22 Apr 2009

Valve give the gift of Survival

For those of you who don't know, today is actually 'International Downloadable Content for Zombie Shooters Day'. It's a worthy cause, with all funds going towards... well, creating more zombie shooters, I expect. As far as I can tell though, Valve Software are the only ones who have really contributed to this wonderful occasion by releasing their long-promised Survival Pack for co-op horror hit, Left 4 Dead.


If you've already bought the game the update will download as soon as Steam is started and after it's done you'll be presented with the Dead Air and Death Toll campaigns playable in Versus Mode as well as a brand new Survival game-type.

The new Versus maps are a welcome extension to the original game and something players been waiting some time for, whilst Survival mode is something altogether different, recreating those intense siege moments that make up the end of the campaigns. Except it's timed. And there is no rescue.

Taking rooms from various parts of the campaign -and one brand new lighthouse map- the premise is to stock up on guns and ammo before triggering the horde and then being torn to pieces within ten minutes. Although you're apparently less likely to make it to five. Ouch.

It's been a while since I last opted for a bout of Infected slaughter so it seems an appropriate time to dust off my shotgun and get right back into it. Here's hoping more developers will be offering up their support next year on this, the day of undead-depicting-software celebration!

4 comments:

Jason said...

Thus far, my friends and I have manage to survive for 4 minutes and 20 seconds. The average time was about 2.5 minutes. We had a blast dying though.

Rowan Davies said...

I'm seriously chomping at the bit to give it a go, but I know if I dive in I may never come out again. The persistent invites from Steam friends are not easy to decline though!

Oh... and I promise I will get around to covering Defense Grid soon enough...

Maff said...

5.45, bitch! It made me want to cry a bit afterwards though...

Also, despite your lofty pretensions, you love generic shooters as my nearly worn-out copy of CoD attests to!

Rowan Davies said...

Dude, I have been trying to buy World at War all week. Alas, my credit card hates me.

Also, I have no lofty pretensions about generic shooters! They were the reason I got into gaming! Although I assume that Valve had to make it easier for console players because they have to suffer an inferior control system. Zing!