PC Version Of Left 4 Dead 2 Now Has Custom Campaigns

A gift from Valve has been given to the Left 4 Dead customization community in the form of official campaign authoring tools and add-on support. You want to play custom campaigns of your own or someone else's creation? That time is now.

The Left 4 Dead 2 authoring tools include support for AI Director logic for variable level layouts and the option to use a single map in any mode such as Versus, Co-op, Scavenge and Survival. And it looks like your original Left 4 Dead creations will work, provided those creations are recompiled in the new authoring tools.

As you would expect, this is for the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 only, so get to Steam and download the add-on and creation tools.

12/24/09 Colton West

Splinter Cell: Conviction Co-op Trailer Plus Vidoe Walkthrough

February is quickly approaching and Splinter Cell: Conviction is getting ready to take you on a stealth journey like no other title can. Only thing is make sure you have another friend who's buying the game because you'll need him/her to take on the title's co-op mode.

Below you'll find Ubisoft's latest trailer and video walkthrough of the highly anticipated title.

Quench your thirst.

12/19/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Bad Company 2: Panama Wild Action!

The game will be out March 2nd, 2010 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC but that does not mean you have to remain thirsty until then. EA Dice let Bad Company 2 loose in Panama; mayhem at its finest.

Quench your thirst then enjoy some new screens.

12/18/09 Ernice Gilbert

Final Fantasy 14 Opens A Beta Sign Up

With the highly anticipated release of Final Fantasy 14, (I still don't know why this even exists yet) fans can be happy to note that Square-Enix has opened up a beta sign up for the PC version of the game.

Don't worry if you can't sign up first as the official FAQ reads, "Please note that users will be selected by random from all applications for the beta test." Other details for antsy gamers include that you must be 18 to participate, applying more than once will get you disqualified, and they plan to do this all in waves, increasing the population with each.

The page also says that a PS3 beta will also be taking place but those applications will come at a later time. The game, though, is planned to release simultaneously on PC and PS3 with mention that they are exploring all possible options on other platforms.

If you are interested in signing up for the beta, follow this link to the official site and take a look, just don't expect the page to load properly for a while.

12/17/09 Colton West

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Beta Stats: Over 45 million Killed

Battled: Bad Company 2 is shaping up to really be something, and if we're are to believe the stats confirmed by game developer DICE, it'll also be really addictive.

More than 300,000 players took part in the beta, accumulating a kill score of over 45 million.

Here's the full thing:

- 9.4 Million kills from vehicles

- 3.43 Million vehicles destroyed

- 380 Houses destroyed

- 1.10 Million Marksman headshots

- Total number of points awarded = 10 100 094 360

- Total number of revives = 2.52 Million

- Total Repair Tool Kills = 15.85 Thousand

- Total Defibrillator Kills = 12.69 Thousand

- Total Knife Kills = 1.69 Million

- Total C4 Kills = 730.81 Thousand

- 45.42 Million kills

That's a lot of blood on people's hands, including yours truly ; ).

Get the game next March for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

12/16/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Modern Warfare 2 Hit By Another Glitch, Again

Ever since Modern Warfare 2 was released, the online portion of the game which is mostly where all the excitement is, has been plagued with glitch after glitch keeping Infinity Ward on their toes as they try to stay atop of the situation.

This time, players can grab unlimited ammo and unleash the wrath of hot metal into their enemies bodies... video after the read.

Studio boss Robert Bowling's acknowledged the situation and promised a fix "soon enough," so it won't be too long victims. It won't be too long either cheaters.

12/16/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Mass Effect 2 Sentinel Class Trailer

Bioware has just put up a new trailer for their upcoming highly anticipated title showing off the game's sentinel class.

You should watch. The vid is simply amazing to say the least.

It's out next month for PC and Xbox 360.

12/14/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Darksiders shows off a steed of War, what else do you need

When you're fighting off hordes of demons, you need help to take down the accursed. But being in a world plagued with ruin and destruction, there are not many places to find help. Besides, what's left of the dark earth cannot be trusted. What's the answer? Horse as terrible as you will do the trick. And Darksiders has just that.

Ruin. Black as smoke, swift as flame, his pounding hooves are drums of doom.

That is not our line, it belongs to Vigil Games, but we reckon, there's no better description.

Stop reading and watch the darn thing!

12/11/09 Ernice Gilbert

Reloaded Review: Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare (Xbox 360)

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward
Player: (s) 1-4 Offline, 2-18 Online
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date: (NA) November 6, 2007 (EU) November 9, 2007 (AUS) November 7, 2009
Platforms: Xbox 360 (also on PC, PS3, Wii, Mac)
Rated: Mature

What could possibly be said about Call of Duty 4 that hasn't already been said? It was the first game in the franchise to break away from it's World War 2 roots and put us in the face of a fictional war in modern times. It is also the first 'CoD' game to be rated 'M' rather then 'T'.

