Oh yes, it’s that time of the year again, the time where strangers and relatives turn on you, get violent and an insatiable thirst for flesh. No, not the start of the holyday season, although that makes sense, I’m talking about the Zombie Apocalypse, it’s back once more with Left 4 Dead 2. The game just got released a few hours ago and I’m giving it three thumbs up (it’s a birth defect). But just as with the holidays, the spirit of the zombie apocalypse is also that of sharing. So let’s share the warm fuzzy feeling of shooting the horde of the undead together!

Join the Dark Diamond Steam Group where you’ll be able to play with some of us as well as with other dear readers. You can bet that’s all we’ll be playing for days. Also feel free to share your Xbox Live Gamertags, phone numbers, credit card details and social security numbers.

Left 4 Dead 2 is looming in the horizon just a little less than a month away and here at DDN we’re all excited! Yesterday an amazing new trailer was conveniently leaked online. Finally we get a better glimpse at the personalities of the survivors. I’m quite fond of Coach, who we see showing complete disregard for the new melee weapons in the game and simply punching a freaking zombie right in the face. You know, I’m fine with that, a man should need no better tool than his fists to end a zombie apocalypse.

Are you excited? Let us know!

After being rescued from Mercy Hospital, our foursome crash lands into new DLC released September 29th. Free for PC owners and 560 MS points for the Xbox360, the new campaign features two chapters, original voice acting (which provides good laughs) and a reason to get back into playing Left4Dead. New superficial details such as an improved HUD (which will be utilized in the sequel) and aesthetics like the writing on the wall provide you with the same sense of the murderous infected living behind the corner. The new maps keep the same style and feel of the original, but seem harder.

In the original, you’d run into a weapons resupply once a chapter. In the DLC, they are everywhere and it helps. Playing on expert, the horde is seemingly never ending and rather than the occasional special zombie (smoker, boomer, or hunter), you can expect all three to appear at the same time with the witch or tank in the most inopportune spots during the chase.

While short in length the two chapters appear both in Versus and Survival modes giving the DLC high replay value. Crash Course gives you a chance to hone your zombie killing skills and should you have bought L4D at discount, the $7 worth of MS points you’d spend makes it even more attractive. For those of us that bought it at full price and love the game, it whets our appetite for the real deal in November.

*Also for achievement hunters Valve gave us 10 more to collect…

Harrison Krix, a Graphic Designer from Atlanta, cosplayed as Big Daddy for Dragon*Con 2009. His costume was superb. That alone is enough reason for praise and fame but then Harrison went the extra mile and posted a complete log of the construction of the costume, all the way down to the fully functional drill in video.

It’s very rare to get a glimpse into the making of such a professionally made costume. Reminds me of the Pyramid Head cosplay video we showcased back in ‘07 (pulled from the internet now).

The Little Sister is not included in the how-to, that’s his fiancée, though no explanation on how he managed that!

[Volpin Props]

Yet another trailer for the live action movie adaptation of Blood: The Last Vampire and the movie just keeps looking better each time. This trailer delves a bit more into the plot of the movie and while there are significant differences with the manga, the OVA and the anime series, there’s also quite a bit of reference to these original works. In fact there’s quite a few shots taken directly from the OVA.

The general public will most likely find it cheesy and juvenile but it also might just be the most faithful Hollywood anime adaptation in quite a while.

[TrailerAddict]

While Japan is obviously getting ready for the come of our future robot overlords, by ushering the come of said overlords themselves, then teaching the future generations how to defend against it with shows like Gundam and Macross.

However Japan is also getting their young ones ready for a bunch of other impending emergencies, like the Zombie apocalypse. Like in the video above when a TV show subjects 3 little kids to a simulated Zombie attack, complete with setting up traps, barricading and melee combat. These kids will outlive us all when the undead rise.

In all seriousness though, as hilarious as this is, if it were done anywhere else besides Japan people would be outraged at the trauma they are causing these kids. Myself? I think that kid at the end is now more of a man now that all of us could ever hope to be.

[xorsyst]

Today Capcom announced that Resident Evil 5, along with Street Fighter IV and Bionic Commando, will be ported to the PC. With SFIV and Bionic Commando coming out in July and RE: 5 in the fall this marks the newest step in Capcom’s attempts to bring its blockbusters to the PC.

No additional content has been announced for the PC version of RE:5 but it will sport a fancy new feature: 3D! The game will be compatible with Nvidia’s Geforce 3D Vision technology, allowing you to not only see Zombies in 3D, but Chris’ bigger-than-his-skull biceps and Sheva’s well endowed buttocks will also feel like they are coming out of your screen.

You may or may not know that Capcom actually released Resident Evil 4 for the PC as well and it was considered one of the worst PC ports ever, with basically no keyboard and mouse support basically forcing you to the same experience as the console versions. Now with this press release Capcom promises full keyboard and mouse support for all 3 games but adds that “for God’s sake, go buy a gamepad with analog sticks.”

To this humble editor this seems like Capcom is missing a big part of the point of releasing games for the PC, mainly that PC gamers are not that fond of controllers. So with this kind of attitude towards the PC its still to be seen what they actually mean when they say “full” keyboard and mouse support. But hey! At least there’s the promise of 3D ass, cant ague with that!

[Capcom]

If I were not stuck in the middle of a godless desert city, where it only rains twice a year, I’d buy this umbrella. Its elegant, it means business, its… its corporate. And its for sale for only about $15 USD on Think Geek! Hell I’d consider paying a guy following me around with a hose just so I could stand under my umbrella… looking ominous.

[Think Geek]

IGN has got a hold of the first scene of the Resident Evil: Degeneration movie. Embedded right above for your viewing pleasure. I’ve got to say they are pretty well done and the story seems to be much more fulfilling than any of the actual Resident Evil movies ever were. I’m definitely looking forward to it now, how about you?

You read that right, GameTrailers TV reports that upon completion of the single-player campaign of CoD: WaW, an extra mode will be unlocked where the player is locked in a base with a limited amount of weapons, armor, and barricades to stop a never-ending rush of zombified SS soldiers.

There is no story behind NAZI ZOMBIES, and seriously, it doesn’t need one. There’s no word on whether co-op will work in NAZI ZOMBIE MODE so far. The amount of weapons, armor, ammunition, barricading equipment, etc. are handled by an “economy system”, the details of which are unspecified but probably similar to that of other FPS games where the most picked weapons become more expensive forcing you to choose less conventional ones. Either way, enjoyment of killing a NAZI ZOMBIE is not dependant on the method of execution.

Too long, didn’t read?

NAZI ZOMBIES.

[GameTrailers]