Team Fortress 2's first round of class updates is nearly at an end, with the Soldier and Demoman having received their new toys in the WAR! update.  The last man standing without new tech is the Engineer, as it happens my most played class.  Although not a 6v6 man, the Engineer is still one of the most important classes on A/D, PL and CTF maps, not to mention probably the most relaxing classes to play as.  In the time-honoured tradition of Tuftwo-ers, I have a few of my own ideas as to how…  More

"Maybe the helicopter...  maybe it's made of chocolate!"

The L4D2 demo is coming October 27th, only five days away and now we have a leaked cinematic trailer for the game to salivate over.  Valve continues to amaze with the quality of both animation and writing for their shorts, and this one is no exception.



I'm growing fond of the guys already, although Rochelle doesn't get much of a chance to shine.  It'll be sad to (possibly) say goodbye to the funny sexy brunette zombie killer and the three h…  More

Saturday was Talk Like a Pirate Day, and in the spirit of the occasion, Telltale Games made the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island free to download for the duration, arrr.  Tales of Monkey Island is not the remake of the original, but five chapters, released independently, chronicling the further adventures of Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate.  Professionally developed adventure games on the PC are almost a thing of the past and I tend to get my fix solely through free Flash games website…  More

Recently, Valve invited the ringleaders of the L4D2 Boycott group to their HQ to check out the product (you can read more in Slapnut's blog).  A fair few must have been wondering to themselves, "why those guys?  They've vocally opposed L4D2 since its announcement and so they get to play it early?"  Well, one particular user - LaCabra - asked Gabe Newell why he wasn't invited to Valve HQ, on the premise of needing them to check out his campaign.  When Gabe playfully responded that they were boycotting his campaign...  he offered to fly Gabe (and Erik) out to Australia to preview it.…  More

I have a bad habit of picking up single player games several months after their release.  The experience tends not to be dulled, and they're more value for the price paid, but I miss out on all the hot discussion and general banter that came before.  I'm developing a slight love of 3d platformers, like Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed and the latest Tomb Raider games, and Mirror's Edge falls broadly into this category, so it wasn't one I was going to pass by.  Indeed, I actually feel that its …  More

When Valve released their Sniper vs. Spy update for TF2, it came with a new system for getting in-game items - upgraded weapons and aesthetic hats - to try and fix some of the problems of the previous achievement-based weapon unlocking system.  In the end, Valve had to run both systems at the same time due to user complaint about the randomness of item drops.  Fairly quickly, most players got ahold of their new weapons and all that remained were the hats.  Hats are purely for looks; they change …  More

The Guild's new, awesome song on a harsh reality of MMO dating is well worth the watch.  So watch it!  Look, I even embedded here to cover up for the fact that's it too awesome for words and there's not much else for me to say, really!



Disclaimer: I'm fine with internet dating; don't be hating.…  More

Do you want a game to scare you?  I mean, not just give you a jolt now and again, but actually keep you in a perpetual state of fear, perhaps so much so that you can't play the game for anything more than an hour or half hour session, out of raw tension and apprehension.  I have to ask, firstly, because it does bear questioning whether that is a goal worth striving for?  Do designers want their game to be so good at what it does that their players can't bear to play it through in long sit…  More

Everyone and their dog recognises that all gamers are sexually repressed young male adolescents.  And so of course, at any given convention where video games companies may make an appearance, you're going to see a number of women who are up for being paid to stand around, chilling so to speak, in whatever chainmail bikini the game's artists came up with.  And because there is some truth to the stereotype, they do indeed get harassed by the unwashed masses.

Enter EA, the three-headed, ice-caged le…  More

Alright then, so what's a NeoTokyo?  It is, apparently, a mod for UT2k4, but very recently was released for the Source Engine, and is designed by Studio Radi-8.  Thematically, it's set around the advent of Japanese transhumanism, so lovers of anime such as Ghost in the Shell, Akira and the like will be right at home with the visual aesthetic.  Indeed, there are certain in-game machines and gynoid pieces that may set little bells of recognition ringing in your head.

In terms of gameplay, pla…  More