Valve is a rare beast. As a development house they’ve turned out some of the definitive works in the first person genre. Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal — The Orange Box alone plays out like a who’s who of modern first person gaming. When they announced their latest project would take the form of a zombie apocalypse, we all waited anxiously to see if the Valve hit factory would be able to bat another one out of the park. Would their perfect track record remain unscathed in the face of a zombie invasion? 

Left4Dead places you in the shoes of one of four survivors of a recent zombie apocalypse. Together you and your three squadmates will form a tightknit group and attempt to gun down thousands upon thousands of living dead. The catch? Your squadmates are going to be other gamers, just like yourself. Left4Dead is more than Valve’s attempt to tackle a classic B-movie sub-genre; it’s their attempt to create a co-op game that redefines what a co-op game can be.

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While attempting to leave the Team Fortress 2 merchandise page up “accidentally” so my wife might get some Christmas shopping ideas, I came across the game-junkie gift of the year: Left 4 Dead movie posters.  For those of you scaredy-cats who haven’t played the game, let me get you up to speed.  Each campaign plays out like a film with you as one of the four stars.  When the level loads up you’re shown a poster for the film with credits letting you know who is playing as whom.  Now you can own each poster for $6.99, or all four for $14.99!

Get your terror on people!  Break out the capitalism and good will at the Valve Store now!

Planet Earth.
Or, as the rest of the omniverse calls it, the orb of dreams.
The occupants of which spend so much time asleep and dreaming.
Their vast imaginations humming away, charged with creative energy.
Where does it all go?
Up through a cerebral umbilical cord
Where it collects and melds with all the other dreamer’s energy.
And something wonderful happens –
it forms a world.
An ethereal dreamscape of adventure and possibilities.
An abstract plane of beautiful wonderment
just waiting to be explored
And you can go there now.

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Dan and I have spent a good chunk of time over the past few weeks knee deep in the guts of our COG comrades, and we’ve been loving every minute of it. While the campaign mode seems to be a little light and hokey in the story department, it provides us a snapshot of a different tide in the war. The tone and style of the story gives a fresh coat of paint to a campaign that has remained essentially unchanged. But anyone who’s fired up Gears 2 knows that the game isn’t about the campaign mode, co-op or not. There’s only one word on everybody’s lips when they’re talking about Gears 2, and that word is HORDE.

Before I’d played it, someone attempted to describe Horde to me as a tower defense game where you and your friends are the towers. It may not capture exactly what Horde is, but it’s not that far off either. Horde sees you in a group of up to five friends tackling wave after wave of increasingly difficult bad guys. Things start off pretty manageable, but by the time you reach wave 17 or so it’ll be an all out clusterfuck of people screaming into headsets for rez’s and cover on ammo runs. With 50 waves in all be prepared to spend a block of five or so hours with your friends to clear out the Locust invasion. Completing all 50 waves again on a different map provides a totally new experience. They could have shipped Horde on a disc by itself and it would’ve been well worth the $59.99 price of admission.

While the whole world is raving about the co-op sensation that is Left 4 Dead (and rightfully so), I still feel that the best co-op experience I’ve had all year was right here in Gears 2.

What did you think of Gears of War 2?

The inner-geek in me has been waiting for a good Punisher game for years now. When word of this PSN-exclusive game first surfaced I had my doubts, and now that I’ve seen the video? I still have my doubts.

The art style really captures the grittiness you want from a Punisher game. And the brief glimpses inside what appears to be a meth lab certainly seal the deal as far as capturing the spirit of the franchise goes. But who can really tell much about the gameplay from a few quick cuts and some generic FPS styling?

Still gonna wait this one out and hold out hope. Anyone with me?

Threadless always has the best video game shirts, and this Pong-inspired design is no exception. The good news is it’s on for $5. The bad news? It’s on for $5. That means it’s completely out of stock in dude sizes. Dudettes however can still enjoy. Check it, and dozens of other awesome designs out, as part of the Threadless $5 Holiday Sale.

Remember when I closed out my review of Fable II begging for a Lost Chapters style expansion? It looks like there was a Molyneux gremlin waiting in the wings to grant my wishes. Lionhead Studios and Microsoft announced today the upcoming release of the Knothole Island Premium Downloadable Pack. It’ll set you back 800 points and release in mid-December. From the press release;

The remote island of Knothole is dying: its golden sands and lush vegetation are covered with snow, its people freezing, its treasures buried. Only a hero can face the trials of the three shrines to bring back the sunshine.

Also launching in mid-December will be a Fable II free download pack that will feature new clothing, potions and items. And if you’re looking to spruce up the NXE experience? The “Albion” theme is available right now for 250 points.

With the big holiday releases winding down, I can’t wait to have an excuse to go back to Albion. Let’s just hope there’s some parkas in the Knothole Island expansion, because if not my hero is going to get COLD!!