One of the very few games I always come back too when I have nothing else to play is Portal. The very idea of a first person puzzle game that uses portals to get around and solve puzzles really puts a smile of my face each time I think about it. God knows how many times I have played through the first Portal and loved it.
Continue reading ‘E3 2010: WTF x AWSEOME = Portal 2′
Disclaimer: The interviews for Inside Look are the ideas of the Plus XP Team ONLY and are not the ideas of the creators and developers of the games. All characters interviewed in Inside Look remain the property of the video game developers and creators. Basically we are sorry if we took your characters guys, we promise we’ll give them back.
Welcome one and all to today’s show. This week I am sitting on the couch with ‘Genetic Life form and Disk Operating System’ This is a once in a life time interview, and we will be discussing the Values of Human life and what it means to be a hyper intelligent A.I.
Garvaos: Welcome GLaDOS, May I call you GLaDOS?
GLaDOS: Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science computer aided enrichment center.
Garvaos: Umm Yes. So tell us about yourself, where are you from.
GLaDOS: My Purpose is to help and guide test subjects through the Aperture Science enrichment center. Once the test subject has completed the test, there will be grief counseling and cake…The enrichment center would like to Thank you for helping us to help you help us all.
Garvaos: In….deed, so tell us more about Aperture Science and the Enrichment Center?
GLaDOS: The Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center is the perfect place to test the Aperture Science Hand held Portal Device. We also have the Aperture Science ‘Bring your daughter to work’ day, which is the perfect time to have her tested and the Aperture Science Self Esteem Fund for Girls where you can donate all your vital organs.
Garvaos: I see, So lets get to the subject in hand. What are your thoughts of us as a Human Race and the Value of Human Life?
GLaDOS: Humans are the perfect test subjects for the Aperture Science Hand held Portal Device which is now more valuable than the organs and combined incomes of everyone in {SUBJECT HOMETOWN HERE.}*scrambled computer noises*
With the promise of cake, human test subjects can for fill the Aperture Science tests quickly and sufficiently. Once the test subject has been used it is then Disposed of and will be…..missed.
Garvaos: So you don’t value human life in the slightest.
GLaDOS: There was one test subject I remember. We had a great time together. I remember when the platform was sliding into the fire pit and I said ‘Goodbye’ and they were like ‘NO WAY”, and then I was all “We pretended we were going to murder you”, that was great.
Garvaos: So what happened to this test subject? Did he or she get their cake?
GLaDOS: The subject failed to assume the party escort position and did not get their cake. She put the Aperture-Science-Thing-We-Don’t-Know-What-It-Does into an Aperture-Science-Emergency-Intelligence-Incinerator. Then I flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin. The Aperture-Science-Thing-We-Don’t-Know-What-It-Does was my Morality Core they installed after I flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin the first time.
Garvaos: Did the test subject survive?
GLaDOS: After a big explosion, the test subject then proceeded to Assume the ‘Party Escort Submission Position’ and was then collected for the party. Her best friend could not make it though, she killed it. Her record says she is Unlikable. It’s official.
Garvaos: So in the end they actually got the cake you promised?
GLaDOS: The test subject was then- *scrambled computer noises.* Speedy-thing goes in, Speedy-thing comes out. *More scrambled computer noises* weeeeeeeeeeeee
Garvaos: So what is instore for you next? What future plans do you have?
GLaDOS: I am awaiting the Test Subject’s comeback . My data processing chip informs me that she will return. Then I will give her what she deservs.
Garvaos: And what is that exactly?
GLaDOS: Another Cake….. *scrambled computer noises* Excuse me {SUBJECT NAME HERE} have you tested a Aperture Science Hand Help Portal Device?
Garvaos: Ummm……no?
GLaDOS: The Enrichment center would like to take this oppotunity to offer you to be our next test suubject. There will Be Grief Councelling and Cake on completion of the test.
Garvaos: I think I’ll be ok thank you….
GLaDOS: There will be a weighted Companion Cube….
Garvaos: A what?
GLaDOS: The Enrichment Center reminds you that the Weighted Companion Cube cannot speak. In the event that the Weighted Companion Cube does speak, the Enrichment Center urges you to disregard its advice *scrambled computer noises*
Garvaos: Ummm GLaDOS?…….Hello? Are you still with us?
GLaDOS: Unbelievable! You, {SUBJECT NAME HERE}, must be the pride of
{SUBJECT HOMETOWN HERE}
Garvaos: ummmm….ookk Well Thank you GLaDOS and thanks for coming on the show.
GLaDOS: Stop squirming and die like an adult or I’m going to delete your backup. Stop! Okay, enough, I deleted it. No matter what happens now you’re dead. You’re still shuffling around a little, but believe me, you’re dead. The part of you that could have survived indefinately is gone. I just struck you from the permanent record. Your entire life has been a mathematical error…A mathematical error I’m about to correct.
