If you’re hankering for some stealth with a side of shotgun to the face, all at a low price, Toys R Us has you covered.

The retailer is offering last year’s award winning Zombie slaying title “Left 4 Dead 2″ with Ubsisoft’s upcoming (releases tomorrow) Sam Fisher tale “Splinter Cell: Conviction” for a healthily low price of $63 after shipping.

Early reviews for “Conviction” have been positive and Valve’s shooter, well, we know all about that already.

No idea how long the deal will last, so I’d get in while the going is good, and it is certainly good.

Here’s how it works: add both games to your cart, pay the $2.98 in shipping, and you’re a smart shopper.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Left 4 Dead 2

Valve released a crippling statistic today. And it wasn’t how many Twinkies the entire staff eats during the development cycle of one of their games.

The number is a Left 4 Dead 2 zombie killcount, and it numbers in the billions. 28,981,249,043 to be exact.

That’s how many foaming-at-the-mouth undead gamers have slain since the game released late last year. Pretty impressive.

To put that mammoth figure in perspective though, consider these points of inspection from Valve.

• The entire population of the planet has been zombified and killed 4.26 times.
• With the average height of a zombie being 6 feet, if you stacked them end to end they would circle the globe 1,322 times.
• If you placed 28,981,249,043 rulers end to end, they would reach 28,981,249,043 feet in the sky.

Not to worry though because Valve has promised to make more.

Source: Left 4 Dead Blog

Valve, at today’s X10 event in San Francisco, unveiled “The Passing” as the first batch of downloadable content for the mighty Left 4 Dead 2 and talked about how it’ll relate to the original zombie apocalypse game.

The DLC releases in March and in it, players will meet up with Left 4 Dead 1 characters Francis, Bill, Zoey and Louis, where they’ll appear as non-playable characters.

Valve’s Chet Faliszek told mega-game blog Kotaku that “Left 4 Dead 2′s survivors will rendezvous with the original quartet later on in the campaign, and that they will aid Coach, Nick, Ellis and Rochelle in finishing the third map in the campaign.”

That’s all well and good, but here’s where it gets interesting.

About a month after “The Passing” releases, Valve will release a new campaign for Left 4 Dead 1, which will tell the tale of how Francis, Bill, Zoey and Louis came to meet up with the L4D2 squad in “The Passing.” This unnamed campaign will only be playable in the original Left 4 Dead, not the sequel.

Look for “The Passing” for PC and Xbox 360 in March and more information about the Left 4 Dead 1 DLC in the coming weeks.

Source: Kotaku

Tanks in Left 4 Dead 2 are a mean bunch. They’re huge, bullet-taking behemoths, that never go down easy.

Thankfully, Steam Forum user Urik created this comprehensive weapon effectiveness breakdown chart, displaying relevant and helpful information in the slaying of these brutes.

Note, the chart is set for the Expert difficulty.

Well, there you have it. Melee weapons are where it’s at. Now, grow a pair and charge these storming chargers and spill the blood, the way you know you can.

So, remember that crazy, stupid uproar about Left 4 Dead 2, and how it’s release less than a year after the original was something to whine about?

Well, shove those tears back up your eye sockets, as Valve today announced that Left 4 Dead 2, a truly magnificent sequel, has sold over 2 million copies in just two weeks.

“Left 4 Dead 2 is off to a great start with strong support at retail and great reviews from the press,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “Meanwhile the title has already been played by over 1 million Xbox LIVE Gold account holders, and news regarding L4D2 DLC 1 is coming very soon.”

Now, off to kill some zombies!

Some people like Halo.  Some people like Call of Duty.  Me?  When I’m ready to get together with a few of my closest friends and brutally gun things down, Left 4 Dead is my co-op game of choice.  There are many reasons for this: it’s easy to pick up and trade off controllers.  The campaigns are a good length.  Its goriness is offset by its goofiness.  Online play is a blast.  And every play-through feels completely different from the last.  Overall it’s an incredibly balanced, light-feeling game with those wry and witty details I’ve come to expect from Valve.

So of course, when Left 4 Dead 2 was released, not even a spinal chord injury could keep me from playing.  Much to my delight I found the gameplay mostly unchanged; you’re still controlling four immune survivors through five campaigns filled with Hannibal Lecter cosplayers.  The major changes are the new campaigns and an expanded library of weapons, medicines, ammunition, and enemies.

