In the first piece I wrote for Unwinnable, I mentioned that “during creation basically all games are really shitty for a really long time. It’s just that the good ones get better.” This time, I want to go into arguably the best way games get from shitty to unshitty: playtesting. (more…)
I finished the third episode of The Walking Dead with a slightly disturbing sensation: a real affection for the characters in the game, including the protagonist, Lee and especially his near-surrogate daughter, Clementine. The others were pretty close to my heart too, a varied and fleshed-out crew of randoms who became a part of this group out of necessity. As horrific things happen to each one of them, I watch with genuine empathy, and I worry for them. But these are videogame people.
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Since its release in 2007, Team Fortress 2 has become one of the most popular online first person shooters available. Valve has created a strange universe with a mythology all its own, using only the game’s nine unique character classes. TF2 has also tried to keep their fans happy with free patches and updates, while keeping the story of the conflict between Reliable Evacuations & Demolition (RED) and Builders League United (BLU) fun and wacky.
Over the years, Valve has released a series of videos generally corresponding to major updates for the game. The first video was titled Meet the Heavy. Since then, each class has had a Meet the video except for two: the Medic and the Pyro.
Today, Valve announced something big. Team Fortress 2 is now a free-to-play game, forever. (more…)
The following is the third in a series of journal entries chronicling the author’s descent into next-gen gaming degeneracy — from getting his first television in years to trying to figure out why the @$@”$)@ you need two goddamn directional pads just to walk down a fucking hallway.
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I’m not sure what it says about me, but when I slaughter zombies with an automatic weapon…I laugh and I laugh and I laugh. (more…)
So, an announcement has finally been made about the announcement that was made this past summer at E3.
If I recall correctly, the night before the Sony keynote presentation went something like this*. I was at a hookah party with Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve. After all, we share a few of the same passions and interests but eventually the conversation turned to videogames. Wearing a dark green robust kimono Gabe reached out to me and put his hand on my shoulder. Nervous, I tensed up a little bit. In the most articulate and clean voice I had ever heard, he whispered into my ear, “I can change the speed of time. Did you know that?” (more…)
Killing aliens is always fun and, at its core, that is what Alien Swarm is all about. It tells the familiar story of aliens overrunning some far off colony and, of course, no one can stop them except you, your team and a whole lot of firepower. (more…)
Valve is having a pretty big week and it has nothing to do with Portal 2 or the theoretically pending release of Half-life 2 Episode 3. For a certain group of gamers, this most anticipated news is that the Engineer update is finally upon us.
The Engineer a strong, proud, manly-man steeped in his Texan heritage. The product of an educated family with a knack for building, he is a true cog in the story behind the conflict that is Team Fortress 2. And now he has more guns. (more…)