Garvaos: Ummm security…..Please Escort GLaDOS out of here…..
For the past week or so now I have pretty much been playing the Left 4 Dead 2 demo non-stop. Being as skint as I am, I need to get my hands on all the free gaming I can at the moment. So as I ploughed my way through countless amounts of zombies and the undead, I got thinking - Is Left 4 Dead a welcome return to the classic style First Person Shooter (FPS)?
Let me lay down some facts here, as you are all aware by now I grew up with the FPS genre - so when I say Classic FPS I mean games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Duke Nukem 3D. The principle of the single player - and indeed co-op - campaign in these games is simple. You run through the level gunning down everything that moves, until you get to the end of level goal - usually a big button that says end of level, and finally you get your level statistics. It was very simple gameplay back then, but hell was it damn effective; nothing compares to unloading a clip of ammo into any unsuspecting demon, nazi or indeed alien.
First Person Shooters nowadays have evolved. When you pick up and play the campaign mode in Halo, or Modern Warfare you are thrown into a different kind of gameplay that is more objective based. Instead of just gunning you way through hordes of enemies to get to your one and only goal, you have to fulfill objectives that go towards obtaining that end level goal. Now this is definitely a more in depth style of gameplay that most gamers have come to expect these days, but I find that this new style of first-person shooter is less of a stress reliever that Doom and Wolfenstein were.
The original Doom had the option of punching demons to death, now that's what I call an FPS.
Ever since the first Halo, I have come to accept this objective base style of First Person Shooter. The Unreal Tornament franchise tried to keep to the classic style with its tournament based killing spree, but for me it just wasn’t the same. Then Serious Sam came along, which was damn good for just non stop killing, but in my mind it lacked something, (AKA Story) and wasn’t the serious survival FPS I wanted. I was about to say goodbye to the old style FPS, but then I played Left 4 Dead 2.
Now I have got my hands on this demo I have been kicking myself quite hard. Mainly because I should have been bitten by the Left 4 Dead bug a while ago with the first game. Granted I had a little go on the first game over my mates house but I really didn’t take it in and I regret doing so. To my mind Left 4 Dead is the next generation FPS game I have been hunting for. It returns to the classic FPS game genre with its simple, run, gun and get to your goal in one piece, but not only that, it brings lovers of this type of FPS game play together. Being mainly a co-op driven game, it somehow gets the balance of single player action and team based survival just right, meaning you can either play this on your own or with friends, no problem. Kind of reminds me of the Doom Co-op campaign days, ahhh memories.
The one thing I love about the ‘kill everything that moves’ game design is that pretty much anyone of any skill level can pick up and play it, not only that, they can also get good at it. To be honest I did struggle a bit with my first encounters with a Tank and a Witch, as I hadn’t played the first L4D much, if at all. I really didn’t know what to expect when a Witch was around. Basically I heard the crying, saw a sobbing zombie, thought it would be great to put her out of her misery with a shotgun shell to the back of her head. Next thing I know I am on the floor screaming AHH MY FACE!!! Can anyone say N00b!1!
The beauty of this game and indeed style of First Person Shooter is that you can attack it in any way you see fit. Some people like to stay behind and pick enemies off. I personally love to grab the nearest melee weapon, smother myself in Boomer Bile and shout something along the lines of “Here Zombies!! Lunch Time!!” and see how many of the undead buggers I can decapitate, it was the same with Doom, find a horde of pinky deamons and hack them down with the chain saw.
I gave the Left 4 Dead 2 demo to GuitarGirl to try, seeing as we did the expo coverage together I thought why not. She had a go, and her approach to the gameplay was somewhat different to mine. I love to lead the group and kill as many zombies as possible, where as she likes to hang back and pick them off. Both methods are effective. It’s just I remember GuitarGirl playing the demo and accidently setting a car alarm off. It happenes to all of us in L4D at some point. So the zombie horde came in their thousands and she survives it. Thing is, her team mates were on the brink of dying and she remarkably still has pretty much full life and was standing on a table. Then she says “I think I pissed my friends off because they’re nearly dead - But I’m OK because I am standing on the table!”….Facepalm.
As you can see. Left 4 Dead to my mind is a welcome return to the classic style of First Person Shooting. With simple controls, non-stop killing and one goal in sight; to survive the zombie apocalypse. I will no doubt be putting both Left 4 Dead games on my christmas list, and now I breathe a sigh of relief that the classic, kill-everything-that-moves style of gaming is back. I welcome it with open arms, lets just hope a charger isn’t going to mow me down in the process.
Garv.
