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.

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

Beginning today and running through until Nov. 2, gamers can get their freak on in TF2 on a new KOTH map called Harvest, that Valve promises will kill you.

Additionally, frightening masks can be unlocked by earning some new Halloween-themed achievements including “Attack o’ Lantern” and the wonderfully named “Candy Coroner.”

How does a video game company keep fans interested in their game years after it released? Oh yeah, this is how!

Team Fortess 2- Halloween Special Event

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.

Newell also chatted it up about how he Valve sees “entertainment as a service” and that “Team Fortress is the benchmark and that’s the level we intend to bring all products to.”

He also spoke to just why he made the trek to Australia to see a modder’s Left 4 Dead campaign:

“We recognize that we really are part of this community. We talk about it a lot, that we’re not up here and the community’s down here, and the games snowflake in. We really are part of it. We look to that community to see what we should do. … It was pretty clear that this was one of those things that the community fell in love with the idea. They wanted us to come down here and meet with Joe and give him feedback. And in our experience, it’s been very bad idea when we get such a clear signal from pc gaming community, if we ignore it.”

Take a look at the full interview in this Youtube video and let us know what you think in the comments.

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.

Weeks ago Valve, maker of Left 4 Dead, flew two founding members of a Left 4 Dead 2 boycott community group to Valve headquarters in Seattle for some up close and personal time with the zombie shooter in hopes of changing their minds.

That’s all great, but here’s where the fun starts. An Australian Left 4 Dead modder, Joe W-A-e also wanted to be flown to Seattle to show the development team his mod, and Newell jokingly responded saying he’d be boycotting the  mod and Joe was not flown to Valve HQ.

It gets better! Joe then decided to ask community members, through his website, to donate cash to fly Newell to Australia to try out his mod in the flesh. 48 hours later, the website, Fly Gabe Newell, generated over $3,000, which was more than enough to fly Newell and project manager Erik Johnson to the land down under. The two are currently packing for their trip to the land of the kangaroos next week.

Here’s the last twist, I swear. Newell and Johnson will be flying to Australia on their own dimes and will give the money to the Child’s Play charity. How nice!

Newell had this to say about the entire zany situation:

“The power of the gaming community and their ability to rally around a cause — be it serious or fun in nature — is amazing. In 2003, the community helped the FBI and European law enforcement officials find the people who stole the Half-Life 2 source code. This year, the community is putting me on a plane to the other side of the world to meet Joe W-A and see his MOD. It’s going to be a fun trip.”

We should be hearing more of this story next week, but for now, take comfort in the fact that the gaming community is capable of great deeds.

If your PC can run it, and if you’ve never felt the awesome force of a shotgun ripping limbs from the undead, this is the time to get in on the action.

The Game of the Year Edition contains all DLC ever released for the zombie-fest of a title, well, except for this.

Left 4 Dead on Steam

The new campaign, available Sept. 29, will take place between the events of  “No Mercy” and “Death Toll” and will be free for PC gamers and $7/560 MS Points for the rest of you Xbox 360 zombie-annihilating  gunslingers.

Additionally, Valve are releasing a bona fide sequel, “Left 4 Dead 2” in a mere 7 weeks. Ooh la la. A great time to kill zombies!

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 ‘the 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

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"

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.

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 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

Could it be that Gabe Newell, head of Valve is committed to bringing users an absolute perfect product each and every time?  Nah, can’t be that, it’s gotta be because of this..

Yupp, that’s Gabe Newell of Valve cracking skulls in Azeroth on a 42 inch TV.  The man loves him some Warcraft, and we all know the prone to seclusion side effects of that game, don’t we?

News Flash- welcome to Sarcastic Friday- a look at the world of video games’ less serious, more hilarious moments.  If you’ve been reading our heavy hitting onslaught of news this week and every other, you need a break, so enjoy this weekly section and have a laugh.

photo via Flickr

In an effort to generate hype for the title surrounding the soon-to-be-released and hotly-anticipated spy and sniper class updates, Valve is releasing the title pro bono starting today and running until Monday.  Remember when the weekends used to be just Saturday and Sunday? I certainly don’t.