Unlike all of the other Call of Duty games before it, Modern Warfare didn't rely on a true war to tell us the story. No nazis or Japanese in this title thankfully. The series needed this change, sadly the next game in the series would take us back to the same WW2 formula. This time, the story takes place in the near future where a radical leader has staged a coup d'tet in the Middle East and a Ultranationalist has caused a movement that made a civil war break out in Russia.

Throughout the game, you will play as both a British SAS commando and a U.S. Marine as the story shifts back and forth between both soldiers. Cutscenes shoved inbetween each mission act as loading screens and fill you in on what is going on. When the cutscenes aren't explaining the story, your fellow teammates are as you play through the campaign.

Gameplay is extremely basic for a first-person shooter as you spend all of the game just running and gunning, except for a specific mission where you take control of the guns on an AC-130 gunship which is one of the game's more unique missions. The stages are very linear but this is completely excuseable because this linear style allowed Infinity Ward to put in some very epic and exciting sequences that make for some very jawdropping moments. Think Michael Bay meets Black Hawk Down.

There are some things about the single player experience that bother me a bit and I'll address them now. The campaign is way too short, lasting only 5 hours if you breeze through it and the fact that there is no co-op mode of any kind of kills the sheer amount of replayability this game should have had.

But to make up for the game's short single player, Infinity Ward included one of the best multiplayer experiences anyone could have hoped for. In fact, it's so addictive and fun that it actually takes the crown from Halo 3's multiplayer experience. Tons of different game modes to choose from as well as a very indepth customization mode where you can pick and choose which weapon you want and what attachments you wish to add to them. With around 30 weapons to choose from as well as a ton of perks that give you added firepower and defense, you have no shortage of full jacket death at your disposal.

If you're one of the very few gamers who haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, you owe it to yourself to do so. Even with it's sequel Modern Warfare 2 currently out, CoD4 still reigns supreme as one of gaming's best first-person shooters. It's a near perfect gaming experience.

9 / 10

12/11/09 Colton West

Mass Effect 2 features a star-studded cast

Bioware has sent out a cast list revealing some of the star-studded voice talents that will grace our ears with their awesomeness when Mass Effect 2 is released this January.

Some of the more notable additions to the cast include Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Martin Sheen (The West Wing, Apocalypse Now), who'll play the part of the commander of the Cerberus paramilitary organization; Emmy-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam) as Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay; and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Memento) as planet Omega's ruling crime lord, Aria T'Loak.

Seth Green (Family Guy, Robot Chicken) will reprise his role as Jeff "Joker" Moreau, along with Keith David (Crash, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2), who returns to play Admiral David Anderson. Joining them will be Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Halo 3: ODST), Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica) Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Saints Row 2), Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, Halo 3: ODST).

12/11/09 Colton West

Splinter Cell: Conviction demo confirmed for January

Say what you will about the Hiphopgamer, but the man knows his way around the industry. He's just confirmed with Ubisoft Montreal that a Splinter Cell: Conviction demo will be released in January.

"It's coming out in January," one of Ubi's devs told him, and then the actual game on February 23rd."

This guy's something else, he got so excited about the reveal, that he hands the microphone to the interviewee, hits the floor and starts doing press-up.

Go watch the vid.

12/10/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Challenge modes and co-op detailed for Splinter Cell: Conviction

Splinter Cell: Conviction will have you stealthily taking down foes for 6 hours, and if that was not enough to quench your thirst, there will also be some standalone challenges when the game arrives next year according to OXM UK, video after the read.

The two co-op modes include a prologue to the main storyline, which takes place two months before the main plot. Players will take the role of Daniel Sloane-Suarez (Archer) and Mikhail Loskov (Kestrel).

This particular campaign details how EMP's were freed by rogue factions aliased within Russian Intelligence before the Russian Mafia stepped in.

"They don't really like each other or trust each other," the game's co-op designer Patrick Redding said. "But you'll hear in the dialogue, moving through missions, that their trust is slowing building. If Sam Fisher is our panther, then these two guys are like a couple of Velociraptors taking down the heard.

"You are going into this really seedy, gritty underbelly where you can put the whole graphical horse power of our engine and the Xbox 360 to work giving you the lurid texture of this place."

The challenge modes dubbed "Third Echelon Missions", are contained in six different maps based on the four levels of the co-operative campaign - two that are exclusive. Here are the four revealed thus far: Hunter, Infiltration, Last Stand, and Face Off.

Get all the missing juicy bits by hitting the links. And quench your thirst with the video below, courtesy IGN.

More Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction Videos

12/09/09 Ernice Gilbert

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 won't restrict party chat

There's been talk swirling around that the highly anticipated shooter, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 would restrict party chat altogether, not so. DICE's Gordon Van Dyke has told MTV that the game will not implement a block on party chat.

"We are ok with [party chat]. We haven't taken a stance, being against it and feel like people are cheating," he said. "Is it worth putting a restriction on it that affects everybody?

"I don't think [cheating with party chat is] that big of an issue, that I've seen, where we have to worry about that."

No need to worry soldiers, call your friends to help you out in battle anytime it gets to rough, or anytime you feel like it. No worries.

