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    Left for Dead (2)? Maybe left behind

    Played a quick game of the L4D2 demo last night with Greg. I can’t say I was really impressed. I liked the new characters and the melee abilities (geetar!)… and the magnum pistol… But the other weapons didn’t stand out and the new monsters weren’t memorable. I’ll give it another go on a server that isn’t so laggy, but I may end up waiting until I can catch the game on a $20 weekend like I did the first one.

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    Left 4 Dead — a gateway drug?

    I seem to find an FPS that I enjoy every few years. First, there was Doom 2. Subsequent games within my field of view (Quake (2), Halo) were too complicated for me in their control schemes. Crouching, jumping, aiming. Doom 2 had none of these, was still great. Playing Quake was like moving from a 3-button Sega Genesis controller to a modern XBox 360 controller. Buttons everywhere for shit I couldn’t keep track of.

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    Custom Left 4 Dead map: Zelda

    With the release of the Left 4 Dead campaign bundler thing last week, I hunted around yesterday for compiled user-made campaigns… and found not a single complete one in the VPK format. Folks had levels as separate files that sort of made campaigns, but I don’t much feel like manually changing levels when I play. I like the seamless nature of a campaign. But one level tempted me enough for me to play it: zteer’s Zelda map. It’s definitely a change from the standard levels, adding a very Zelda feel. It’s got keys, teleporting hands, doors that lock until all monsters are killed, and — very awesomely — a dungeon…

  • On Life and Love

    So many shenanigans

    Greg ran his second Promethean game tonight. It’s my first time in a bi-weekly campaign, and that combined with my fatigue and the newness means I’m having a hard time getting a grasp on my character. I picked an unusual character type for me (manic and ditzy, albeit smart… like a “blonde” Miles Vorkosigan), which means I have to keep reminding myself not to be the firm and common sensical (read: grumpy) “leader” I usually feel I need to be. We have a nice, small gaming group, and it’s a group that I think I can be comfortable enough with to play a manic and ditzy character. Less urge to…

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    Zomblies!

    Greg went artsy with his Left 4 Dead review, but art aside, I’ve got to be honest: That shit is fun as hell. I’ve never been able to play a first-person shooter so easily and have so much damn fun. I’ve been waiting for a co-op game like this since I started playing Doom II back when I was 11 or 12. My mother and father weren’t so into computer games like that, and I was (otherwise blissfully) an only child. As a Survivor in Left 4 Dead, though, I consistently do the most damage to my teammates (hey, I’ve got to be proud of something), have consistently awful aim,…