If you haven’t tried out this compelling experience, and have a rig that can handle it, this weekend is certainly a great time to give the game a whirl.  I can’t say TF2 is for everyone, but if you like first-person shooters, frenzied (an understatement) multiplayer mayhem, class-based weapons, tons of humor, and a stylized art style, you’ll dig TF2, I promise.

Team Fortress 2 on Steam.

Revealed today was “The Huntsman”-the latest in the sniper’s weapon arsenal.  The bow and arrow combo is more dynamic than first presumed in that while a headshot will deal critical damage, an accurate body-shot will pin a helpless foe to a nearby wall. Not so tough anymore are you Mr. Scout?

The Huntsman packs 18 arrows of firepower with a one second full-charge time and is finally an excuse I’ve been looking for to get back to the game.

Team Fortress 2–The Sniper Update

The Huntsman

On the surface Survival mode is a straightforward game-type that pits your team against a relentless swarm of infected, vying for the most lengthy survival time.  The combat is frenzied, the walls are caked with undead blood, and your pulse is racing.

However, via an exhaustive official post from Kerry Davis and Scott Dalton on the Left 4 Dead developer blog, the elements of Survival Mode are actually deeper than first imagined.

Survival Mode is distinct from Campaign or Versus in that the duration of each round is under 10 minutes and oriented around team competition through leaderboards.

Furthermore, with each passing round, the difficulty bar is elevated in a number of ways.

The Left 4 Dead developers describe the “difficulty curve” (imaged at right) as such:

“We have numerous variables to work with: mob spawn frequency, special infected spawn frequency, number of each type of special infected, total number of special infected, tank spawn frequency, total number of tanks, and so on. We need all of these variables to work together to create a fairly smooth difficulty curve.”

Due to the lightning pace of Survival Mode infected are killed at an astonishing rate greater than that of an entire campaign play through.  To this effect resources, namely ammo are inherently in limited quantity and strategic use is a must.

“Timing your resources correctly to be able to make a run when necessary can make or break a team.”

Start your free download here via the Xbox Live Web Marketplace.  PC owners stayed tuned for availability, but rest assured it will come today.

via Left 4 Dead blog

Not to be outdone, Valve jumped into the fray today and announced that their zombie FPS has sold over 2.5 million units at retail alone.  That figure is the result of PC and Xbox 360 sales exclusively, with oddly no mention of figures downloaded via Steam.

For whatever reason, Valve doesn’t want us to know their successes in digital distribution, but it can be easily assumed that 2.5 million is in reality significantly higher when the totals are finally, correctly defined.

For now, 2.5 million is an absolutely staggering statistic and if you need reason to jump back in Valve is releasing the Survival DLC next month and won’t cost you any of your hard enough scratch!

via Joystiq

A tongue flies from the woods and grabs a hold of a scruffy biker running next to me.  Like clockwork, the rest of us aim our weapons at the tongue and free our friend. The battle isn’t over. In the background I spot an agile zombie leaping obstacles in an attempt to catch up to us. The number of undead creatures chasing us is growing, and our weapons don’t have enough bullets to stop them all.  
At least not right now.

Suddenly I’m splashed with blinding green slime. While I panic, my comrades try their best to keep us moving while fighting off the now exponentially more aggressive zombies who’ve got a craving for someone covered in slime and running for dear life.  I take too much damage.  I’m at my last stand, on my back with a pistol taking as many shots as I can at the relentless horde, when a booming howl echoes over the rest of the noise. That can’t be good.

Taking care not to disappoint, within a matter of seconds everyone, excluding my crippled self, is split up in a desperate attempt to avoid that howl. The noise is coming from an oversized monster that travels two times as fast as everything else my teammates and I have seen and it catches my eye as it launches a large slab of pavement in my direction. I die. The other three with me split up, attempting to find safety, but are killed within’ a matter of minutes.

Welcome to Valve’s Left 4 Dead, the four player zombie survival game that runs on the Source engine, (made famous by Half-Life and Counterstrike) with polished gusto and rests its motto on the idea that no one should travel alone. Teamwork is everything.

