Left 4 Dead 2- Here’s what I know.

21 07 2009

all the Left 4 Dead 2 News Tara could track down

I think it will be best to start this off by showing the teaser trailer from E3. Let’s check it out.

Left 4 Dead 2 BoxAlright, as a fan of the original Left 4 Dead, I’ve become really curious to know what the sequel has in store for us. Assuming that other L4D fans may be want to know too, I’ve complied most of what I have found for you in one easy to locate and read article.

So, what do we know?

It’s coming out this fall, Tuesday, Novemeber 17th. Left 4 Dead 2 takes place on week after the original, this time starting us out in Savannah, Ga., and crossing state lines into the New Orleans French Quarter. Taking place just after the original game, the southern states knew something bad was happening up north. Mixed news reports were leaking out, but no one really knew (or maybe believed) what was happening. The southern states tried to keep the infection under control by first telling residents that washing their hands and other common sense procedures could help stop the spread of infection and keep them safe. Of course it didn’t, and they had to evacuate the area and dispatched haz-mat teams. That’s where we start playing. With a new location also comes new survivors. This time we follow Rochelle, the single female character and local news reporter; Ellis a young mechanic; Nick, some sort of gambler and rich guy; and Coach, who is of course a high-school football coach.

Left 4 Dead Survivors

Left 4 Dead 2 will also be offering five new campaigns, and all of them will be available for versus mode- straight from the box. (Yay not having to wait for DLC!) In addition, Valve has promised us some new sort of multiplayer mode that they have yet to announce. Right now the we know the details of two of the five campaigns. One takes place in the swamp at night, where fog is present to make it harder to see the zombies. In addition, the swamp has a new common infected (only located in the swamp) who can run quickly through waist deep water. Details have also been released about the New Orleans campaign. It takes place in the French Quarter during the day, a huge change from any campaign in the first game (which all took place at night). The day light also changes how the infected move and react during the game. For example, the witch will wander around during the day instead of sitting in one place. New Orleans also comes with it’s own “special” common infected, the haz-mat guy. Adorned with his special suit, he won’t catch fire when you throw a Molotov at him.

Although the game does have the L4D standard weapons (shot gun, pistols, rifle, machine gun) they all have been tweaked a little for the new game. what is even more (potentially) awesome is the availability of certain upgrades, such as incendiary ammo. They ammo appears to be available for any gun, and as one would guess, catches your infected foe on fire in a single shot.

Here’s a video:

In addition to upgrading the weapons that have carried over, melee weapons have been implemented into the game. Zombies can now be sliced, chopped, bludgeoned, and beaten with the use of chain saws, fire axes, frying pans and baseball bats. The melee weapons are very powerful (the fire ax can kill certain special infected in one hit) but come at a price of short range. The frying pan seems almost comical, with the class “gong” noise that a frying pan makes when struck against something. The fire ax on the other hand, is a little more gruesome. Attacking zombies with this weapons hacks off body parts, or even cuts them in half.

Here’s a video of the frying pan in action!

And here’s the ax:

There have also been tweaks made to the every famous AI director… and now it’s smarter. Not only will it drop a hunter to kill you when you wander away from the group, but if you seem to be navigating the infected streets like a breeze, it will actually change the lay out of the map to make it harder for you to find your way. In addition, Valve has given the AI director new special infected to play with. There are at least three (maybe four) being added to L4D2. It’s been confirmed that one is named the “Charger.” This new comer has been added to change the way the game is played and add a sense of panic. The charger runs in and throws players away from the wall, meaning you can no longer sit in a corner and melee to keep yourself safe. In addition to getting you off the wall, he launches you away from the other survivors, separating the group when staying together is key.

Although L4D2 is set to come out this fall, Valve has promised that they will still continue support for the original. Even more so, they have talked about some big announcement for L4D that will be announced sometime before L4D2 is release. One can only hope it’s something good.


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Gaming

Urban Exploring

17 07 2009

Some photos from Tara’s urban exploration adventure.

There really isn’t anything like this on the site…. and it’s definitely not video game related, but I thought it was cool. Near my apartment there was a factory that closed down about 25 years ago, and was later bought by a apartment complex . Now it’s used for storage. I got permission to go in and look around, and here are some of my pictures.  It was really weird being in there because there is some old stuff from when it was a factory, like the time card holder… nurses office… punch clock…. and then junk that is being stored there… such as a sea of refrigerators. I hope you enjoy. If you’d like to see the image larger, just click it.


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Life

Wonderings of my mind, resulting in props for Akira Yamaoka

17 07 2009

The random thoughts entering Tara’s head today (So sorry if is doesn’t have much direction.)

What is music? Expression? Art? A sequence of sound? Does it set a tone?
What is music to a game? An emotion? Part of the setting? Does it set the mood?

