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martynzachary
A blog for those who spend more time thinking about gaming than gaming
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Top Five Left 4 Dead 1/2 Custom Campaigns
In August 2010, Chet Faliszek announced Valve would begin to rotate biweekly custom-made campaigns on the official servers of Left 4 Dead 2:
Every two weeks we are going to feature a new community campaign on our servers. We will feature one campaign at a time to make it is easier to find games. We’ll be …
ReadVideo Game Criticism and the Question of S#%t
I had (erroneously) assumed that I would never, ever be writing about s#$t in video games, but after recently posting my conceptual/generic analysis of The Binding of Isaac, questions of merit, value/quality and meaning, as well as the overall relevance of video game criticism, emerged – chiefly at Rock, Paper Shotgun, as usual, the Mecca of …
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Latest Post: The Bird’s the Word
17/03/2012 – 13:06
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-  Wie das CIA ein ehrgeiziges Display in nach al-|... by hausiotoummap in Interview with Epic Games’ Jay Wilbur
- Yeah, as soon as it’s done! –Alexei by VoxExMachina in Video Game Criticism and the Question of S#%t
- Your original piece was so strong. The fact that... by Martyn Zachary in Video Game Criticism and the Question of S#%t
- Your original piece was so strong. The fact that we... by VoxExMachina in Video Game Criticism and the Question of S#%t
- Not being into BioWare, Nabeel’s articles on the topic are always a new... by Martyn Zachary in Prepare The Canons
- [NB] Wow, with only 6 hours to spare they did it! A rollercoaster of a Kickstarter: http://t.co/gOhqdaEp Congratulations to @Camouflaj! 6 days ago
- [NB] I hope @Camouflaj's Republique Kickstarter makes it: http://t.co/ihTGSvbT Only twelve hours go, it's going to be close! #KeepHopeAlive 6 days ago
- [NB] iOS hit Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is now available on Steam: http://t.co/ln4ETXNA Comes with the terrific soundtrack for free. 2012-04-17
- [NB] Regarding GFWL being the chosen DRM for Dark Souls PC, I think TotalBiscuit summed up the issues quite nicely: http://t.co/kFA5jK6k 2012-04-17
- [NB] We did it! http://t.co/jKPNjPhk Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition coming to the PC on August 24th. 2012-04-17
- More updates...
The Journey Down – Chapter 1: Over the Edge Review
30/08/2010 – 19:15
Under the moniker of Skygoblin, Theodor Waern, with music provided by Simon D’souza, has written, painted and animated a standout freeware indie adventure that is perhaps most easily described as an amalgamation of three LucasArts classics from the past: Monkey Island, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. Even if the game does recall the meta-level humour and carnivalesque of the first, the animations and the magnificent meld of 2D/3D of the second, and the stylish ambiance and setting of the third, all in all, Waern’s series – The Journey Down – is no simple exercise in nostalgia.
At this juncture, I would love to point you all to our interview with the game’s designer, Theodor Waern, published in conjunction with this review. In the interview, we discuss the game’s unique look and feel, Waern’s inspiration for the game and find out more about the game’s history and development.
The first chapter, “Over the Edge,” finally released after being four years in the making, tells the story of Bwana and Kito, brothers abandoned by their adoptive father captain Kaonandodo, whose abrupt disappearance left the brothers struggling to make a living. Apart for some slight “financial instability,” the duo has been running Kaonandodo’s Gas and Charter ever since, that is, until the Armando Power Company throws a proverbial wrench in their gears.
Boiling Point 2 and Precursors in English
29/08/2010 – 03:42
Intent stare, intent marketing
Update: GamersGate are now digitally distributing both Xenus II and Precursors!
A few months back, we lamented the fate of Russian developer Deep Shadows’ two latest projects, Xenus II (“Boiling Point 2,” or White Gold: War in Paradise, as it would have been called here) and Precursors, two very unique games that unfortunately remained both untranslated and unpublished in the English-speaking world.
Thanks to Badmofo’s comment on the original post, however, it came to our attention that fan-made English translations for both games are finally available at Patches-Scrolls. Both have already seen a 31th July update, and are now up to version 1.1. The Xenus II patch can be downloaded here, with the following changelog:
Fixed many small details, and manually translated many broken lines.
The Precursors patch is available here, with these changes:
Fixed many details and inconsistencies, and added item descriptions.
Removed Kasterley quest line and changed vehicle menu to roll/slide.
Corrected transactions with Perk, ice merchant and a race organizer
Let us know if you have any luck with these patches!
New Left 4 Dead DLC: The Sacrifice
Valve Bridges the Gaps with New DLC, Digital Comic
21/08/2010 – 16:13
This Friday’s Portal 2 GTTV episode also had a brief but promised Left 4 Dead segment to it. Valve’s Chet Faliszek talked with Geoff Keighley to announce the details of the new Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 DLC, called “The Sacrifice,” to be released free on the PC and on the Macintosh, too.
Unlike the previous Left 4 Dead 1 DLC, “Crash Course”, which did so in name only, the forthcoming downloadable content is all about Valve bridging existing gaps in the games’ storyline: “The Sacrifice” will reveal to players exactly what happens to the original four survivors, leading all the way up to the events of the previous DLC, “The Passing.”
In addition to the new playable content, a digital L4D comic by Michael Avon Oeming (best known for the Powers comic with Brian Michael Bendis), of 150 pages and four separate parts, will be released. Each part will tell the background story of one of the original four survivors, the first of which will be released as early as September. Gathering from the screencaps below, we’ll probably see Louis’ story first:
Open Outcast
17/08/2010 – 18:30
Open Outcast is a to-be free total conversion of Crysis Wars, planned as a successor to Appeal’s original 1999 release Outcast, a game that remains in many ways the artistic pinnacle of voxel-based graphics. While Novalogic’s series – Comanche and Delta Force – were always the best-known trumpeters of the technology, and though voxels have been utilized in a far lesser role in various strategy games and even in the level editor of Crysis, it was Outcast that made the world of volumetric pixels all its own.
Though the original never saw its promised sequel after the Belgian company went out of business (you can see existing screenshots of the project at Unseen64), the ageless gem is now fortunately available at GOG.com, in full working order – if you’re interested in running your old mothballed copy, the OpenOutcast team have a good tutorial.
The original remains utterly beautiful to this day mostly thanks to its stronger-than-most audiovisual direction and rare feeling of “being there.” The same, however, can also be said of the new fan version:
The Crossing: Fingers Crossed?
14/08/2010 – 23:50
As we reported back in May 2009, Arkane Studios’ unique-sounding Source engine game The Crossing had unfortunately been put on hold thanks to unforeseen financial complications. In July of the same year, however, we also learned that Arkane had been secretly aiding 2K Marin with the development of BioShock 2.
Yesterday, Zenimax Media announced, during the opening segment of QuakeCon 2010, their acquiring of Arkane Studios:
This is an exciting moment for Arkane. After 11 years of independent development, we couldn’t think of a better publishing partner,” said Colantonio. “We share so many creative values. Joining the ZeniMax family will allow us to grow stronger while staying true to the games we love.