Ever since the introduction of zombie video games like Resident Evil, fans of Zombie Apocalypse scenarios have been hankering for a co-operative experience. However, if you like the slow paced horror feel of a game like Resident Evil, where the camera angles, lighting, music and sound effects all create this eerie, “I’m unprepared,” feeling that delivers a sense of accomplishment when you complete the game, you’ll probably detest Left 4 Dead initially.

L4D takes a different approach. Four characters are equipped with minimal weapons (Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Uzi, Auto-Shotgun, Hunting Rifle, or Pistol) and grenades in what some people would call, “zombie mayhem.”  L4D differs due to the fact that the game itself rips strategy and control out of the player’s hands and instead puts the control in the hands of the zombies themselves.

This means that, while four people can control their characters and how well they can kill zombies, they cannot predict how many zombies will be attacking them at once, nor can they control when boss zombies appear.  Valve has prided themselves on the idea that the enemies in the game spawn randomly every time. By doing this, each level is different each time you play it.

Speaking to Shacknews this week, Valve’s head of marketing Doug Lombardi talked about the status of the apocalyptic thriller.

“So the game is pretty much playable all the way through right now. As we’ve done with most of our games, we get to a point where it’s playable all the way through. There are some [minor] issues that we need to work on, and we try to add more time to the schedule to have as many people as possible play the game, to make sure that it’s approachable to players of all skills,” he said.

Lombardi went on to detail what was next in the development process for the game, which puts players in the shoes of one of four humans in a zombie apocalypse and gives players the chance to take control of the living dead.

“We want to make sure that all the game that we’ve built gets played, not just be like, ‘Okay, it’s complete, let’s ship it,’” he said, while comparing the current status of the game to that of Half Life 2 which followed the same development pattern of being mostly finished in the spring and released in the fall. “We’re in a pretty similar state right now, with it being, what, early May, and we’re looking at the same time frame — November — for shipping.”

Valve’s genre-blending first person shooter/puzzler also took home two other awards at GDC. 2K’s Bioshock, Crytek’s Crysis and Nintendo’s latest Zelda chapter were also big winners.

“The Game Developers Choice Awards stand out from other game industry prizes by being open to all games of a calendar year and by recognizing the individual developers behind each celebrated game,” said Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference. “We are thrilled gamers at home will be able to meet the people behind their favorite games when our first ever television broadcast special on the awards airs soon on the G4 television network.”

The recipients of the 8th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards are:

2007 Best Game Design
Portal (Valve)
Kim Swift, Realm Lovejoy, Paul Graham

2007 Best Visual Art
BioShock (2K Boston/2K Australia / 2K Games)
Scott Sinclair, Shawn Robertson, Andrew James

2007 Best Technology
Crysis (Crytek/Electronic Arts)
Cevat Yerli, Douglas Binks, Timur Davidenko, Martin Mittring

2007 Best Writing
BioShock (2K Boston/2K Australia / 2K Games)
Ken Levine, Emily Ridgway, Joe McDonagh, Susan O’Connor

2007 Best Audio
BioShock (2K Boston/2K Australia / 2K Games)
Eric Brosius, Pat Balthrop, Emily Ridgway, Justin Mullins

2007 Best Debut
Crackdown (Real Time Worlds / Microsoft Game Studios)
Ramon Gonzalez, Violetta Sanchez, Rafael Diaz, Jose Guerra

2007 Innovation
Portal (Valve)
Kim Swift, Erik Wolpaw

2007 Best Handheld Game
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo / Nintendo)
Eiji Aonuma

2007 Best Downloadable Game
Flow (thatgamecompany / Sony Computer Entertainment)
Kellee Santiago, Jenova Chen, Martin Middleton, Hao Cui, John Edwards,
Nick Clark

2007 Game of the Year
Portal (Valve)
Kim Swift, Erik Wolpaw

Recipients for the evening’s special awards were:

Lifetime Achievement Award
Sid Meier

Pioneer Award
Ralph Baer

Ambassador Award
Jason Della Rocca

For more information about the awards and all the recipients, visit: http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/