The South is a trendy setting, and luckily it jives well with the series sense of the absurd.  You’ll be fetching snacks for hillbillies in exchange for rocket launcher cover, driving through plate-glass windows in a stock car ala the Dukes of Hazard, mowing down killer clowns with your trusty banjo, and all-in-all enjoying a game that takes itself much less seriously than the average FPS.   From a carnival of death to a rainy swamp, the new environments are–frankly put–amazing.  They’re atmospheric and diverse, and are sure to provide hours of creepy delight.

The series displayed its flair for the cinematic in the Dead Air plane crash of the first release; moments like these are sprinkled throughout all campaigns, and my first play-through dropped my jaw more than once.  I never thought I could be so excited about fetch quests, but there are great strategic mini-missions that force you out of the “shoot everything that moves” mentality.  The levels are much less linear this time around, with multiple routes to the safe-house, adding another layer to strategy.  There are even moments where you benefit by breaking the cardinal rule of the Left 4 Dead Series: NEVER split up.

Multiple new weapons and items have been introduced to aid your zombie-killing efforts.  I’m very much a barbarian when it comes to weaponry: if it kills things, I’ll use it until it breaks or runs out of ammo, then I’ll just pick up whatever is closest.  Guns still fall into three categories: things that shoot a lot but hurt a little, things that shoot a little but hurt a lot, and sniper-type rifles.  Laser sights are fun add-ons, but they’re more flair than substance.  Incendiary rounds and Boomer Bile are best saved for big enemies, but as I stated, I’m a big fan of good-old-fashioned lead.  Defibrillators are an implausible but fantastic addition to your medical arsenal, allowing you to revive even long-dead party members.  Adrenaline, which will increase your speed, is only useful in very specific situations, and I find the pain pills to be a more practical inventory item.  While the expanded choices aren’t uniformly useful, they certainly increase your strategic capabilities.

Unfortunately, with increase in tactical abilities, the intelligence of your companions seems to plummet.  I remember fondly that I could count on Zoe to snipe the roof-top Smokers while I was busy spraying friendly shotgun fire onto Louis and Francis.    Man, those were the days!  Perhaps they gain competency when playing on easier modes, but on advance they felt a bit dopey, especially in the missions that required more action than just firing guns.

Of the new special infected, we have the Spitter, the Charger, and the Jockey.  I only really loved the idea of the Jockey, which will take control of you and steer you off of cliffs and into traps; the Spitter overlaps a bit too much with the Boomer for me, but perhaps he’ll grow on me.  The Charger, however, was a waste of programming.  It’s the annoying little brother of the pants-wettingly frightening Tank, and it fills no function that the Hunter doesn’t.

Perhaps the only disappointment I feel with this release is the loss of the feeling of simplicity and lightness that came with so few options.  You had health packs, pain pills, pipe bombs, molotov cocktails, and that’s was it!  Now with defibrillators, adrenaline, Boomer bile, laser sights, axes, crowbars, baseball bats, samurai swords, three more kinds of special infected, and multiple variants on common infected, the game has lost the simplicity that made its balance so apparent and so appealing.  Since it’s such an appealing party game, I regret that my more casual gamer friends may have difficulty keeping track of all these new toys.

I also detect a small downgrade in the intuitiveness of the game’s flow.  Music cues that both helped the gamer and enhanced their excitement have suddenly become as slow as the AI.  Character movement feel less vetted, and I found myself firing often at Nick, whose silhouette I found indistinguishable from the zombie masses.  Almost invisible features, such as auto-crouching to enter low spaces, has been done away with.  You know–small things that made the game faster, easier to learn, and gave you fewer scrambling-for-the-right-button moments.  I definitely feel some of the additions were superficial: padding added to justify the release of a new game rather than additional content for the first, especially when so many of the game elements are identical.

Blast Factor: Overall, I probably would’ve been happier with additional content for the first game, or a greater amount of time and thought put into balancing the sequel as well as its predecessor.  But despite some issues, this is still a great game, and I’m sure myself and my friends will be pouring as much time into this one as we did the last.  The new campaigns are the stars of the show, and they alone make this title well worth owning.

Left 4 Dead 2 is available on the Xbox 360 and the PC, and retails for $59.99 and $49.99 respectively. A copy of this game was purchased for the purposes of reviewing.

I know your type. You’re the kind of person who salivates over the thought of the flesh and blood of mindless undead hordes caking the walls of claustrophobic locations after you’ve pumped round after round of hot lead into their skulls.

You’re a Left 4 Dead gamer, aren’t you?

If so, you should be happy to know a demo for Valve’s zombie-slaughter sequel Left 4 Dead 2, hit Xbox Live today for all to enjoy prior to the game’s release in two weeks.

