Left 4 Dead

Game: Left 4 Dead

System: Xbox 360 & PC

Release: November 2008


Anyone who is a fan of the First Person Shooter should know Valve. They are the geniuses responsible for such dynasties as Half-Life, Counter Strike, Portal, Team Fortress, and most recently Left 4 Dead. All of these games have remarkable gameplay and addictive multiplayer. Valve has an unbeaten record of success in the FPS market similar to Blizzards thriving supremacy in online RPGs.

Left 4 Dead feels remarkably similar to other Valve games with the same great gameplay that is expected from the Source engine. Combat is smooth and intense. For the single player and coop game modes users take control of four survivors. These lucky fellows get to fight there way out of a zombie infection that has apparently taken over most of the country. Now these aren’t your typical zombies. They are fast and numerous jumping over obstacles to kill anyone who is not infected. If you are familiar with 28 Days Later, then you have a good idea of what you will be up against. The “Horde” is supported by five boss zombies—tank, smoker, boomer, hunter, and witch. The tank is a hulk like zombie that deals out a ton of damage. Smokers can snatch survivors with their long tongues paralyzing them until the tongue or Smoker are destroyed. Hunters pounce on their victims pinning them to the ground. Boomers are zombie Fat Bastards who puke on survivors to attract a Horde and explode when killed. Finally there are witches. These crying bitches will destroy all survivors if they are not careful. She is more powerful then a tank, and is best left alone.


The survivors consist of four well done stereotypes. First there is Bill. He is a Vietnam vet who misses the good ole days of killing Charlie. Second is Francis, who apparently loves chaos. This makes the zombie infection a welcomed change of pace to his boring biker days. Then there is Zoey. She just so happens to be the sexy college brunette who loves watching zombie movies. Finally there is Louis. He fills the role of the minority/office worker. He sees the infection has a way out of his dead end job. The survivors handle identically. They can wield the same limited armaments—pistols, smg, assault rifle, hunting rifle, shotguns, pipe bombs, and molotov cocktails. All of these characters are done well, but it would have been nice to have more. With so many stereotypes in the world there could have been additional characters to choose from.

Left 4 Dead is purely a multiplayer game. There is a single player campaign, but it provides little entertainment beyond an initial play through. The two multiplayer game types are Versus and Coop. The later allows four players to venture through a campaign against purely AI enemies. The former provides users the opportunity to play as the Boss Infected. Coop games take advantage of all four campaign stories, but Versus utilizes only two. The limited number of maps is a disappointment, but Valve mixes up each game by randomizing enemy/item spawn points. This means that
each game produces a unique experience—this is especially true in Versus when humans are controlling the boss zombies. At the end of each campaign the stats are displayed like the credits to a movie complementing the horror movie atmosphere this game produces.

Valve has done it again with another successful FPS multiplayer game. There ability to produce addictive entertaining experiences is truly fantastic. The smooth gameplay, random spawn points, and amazing AI produce an intense experience any FPS veteran can appreciate. If Valve continues to support this game with new maps—and maybe characters—then it could possibly become as big as Counter Strike. Rubber’s Review grants Left 4 Dead a 4.5 out of 5.

LOTR: Conquest IGN Preview

UPDATE: Here is some more marketing videos for LOTR: Conquest http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14226954/the-lord-of-the-rings-conquest/videos/lotr_multiplayer_010709.html
All moves done by Snerts001 is yours truly--despite what my bosses say. I really had a blast helping out the marketing guys capture some awesome moves.

Working in the video game industry has it's perks. Check out this IGN Preview of Lord of the Rings Conquest (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/937/937710p1.html). The videos show games that I got a chance to participate in alongside Pandemic coworkers and IGN staff. Snerts001 is the profile name I was using, and anyone other then Natedog was a Pandemic employee. Follow the link to see the action, and my awesome skills.

Mirror's Edge

Game: Mirror’s Edge

System: Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Release: November 2008


Throughout the history of videogames jumping has been a key feature--just ask Mario. Some games like, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, will focus on acrobatics first and combat second. Mirror's Edge takes this to heart from the first-person perspective. The result is a truly unique experience that defies the basic FPS tactics challenging users in new exciting ways.

