There’s been so much talk lately about Portal 2 and the Steam platform coming to the Mac.

And before there was the announcement of a new map for Left 4 Dead 2.

And there’s a constant stream of substantial updates to Team Fortress 2.

But Half-Life 2 Episode Three has just kind of vanished…  Which is kind of strange, because Half-Life is really what put Valve on the map.

Granted, it took them forever to roll out Team Fortress 2…  And that turned out to be a kickass game…  But we’re not talking about a stand-alone title here – this is supposed to be Episode Three, not Half-Life 3.

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  Terri got the day off on account of her slaving over a hot stove every other day of the year, so I did the cooking.  Everything turned out surprisingly well.  Not that I really thought I’d ruin everything…  I can cook fairly well usually…  But a big ol’ Thanksgiving dinner is a little imposing.

I, of course, ate far too much.  Piles of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie…  It’s amazing that I didn’t rupture something yesterday.

I also spent a good chunk of the day yesterday playing WoW.  My Warlock is now 76, and my Death Knight is 62.  I’m more-or-less done with Dragonblight…  There are still a few group quests for me to do there, but I’ve had enough.  Some of those quests were pretty frustrating and I’m glad to be out of the zone.  I’m currently grinding in Howling Fjord – technically a step backwards, as the zone is lower level, but it’s a lot of fun.

I haven’t played Left 4 Dead again since that first session.  It was certainly fun, but I’ve been tied up in WoW almost nonstop.  That’s the problem with the holiday season in general – excess.  Too much stuff going on, too much to do, not enough time for any of it.  I’ve still got to play through Red Alert 3, and I wanted to try Fallout 3, and I never did finish Dead Space…

The best part though, is that it is only Friday night.  I’ve had two full days off from work, and I’ve got two more to go.  Very nice.

Monday was my Birthday, and Terri got me Left 4 Dead.  I didn’t have a chance to play it Monday night because we were running through the Wrathgate stuff…  So last night I fired it up for the first time.

Left 4 Dead, if you aren’t aware, is the new zombie shooter from Valve – the folks responsible for Half-Life and Team Fortress 2.  Strictly speaking, the enemies aren’t zombies.  Much like in 28 Days Later they are actually people who are infected with some virus that turns them into zombie-like homicidal maniacs.  But for all intents and purposes they are zombies.  Civilization has been pretty much wiped out.  You and a few other survivors spend the entire game trying to find safety, and fighting off the zombies at every turn.

From a gameplay perspective, L4D is a pretty simple shooter.  You move around with your keyboard, aim with the mouse, left-click to shoot, and right-click to club someone…  There are a couple extra keys to turn your flashlight on or off, and to pick up items, but that’s really about it.  Nothing terribly complicated or weird.  Just run and shoot.

But there really is quite a bit more to the game than simply running and shooting.  They did a great job of capturing the feel of a zombie apocalypse, and that impacts on how you play the game.

It isn’t a solo shooter.  You’re teamed up with three other survivors who can either be controlled by other players on-line or by the computer.  You don’t carry an arsenal – you get a pistol, a bigger gun of some sort, and maybe a single explosive.  You aren’t indestructible – it is fairly easy to get yourself overwhelmed and killed.  You really need to rely on your team mates at times…  If you get knocked down you’ll need a team member to pull the zombies off of you.  If you get “incapacitated” you’ll need a team member to stop your bleeding and get you back off the ground.  And you’ve got a real incentive to keep the rest of your team alive, because you can’t fight everything off by yourself.

There’s basically a limitless supply of zombies.  You aren’t going to methodically clear one room after another and have a safe trip to the goal.  They keep re-appearing when you aren’t looking.  And if you’re too slow and cautious you’ll get attacked by a swarm of zombies that leap over walls, climb in through windows, or simply break down walls.  So you need to keep moving.  You need to keep shooting.  You need to have other people along to keep you alive.

Navigating the levels can be a little challenging.  There aren’t a whole lot of obvious directional cues in the ruins of this abandoned city.  I wandered around the same city block several times before I figured out where I needed to go.  It wasn’t so bad inside the hospital, I just followed the brightly-lit exit signs…  But it adds a very worrisome edge of realism to the game.  It is entirely possible that you’ll get lost and wander into a dead-end somewhere, with a horde of zombies blocking your only way out.

The zombies themselves come in a few different flavors…

You’ve got the standard-issue zombies.  They stand around looking mostly dead until they notice you, at which point they’ll charge right at you.

There are hunters, which are far more active and agile.  They’ll leap from one place to the next, climb up walls, and tackle you to the ground.

There are smokers, which like to lurk in dark places and then reel you in with a giant tentacle.

There are boomers, which like to vomit on you.  The vomit then attracts every other zombie in the area.

There are tanks, which look kind of like the Incredible Hulk.  They’re huge, muscular beasts.  They look kind of silly from a distance…  But when they’re charging at your, throwing cars out of their way, and knocking you across the room they’re not nearly so humorous.

And then there are the witches.  These zombies just huddle in a corner weeping, and will sit there unless you disturb them.  If you disturb them, they kill you.  They’re insanely fast and powerful.

The game feels exactly like playing through a Romero movie.  It reminded me a lot of the recent remake of Dawn of the Dead.  It wasn’t exactly horrifying…  Not a whole lot of scary moments…  But there’s a distinct feeling of suspense and oppression.  A very real sense that you’re only a hair’s breadth away from death at every moment.