What do you get when you take L4D, give it a top down perspective, and a little bit of Killing Floor leveling system all into one big pot of ideas? Alien Swarm.
Now, the game hasn't come out yet, but it will tomorrow (July 19th), and is free of charge from Steam. It was under secret development by Valve using the source engine and a group of modders I believe, and it looks incredible. 4 player co-op, unique classes, different choices of weapons, ect. It's nothing new, but it sure as hell sounds fun. I don't have much to write about, but I just thought I'd fill you guys in.
Alien Swarm will be released FREE of charge on Steam from Valve on the 19th of July. Be on the look out guys. And since it's free, everyone can join in on the fun.
Product description:
QuoteAlien Swarm is a game and Source SDK release from a group of talented designers at Valve who were hired from the Mod community. Available free of charge, the game thrusts players into an epic bug hunt featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad-level tactics. With your friends, form a squad of four distinct IAF Marine classes.
Gameplay video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ-tGVfVve0
Trailer video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=603izhzohos
Looks cool, but doesn't look like it can run on my computer.
Ty for posting this. I saw this game and I did not know what it was till now. I guess that date is tomorrow.
Well it's gonna be released soon (9 hours that is). When I get it and have it downloaded, I'll throw out my Steam name if any of you guys wanna play.
This is by far another example of how awesome Valve is! They release this game for free with the source sdk. How can you NOT be on steam at this point?
Anyways, I'll have to grab this later when I'm at home and check it out. Looks like a great game.
Get it now!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/630/
Valve is troll D:
(http://i29.tinypic.com/a3jcw7.jpg)
I didn't take that screen cap. Someone else did on another forum.
Quote from: Lingus on July 19, 2010, 09:01:39 PM
Quote from: EpicPhailure on July 19, 2010, 05:34:01 PM
Valve is troll D:
Um... What?
In the screenshot, it shows Valve staff playing Alien Swarm while the product says it will be released in 2 hours.
Quote from: EpicPhailure on July 19, 2010, 09:17:04 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 19, 2010, 09:01:39 PM
Quote from: EpicPhailure on July 19, 2010, 05:34:01 PM
Valve is troll D:
Um... What?
In the screenshot, it shows Valve staff playing Alien Swarm while the product says it will be released in 2 hours.
Heheh, yeah I saw this screenshot before, funny shit.
Wow, just wow. I don't know how this is free, that was awesome! I HIGHLY recommend trying it.
Looks like crap. No thanks. Left for dead already sucked, I don't need a dumbed down, worse version of left for dead.
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:59:43 AM
Looks like crap. No thanks. Left for dead already sucked, I don't need a dumbed down, worse version of left for dead.
Except for not being Left for Dead - besides a similar story (though in the future, but still an apocalyptic future) and 4 player co-op.
Its free, and you should try it, instead of just calling it horrible before even attempting to play it (sounds like you didn't even look into it at all either).
If anything, I'd say this expands on the Left for Dead concept. 4 classes, tons of weapons and equipment each with varying uses/advantages and disadvantages, and a good amount of environmental interactivity (welding certain doors closed, having to blow up alien hives and such).
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:59:43 AM
Looks like crap. No thanks. Left for dead already sucked, I don't need a dumbed down, worse version of left for dead.
Yeah Seifer, give the game credit for being free man. Valve could have easily priced this as a 20 dollar game, but they didnt. Just try it before you say crap about it.
Im quite liking the game right now. I havn't been playing as much as I'd like, but I'll be playing it more later.
I'm not going to jump on the rah rah rah Seifer bandwagon, but I will say that thus far I haven't been disappointed. It seems like a very fun game to play with a bunch of screaming friends, would be cool if we could get a game going with a bunch of stick online members.
Quote from: Lucifer on July 20, 2010, 04:29:27 AM
I'm not going to jump on the rah rah rah Seifer bandwagon, but I will say that thus far I haven't been disappointed. It seems like a very fun game to play with a bunch of screaming friends, would be cool if we could get a game going with a bunch of stick online members.
Well, Steam finally wasn't "too busy" to let me download it, so I should be able to join in with ya soon.
Also, don't mind Seifer, clearly he has a stick in his pooper.
Still haven't been able to get on this game. I have no time for games anymore... But it sounds great. Can't wait to play it.
I have watched the videos. My issues with left for dead primarily revolve around being able to run at super speed, kill things with apparent ease, and general, all around lack on actual skill to play. Whereas say, Call of Duty requires you to truly think through what you are doing, play slowly, take cautioned steps, Left for dead rewards you for running ahead, at the super speed, and just holding the trigger and going nuts. Not to mention it seems to take a thousand and one bullets to die, and even then, you have your allies to back you up. Yet all the enemies take a bullet or two and they are down. Since I haven't played L4D in over a year, and even then barely, I really can't adequately describe why I dislike the game. None the less, this looks to feel the same. Their is utter chaos around you. It's all about moving around as quick as you can, holding down the trigger non stop and hoping like hell one of the thousand things around you doesn't rip you a new one.
