PC Gamer has posted some rather obvious information about how to use the console to switch Alien Swarm from an overhead view to a first person view. But more importantly, they've discovered that it still plays well, and they've even posted the above video. The only thing missing is a roof!

Pretty nifty, but I'm attached to being able to see what's behind me. You can't always trust the other three players to watch your back. In fact, I think I'd rather play Left 4 Dead from an overhead perspective. What's the console command for that?

A video series called Mutation Vault suggests some new extreme sports played in the world of Left 4 Dead 2. Start off with the Ultimate Boomer Vomit Tourney, then wager on a little Jockey Racing, and finally brave the Running of the Tanks (above), which makes Pamplona look like a well behaved conga line.

Adding to the atmosphere are the distorted mic calls of "Stop spawning more!", "Adrenaline and then run!", and various variations of "Oh my god!", including several with unsavory language. However, my favorite would have to be the following matter-of-fact observation: "That is a tank horde right behind us."

As part of an ongoing set of articles about Irrational Games, Game Informer has posted information and a video about a zombie game Irrational pitched back in 2005. But before production got underway, the studio was acquired by Take-Two Interactive. The zombie game was a casualty of that acquisition, but you can see here a video of a demo put together using Irrational's SWAT 4 engine.

A couple of things stand out in that video. First is the pace. You move slowly and the zombies move slowly. It adds a whole different kind of tension that's lost in a lot of modern zombie mythology. Left 4 Dead, for instance, is so fast. You're fast, the zombies are fast, the guns are fast. It's one part horror, three parts action.

The second thing is watching the SWAT 4 interface in action. In that game, you had a smart AI team tagging along with you, and you had meticulous control over what they did and where they did it. Imagine the tactical finesse this would give a standoff against zombies that moved slowly enough to give you time to think. Imagine what a great single player game it would be. Right now, in the slower zombie games like Killing Floor and Call of Duty's Nazi zombie mode, there is no friendly AI. Instead, you need other players to fill in for the AI. And in a game like Left 4 Dead where you do have a friendly AI, it's entirely out of your control.

It's worth pointing out the two main characters in George Romero's 1978 Dawn of the Dead, arguably the single most important zombie movie, the two lead characters (pictured above is Ken Foree at Peter) are members of a SWAT team. It's a shame that Irrational didn't get to take what they accomplished in their SWAT game and apply it to the American pastime of zombie killing.

Left 4 Dead 2 had a tough time of it with the Australian ratings board. So Valve made a toned down version down under. Have a look at the side-by-side comparisons to see what the Aussies are missing.

On the bright side, Australia still gets to enjoy all the scenery from those Lord of the Rings movies. It must be great to be able to see Mt. Doom from the capital city of Sidney. I'd much rather have that than several hundred zombie dismemberments*.

* Not really.

This viral vid across the pond for Left 4 Dead 2 furthers the European co-opting of the zombie genre - as American as the Fourth of July, apple pie and loud mufflers - by applying all sorts of Euro words to zombie-fightin' weaponry. You don't have a chainsaw but you do have a what? "A ... 'strimmer'"?

The hell is a "strimmer"?

Looky here, beefeater. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaddy kicked your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaddy's ass back in 1812, and then my granddaddy, forgiving all of that, bailed y'all out in the big Dubya-Dubya-Eye-Eye, so that I would grow up in a world where I had the inalienable right to call that goddamn yard tool by its proper generic name - "weedwhacker."

Video: Left 4 Dead 2 UK Survival 101 Viral Teaser [Gay Gamer]

Left 4 Dead 2 commercial hits a home run ... for GameStop originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The intro video for the original "Left 4 Dead" was one of the best pre-rendered cutscenes I've ever seen. It so perfectly captured the spirit of the game (killing zombies), effective tactics against the special zombies, and the personalities of the four survivors. It was funny, intense and visually excellent.

Valve's high standards have apparently continued on through to "Left 4 Dead 2," as seen in the leaked intro video for that game:

(ShackNews via Joystiq)

Newell was asked about support for Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, relative to other Valve titles, and the chief offered that "Team Fortress is the benchmark and that's the level we intend to bring all products to.

We're going through transition, which I think is interesting. We call it "entertainment as a service" and Team Fortress is furthest along, in terms of rapid regular updates, and moving into movies with the 'Meet the Team' shorts, as well as we're starting to do some stuff with comics. So, Team Fortress is really the model that the rest of our products are gonna be following as we move ahead.

As to why he honored modder Joe W-A's request to get down to Brisbane and see his Left 4 Dead campaign:

We recognize that we really are part of this community. We talk about it a lot, that we're not up here and the community's down here, and the games snowflake in. We really are part of it. We look to that community to see what we should do. ... It was pretty clear that this was one of those things that the community fell in love with the idea. They wanted us to come down here and meet with Joe and give him feedback. And in our experience, it's been very bad idea when we get such a clear signal from pc gaming community, if we ignore it.

Fly Gabe Newell - Gabe Q&A - Part One [YouTube, from Joe W-A]

GameTrailers revealed some video about Left 4 Dead 2′s “Fairgrounds” campaign and the pending DLC for Left 4 Dead, Crash Course. In Left 4 Dead 2, there’s a cool amusement park scene, and an eerie carousel, but I’m hopeful for a working rollercoaster. Crash Course opens with a helicopter crash, as it bridges the gap between No Mercy and Death Toll, and yes, confirms there are only two maps. Boo hoo, but still fun!