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Steam News announced today that the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will feature a playable demo of “Dark Carnival”, the name given to the recently unveiled fairgrounds campaign. The PAX will be held Sept. 4-6 in Seattle, WA. Valve also plans to uncover a few more of the items that will be making their way into L4D2. Show Steam News brief ▼
Check out the clown.
Always remember that people are out to gleefully relieve you of what’s yours—in this case, your Steam account. Elite Gamers reports that a number of phishing scams have cropped up claiming to offer beta testing for Left 4 Dead 2. These scammers can steal your Steam account!
For all those security n00blets out there, phishing is a technique used to obtain sensitive information (e.g. account information), usually through social engineering. The most common forms of phishing are fake sites set up to look legitimate. You might receive an email saying that you have unpaid dues in your bank account or that someone has a juicy crush on you. You zip on over to their site, log in, and just like that, you’ve been compromised. In this case, the social engineering exploits your desire to test out an exciting new game.
Phishing isn’t always transparent; you can sometimes get phished without typing anything in. Some sites can install malicious software or exploit security weaknesses in browsers to steal information from right under your nose.
So, here’s what you should do to protect yourself:
To learn more about phishing, you may want to check out the Anti-Phishing Working Group or Microsoft’s Phishing Identification page.
Destructoid recently visited Valve to check out more about the upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead, Crash Course. The preview includes a large number of spoilers, so I won’t include a synopsis here, but if you want to read the juicy, hot-off-the-compiler info, you should surf on over there and have a look.
The Destructoid staff was definitely impressed with the campaign, particularly with how well-suited it was to Versus play. Hunter connoisseurs will be happy to know that there are plenty of death-defying drops and curve-worthy building facades to play around on. As mentioned previously, there will be some sort of artillery that is used to clear the way during the crescendo of the first chapter. The second chapter crescendo sounds even more exciting, but we’d like to give you a chance to experience its thrills first-hand.
Destructoid also gave us a look at the poster art. Apparently, Zoey has improved from Guy Fawkes to be a bit of a Angelina Jolie-Uma Thurman hybrid.
Thanks to GunRabbit for the link.
GameTrailers TV visited Valve, revealing the second campaign for the first time. This heretofore unnamed campaign will be set in the Whispering Oaks amusement park in the late evening. After fleeing Savannah in the first campaign, the Survivors hit a traffic jam and have to head off the highway. Once they enter the amusement park, they find that some rides (like the merry-go-round) and other areas are still operating.
We don’t know much else about the campaign, or even if the entire campaign occurs in the amusement park. The amusement park does not appear to have roller coasters, but does have a ferris wheel, hot dog stand, small food court, and other areas.
Chet says that the campaign is so new that there is no current title or tagline for it yet. Let’s hear your ideas and suggestions!
The recent GameTrailers TV episode featuring Left 4 Dead 2 includes a healthy helping of information on the upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead, named Crash Course. The eponymous campaign included in the DLC will be geared towards giving players a 30-minute Versus experience, though the campaign will be playable in the other game modes, as well.
The first of the two chapters included will begin at the site of the helicopter crash. As many observant players have noticed, the chopper pilot had been exposed to the infection immediately prior to the daring rescue atop Mercy Hospital, as evidenced by his sickly skin tone, comment about an “incident”, and his unnaturally bad taste in shirts.
In the GTTV feature, Zoey can be heard saying “He turned into a zombie, Francis. He wasn’t gonna land the thing.”
Little else is known about the layout of the campaign, except that it will take place in an urban setting, probably near large roads/highways. At one point in the feature, players appear to use a howitzer to blow up a roadblock. This is probably the beginning of a crescendo, though we would certainly like to see what a howitzer would do to the hungry hordes of doom.
Chet mentioned that there will be a few tweaks to Versus game mechanics. For instance, players will be able to see the status of Infected teammates, namely their progress in recharging skills. All items will spawn in the same places for both teams, potentially increasing balance. In addition, since the campaign is shorter, Level 2 weapons will be available much earlier.
Crash Course is expected to be released on PC and Xbox 360 in September. It will be free on the PC, but there will be a small fee for Xbox players.
A thousand undying (or undead) apologies about the slow updates on the site! Luckily, it seems that there hasn’t been a lot of news lately. We’ll keep you posted if we see anything extra special lying around. The reason for the sluggish content delivery is Elunah, who is being lazy on account of moving across the country tomorrow. Boo!
By the way, if you’ve never seen this banner art before, please check out the awesomeness!
Steam News has just announced that a new DLC, named “Crash Course”, will be available in September. The DLC will include content set between the events of No Mercy and Death Toll, with particular aspects aimed at creating the option for a more compact Versus experience. The DLC will include Survival maps, a co-op campaign, and new dialogue, as well. We’re expecting the first forum trolls to declare that this is a superficial attempt to quell the L4D2 boycott any minute now! Stay tuned.
Crash Course Campaign Due in September
August 4, 2009 – Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the next major downloadable content (DLC) update for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead (L4D), the #1 new game title on Xbox 360 and PC in 2008
Entitled “Crash Course,” the latest DLC delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms. Targeted for release in September, “Crash Course” bridges the gap between the end of the “No Mercy” campaign and the beginning of “Death Toll” in the original game, expanding the game universe with new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale
While containing both Survival maps and a Co-operative Campaign, the primary goal of “Crash” is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game’s existing Versus campaigns. A recharge timer for infected teammates has also been added, and item spawn behavior has changed for more balanced gameplay.
“Since the release of Left 4 Dead last November, the design team has been excited about creating new experiences for this world and allowing players to do the same, by releasing much of our internal toolset, like the Survival Pack and Authoring Tools,” said Gabe Newell. “We’re working with the fans toward the ongoing entertainment value of the product.”
Left 4 Dead is an action horror game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 50 industry awards from outlets around the world and sold almost 3 million copies worldwide.
Left 4 Dead: Crash Course is targeted for release in September and will be available free of charge on the PC and for 560 Gamer points on Xbox Live.
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