Posted 11/17/09 at 08:30:00 AM by Will Smith

Does the world really need a Left 4 Dead sequel already?

We love killing zombies. When Left  4 Dead came out, we feared that eventually we’d tire of returning the walking dead back to the hell from which they spawned, but it turns out we didn’t. However, we did quickly tire of the lame “optimal” ways that hardcore gamers developed to beat Left 4 Dead campaigns in the most efficient—yet boring—manner possible.

Enter Left 4 Dead 2. The biggest change to the established formula is the redesigned finales and crescendos—those mid-level events that attract unending hordes of zombies. Instead of simply finding a good closet and holing up for 15 minutes, popping out only to kill the occasional tank, the crescendos now require you to keep moving—either to reach a goal or collect and deliver items. The zombie closet is no more, and we don’t miss it at all.

Read on for the full review!

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Posted 11/08/09 at 10:11:01 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

Remember, remember the fifth of November! Topics discussed this week: On a slow news week, Will fueled Gordon's rage by briefing him on the Call of Duty PC controversies, then the guy discussed Left4Dead 2 a bit more, and closed the show with an extra-long Doctor section and another vitriolic episode of Rant of the Week!

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

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Posted 08/26/09 at 03:41:42 PM by Norman Chan

Valve has released the first screenshot of Left 4 Dead 2's third campaign, Dark Carnival. Following The Parish and Swamp Fever (revealed at E3 and Comic-Con, respectively), Dark Carnival will be playable at this year's Penny Arcade Expo, taking place September 4th through 6th in Seattle. Valve will also unveil a few more of Left 4 Dead 2's 20+ new in-game items at PAX. 

Click through for a higher res screenshot!

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Posted 01/24/09 at 11:00:00 AM by Florence Ion

In our March 2009 issue, we dressed our illustrious Editor-in-Chief up as a one of the ravenous antagonists from our Game of the Year, Valve’s Left 4 Dead.

The transformation from living human to  decaying dead took almost two hours, though in the end it made for an amusing, but slightly horrifying, photo shoot. Read on to find out how we managed to turn this famed zombie slayer into one of his victims, or follow along to attempt your own zombie transformation.

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Posted 12/05/08 at 04:07:46 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

Zombie Fever rages on at Maximum PC. We put aside our constant discussion of Left4Dead to answer reader questions. Little did we know, but the question queue had been invaded by... you guessed it -- Zombies. Honest folks, we tried to get back to talking about tech, but about 75% of the questions in the queue were undead-related. So, we pulled out our auto-shottys, loaded our akimbo pistols, and settled down to answer a whole boatload of reader questions about the upcoming zombie apocalypse, and give a little upgrading advice along the way. Join the podcast gang as we answer your tech questions, take a trip to the Lab, and get another dose of Gordon Mah Ung's Rant of the Week!

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by. For the love of all that's holy people, if you guys don't start asking tech questions, we're going to change the name to the Nothing But Undead podcast... 

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Posted 11/26/08 at 12:30:36 PM by David Murphy

Left 4 What?  If you're not one of the legions to be playing Valve's newest zombie shoot-em' up, fear not.  Just because you aren't killing the undead with your friends doesn't mean that you can't partake in the best open-source and freeware zombie titles! Better yet, fire up some of these games while you're waiting for your big Steam download to finish.  Because nothing gets one in the mood to kill zombies like, well, killing zombies.

Check out our favorite freeware zombie titles after the jump!

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Posted 11/21/08 at 11:25:18 AM by Tom Edwards

Zombies. The best weapons to use against them. Where to hide from them. Is zombie middle management a good career path? We tackle these important isues--and all the latest tech news!--in this week's podcast. Join the podcast gang as we answer your tech questions, take a trip to the Lab, and get another dose of Gordon Mah Ung's Rant of the Week!

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

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Posted 11/18/08 at 01:00:00 AM by Norman Chan

We’ve relished the movies about it. We’ve daydreamed about it happening in our own lives. We’ve even drawn up detailed plans for how to survive the admittedly unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse (answer: barricade ourselves in the local Costco). There’s just something so tantalizingly thrilling about the prospect of fighting for survival in an undead-infested world.

Left 4 Dead, Valve Software’s new multiplayer first-person shooter, delivers that awesomely terrifying experience to us. Abandoned metropolises, a ragtag band of hapless strangers, and an endless horde of infected humans—all the staples of a nail-biting George A. Romero zombie epic—are present and accounted for in this ambitious cooperative adventure. But how does this game hold up to our obsessive zombie fantasies? We busted a few thousand undead skulls to find out. 

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