Over the weekend Valve Software announced that it will release a second batch of DLC for its zombie apocalypse shooters Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Dubbed “The Sacrifice,” this new bit of content tells the story of how one of the original L4D survivors (you know who I’m talking about if you played “The Passing”) bites the big one so his (or her…) friends can keep moving on. The cool thing is, when you play “The Sacrifice,” you get to choose which survivor takes the plunge for his/her homies. While it may not be cannon to the story, it does give you a chance to have some fun with your least favorite survivor (Francis… I’m looking at you).

The best news about this DLC is that it is coming to both L4D and L4D2. On top of that, the campaign No Mercy from L4D is officially being ported over to L4D2. That means you’ll be chainsawing Chargers on the Mercy Hospital rooftop, while trying to avoid being Jockeyed off the edges. Read more… »

While it has yet to be officially confirmed by Valve, Game Informer is reporting that the much anticipated first-person puzzler Portal 2 will hit stores on February 9, 2011. According to the magazine, which first revealed Portal 2 with it’s April 2010 cover story, this release date was confirmed by Valve employees at Gamescom 2010.

Apparently, Game Informer is also reporting that the new robo-buddy Wheatley, seen in the trailers, will be voiced by Stephen Merchant, best known for being the co-creator of The Office. Read more… »

Well, it seems to be that time again: summer. You know what I’m talking about; when the excitement of getting out of school and having no responsibilities wears off and all you’re left with is boredom and an empty wallet. Well, don’t fret. Your buddy Alex is here with the first piece in what I hope will be  a long series of articles listing free-to-play games that will help you pass the rest of the season.

I know what you’re thinking. “Free to play? There are tons of free to play games… and they all suck.” Well, lately there has been a major push from studios like Turbine Entertainment and Valve to get some AAA free-to-play games on the market. I’ve done my very best to ween out all the crap games so that you have a concise, organized list of decent titles that are actually worth your time. Read more… »

Remember way back in February, when my buddy Curtis told you about a new Worms titles coming to Steam? Well, today Team17 announced that Worms Reloaded will hit the digital distributor on August 26.

With the series spanning more than seventeen titles, a lot of you are probably wondering what’s so special about Reloaded. According to the press release, there will be: “over 60 single-player missions (including new Warzone Campaign and Bodycount Mode), a fully featured landscape creator, 45+ plus weapons spanning the entire Worms series and a huge currency based customization system – all wrapped up in HD quality visuals.” Read more… »

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you know that everyone is raving about Alien Swarm; the free, 4 player, top-down, co-op shooter released by Valve on its Steam service.

Well, word got out that there are a few simple console commands that allow you to get down and dirty with the aliens by playing in first-person. Don’t believe me? See for your self. Read more… »

Today digital distributor Steam launched a new set of sales for no particular reason besides that it’s summer. Dubbed the “Perils of Summer” sale, Steam is offering a variety of publisher-specific discounts until July 4.

In addition to the publisher-specific deals, Steam is also offering a drastic discounts on select games (“up to 90% off regular prices.”) The catch is, every day, new games are going to be discounted, so refresh your Steam browser regularly.

To check out which games are on sale today, hit the jump. Read more… »

Did you play the first Kane & Lynch? I didn’t but I do remember, among other things we’re not going to bring up, the multiplayer being kind of a big deal. IO Interactive and Eidos (now Square Enix Europe) were really pushing the co-operative aspect.

Problem for PC gamers was, well, it kind of didn’t work. The broken multiplayer has led IO Interactive to explore other options and the apparent solution? To use Valve’s popular Steamworks platform.

Read more… »

Today our good friends over at the KritzKast, a Team Fortress 2 centric podcast, let us know that they recently got a hold of TF2‘s co-creator and software developer Robin Walker. Robin was kind enough to answer some questions about the history, current and future development of TF2.

It is important to note that this interview was conducted before the release of Steam on OSX. Despite this, Robin’s answers are still insightful and entertaining. Even if you don’t play TF2 this interview grants gamers a glimpse into the life of a game developer and the choices they face. Read more… »

Today long time strategy guide producer Prima has launched a new method of distribution that revolves around Valve’s Steam service.

Gamers can now purchase game guides off of the Steam store and access them in-game via the Steam overlay. A major advantages of the digital guide format includes video walkthroughs, which are obviously not possible in print. Read more… »

Hot off the presses and fresh to tease your mind about the upcoming release of The Passing, Valve have just released the details of the new achievements associated with the game on the Left 4 Dead blog. While the mandatory golfing achievement makes an appearance to celebrate the new melee weapon, there are a few new details that should have you drooling.

While we do know The Passing takes place between Dead Center and Dark Carnival and our new lovable cast of characters gets to meet with the old cast, one of the achievements mentions a foot locker that must be opened. This sounds to me like it will be very much like the weapons caches in Borderlands, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Read more… »

Sick and tired of waiting for The Passing to come to pass? Well wait no more, my friend. Valve updated the official L4D.com blog yesterday to announce The DLC that brings Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 surviviors together for the first time will be available next week. Whew, that’s a lot of numbers.

For those of you who own the 360 version of the game, you can expect to plunk down 560 MS points for the download, or $7. For the clearly superior PC users, the DLC will be free.

Read more… »

Crossovers in the world of gaming seems fairly common now, what with Sackboy having tons of costumes of popular video game characters and Commander Video and Tim scheduled to make an appearance in Super Meat Boy later this summer. So it makes sense that the guys of  Sam & Max and Team Fortress 2 would team up to.. wait, what?

That’s right, folks. From now until April 23rd, if you pre-order Sam & Max’s latest adventure, The Devil’s Playhouse, you’ll get three items to spruce up your gameplay in Team Fortress 2. The first of these is a purely cosmetic severed Max head hat, but the latter two are both both functional weapons you will be able to use in the game.

Read more… »