Not to mention I don't have steam, thus it's not free.
Steam is free, thus this is free.
It's a different style of game. Sure, I can appreciate the strategy behind not catching lead in your left ass cheek, being careful, and making well aimed shots, none of which L4D or this game is (or at least appears to be, haven't played it yet). It's a whole different game, some like it, some don't. I guess it can be summed up as a personal preference, nothing more.
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:05:24 PM
Not to mention I don't have steam, thus it's not free.
Quote from: Scotty on July 20, 2010, 02:15:53 PM
Steam is free, thus this is free.
Valve is awesome, thus bow to them. They do great things for the gaming community just because. Give them some credit for that.
But yea, you can download steam on your computer and just use it for the community features. You don't have to have a single game through the service. Not to mention there's tons of free content on it such as demos and what not.
Any case, sounds like your argument against L4D is the "it's not real enough for me" argument. In my opinion, that doesn't stand up. Games are meant to be fun. Given, if fun for you is strategy and timing and skill, etc... then obviously you will like more realistic games. But there's great fun to be had in running about shooting up stuff. But it's not like you can just go crazy... you don't have god mode or anything. There's friendly fire (from what I recall) and I believe you have to stick with your teammates to a certain extent (in L4D at least, not sure about Alien Swarm) so you can't just go running off. There's an element of team work in the coop mode. There is definitely skill involved which you can't deny if you've played the game at all. Certainly not to the level of a CoD game, but in my personal opinion I don't have as much fun when there's that much skill needed to last for longer than a minute in a match.
So in other words, like Scotty said... it's all preferrence. But still, you can't knock the game. It's freakin free. Like the old saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." This is a perfect example. If someone gives you something, take it for what it is.
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 02:29:00 PM
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:05:24 PM
Not to mention I don't have steam, thus it's not free.
Quote from: Scotty on July 20, 2010, 02:15:53 PM
Steam is free, thus this is free.
Valve is awesome, thus bow to them. They do great things for the gaming community just because. Give them some credit for that.
But yea, you can download steam on your computer and just use it for the community features. You don't have to have a single game through the service. Not to mention there's tons of free content on it such as demos and what not.
Any case, sounds like your argument against L4D is the "it's not real enough for me" argument. In my opinion, that doesn't stand up. Games are meant to be fun. Given, if fun for you is strategy and timing and skill, etc... then obviously you will like more realistic games. But there's great fun to be had in running about shooting up stuff. But it's not like you can just go crazy... you don't have god mode or anything. There's friendly fire (from what I recall) and I believe you have to stick with your teammates to a certain extent (in L4D at least, not sure about Alien Swarm) so you can't just go running off. There's an element of team work in the coop mode. There is definitely skill involved which you can't deny if you've played the game at all. Certainly not to the level of a CoD game, but in my personal opinion I don't have as much fun when there's that much skill needed to last for longer than a minute in a match.
So in other words, like Scotty said... it's all preferrence. But still, you can't knock the game. It's freakin free. Like the old saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." This is a perfect example. If someone gives you something, take it for what it is.
In addition, I believe the atmosphere for L4D was to be fighting billions and billions of zombies, yet each zombie doesn't take 50 magazines to kill. It was supposed to give you the actual sense of being a survivor and surviving for as long as you can until you find help.
The same goes for Alien Swarm. The name is all you need to think "Okay, so in this game I'll be fighting off SWARMS of aliens and trying to take down as much as I can while trying not to get killed by them".
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:05:24 PM
I have watched the videos. My issues with left for dead primarily revolve around being able to run at super speed, kill things with apparent ease, and general, all around lack on actual skill to play. Whereas say, Call of Duty requires you to truly think through what you are doing, play slowly, take cautioned steps, Left for dead rewards you for running ahead, at the super speed, and just holding the trigger and going nuts. Not to mention it seems to take a thousand and one bullets to die, and even then, you have your allies to back you up. Yet all the enemies take a bullet or two and they are down. Since I haven't played L4D in over a year, and even then barely, I really can't adequately describe why I dislike the game. None the less, this looks to feel the same. Their is utter chaos around you. It's all about moving around as quick as you can, holding down the trigger non stop and hoping like hell one of the thousand things around you doesn't rip you a new one.
Not to mention I don't have steam, thus it's not free.