Players take control of the parkour Faith. Parkour? Ya I've never heard of it either. Apparently it is the act of getting from one place to the other as quickly as possible. This requires participants to use their own body in very acrobatic intense scenarios to get over the various obstacles from Point A to B. This all started in France, and apparently can be traced all the way back to WWI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour). Now why would I go into such details about parkour? Sadly it is more interesting then the plot of Mirror's Edge.

As stated above, the protagonist is Faith a parkour in an unnamed totalitarian metropolis. The organization that she belongs to consist of a handful of "runners" that deliver vital information between parties that obviously can't use their local post office. What's in the package? Can't tell ya cause it's a mystery. In fact throughout the game player's will be doing more detective work than deliveries. This isn't necessarily bad, and on the surface makes for an interesting plot. Unfortunately the story is simplistic at best. Faith stumbles upon a murder, and the suspect just so happens to be her sister. Of course her sibling is being set up by the evil powers at be, and it is up to Faith to unravel the conspiracy. By the end her parkour organization has been double crossed from within. Anyone she worked with is either a traitor or a corpse--with the exception of her sister. The siblings get to reunite for the not so emotional ending.

Thankfully this game doesn't need a plot. The gameplay is truly unique, and creates tons of potential for similar games in the future. There is a bit of a learning curve, especially with combat, but once users get a feel for Faith it's on like Donkey Kong. Throughout the game players will wall run, climb pipes, hop over or slide under obstacles. All of the moves can be pulled of in real time which requires pin point accuracy and timing. The level design takes full advantage of what Faith can do. Each acrobatic technique is utilized frequently throughout the game, and many of the levels have segments with multiple paths. Everything is also done in first-person which may lead to the occasional nauseated player.

For combat, Faith works most efficiently when getting the drop on enemies. With the press of a button the unsuspecting opponent will be disarmed and knocked out. When the element of surprise is not on her side Faith must punch, grapple, and shoot her way to freedom. She has a basic three hit melee combo, jump and slide kicks, and the ability to steal an enemies' weapon. With some experimentation players will quickly realize what combos work best. To aide in the execution of these moves the game includes a bullet time. This helps limit the frustration for the disarm ability, and other moves, that take precise timing to pull off. Shooting in this game is limited and basic—as it should be for a title focused on movement. There is the standard collection of guns from pistols to rifles. Each handles fairly well, and come with sparse ammo to encourage more running. Once again all of the action is presented from the first person creating a unique gaming experience.

Each chapter throws in just enough combat to add some variety but clearly the focus is on acrobatics. Faith's adventure will take you from rooftops to subways all bursting with eloquence. The anime like graphical style creates a vibrant and engaging environment. Even the cut scenes have flair taking a cell shaded approach to major story beats. The electronica audio track and sound effects seal the deal on a brilliantly fresh presentation. The artistic choices may not please everyone, but any open-minded gamer can see the blatant individuality this game delivers. Individuality, however, is far from perfection.

Critics of Mirror’s Edge are quick to denote a handful of faults with the game. I personally don’t agree with all of them, but that doesn’t mean they are invalid. Mirror’s Edge is a trial and error videogame. Players will die quite frequently throughout the adventure usually by falling. Combat will also be a consistent source of death due to the games learning curve. The pain of this fact is lessened by fast loading times and well placed checkpoints, but still generates frustration. The annoyance of death, however, is often based on the player’s skill and knowledge. Once someone learns the ropes the game becomes fast paced entertainment. Another critique of Mirror’s Edge is its length. The story can easily be completed in six hours. Fortunately there is a Time Trial mode where users can attempt to complete segments of the game as quickly as possible. A red ghost racer can be brought up to illustrate members of the leader boards or the player’s best time. There also will be DLC in the near future with new levels. The final complaint warranted against Mirror’s Edge is the story. As stated earlier it is simple, short, and unmemorable.

Despite these few faults, Dice does a great job in creating an original take on the first person shooter. With a few adjustments and subtle additions Mirror’s Edge could be a brilliant new franchise. More stealth abilities, a knife, better writing, and an even sharper execution of the basics may boost this game from innovative to blockbuster. Rubber’s Review gives the game 4 out of 5.

Here is a preview of the upcoming DLC.