.

It's the eve of the second entry into the Left 4 Dead franchise, and as a bonus (or perhaps consolation prize) to owners of the original, the campaign Crash Course was released on September 29th. While it is, overall, shorter than your average campaign, it's also tougher and is only comprised of two missions, both of which are extra long. If you don't know how to handle yourself, you can die extremely easily, and then you'll have to restart the level all the way back at the beginning. In case you are struggling, here's a handy-dandy guide to splattering those zombie brains and guts all over the alleyway walls.

It's not exactly a shock to learn that the latest weekly release of Steam's top 10 best selling PC games list has Left 4 Dead 2's pre-order offer at the top. The sequel to Valve's zombie co-op shooter finally was made available for pre-orders just two days ago. It also shows that once again so-called petitions to boycott games have little to no real world effect.

The three day 50 percent off sale for the original Left 4 Dead pushed that game to the number two spot. Aion, NCsoft's MMO, dropped down to the third spot for its Collector's Edition after several weeks at the number one position.

1. Left 4 Dead 2 - Valve
2. Left 4 Dead -Valve
3. Aion Collector's Edition - NCsoft
4. Risen - Piranha Bytes/Deep Silver
5. Aion Standard Edition - NCsoft
6. Batman: Arkham Asylum - Rocksteady/Eidos
7. Counter-Strike: Source - Valve
8. Borderlands - Gearbox Software/2K Games
9. Resident Evil 5 - Capcom
10. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin - Monolith/Warner Bros. Interactive

It's really hard to complain about getting some new content for free for one of the best PC games released in the last few years. So we won't be doing that here. The just released new mini-campaign Crash Course represents the first major content update for Valve's zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead since last April's Survival Pack (which added the Survival Mode and one all new map). For Crash Course, Valve made an all new two level campaign for single and co-op play and those maps can also be used in Survival and Versus mode. It's the first time Valve has released a new official campaign since the title shipped to stores back in 2008.

Check out the jump for our impressions:

As promised, Valve has released their new (and free for PC owners) campaign for their hit zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead. The campaign, Crash Course, contains new campaign maps along with new Versus and Survival maps. 10 new Valve achievements have been added along with some matchmaking improvements. Valve has also decided to put the game on sale for 50 percent off its normal price for the next three days. That means you can buy the full version for a mere $14.99.

Valve has decided not to release any media from Crash Course before today so it should be interesting to see what the reaction is from players now that it is released. Valve has pledged to continue to support the game with new downloadable content even as it prepares to release its sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, in mid-November.

Update: Valve has also lowered the price of the Left 4 Dead Four Pack. You can now get four copies of the game (one for you and three for your buddles) for just $44.99 for the next three days.