All Call of Duty requires you to do is go to the very back of the map, look up the in the sky with a grenade launcher, one-man-army, and danger close, and just randomly fire off your infinite grenade launcher ammo. Hell, why not put down some of your infinite claymores just in case? Just be sure you don't make the mistake of actually moving, or you'll be at the mercy of teleporting knifers, assault rifles that have 0 recoil and kill in 2 bullets, and best of all, other people taking advantage of the infinity ward actually lets you refill your grenade launchers.
Yep, call of duty sure does require a lot of skill and strategy. >.>
To me, it involves alot more strategy, and I haven't played a single match yet where we just blindly ran to the end. I was playing with a group last night, and we had to do a lot of planning because we got stuck on one level - we tried bringing 2 medics instead of one, changing up and using freezing explosives so we could stop the big guys, try flamers to bring down the small ones - you can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden. The game does have a fast pace, but you also find yourself having to have stand offs just about everywhere. Its just like the movies having to defend against the swarm as your tech guy is desperately trying to hack the system. There is lots of communication that needs to occur in order for a team to be successful, and I love it.
@Seifer
I don't think you should just judge a book by its cover. Check it out. You got nothing to loose. :D Its free and Steam is free also. But if you don't like top down shooters then yeah its not for you. :/
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Its nothing fancy, but during the game you can bring up the map and draw in yellow. That then also shows up on your mini map, so you can follow the drawing you made.
Lets say other things than plains get drawn on that map... >_<
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:54:48 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Its nothing fancy, but during the game you can bring up the map and draw in yellow. That then also shows up on your mini map, so you can follow the drawing you made.
Oh ok. So your teammates don't see it? I thought it would be an interesting way of communicating with your team.
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 05:58:32 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:54:48 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Its nothing fancy, but during the game you can bring up the map and draw in yellow. That then also shows up on your mini map, so you can follow the drawing you made.
Oh ok. So your teammates don't see it? I thought it would be an interesting way of communicating with your team.
I'm pretty sure you can see it.
I had a game where a teammate drew a penis on the map.
Quote from: Titan on July 20, 2010, 07:43:11 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 05:58:32 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:54:48 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Its nothing fancy, but during the game you can bring up the map and draw in yellow. That then also shows up on your mini map, so you can follow the drawing you made.
Oh ok. So your teammates don't see it? I thought it would be an interesting way of communicating with your team.
I'm pretty sure you can see it.
I had a game where a teammate drew a penis on the map.
And THAT is why I usually only play multiplayer games with people I know.
Quote from: Titan on July 20, 2010, 07:43:11 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 05:58:32 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:54:48 PM
Quote from: Lingus on July 20, 2010, 04:51:14 PM
Quote from: Cactuscat222 on July 20, 2010, 04:33:39 PMyou can even draw on the map to plan your moves, just like John Madden
That sounds like an awesome feature!
Its nothing fancy, but during the game you can bring up the map and draw in yellow. That then also shows up on your mini map, so you can follow the drawing you made.
Oh ok. So your teammates don't see it? I thought it would be an interesting way of communicating with your team.
I'm pretty sure you can see it.
I had a game where a teammate drew a penis on the map.
Heh... All of my teammates did that, among other things.
I got bored pretty quick, but still looks neat. I'd like to see what mods come out.
~Aqua
So I've enjoyed it thus far, and I agree, I can't wait to see with what people can come up with.
Though, I've been reading up, and people have found alot of server-sided commands the host can use to switch things up: The most notable is the command "asw_horde_override 1" - activating that makes an AI Director, similar to that of L4D, and apparently makes the game incredibly hard, but random and fun.
People have also discovered a tile generator for making quick maps. http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Swarm_TileGen (http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Swarm_TileGen)
Quote from: Seifer on July 20, 2010, 02:05:24 PM
I have watched the videos. My issues with left for dead primarily revolve around being able to run at super speed, kill things with apparent ease, and general, all around lack on actual skill to play. Whereas say, Call of Duty requires you to truly think through what you are doing, play slowly, take cautioned steps, Left for dead rewards you for running ahead, at the super speed, and just holding the trigger and going nuts. Not to mention it seems to take a thousand and one bullets to die, and even then, you have your allies to back you up. Yet all the enemies take a bullet or two and they are down. Since I haven't played L4D in over a year, and even then barely, I really can't adequately describe why I dislike the game. None the less, this looks to feel the same. Their is utter chaos around you. It's all about moving around as quick as you can, holding down the trigger non stop and hoping like hell one of the thousand things around you doesn't rip you a new one.
Not to mention I don't have steam, thus it's not free.
