Run or Shoot? UPDATE

Remember at the beginning of the month when I posted that I was going to be playing original Left 4 Dead maps on Expert to try to get the "What are you trying to prove?" achievement?

Well, yesterday afternoon while doing a single-player run, I finished the Death Toll map. So, basically, I did an expert campaign by myself because we all know those AIs are kind of clueless when it comes to helping you finish. Yeah. I'm awesome.

I am already doing some practice work on the finale of the last map, but I seriously doubt I'll be able to beat it before 6:00 Sunday night ... which is when I go to the hospital. Kind of freaking out here.

original here
edited by me

Run or Shoot?

via

Raise your hand if you have Left 4 Dead on Steam.

Not Left 4 Dead 2. The original one.

Yeah, I know they ported all the maps from the original to the second one. I DON'T CARE.

Before 2008 (or was it 2009...?) I didn't really play any first-person shooters. My husband kept trying to get me interested in them by having me play Golden Eye and Perfect Dark on the N64. Unfortunately, I never played console games growing up.

Side Note: I KNOW, RIGHT? My parents thought that console gaming was too violent, but PC games were okay. To this day I'm still pretty klutzy with classic controllers.

Anyway, so trying to play a shooter with someone who grew up playing this game was less than fun. But I digress.

At some point my husband bought Left 4 Dead on Steam because of it's clever AI, which controls the level pacing and item placement. The game practically punishes you if you spend too long in an area.

I downplayed any interest I had in the game for a few months, but eventually asked if I could play on his account.

And that's how I got hooked.

Eventually I got a copy for myself, but didn't play a lot since the Left 4 Dead 2 came out a few months later. So I'm missing a lot of achievements. One of them that I'm missing is completely all campaigns on Expert. I have No Mercy and Dead Air, but am still missing Death Toll and Blood Harvest. So for a few hours every day in October (until the baby arrives) I'm going to be trying to get those last two campaigns, starting with Death Toll. And I'll need help. How can you help? First off, you'll probably need to add me on Steam. At the bottom of the page I have a link to my Steam profile, so check that out. When you see me playing, join my game. TOGETHER, WE WILL VANQUISH THE ZOMBIE HORDE.

I call Zoey!

The Invasion is Here

MANN   VS   MACHINE

Team Fortress 2's latest update came out on Wednesday, but I didn't get to play until Friday due to some trepidation about the game in general. (I quit playing in April because the online gaming scene was raising my blood pressure too much, which isn't good for pregnant ladies.) But a friend of mine showed me the trailer above and I had to at least see what it was all about.

The format is basically a survival mode - waves of robots will come at you, and you need to stop them before they drop a bomb at your base, blowing it to smithereens. The bomb carriers also follow a set path, indicated by blue markers before each wave starts, so it has a tower defense feel to it as well.

This new mode reminds me of another popular Valve game, Left 4 Dead, which I should add is pretty much my favorite game ever. Naturally, I love this too. It can be really tough, especially when you don't have the appropriate classes covered, but it is oh so satisfying when you do stop the robots from invading. I've also been tinkering around with the upgrades you can purchase, and I feel like I've got a really solid build for the Heavy in this mode.

If you want to know more about Mann vs. Machine, check out their page about it. And if you want to play with me, you can find me on Steam.

The Time Suck Known as Civilization V

Let me tell you a little about my day today.

11:13 - Finally roll out of bed

11:14 - Boot up computer

11:15 - Play Civ V for the next SEVEN HOURS.

You might think I'm kidding. I'm totally not. I literally played that game for hours. And I don't mean I played a bunch of different maps or difficulty levels in that time. I mean I started a game and it took that long for me to finish it. I just had to have that cultural victory.

If you're sitting there scratching your head, wondering what I'm talking about, Civilization V is a turn-based world simulation game that you'll swear you have only been playing for minutes but in reality hours have passed. (If you've played any of EA's The Sims games, you know exactly what I mean.) You start out in prehistory, and you upgrade, research, and conquer your way through to modern times - or, you know, earlier if you defeat all of your opponents before then.

Conquest is not the only way to win the game. You could also win with a science victory (space race, anyone?), a diplomatic victory involving the United Nations, or a cultural victory. And yes, those other victories can take a long time to achieve, but it can be fun to try to outdo your opponent in ways other than brute strength.

There are also leaders for each civilization, and each leader has his or her own strengths, so you can choose who to play as based on who matches your personal play style. These leaders are usually famous generals, kings, or other important people from history. For instance, George Washington can go up against Alexander the Great, while Queen Elizabeth I decides where her loyalties lie when they need assistance taking each other out. It's not historically accurate by any means, but at least it makes you familiar with the names, which could come in handy. For instance, next time someone mentions Suleiman, I can smugly say, "He was a great leader of Ottoman Empire." 

But I better not mention his mighty air fleet which helped me take out Pachacuti and the Incas....

Dungeons of Dredmor

Dungeons of Dredmor is a dungeon crawler by Gaslamp Games. The appearance of the game reminds me of 90s-era Square Enix, when they were making such memorable games as Chrono Trigger (yes, I know they were called just Square back then.)

The way you play is similar to NetHack, by which I mean you explore the dungeon floors, loot chests, and fight monsters - but be careful! Those monsters can kill you.

Of course, there is always the option to turn off perma-death so you can reload your character and continue on your merry way.

The above picture shows the male character you can create, but there is also a female version with fiery Merida-like hair (and giant eyebrows, just like the male version.) When naming them, it's best not to give them a name that you might get attached to, because s/he will die. A lot. Even with perma-death turned off, it can be frustrating.

Dungeons of Dredmor doesn't have classes, per se, but they do offer 39 skills, of which you can choose 7 for your character. Mark likes to create combinations that synergize well with each other. I like to click the random button and get to hackin'-and -slashin'.

While I love this game as a quick time-filler, for some reason it really eats up the resources on our computers to boot it up. Why does a pixelated sprite need so many resources? Regardless, once it's running then it's fine, but I found that aspect to be somewhat annoying.

Mark originally bought this game for himself, but I hijacked it from him during work because I was bored. He bought it on Steam while the Summer Sale was going on, but unfortunately the sale ended on the 22nd. The good news is that the game is only $5.00 regularly, and for an additional $2.49 you can get Dungeons of Dredmor and its expansion, Relm of the Diggle Gods. This is why I love indie games - you can't beat those prices.