Left 4 Dead (and Left 4 Dead 2)

Just can't stop playing this. I love it, which is amazing when you consider there are really only four levels which take 30-40 minutes to complete.

It's the team aspect I like most. I've played online a bit but I'm not exactly set up for it so I'm usually with the 3 CPU characters which aren't nearly as frustrating as I thought they were going to be. But yeah, it's the camaraderie.

And Left 4 Dead 2 looks awesome.

Anybody else got faves--

Character - Bill, he's the dad of the group.
Weapon - Auto shottie (hunting rifle is an unexpected close second)
Molotov/Pipe-bomb? - Molotov. Nothing more satisfying than hearing the horde music and laying down a wall of fire for them to run into.
Level? - Tough one... It's either No Mercy or Death Toll. I think Death Toll has the best variety of environments and the Riverside ending is more challenging than the other levels, especially once the boat arrives and the damn CPU characters get lost on their way to rescue.
Witch - Crown or avoid? Used to avoid but if I've got a shotgun, crowing is damnably satisfying.

Can't wait for 2. Wandering witches is probably the most genius thing I've heard all year.

Yeah, I'd agree. There's nothing better than getting online with 4 people you know but I've never felt good playing with strangers. If you join and they're all yelling at each other, it usually means they take it all quite seriously. And if they take it seriously, man, you'd better not accidentally shoot one of them in the back of the head with a shotgun.

Hm... we've potentially got ourselves a neat little team here...

And yeah, I'm biased but that intro movie is one of the best that's ever been made. Not just because of the quality but because it tells you exactly what you're in for without stretching the truth.

Left 4 Dead 2nd DLC, including new campaign mission Crash Course is due for release tomorrow (finally). Should update automatically through Steam. Happy hunting!

I'm downloading as we speak and it's nauseatingly slow. Grrr... I wants me some gun shootin', darnit.

Hm...

Well. It was certainly short, like they said it would be. Uh... lots of trucks and cars about the place. Some new dialogue I heard. I think. So...

L4D2 comes out when?

(seriously, that warehouse depot/truck yard was bigger than the one in friggin' Newark.)

Soon, my pretty... soon...

Oh my.

Gives a whole new meaning to Boomers.

I'm just stating on the record that my copy of L4D2 did not arrive a day early today. No, definitely not. Didn't happen.

In unrelated news I will be busy for the next week, effective immediately.

Yeah, Ellis is fun. And the others are growing on me more than I thought they would.

Shawkins and I just tore it up on Hard Rain. Very, very fun!

Anybody out there who'd like to join us (PC) and doesn't mind (for now at least) tolerating my easy-setting noobishness, feel free to add me as well.

Steam name is Skycoda.

Shawkin's Steam name (posted upthread) is srhatsynsoft.

Don't worry about that. The online games are set up according to their difficult so you can join an easy version of whatever campaign you want. I've not had a bad experience online yet though I'm not a die-hard online player. A headset/mic isn't vital, most people just type if need be. And you can always set up a friends-only match. Not played Survival much, I tend to prefer games that you can complete in some way rather than just waiting to die!

If you play on PC, add Shawkins and I (srhatsynsoft and Skycoda) through Steam and we'll get together one night.

I didn't realise a modified version had been released, I thought they just refused it altogether. The Australian version removes "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail and piles of dead bodies." That is a shame.

2 is definitely more graphic than the first one in terms of heads and limbs flying off and bowels pouring out and blood splattering all over but, comparing it to the first one, it's like a calorie counter worrying about putting a cherry on top of a very fattening sundae.