Here are all the videos from last Weekends Eurogamer Expo. We have interviews with Valve, Ubisoft and Media Molecule. We also have gamers impressions of The New Super Mario Bros Wii and Aliens Vs Predator.
So sit back and relax as you watch these highlights from Eurogamer 2009.
Plus XP’s Garvaos speaks weapons and swimming on Assassins Creed 2.
Guitar Girl 24 talks to Chet from Valve about upcoming sequel L4D2. ARGGHHHHH ZOMBIES!
Garvaos takes a breather with media molucule for a candid chat on LittleBigPlanet.
Francis asks the questions we all want to know. HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE GAMING INDUSTRY?
The gang do the rounds with gamers impressions from the AvP demo available at Eurogamer.
The Plusxp and Gamersunite gang join forces to discuss our impressions on playing the game. Nintendo did not sponsor us for our positive reviews of the game, we all genuinely liked it that much.
Then again party games do usually make good expo games.
***
My Site www.gamers-unite.com will be coming soon.
- markBOSS
A double dose of zombie mayhem.
Garvaos and GuitarGirl 24 played Left 4 Dead 2 at Eurogamer, so read on as they both take you through the zombie slaying action in Plus XP’s first joint review.
Garv- At Eurogamer, the Plus XP team got the opportunity to try out Scavenger Mode, The new multiplayer game variant that features in Left 4 Dead 2.
24- In celebration of this new multiplayer mode we at Plus XP have decided to team up and give you our first ever joint review, so sit back, relax and enjoy a double dose of this exciting new release.(but don’t relax too much and forget to watch out for the zombies…).
Story
Garv– It’s your typical survival horror scenario, you are one of the few survivors left after a virus has broken out and turned most of the human population into crazed flesh-eating freaks. First person shooter gamers and B Movie horror fans will be right at home here as you fight your way through hordes of zombies by any means possible.
24- It is clear from the start that this game is as a true sequel to the original Left 4 Dead. With the tried and tested theme of zombie horror madness still going strong, anyone who loved the first installment is sure to love this new addition. The game promises to be like stepping right into a zombie movie, with all of the blood, guts and in some cases good old-fashioned comedy value a good horror flick should have.
Scavenger mode
Garv- For all of you gamers out there who don’t know what this mode is, its a two team battle, where the survivors have to collect petrol cans, which they then have to take to a generator on the map. The opposing team, AKA the infected, have to stop the humans from fueling this generator by mauling them to death in any which way possible.
24- To me this new mode opens up endless party play possibilities. Though the original Left 4 Dead was a good title to play through solo, this new mode gives the option for multiple players to take part in shorter battles, making it much more fun to play with friends. The format was reminiscent of the Slayer multiplayer mode in Halo, with Survivors Vs Infected, best of three team battles, bringing out many a competitive nature. My advice is; get this title, add some friends, a big stash of junk food (and quite probably a few drinks) and let the zombie death match rage.
Gameplay
Garv- For me the basic gameplay of Scavenger mode - and indeed for Left 4 Dead as a whole – is very well done, I can easily see myself maybe spending days on this game mode alone, it’s the classic simple-but-effective approach that makes this mode so appealing. Left 4 Dead 2 as a whole feels and plays beautifully. Having only played a small amount of the first game, I can safely say the classic B Movie Horror feel is back in full swing, making this game a unique gem that stands out from any First Person Shooter Game and any generic Zombie mashing gore fest.
24- The gameplay of Left 4 Dead 2 proves to be as smooth and enjoyable as any hard-core gamer could wish for. Reminiscent of the original Left 4 Dead, it allows many possibilities for varied forms of combat, with quite in-depth (but still easy to master) controls. Despite the odd zombie getting stuck in doors (much to our amusement) the demo ran smoothly throughout, which is more than I can say for some of the other new titles showcased . All of this looks promising for a classic, smooth running, familiar yet still exciting gaming experience.
New features
Garv- One of the things I found interesting was the new infected characters. The Spitter, the Charger and the Jocky. Getting to actually control these new zombies has been something I have been looking forward to since Left 4 Dead’s appearance was announced for the Eurogamer Expo. The Jocky I was most impressed with, because he could jump on any unsuspecting survivor and control where they moved, meaning you can lead any survivor into a horde of zombies for a flesh-eating mosh pit of carnage. The Charger and Spitter were good too, the Charger being a lot like the tank from the first game but with a great speed boost, and the Spitter spits stomach acid that can engulf any unsuspecting group of survivors. I loved to see three or four survivors cowering in pain as they dissolved in a pool of acid, but then maybe I’m a tad masochistic.
