Eight years after its last major content update, Left 4 Dead 2 has mutated all sorts of newness with The Last Stand. Made by fans but released officially by Valve, the huge free update has added a new mini-campaign based on the first game’s lighthouse Survival mode map, dozens of new maps for Survival and Scavenge modes, new weapons, and loads of wee tweaks and touches. With Valve saying as recently as this year that they’re not making L4D3, The Last Stand may be the co-op shooter’s last stand for quite some time.

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If you’re aching for some new things to do in Left 4 Dead 2, then I have some wonderful news. The game’s first official content update in eight years drops on September 24th bringing with it The Last Stand, a campaign based on the first game’s lighthouse Survival mode map.

Now, that would be pretty cool in itself, but this update is adding not one, but 20 new Survival arenas, four Scavenge arenas, 30 new achievements, loads of previously-unused voice lines, new melee weapons, animations and hundreds of bug fixes to top it all off.

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Coaches eh? They’re meant to be a great help for improving your game, but it seems some sneaky Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams have taken that to mean peeking where they’re not allowed during high-stakes competitive games. Now, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) is raking through years of demos to find these meddlesome cameramen, with the suggestion that they might go easy on folks who own up to their crimes.

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Left 4 Dead 2

will soon get a content update bringing an old favourite Left 4 Dead map to Valve’s co-op zombiethon. The Last Stand is a community-made update that’s being officially published by Valve, and fans of the original L4D might recognise its location from Survival Mode.

Catch the teaser trailer below for a short, sweeping view of a creepy lighthouse overlooking a cliffside.

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The voice actor for Team Fortress 2’s Soldier character died earlier this year after contracting the Covid-19 coronavirus, leading Valve to add a pretty extensive tribute to Rick May to the game. The prominent bronze memorial statues and title screen update only lasted through the month of May, but Valve have now updated the game with a smaller, permanent tribute.

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The skins in Fall Guys are excellent. Mediatonic’s Total Wipeout-like battle royale will let you wobble round its obstacle courses dressed as all manner of silly things – from cacti and hotdogs, to Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman and Team Fortress 2’s Scout. Now a leak claims that more cutesy crossover outfits are on the way, ones that will let you dress up as Pedro (the banana) from My Friend Pedro, and Chell (the human) from Portal.

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All dogs go to heaven, we have heard it said. But what about videogame dogs? By the virtue of their non-existence you may suspect they are refused entry. However, after contemplating the issue for some time, our finest minds in the listicle archives have concluded that, yes, even videogame dogs go to heaven. What a relief. Here are the 10 goodest boys in PC games, all approved for divine ascendence.

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I’ve only ever played bits and pieces of the Half-Life games, but it’s been a delight learning the ins and outs of their creation from Half-Life: Alyx – Final Hours. It’s a multimedia documentary on all things Valve – their (many) cancelled games, a close look at life during Alyx’s development, and the ups and downs the developers went through in making sure Half-Life returned in the best way possible. I’ve pulled out some of my favourite snippets of info from the doc, so read on to hear all about Alyx’s invisible headcrab, and why I now believe that G-Man’s actor might actually be G-Man in real life.

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Science, the most difficult of the arts. We are trained from toddlerhood to respect and fear the products of scientific advancement, such as the selfie sticks or mechanical pencil. The unsurpassed boffins who create such devices are worthy of admiration. But there is one realm in which science is not such a gentle guardian of the people. That’s right, it’s videogames. In games, scientists are treacherous, evil, stupid, murderous or some genetic concoction of all the above. Here are the 9 worst scientists in PC games.

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“It’ll be easy,” I thought to myself, when it was suggested someone do a nice, timely little post on the new-ish Steam Points system, and the various new goodies on offer through it. “Sure, no problem,” I said, when Matt refused to write it because he thought Steam Points were “pointless”, and I was the only other writer on the call with Graham. Matt was being negative, I figured, and I’d show him the error of his ways with my happy-go-lucky, anything-goes, good times attitude. I’d breeze onto the Steam store, have a browse of what points-purchasable things were on offer, and do a quickie piece highlighting some of the most chuckleworthy.

Well, turns out Matt was right, and I was not.

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