Try your hand, literally, at Left 4 Dead 2 today, and see if you can stomach the unholy carnage.

I raise my glass to you, Mr. Face-destroying-zombie-crippling-soldier!

Start your demo right now, even if you’re at school or work, through the Xbox Live Web Marketplace

With Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 pegged for a Nov. 17 release, a little over a month from now, we get more ancy with each passing day without an official cinematic trailer.

Well, that void (sorta) ended today, as a leaked, and pre-rendered trailer for the game hit the web, namely, Youtube.

What do we see here? Parts of the “Dead Center” and “Hard Rain” campaigns, but also some of the game’s new weapons and enemies. It’s a great trailer to what looks to be an impressive game. Take a look.

Valve today announced that a demo for Left 4 Dead 2 will become available October 27…for those who pre-ordered.

Ah, the joys of pre-order incentives.

Wording is tough on this one, so enjoy this breakdown and when you’ll be able to kick some zombie tail.

Those who pre-ordered- October 27

Xbox Live Gold subscribers and PC gamers – November 3

Everyone else- November 10 (the day some other game goes on sale)

Left 4 Dead 2 release date - November 17

The demo will take place during the events of the “Parish” campaign set in the French Quarter of New Orleans and will will let one to four players game together online or locally on both the Xbox 360 and PC versions.

Additionally, in the demo you’ll meet new infected zombie bosses and use the game’s new melee weapons. Nice!

Source: Kotaku

The Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott group has been disbanded. The group, 41-thousand members deep, will officially shut down Oct. 21, as founders have renewed faith in Valve and Left 4 Dead 2 to be a quality, and monetarily worthy product.

The group’s journey was “to get Valve’s attention and have them support original L4D” and with Valve already coming through on that account, the boycott group sees no reason to continue.

Valve flew the boycott leaders to Valve headquarters recently and maybe thugs beat them up in a backroom, or they actually got their point across, either way, the group is no more.

“The boycott has served its purpose and it is now up to you all as individuals to decide what is right for you” said Walking_Target, one of two group leaders.

What have we learned here? Not entirely sure.

Source: IGN

Valve today revealed they’ll be sinking $25 million into a vast marketing effort for their zombie-killing sequel “Left 4 Dead 2.”

The original Left 4 Dead was very popular both with critics and fans and went on to sell millions, but that was done with only a $10 million effort to promote it, the sequel is costing $15 million more.

“We’ll be supporting Left 4 Dead 2′s launch with a $25 million campaign,” said Doug Lombardi, Valve’s vice-president of Marketing. “Left 4 Dead 2 has already set the record for greatest number of pre-orders in our company’s history, and we’re still over a month out from shipping.”

What this literally means is a fierce and brutal marketing effort on Valve’s part is behind that cash. We’re talking billboards, TV-spots just about everywhere, banner ads on gaming sites, and a generally larger-scale advertising campaign in the United Kingdom.

I haven’t seen a single advertisement yet for the game, and we’re only a little over a month out for the game’s November 17 release date. That’ll likely change, and change soon. The inescapable walls of zombie-marketing are closing in. Can you feel it yet?

via Kotaku

Valve today detailed pre-order goodies for the zombie-killing sequel Left 4 Dead 2. Early demo access, 10% off the game when it hits, and in-game premiums are yours, provided you throw money down.

Anyone pre-purchasing through Steam or other participating retailers can start playing October 27, when the early-demo period is said to begin, save 10% off the MSRP, and earn the American Baseball Bat, one of the game’s new melee weapons.

If you’re not yet sold on the sequel. Steam is also offering the original Left 4 Dead at 50% off, or $14.99, and that comes with all the new DLC, including Crash Course.

Valve’s zombie-fest of a project, “Left 4 Dead 2″ has hit a snag in the Australian game market.

The Australian ratings board has “refused classification” for the game meaning it can’t be made commerically available in the land down under.

What facet of Left 4 Dead 2 is just “too much” for the Australian gamer? Sure the game is centered around the evisceration and total annihilation of the undead. But undead means zombies, and we all know they’re pretty much dead. No says Australia. Well they put it a little more eloquently. Have a look.

* The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play.

* It notes that this violence is “inflicted upon “Ëœthe Infected’ who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently.”

* The report singles out the use of melee weapons as those that “inflict the most damage” and cause “copious amounts of blood spray and splatter (sic), decapitations and limb dismemberment”¦ or even cause intestines to spill from the wounds.”