Music can frighten us, encourage us, give us strength, and make us laugh. That’s why it’s so important in the video game world. The sounds we hear and the melodies that are played can be just as memorable as the games themselves, and are important to setting the mood of the story.

The Silent Hill series has always relied heavily in their music to help set the mood. The ambient music and sounds effects were made to be suppressing, isolating, and frightening. Konami understood that they could use our ears to their advantage, and did so magnificently. The music was both industrial and depressing. Sometimes it seemed to mimic the heavy breathing of someone lost and alone, or the thudding heart beat of someone afraid and anxious. Sometimes the music just made you feel like the entire world was against you… that there was just something watching over you… and not in a good way. Just check out the beginning of this video:

The excellent music for the Silent Hill series didn’t stop there. The intro  to the original is one of the most rememberable song of any games, partially because of the mandolin that provides the song with an almost traditional Italian feel. It will always be one of my favorite songs from any game.

The theme song was so popular it landed in the Guitar Hero series.

What’s truly interesting is all but one or two songs for the Silent Hill series (and the movie) were written by one person, who volunteered after working on another project.

Akira Yamaoka has worked on other video game series, but it’s his work with Silent Hill that has made me fall in love with him.  Akira is able to fill his music with the dark and lonely undertones that are needed to complete the setting that is Silent Hill. It’s almost like these songs come to him in his sleep… It’s even been said that he completed “Theme of Laura” for Silent Hill 2 in three days.

There’s just something in his head that works…. Akira is a musical genius, and video games are his medium. I don’t think I’d like it any other way.

What is music? It’s a feeling, the voice in your head, the tear on your cheek… but it’s so much more. It’s the monster under your bed, and the laughter at a funny joke. Yamaoka can capture it…

Do me a favor, just start this next song, and close your eyes… listen to the piano… Feel the sadness in the music… imagine walking through the streets alone…. Then when it’s over, open your eyes… Then remember the this was written for a video game… written by one man, who has defined a series.


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , ,
Categories : Gaming

Silent Hill: Origins for PS2- First Impressions

11 07 2009

First impressions from Tara

Silent_Hill_Origins

I haven’t finished Silent Hill: Origins, and as a matter of fact, I’m not even half way through it. But as I have been playing it I have started having a lot of thoughts piling up in my head and I felt like I needed to get them all off of my chest. None of them have been necessarily bad things, but things that have made me feel uncomfortable. So here we go, here are my first impressions.

I would like to say first that I love Silent Hill and I take a lot of pride in being a fan. I am such a fan that the Zelda tattoo I have on my wrist was almost the save icon from Silent Hill instead. So with that in mind, I love hearing new and interesting things about the Silent Hill story line. But already, I am feeling like the story of Silent Hill: Origins isn’t adding anything new to the series. It’s pretty much things we already know, Alessa was in a fire, her mom is the cult leader, Dr. Kauffman keeps Alessa hidden and so on… it’s just now you see it in a little more detail through the eyes of Travis the trucker. Further more, there really isn’t a reason for Travis to be in Silent Hill in the first place. There isn’t a daughter or a wife or brother or anything. Maybe it will all feel more complete by the time I finish the game, but right now I feel like I already know what’s going on, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

So, there is a new element to the fighting system… weapon degradation? Yeah… it’s there. I feel kind of odd about it… I feel like it may have originally been there to make the player conserve their weapons in the same way that someone may conserve bullets when they have a gun, but the fact that there are a million things that you can pick up sort of ruins it anyway. Why save when there is a new weapon every five steps? Instead of  being a new element that puts more pressure on the player, it just becomes annoying. As soon as the weapon breaks you have go back to fighting with your fists and have to equip another weapon. The real question is why anyone would bother equipping anything when the punch Travis delivers is so strong that you can fight practically everything with it. I may be able to beat the entire game with little to no weapons, simply punching my way out of Silent Hill. I think the only thing that could salvage this for me is enemies needing the 12 portable TVs I’m carrying bashed on their head instead of punched, but we will have to wait and see.

Alright… the thing that has been bothering me the most is the fact the player can control when the player enters the dark Silent Hill. Travis will see mirrors, and in the mirrors reflection you see the alternate, evil Silent Hill. When Travis touches it, he switches sides. Further more, he can do so at will. I don’t like this, at all. I always felt that the fact that you didn’t know when it would change added both a feeling of tension and the helplessness for the player. Silent Hill was all about the main character feeling lost, and frightened… just a pawn in the world the was swallowing him. Now, the player has a sense of control in what should be a chaotic nightmare. Giving the player control takes away from the suppression that is dark Silent Hill.

Although I’m still not sure about how I feel about these things, I haven’t dismissed this as a bad game yet. I don’t feel like it’s going to be a great game either, but I really don’t feel like this game will be a bomb (even with weapon degradation).  I predict it will be an average game, maybe a good game, but still not living up to the Silent Hill glory days. We’ll just have to wait and see.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Game Reviews