Left4Dead

Because it's been too long without a mention of the 'z-word'

Surprisingly I've never reviewed Left 4 Dead for the XBox 360 before.  I've had the game since launch, so why haven't I talked about it?  I like zombie games and movies, and if you're reading this then there's a chance that you do too.

Why review now?

It's only been recently that I have been able to experience the game fully, mostly because I finally obtained a Gold Membership for XBox Live, meaning that I can play the game (and many others) online with and/or against actual humans for the first time ever.  Also, the latest DLC (download content) for the game was made available today.

The game is available for PC on disc or via Steam, on disc for the 360, and there is a Game of the Year Edition available for the 360 and PC, which comes reloaded with Survival Mode, and is best described as a first person shooter (FPS) survival horror game.

Time for a Crash Course

Today an extra campaign was added to Left 4 Dead, entitled 'Crash Course'.  As to the basic premise for the whole game: you play as one of four characters trapped in one of several scenarios, trying to escape a rather angry and angsty zombie horde.  Or in the case of Versus Mode: you play as either the particularly potent zombies or the survivors.

When you start the game up an intro movie will play, which introduces the player to the various ways in which to handle the situations and enemies that will be meted out to you by the A.I. director.  Yes that's right, the A.I. director, aka, a malicious thing that will make things more difficult for you, the better you do, and each time you run through a campaign, will make it different than before in terms of enemy spawning, and the locations of ammo, weapons and health items.

Characters

The characters are Zoey, Louis, Bill and Francis.  Neither of them have any strengths or weaknesses, but have different reasons for not being zombie chow at the beginning of the game.  I prefer playing as Zoey, but that's because I always try to play as a female character in a computer game.

What's it like to play?

There are several different ways to play the game that go beyond difficulty settings, however you will need to be able to play the game online to have access to everything.  On the basic level is Campaign Mode, where (after the DLC) you can choose to play through one of five different scenarios.

Each scenario requires a different strategy, but one strategy is always important: stick together.  This is the most important thing to do when playing through this game as one of the survivors, because the director A.I. will quite happily send a Hunter, Smoker or Boomer to make the lone character's life hell.  The other modes are Survival Mode (play in one of the scenarios and see how long you last, online only), and Versus Mode (online only).

In terms of weapons you have a pistol or pistols with unlimited ammo as your primary weapon, followed by either sub-machine gun, assault rifle, hunting rifle, shotgun or automated-shotgun with limited ammo as your secondary weapon.  You can carry only one incendiary device at a time, health pack and pain pills.

Anything else?

Well, Valve were lovely enough to enable a System Link mode for the 360, so not only can you play with people online, you can LAN it as well.  This is great for parties.  Also, when you're online with the game it has a guest mode enabled so that someone can join you online without their Live account, incase they don't have one or don't have Gold, but you can play with two Gold Live accounts on the same system at the same time and go online if you want too.

If your other half enjoys killing zombies then this game is also and excellent game for couples.  My fiancé and I have a wail of a time playing this together.

Negatives

There's an occasionally annoying glitch with the Hunters where they continue to spout blood after you've killed them.  And if you're a completionist trying to get all the achievements that you can, it is a nightmare to complete the various scenarios on the Expert difficulty (though that's probably why it's called Expert).

'Crash Course' the latest DLC for the game is not as the other chapters or nearly as involving.  If you've played the other scenarios to death, then it might be worth purchasing this bit of DLC.

The only other issue is that the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2 is out in November and I would be worried about just how many people will remain online playing the first game once the new one is released.

Finally

This has been one of my most favourite games of the last year.  It is extremely re-playable and if you're old enough to legally own this game, then you should, because it's available now from all major computer game retailers.

Even though Valve has come under criticism for releasing a completely new sequel for a game that is almost a year old, I'll be reviewing the sequel when it comes out in November this year.

Related links

Official Left 4 Dead web site

Valve's web site

Wiki entry on Left 4 Dead

The Orange Box pt. 2: Half-Life 2: Episode 1

Just a short moment of your time
Somehow, I helped Freeman and Alyx get out of City 17 alive.

This sequel picks up from where Half-Life 2 ended, with the Citadel in meltdown and soon to become one huge crater. After an intriguing beginning, Alyx and Freeman realise just how much work they have to do.

Unlike the previous game, this one does not have as many puzzles or weapons. It was nice to play, just to see where the main characters ended up, but this game is shorter and leaves you on a cliffhanger.