I dunno how you played L4D, but if you ran ahead in that game, your ass would be raped by Smokers and Hunters so fast your game would punch you in the face through your monitor for being so stupid. And if you're seriously telling me that you can just bumrush a L4D campaign on a high difficulty setting, I think you only played it on Normal. On Expert, you get hit 5 times; 5 times, and you go down. It goes for all Common Infected. You CANNOT run through a L4D Expert game without having your balls ripped off and slammed down your throat unless you've had alot of practice and with a team that will run with you. If you run alone on expert, you'll either get Special'd, or 5 hit KO'd by a Common Infected. And if you somehow manage to get past all that, a Tank will be right around the corner and block your path and send you flying to the moon. It IS easier to bumrush in L4D2 due to adrenaline and other things, but even then it's hard.
If you've played for a while, it's quite easy to bumrush a L4D Advanced difficulty. But why are you even attempting to speedrun anyways? Of course it'll ruin the fun. You want a campaign that'll make you slam your head into the desk due to difficulty, play on Expert. Or hell, try downloading one of those custom campaigns that last 2 hours and play THAT on Expert. I can guarantee you will not complain about the game being easy. And as I said before, you shouldn't even be trying to rush L4D unless you want bragging rights. And im just talking about Campaigns! You try running ahead on a Versus game and tell me how it works out for you.
As for Alien Swarm, Ive been getting butt!@#$ed by the game's difficulty, even on Normal. Though I will say it's mostly due to the parasites, and because I havn't played alot. I seriously hate those Facehuggers though.
I've made it through the campaign on Easy through Hard now... so my group decided to try Insane difficulty...
It truly is insane. The leap in difficulty is massive. On Easy - Hard, the enemies stay the same except for damage and how much they take to kill. In Insane, the hardest aliens are on the first level, in the first room you enter. And enemies that weren't there before in the other difficulties start running out of everywhere. I'm not sure when we are going to get through it, haha.
I tried today and got owned :(. Still learning though.
Chaos, Jake and I all took a whirl at it. I got my first tasting of it on nothing less than Hard, and at that point, I think you need a well rounded team to succeed. You need a medic, you need a tech, you need a blow-em-to-bits gunner. If you lack any of the vital classes, you're screwed! All in all though, it was Hella fun!
Quote from: Scotty on July 22, 2010, 06:19:56 AM
Chaos, Jake and I all took a whirl at it. I got my first tasting of it on nothing less than Hard, and at that point, I think you need a well rounded team to succeed. You need a medic, you need a tech, you need a blow-em-to-bits gunner. If you lack any of the vital classes, you're screwed! All in all though, it was Hella fun!
I honestly see no reason for the Officer class...What the hell is the stat 'Leadership' good for when your team mates do whatever the hell they want? I just see 1 Medic, 1 Tech, and 2 Special Weapons for the best balance. Or maybe 2 Medics, 1 Tech, and 1 Special Weapons.
I haven't played with the Officer class, so I have no idea myself either. I might try later on to see for myself.
I downloaded this the other day and haven't gotten around to playing it yet. Looks like a lot of fun, though. Apparently some guys found evidence of Episode 3 in the SDK for this game or something. I'm too lazy to search for a link, though.
Quote from: DarkBlade325 on July 22, 2010, 06:42:23 AM
Quote from: Scotty on July 22, 2010, 06:19:56 AM
Chaos, Jake and I all took a whirl at it. I got my first tasting of it on nothing less than Hard, and at that point, I think you need a well rounded team to succeed. You need a medic, you need a tech, you need a blow-em-to-bits gunner. If you lack any of the vital classes, you're screwed! All in all though, it was Hella fun!
I honestly see no reason for the Officer class...What the hell is the stat 'Leadership' good for when your team mates do whatever the hell they want? I just see 1 Medic, 1 Tech, and 2 Special Weapons for the best balance. Or maybe 2 Medics, 1 Tech, and 1 Special Weapons.
Because the Officer class has the Vindcator, a high clip hella powerful shotgun. Top that off with landmines, where he can put down 3 landmines with a single toss (and it still only consumes 1 landmine), and you've got yourself just as heavy of a gunner as the special weapons class.
Finally got to play this last night for a brief minute. Played the single player version just to get the hang of things. It's pretty cool. I like the style of it. It will take me a while to get the hang of all the different classes and weapon combinations and strategies and tactics, but for the most part the game play is great fun. I think this kind of shooting game is great because you have the option of using strategy or not. You can just run in there and shoot the crap out of things, or you can take your time and plan moves and work with your team and what not.
Played it a bit with my brother earlier tonight and loved it! Very cool game in my opinion. It has some great tactical game play mechanics, persistent item unlocks, is quite challenging, not to mention that it is all highly mod-able with a good level creator and whatnot.