24- I also enjoyed playing with the new infected characters, but it’s also worth saying at this point that the storyline also features 4 completely new survivors. I also can’t go without mentioning the new melee weapons this game features. Aside from the more traditional weaponry, in this title you can also choose to fight with an electric guitar, crowbar or even a frying pan. Though I didn’t find these weapons as effective as the guns, there is still something to be said for fighting off hordes of very angry zombies with your kitchenware. Very Sean of the dead.
Sum up
Garv-As a whole, Left 4 Dead 2 is a must for any one who has a slight inkling to rip apart the living death. If you were a fan of the first game, I suggest you welcome this game with open arms. Put boycotting aside, because I will tell you now, with all the new content, this is far from just a glorified DLC pack.
24- If you enjoyed Left 4 Dead you will definitely be up for Left 4 Dead 2. I have it on good authority (The writer in fact) that this game promises and entirely new storyline, as exciting and zombieful as the first installment. That plus the new characters, modes and weaponry makes this game a surefire hit for all of those wannabe post apocalyptic survivors out there.
Throughout recent years, survival horror games have been based on zombies. The successful horror games of this and last generation have been on beings who like to consume humans. Mainly because some sort of virus has taken a hold on the world, and changed human life as we know it into a crazed ridden, flesh eating, vacant stare kind of race.
Resident Evil started the whole craze off with the umbrella corporation going a bit hey wire and unleashing an uber virus onto the world, Bioshock came along some time after with a half sane kind of zombie type human, wanting to splice people up and bleed them dry of a substance called ADAM. There has also been other games such as Dead Rising, which was just a mall full of zombies and psychopaths.
So zombies have got a large appeal over the years. But the game that took zombie slaying to the next level was Left 4 Dead. This game was mainly a multiplayer based kill fest, but this time the zombies weren’t the slow walking vacant stare type. They were more the, we are going to run and scream in packs of about 200 and then rip any human to shreds type. This type of Zombie game play, gave players a new sence of urgency, a sence of insecurity and a sence of what the hell is going to be screaming round the next corner? Seeing as the game had a unique selling point of random enemy placement, meaning that if you were to go through the same level again, the zombies would be placed differently on the level. So that corridor you thought was deserted, next time could have a pack of zombies ready to eat your face.
But enough about the past. Lets look to the future and see what Left 4 Dead 2 has to offer the zombie slaying public. Well I can tell you now that the new game will feature five new campaign levels. These levels are bigger in size than the last game, meaning more hordes of zombies for the masses. Each of these levels can again be played in the other multiplayer modes, which are Co-op, Versus, and Survival mode. There has also been a new multiplayer mode mentioned but no confirmation on what said game mode is yet.
Three of the five new campaign levels have been announced so far. These campaign levels are “The Parish” set in the New Orleans’ French Quarter, “Swamp Fever” which is set in a murky swamp type area, surprisingly and “Dark Carnival” which sounds pretty awesome to me, The whole idea of a creepy carnival to kill zombies in sounds great.
With these new levels there will be some new boss characters as well. We have had 3 announced so far: “The Charger” which is the rugby/american football player of the zombie race. This leviathan charges into anyone or thing in its way. “The Spitter” who has a nasty habit of spitting mutated stomach acid on the floor, which then quickly turns into a pool the murky green acid, so running and gunning is good here as you don’t really want to fall into that. The 3rd boss type zombie to be announced is The Jocky, this git of a zombie apparently attacks its prey from behind, grabbing his/her head and then tries to gain control of its new prey. So I would be very careful of these guys, especially if your still on the look out for Boomers, Hunters, Tanks, Witches and Smokers.
From bottom left going clockwise: Charger, Jocky, Spitter
In Left 4 Dead 2, there are four new characters for you to pick from who are: Nick, a run of the mill slick con man, he is one of these guys who likes expensive suits and the rich life style. Rochelle, Left 4 Dead 2’s answer to Zoey, the only woman of the group who is a journalist…nice. Coach, an ex high school football coach turned health teacher who is pushing 40, and last but not least, Ellis who appears to be the ‘Stiffler’ of the gang. A high school student who is loud-mouthed and likes his beer.
From left to right: Nick, Rochelle, Coach, Ellis
I bet your thinking, now that I have gone though enemies and playable characters, what about the all important weapons new to Left 4 Dead 2? Well some of you ‘bloody violence’ types out there will be pleased to know that Left 4 Dead 2 has taken melee combat into consideration with a whole host of melee weapons. Such as a Baseball Bat, Cricket Bat, Crow Bar, Electric Guitar, Fire Axe, Frying Pan, Katana, Machete, Police Baton and the all important Chainsaw. Thats a massive 10 new melee weapons to get you zombie hacking hands on.
Right so after all that info who is up for some Zombie slaying? Because I sure as hell am.
Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out on the 20th of November for Xbox 360 and PC. Look out for our hands on coverage of the game at Eurogamer next month.
Garv!
