Valve has never pulled something like this. Maybe I can blame this betrayal on the fact that L4D was actually developed by Turtle Rock Studios, who were bought by Valve during development. Maybe I can blame this on EA or Microsoft moneyhats. Who knows for sure? What I do know is that I paid $45 for what was essentially a beta for L4D2. Was I stupid to assume that Valve would support Left 4 Dead like it has Team Fortress 2? Perhaps. Doesn’t mean I can’t be disappointed with a company I put on a pedestal for many years now.

Valve can still support Left 4 Dead, you say? Even if they do, the community will be split between the original and its too-soon sequel. The SDK still needs to be released, and they have already announced the sequel. This clearly confirms that L4D is thought of as a console franchise. We all should have figured this out when we first experienced the terrible matchmaking system. A console franchise set to MILK.

So for now, I’m definitely not buying this seemingly cash-in sequel, unless a reasonable price is announced for the PC. And even then, I’ll still be hesitant, considering they could start working on L4D3 upon release, just like they did with L4D2. All this adds up to L4D2 most likely being the first Valve game I don’t pre-order since the original Half-Life. Oh, and Blizzard regaining its foothold on my pedestal. Starcraft 2 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Left 4 Dead 2.

So I’d love to give some impressions of the new weapons, but I spent my time killing all the other people double-jumping around in order to amass an arsenal. Instead, I will post this video of all the Scout’s new domination taunts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX__swbUwag

Edit: What the shit, my run apparently got wiped from my stats. It was there right after, but now it’s gone. I am just posting this so you do not think I am a liar. I know that revelation would’ve been life-changing. No need to worry, it’s just Steam’s fault.

The Scout update isn’t even here yet, but just the fact that I know that it is imminent has me ready to jump back into the multiplayer FPS of recent history. The new unlockable weapon pictured above only adds to the anticipation. Just in time for spring training.

Details (and future details) found at the Scout update site here.

The farther the ball flies before ricocheting offa some chucklehead’s skull, the longer he’s gonna be stunned. And guys who think they’re tough because they’re invulnerable? It works on them too. Now the bad news: You can’t double jump when you’re carrying this little beauty.

I’m really curious as to how the Sandman’s mechanics work, exactly. There has to be a delay for the Scout to toss the ball up to himself, no? And I imagine it will be extremely hard to hit distant targets, as the stun time time increases with flight length. It’s probably a pretty high arching ball, and I wonder if people will be able to consciously dodge them. I’m sure ubered Heavies would be glad to know they could dodge these balls as they fly across the level.

There are plenty of days on that Scout update site, so I’m hoping there are a bunch of new maps added as well. It’ll be fun to see if Valve can top this genius with the Scout’s other two weapons. Although, they do seem to leave the best for last in these pages, so I’m pretty freaking excited. You should be too. It’s amazing how Valve has kept the love of this game so high by creating substantial additions and spreading them out perfectly.  And it’s all free. Valve has pretty much cemented itself as the greatest gaming company of the past few years.

This time the damage was $38.97. Civilization IV Complete, Bioshock, and Defcon. Not a bad haul. I already own Bioshock on 360, but FIVE DOLLARS. Only a week ago I bought S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl for $4.99. And I can see myself buying Trackmania United Forever before the Holiday Sale is over.

You should be buying some games too. Steam’s Holiday Sale includes every single game, some over 75% off. Examples include the aforementioned Bioshock for $4.99 and Company of Heroes: Gold for $22.49. A taste of the rest of the sale:

World of Goo – $14.99
Valve Complete Pack – $74.99 (insane value, but everyone on this earth has played most of the games already)
Peggle – $4.99
id Super Pack – $34.99
Far Cry 2 – $37.49
Painkiller – $7.49
Heavy Weapon – $0.99
Fallout 3 – $39.99

Now do your American duty and prop up the economy.

The public is about to get the most addictive demo I’ve ever played dropped on their Steam clients and Xbox Live Marketplaces. While I’ve played the PC version way too much, I haven’t had a chance to play its 360 counterpart, but almost every impression I’ve come across on the web with regards to the latter is exceeding positive. Even moreso than the PC version — but that would be due to shitty matchmaking taking the place of a server list. Console gamers may be used to matchmaking. but if Valve doesn’t at least add a custom server browser in the PC version, there will be internet rioting. Nonetheless, once a game is up and running on a good server with four people, it’s easily the most fun I’ve had gaming this year.

The brilliance of the game lies in the simple premise of surviving a zombie apocalypse taken to its highest level of replayability and unpredictability. The two go hand-in-hand, and the difference in every playthrough can be attributed to The Director, the AI constructed by Valve that controls zombie attacks, health pack location, weapon drops — pretty much everything other than the physical structure of the level itself. Does your group suck? Then the Director won’t spawn that tank zombie right around the corner. Taking too long? Zombie swarm incoming. The Director — combined with the variation between human partners — makes for an amazingly unique experience every time. And this is just the very first (not even full) two levels out of 20. I’ve played the demo for 10 hours. Ten hours for less than 1/10 of the game, not including the other modes. Some of that may be due to not wanting to touch my 360 games until my new HDTV arrives, but the demo is undoubtedly incredible.

It is so transcedent that I may have to double-dip, as most of my friends will be buying it for 360, and I want to kill zombies with the same people I would kill them with if there were a real-life zombie apocalypse. We need to formulate strategies and assign roles. Not to mention the split-screen capability. I’ll just have to see how well I get accustomed to using the 360 controller to play a Source-engine game. That’s going to be weird.

My own PC leanings aside, Left 4 Dead is poised to become the massive word-of-mouth hit of this holiday season. This demo just might be the Call of Duty 4 beta of 2008. We will see starting tomorrow. Don’t let me down, my fellow gamers.

Edit as of 11/12/08: 360 demo is vastly inferior. Oh well.

Anyhow, here’s the intro video:

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.738099&w=425&h=350&fv=BASE_URL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstore.steampowered.com%2F%26APP_GFX_URL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fcdn.steampowered.com%2Fv%2F%26fileID%3Dgfx%2Fapps%2F5141%2F%26gameID%3D500%26refText%3DClick+to+learn+more+about+this+game.%26actText%3Dclick+to+watch%26urlparams%3D%26timestamp%3D1225503129%26clientLanguage%3Denglish%26]

You can find the HD version here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/5141/

I think I could get used to just posting videos. I can’t see myself wasting time on writing much the upcoming week, so I’m just going to utilize vodpod to take movies from all over the internet and plaster them on here. Not like I have any baseball to talk about anymore. Fucking Phillies.

In addition to Radiohead releasing their highly-anticipated new album, Valve has unlocked their highly-anticipated trilogy of games on Steam. (Well, Team Fortress 2 was already playable, but you know what I mean). I’m going to wait until tomorrow, as the Steam servers are getting hammered to shit and I forgot to finish pre-loading Portal and Episode 2 beforehand. As a gamer you are obligated to buy this package. You should’ve already pre-ordered if you have a decent PC. If you have either next-gen system, go out tomorrow and buy the retail box, especially if you haven’t experienced the greatness that is Half-Life 2.

Holy fucking shit. Pure. Awesome. Fun.

And it runs just as well as CS:S or DOD:S on my shitty laptop.

Valve, while they’re never on time, always deliver the goods. I am BLOWN AWAY.

“Here, you can preload so you don’t have to download anything more, just validate files and then play!”

Nope. Wrong. EPIC FAIL.

And Gabe Newell is fat.