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Valve On L4D2: “Trust Us A Little Bit”

Written by John Walker on June 4, 2009.

There has been, it seems, something of a fuss over the announcement from Valve that they’re releasing a sequel to Left 4 Dead this November. The main point of contention has been that many were expecting more new content to be added to the original game, rather than appearing in the form of a full price sequel. This was underlined when an article on VideoGamer was rediscovered in which Valve boss Gabe Newell stated, “So we’ll do the same thing with Left 4 Dead where we’ll have the initial release and then we’ll release more movies, more characters, more weapons, unlockables, achievements, because that’s the way you continue to grow a community over time.”

We spoke to Valve’s VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi, to ask him about the player response. He talks to us about the reasons why L4D2 is a full sequel, why gamers should wait to find out more about the game before making up their minds, and how there are definitely still plans for the original Left 4 Dead.

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The Left 4 Dead 2 Trailer

Written by Jim Rossignol on June 2, 2009.

The Left 4 Dead trailer doesn’t pull many punches. Fighter planes, chainsaws, dudes with holes for faces, and a whole lot of prayin’. Yeah. That’s what I call a trailer.
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Left 4 Dead 2: Exclusive RPS Hands-On Preview

Written by John Walker on June 1, 2009.

New game, new locations, new characters, new weapons, new monsters: John has been to Valve and dragged back the news. [Click on images for full size]

Left 4 Dead who now? No one was expecting Valve’s next game to be a sequel to 2008’s awesome co-op zombie shooter, Left 4 Dead. To answer your immediate question: Yes, this is a completely new game, with new characters, in a new location, with new zombies, new weapons, new twists, and an improved Director, in five completely new campaigns set in the Southern United States. This isn’t more maps for the previous game, it’s a brand new game, and it’s due this November. We snuck into Valve HQ ahead of Monday’s announcement and played a full campaign, and at first glance much appears to have evolved.

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TF2’s Sniper & Spy Get Milestone Achievements

Written by John Walker on May 30, 2009.

Here’s a spot of news. Team Fortress 2 has received an update tonight that means the Sniper and Spy unlockables can now be received through gaining achievement milestones. This works alongside the controversial new random-o-drops that enable people to get new items out of the blue, blue sky. The change comes alongside a collection of fixes for bugs and exploits that were brought in with the new bits and bobs. So there we go. Is everyone happy now? Cheers to pezhore for alerting us.

The TF2 Unlock Teacup-Storm

Written by Alec Meer on May 22, 2009.

I’ve been out of the TF2 scene for a few months now, as all that focus on achievement-whoring and increasingly technical play turned me off the game somewhat – paranoia I couldn’t keep up with The Kids as much as anything else. However, the combination of a masterful marketing effort and the promise of new toys that didn’t require incredi-skill or soulless grinding to attain lured me back in today. Clearly, I’ve had a great time – the current free weekend means there’s a palpable excitement on the servers, and some of the community maps that have sprung up during my time in the wilderness are pretty spectacular. (There’s one with biplanes in the sky and an underground ice cave which was particularly gorgeous). The new weapon unlock system though – not so keen, and you may have caught some folk venting in our other TF2 threads.

Top bit of info to know before your bonce explodes in rage, however – I bounced a quick mail to Valve’s very own Saxton Hale, TF2 lead-guy Robin Walker, who reckons there’s some sort of bug in the system that’s meaning people aren’t getting unlocks even after hours of play. “Not at all how it’s tuned,” apparently. Which is, I think, the first time I’ve been relieved to hear a game has a bug – it means the problem will get fixed. Read on for my thoughts on the change and word on how it’s supposed to work from the goodly Mister Walker.
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Sniper & Spy Updates Online, TF2 Free Weekend

Written by John Walker on May 22, 2009.

And so it comes to pass, the Sniper/Spy update is live, TF2’s gone free for a weekend, and the price for keeping it has halved. Here’s what we learned. The Sniper got his Huntsman bow, then he got his Razorback shield. Things got weird, Spies started appearing, and then the Spy had two watches revealed, The Cloak And Dagger and The Dead Ringer. We then met the Spy, shortly followed by the Spy getting The Ambassador. Finally the Sniper gets a jar of piss, and somewhere along the way lots of new achievements were announced and a new Payload Race game mode. Enough? Good. Who’s next?

Taking The Piss? TF2’s Jarate Is Real

Written by Alec Meer on May 21, 2009.

The Hivemind keeps muttering to itself “let’s not give each of the TF2 sniper/spy updates its own post, but instead do a round-up of the lot once it’s all been revealed.” No other game gets this kind of treatment from us, after all. Annoyingly, Valve seem to have read our cynical minds, and have ensured that each and every info-drip is too significant or rampantly hilarious to ignore.

Like today’s Jarate reveal, turning a former April Fool’s gag into foul-smelling reality. Perhaps the Sniper being able to throw a tub of wee that temporarily increases the amount of damage his enemies take isn’t all that big a deal in the grand scheme of gaming, bar the initial hilarity/disgust of the concept. But the accompanying comic – oh, now that’s something that deserves a dozen posts all of its own.
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The Spy, Meet The Ambassador

Written by John Walker on May 19, 2009.

Confused about what’s going on with Snipers and Spies and updates? Yeah, me too. Tuesday was originally thought to be the launch day for the Sniper update. Two unlocks were revealed, along with a new game mode, and then the switcheroo happened. Now it’s a Spy update, two unlocks were revealed at once, then yesterday the Meet The Spy video made an encore appearance, along with the achievement titles. Today… a Spy unlock. And it’s the pistol upgrade everyone was hoping for.

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Pornography Starring Your Mother: Meet The Spy

Written by Alec Meer on May 17, 2009.

It’s here! It’s very funny! It’s absurdly violent! It’s like Poirot with more splattered brains! It’s one of the most incredibly-animated things I’ve ever seen! It even includes ‘your mum’ gags! It’s been unofficially leaked in low res! It’s… Meet The Spy!

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Sniper Spy Update Day 4

Written by John Walker on May 15, 2009.

So it was all true. The Sniper update for TF2 has indeed been infiltrated by the Spy, Valve’s URL for the new content now changed to “/spyupdate”, the “/sniperupdate” address now gone. What on Earth does it all mean?

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