Rock, Paper, Shotgun

John B noticed this little quote-span-into-article over at C&VG where Chet opines that the British are “notorious non-talkers” in online games. Basically, while Americans yabber constantly, the Brits take a more taciturn approach. This will, apparently, cause some major problems when playing L4D2’s realism mode. Talk or die. TALK OR DIE. What do you make of it. Is this true? Or is it that Americans think that because Brits just don’t like speaking to you. And understandably. Give us our tea, you bastards. You don’t even drink the stuff.

In case you hadn’t spotted, the Left 4 Dead 2 demo is now open to all, whether you’ve pre-ordered the game or not. Which you could well argue is the point of a demo. It’s the first two levels of one campaign, so while not offering a big finish, will give you a taste for the new special infected, the melee weapons, and of course what it’s like to play L4D in the sunshine. They say to go to the official site for more details, but I can’t find any there. So instead open Steam. (Oh, and in exceedingly stupid news, if you pre-ordered L4D2 you will now also have a new hat in TF2. I feel like I’m writing news about a Barbie game.)

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo is go. If you pre-loaded it on Steam, it should have unlocked now. (If it isn’t showing up for you, quit out of Steam and restart.) If not, get downloading. And then let us know what you think below.

EA appear to be releasing some UK localised viral marketing for Left 4 Dead 2, which seems to be aiming for the Shaun of the Dead fanbase. Two guys in a shed, explaining how to survive the zombie apocalypse caused by the “L4D2 virus”. But this one’s a misfire.

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A Left 4 Dead 2 cinematic trailer has leaked upon the internets, spotted by Evil Avatar and Shacknews. And you’ll maybe not fall out of your chair in shock to learn: it’s a bit good. It’s below.

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Walking_Target and Agent Of Chaos, architects of the much discussed Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott have decided to close the group, considering their mission was basically complete. Both make personal statements. Their opening statements sum up the situation as they see it…

Agent of Chaos: We have accomplished everything we can on our manifesto. Read the rest of this entry »

Not as in “Whatever happened to those Left 4 Dead 2 chaps?” but “Where else will they be offing people?”. As reported by Kotaku reported by EvilAvatar reported by the Steam Forums as reported by a Taiwanese website who stuck up five L4D2 posters. Which seems to have revealed the last two. Or it could be a hoax. Oh, they look credible enough to me. See them below…
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Valve have sent word of a fourth game mode to be included in Left 4 Dead 2, called Scavenger Mode. It’s like this: “Scavenge mode challenges players to compete in round-based games of up to 8 players (Survivors vs. Infected). The Survivors must battle both the Infected and the clock as they collect gas cans to refuel a generator located in each map. Every can the Survivors pour into the generator scores their team a point and adds time to the clock.” Needless to say, the infected have to stop them. Just as interesting, perhaps, is the confirmation of previously discussed Ai Director 2.0, who will have “the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players’ performance.”

Video below.
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You know you’ve hit a raw nerve when a goverment classification board decides to join a boycott of your game. So when Australia’s Classification board refuses a certification for Left 4 Dead 2 because Valve are RIPPING OFF THE KIDS you know you’ve… actually, no, I’ve misread this again. They’ve banned it because it’s a violent videogame and Australia has some of the most agreeably loopy censorship in the democratic world. Man!

Via PAX, there’s some Dark Carnival footage below. And man, is that jockey infected looking a bit nasty. Personally I’ve always preferred playing infected in L4D, so I’ll enjoy making the worst out of that fella. For the survivors there’s some skull-splattering melee action. Eugh, zombies are icky.
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