* In conclusion, the Board finds that the “interactive nature of the game increases the overall impact of the frequent and intense depictions of violence. This coupled with the graphic depictions of blood and gore combine to create a playing impact which is high.”

Sorry Australian zombie head-hunters. Unless the Australian Government loosens up soon, you’re S.O.L.

Left 4 Dead 2 “Banned” in Australia @ Kotaku

Valve is upping the ante in Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to the award-winning original with brain-hungry clown zombies! These carnivorous undead freak-a-zoids will be found in the game’s “Dark Carnival” campaign, which will undoubtedly forever change your perception of the once jovial balloon-animal creators.

Left 4 Dead 2 is due out this November for Xbox 360, but if you feel like sh*tting your pants today, glance a bit lower to see the screens Valve released today.

Ahhhhhhhhh

"The Jockey"

November 18, 2008 was a great day for gamers and zombie fans alike.

It was the day that Valve’s immensely popular Left 4 Dead title was officially released.

Since that fateful autumn day, both PC and Xbox 360 owners were finally able to truly know what it took to survive the zombie apocalypse.‚  With shotguns and health packs in hand, even the most average Joe (such as myself) were able to star in their own undead cinematic adventure while harming thousands of zombies in the process, leaving many wanting more.

Valve has recognized the zombie bloodlust they have nurtured and have started development on the sequel for Left 4 Dead, called Left 4 Dead 2.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on Valve’s next apocalyptic first-person shooter at San Diego Comic-Con 2009.‚  Though the game is still in development, the creators of Half-Life and the Source Engine did not disappoint with what they had to offer.

Taking place in what seems to be various parts of the southern region of the United States, Left 4 Dead 2 focuses on four new playable characters as they move from safe house to safe house, trying to survive until rescue arrives.‚  Each character has‚  their own back story and contributes some subtle Cajun twang, giving Left 4 Dead 2 an authentic southern feel throughout the game.

The first thing I noticed when getting my hands on Left 4 Dead 2 was how visually stunning it was compared to the initial title.‚  I believe Marc Normandin, my boss and temporary Comic-Con roommate, said it best by gasping, “This looks 100x better.”‚  The longer I played the game, the more I realized that I would not have to stare at dark, grainy NPC models and environments any longer.‚  It was truly a sight to see.

Helping with the previously too-dark-to-see nature of the original Left 4 Dead had an easy solution: making some of the movies take place during the day time.‚  In both of the abbreviated stories I played, my team fought through hordes of undead Southerners in almost broad daylight, evoking memories of certain scenes from 28 Days Later.‚  The motions of the zombies were “completely redone” according to Valve reps, allowing seamless transitions from resting to attacking states.‚  The developers also made the zombies’ detachable limbs more realistic and thoroughly more enjoyable.

Beyond the impressive visual qualities, Left 4 Dead 2 also had plenty of new content to enjoy.‚  Valve did every zombie fan a service by adding various melee weapons to the game.‚  Items such as chainsaws, cricket bats, axes and even frying pans have been added to the mix.‚  Though I didn’t have the pleasure of using the chainsaw nor the cricket bat, I can vouch for the high level of satisfaction that using the axe and frying pan can bring to the game’s experience.‚  Melee weapons can be used in two ways; a player can either use a normal attack or a power attack.‚  Normal attacks or quicker, but take multiple hits to kill enemies while power attacks are slower, but offer a faster and more gruesome takedown of the undead.‚  Melee weapons are carried similarly to the gas tanks in the original title; players can hold the weapon without having to drop their main gun, but will have to drop the frying pan/axe if they would like to access any other item in their inventory.

The folks at Valve were also kind enough to add some guns as well.‚  I had a chance to take a sneak peak at the new AK47 and grenade launcher weapons in the game and I was very impressed.‚  The AK47, though not noticeably different to the M-4 in the way it fired, added some diversity to the upgrade guns received when players progressed to the later parts of the stories.‚  The grenade launcher, or “friendly-fire hell” as a Valve rep described it, is a completely new weapon added to the game.‚  Shooting high-powered explosives, the grenade launcher can take out numerous amounts of zombie foes and, as I unfortunately learned, your teammates as well.

Those new weapons will be very helpful when taking out the added “special infected” enemies unique to Left 4 Dead 2.‚  The two new infected I battled were called the Charger and the Spitter.‚  The Charger looked like a mix between a Boomer and a Tank, attacking the survivors with power, speed and a terribly destructive arm.‚  Chargers focus on one character, stampede towards them and smashes them into the ground.‚  Though the Charger is virtually unstoppable when it is running towards you, teammates will be galad to know that it is fairly weak and can be eliminated quickly.‚  Spitters had the opposite approach when compared to the Charger.‚  Instead of running towards enemies, Spitters (shown below) shoot projectile similar-to-napalm saliva at their targets.‚  The substance covers the ground and does damage to whoever remains standing in it.