12/09/09 Ernice Gilbert

Dead Space 2 is officially in production!

With spin-offs being released like the fantastic straight-to-DVD motion picture 'Dead Space: Downfall' and the on-rails shooter 'Dead Space: Extraction' released for the Nintendo Wii, it was obvious that Electronic Arts had big plans for Dead Space and the fact that mention of a sequel was already coming up just weeks after the release of the first Dead Space definitely had fans of this highly praised game anxiously awaiting Isaac Clarke's next dive into madness.

Well fellow Dead Space fans, rejoice! Dead Space 2 has been officially confirmed by EA, yet no mention of any solid release date was made which is a bit of a disappointment.

EA has also been very secretive regarding what the game will contain. The only things they confirmed is that you will once again step into the shoes of series' protagonist Isaac Clarke and that the sequel will feature new weapons, characters, enemies, and environments and will be available for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 when it is eventually released.

12/08/09 Colton West

Keighley: VGA surprises will "blow people away"

Is it only hype, or will this year's VGAs "blow people away" according to Geoff Keighley? We already know that the award show will feature footage from big titles such as Halo Reach amongst others, but the way Keighley is carrying on can only be the result of two things, either this year's award show will be totally awesome, or it's just hot air hype to promote the event.

"We've announced a lot of them and I know people online are speculating about which games are coming from which publishers. We also have some monumental surprises inside of the show of things folks are not just going to be expecting," he said.

"And we're going to blow people away at the show with surprises we haven't announced. It's going to be a good year for games next year," Keighley concluded.

The man sounds extremely excited people, fingers are crossed.

12/07/09 Ernice Gilbert

Mass Effect Elevator Antics

Recently, BioWare announced their way of dealing with loading and elevators. There are no elevators for loading now. They have decided to forego their promise of a “completely new system” that’s” part of the game experience” and have chosen to use Loading Screens and Movies.

Although you will still have to walk into an elevator, it will cue up informative text, and some video clips, and load the next part. It’s hard to say what I prefer, but after enough people complained, that’s right, they complained about the elevator, I can’t be too upset.

12/07/09 Allen Stewart

Gearbox trademarks borderlworlds

Borderlands is doing very well at retail, the reviews have also been friendly, Gearbox has realized the positive reception said title has been recieving and like any smart company would do, they've decided that the game should have a sequel. Was there ever any doubt?

Gearbox has trademarked Borderworlds which is an obviously sign that the game Borderlands, will expand into a series. The trademark was discovered by superannuation however, no more information was available.

The game was released in October and as I noted, has been doing pretty good for a new IP. Although the title was delayed, the longer wait was necessary due to a massive overhaul of its visuals, which is one of the shinning aspects of Borderdlands.

12/07/09 Ernice Gilbert

Mass Effect 2 Spans 2 Discs

This is another fine example of why Microsoft needs to figure out some way to get larger capacity discs for the Xbox 360.

Bioware's highly anticipated Mass Effect 2 has been announced to span over two discs. While PC gamers can just do the two disc install, Xbox 360 owners will need to swap out the discs which could lead to scratches and dirty discs.

Apparently, the moment in the game where the disc swap is needed has been carefully integrated and will not interfere with the gameplay, but that still isn't going to help me avoid any damage to my discs.

According to BioWare’s Chris Priestly’s post on the game’s official forums “Even though there is a disc swap, it occurs at a carefully planned place in the game (that does not interfere with gameplay) and is done once,” Priestly explained and then went on to reassure that “You do not swap back and forth. 1 swap and then done.”

Well, at least it isn't as bad as Lost Odyssey and Star Ocean 4 which came in a set of 4 DVDs each, both of which were terribly packaged in my opinion.

12/05/09 Colton West

Take-Two delays unnamed AAA title

Could it be Bioshock 2? Speculation after the read but this is really something.

Apparently Take-Two has delayed an unnamed triple A title according to its Q4 fiscal call to investors. CEO Ben Feder would not give any info on the delayed title. Nothing.

Whatever it is, it's delayed which means you'll have to wait longer for Bioshock 2 it.

Start guessing.

UPDATE: CEO Ben Feder now says "We decided to move one AAA title that was originally part of our 2010 projections out of the 2010 fiscal year."

So obviously it can't be Bishock 2, that game's a sure bet for February next year.

12/04/09 Ernice Gilbert

Video Thirst: Archie the game is really something

The Archie comics. Who hasn’t read at least a couple of them? I read them while I'm working, and you read them while wandering the mall, we all read them. Well recently fXLabs of Hyderabad announced that they are releasing an Archie videogame for the PC, and eventually consoles.

The game play will last about 12-14 hours and will encompass you controlling people of Riverdale and doing missions. You can drive and walk, and the entire game will have Archie themed music. I can’t wait for this this one, especially to see who they chose to play as each person. I'm hoping that this sounds as awesome to you as it does to me.

Granted, the song they chose for the commercial is still pretty weird.

Quench your thirst.

Via D'toid, Comics Alliance & Topless Robot.

12/03/09 Allen Stewart