All I'll say for now is that I had fun playing it, and that I really need to play Episode 2.

Related link
Episode 1

The Orange Box (pt. 1): Half-Life 2

"At first I was afraid, I was petrified..."
When I was 15 I tried playing a demo for a game that had already been out for several years. I'd installed the demo on my Father's dodgy Advent Win '98 desktop, the one with an Athlon processor from when they were of dubious design, and the hard drive that had died three times, DVD-RW drive once, and the graphics card once.

The game didn't kill the PC, but it scared me so much that I never did end up playing the full version. The crab-like aliens that wanted to mate with the protagonist's face did nothing good for my nerves, and oh how I felt that a wrench was far too inferior a weapon for dealing with the fiends that surrounded me.

I had no idea what the protagonist looked like, but from the appearance of my surroundings (a military-esque laboratory installation, with new residents, and blood splatters), I knew that we were in trouble.

In the present day
Seven years later and I've played through that game's sequel, I'm not as scared of the aliens now and what they do to hosts. I have enough gaming experience to figure out how to get through the puzzles presented to me, and shoot things in the right place.

It's orange and a box
What am I talking about though? Just what is this 'Orange Box?'

A couple of years ago Valve, who brought the world Half-Life, unleashed Half-Life 2 (again, it had been out in 2005), some more sequels (well direct follow-ons from the second game, but not huge games), an online team game, and a 'puzzle' game. They bundled all this loveliness into The Orange Box, which was available for PC, PS3, and XBox 360.

So inside the box you get: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2.

Awesome
After playing through Half-Life 2, I can't help but feel satisfied with a visually stunning game, a great storyline and fantastic game play. Oh, and I played it on the 360.

Story
You play as theoretical physicist Gordon Freeman, who mysteriously ends-up in City 17, in the middle of an Earth being 'raped' by alien forces. From what I can tell, things didn't end fantastically in the first game, and Freeman was presumed lost. Yet once in City 17, you help Freeman to find some familiar faces, and then fate sets about turning Freeman into the guy who is going to save everyone.

FPS and puzzles
There is a huge first person shooter element to this game, but unlike a lot of recent and old FPS games there is quite a puzzle element as well. However, you will find in this game that when you're fighting an enemy that seems pretty much unstoppable, you do need the 'big guns' and puzzles are not involved, only the question of where's the next ammo cache.

Save often
I really appreciated how the game autosaves at appropriate moments, but also it allows you the option to save the game whenever you want as well. I recommend saving often.

Weapons
The coolest 'weapon' in this game is the Gravity Gun. The things you can get up to with it are amazing. Throwing furniture around never seemed so fun. My other favourite tool is the 'bug bomb' you get near the end of the Sandtraps chapter, after all, who wouldn't want to be in control of legions of dismembering-happy giant bugs?

Essential gaming purchase
As far as essential gaming purchases go, The Orange Box for PC and XBox 360 is a must have.

Not scared now
So, I'm no longer scared of face hugging aliens, and I like bug bombs (you will too), and gravity guns.

Check back at a later date to find out how I fared with the other beauties in the box.

Related links
Official Orange Box website
Valve's official website

Dead Space

Average weekend
So, I've had a busy weekend. Got all my work done for the MA, went to the cinema and completed this game. Beware spoilers.

Scary?
This is one of the scariest games I've ever played, and I'll admit that one of the reasons that I wanted to buy it was because of its use of third person, over the shoulder, perspective, which I liked in Resident Evil 4. Yes this is an action-adventure shooting game, but it has a cinematic quality that's greater a lot of other first person shooters.

Plot
Your character is sent on a retrieval mission with a small crew, to a huge ship that had been servicing an abandoned colony. As soon as you enter the ship your crew and you know something is not quite right and it goes to hell from there.

Replacement?
After been blown away by Bioshock on the Xbox 360, I had been looking around for another game to play that had a story full of twists and surprises. I had been waiting for Dead Space to come out for quite some time.

It didn't last as long as I hoped it would, but like with a lot of shooters the designers expect multiple plays to extend the life of the game. Me, I'm more of a story person so replaying this on harder difficulties doesn't really do anything for me.

In the end
If you've enjoyed games like RE4 and Bioshock and films such as Alien, Aliens and The Thing, you'll probably have a blast playing through this. Just remember to dismember and you'll have an easier time of it.

Related link
Portal to UK Dead Space website