There are also unique-to-movie infected within the game.‚  In one of the movies, players will fight off zombies that are dressed in SWAT gear.‚  Though these undead officers look like your ordinary horde members, they are actually very difficult to kill as they are unaffected when the front of their bodies hit with bullets.‚  The quickest way to take them down is a melee attack, making the nearest frying pan your new best friend.

Valve also answered my prayer when it came to final showdowns.‚  In the first Left 4 Dead title, every movie ended with a final showdown that took place in a small building or shack.‚  Players would essentially have to hold the fort until help arrived every time they wanted to beat the game.‚  However, it seems that Valve has developed a new diverse collection of endings for their new game’s stories.‚  In one of the demos I played, the final showdown actually took place on a bridge.‚  My team and I had to run across the bridge, killing dashing zombies as they funneled through abandoned traffic.‚  Once you cross the bridge and survive certain doom, players board a helicopter and finish the movie.‚  This is a perfect example of how changing even the smallest details can satisfy the most hard-to-please gaming critic.

The Artificial Intelligence (AKA “The Director”) in Left 4 Dead seemed to be over hyped prior to its release in 2008 and, to a certain extent, I feel that there was legitimate disappointment in how it played.‚  Left 4 Dead 2 hopes to change my mind with its revamped AI 2.0.‚  Though I don’t have the specifics on the modifications in 2.0, I can say that Left 4 Dead 2 seemed more difficult than its predecessor when it came to spawning health items and pacing.‚  At worst, Left 4 Dead 2 should be a more exciting and challenging experience if the alterations to The Director are maintained.

A main concern for many fans the first Left 4 Dead title was that Left 4 Dead 2 would end up being what the original “should’ve been”.‚  While it would have been nice to see the enhanced graphical presentation in the earliest game, Left 4 Dead 2 seems to have plenty of features to be something more than a slight upgrade to the original.‚  As a fan of the original and optimist for the sequel, I am looking forward to picking up my copy of Left 4 Dead 2 when it drops in November 2009.

Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 will be released in November 2009 exclusively for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.

It seems like just yesterday that Valve released their horrifyingly addictive Left 4 Dead first-person-shooter experience, but believe it or not, a sequel, announced this morning is alive, breathing, and on the way later this year for Xbox 360 and PC.

The game takes place this time around in the southern reaches of the United States, namely Savannah Georgia, in and around the bayou, and all the way to the painful ending in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

With Zoe and co. nowhere to be found in this sequel, what four zombie-killers will we have the opportunity, no, pleasure to play as this time around?

Valve didn’t drop any names just yet, but have a look at the poster below to see the group in their movie-poster style shot.

The guy on the very right bears a striking resemblance to the Scout from TF2, but could be just a coincidence, or plain wrong on my part.

The news continues to swarm the internet highway today as Microsoft unveiled Left 4 Dead 2 and Crackdown 2 this morning at their media breifing in Los Angeles with gruesome and terrifying videos depicting new terror and more compelling methods of play in both titles.

The Left 4 Dead video was very brief, but from what we saw, the setting is now a more sunny, and open outdoors, at least in the one scene, and still remains centered around killing hordes of the undead.

Most intriguingly, the playable cast of characters is to be 100% changed and title was slapped with a release date of November 17 for Xbox 360 and PC “exclusively,” although we’ve heard Microsoft throw around the word exclusive before and not mean it.

Kotaku was lucky enough to speak with Valve representatives and learned some more juicy details surrounding the title.

“the game will add melee combat, deeper cooperative gameplay and new weapons, including a chainsaw, frying pan, axe and baseball bat.”

On top of that, confirmed elements in the sequel include the AI Director 2.0 which allows Valve to “take the game’s dynamic gameplay to the next level” by changing the weather, objects, effects and sound in the game world.

Finally, “Valve says the game is much larger than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.”

I must say, with the original being as freakin’ awesome as it was, a sequel has a lot to live up to, that said however, if anyone can make a sequel better than the original, it’s Valve.

CrackDown 2 was also shown this morning but really we don’t have much to go on other than that it was confirmed to exist and that you’ll be slaying the undead in a city plagued by some malevolent disease, and that the game is being developed by Ruffian.‚  Hooray for more mindless killing of the mindless!

Thanks Kotaku