Alien Swarm

[Xearo_Disaster]

So most of us have played a bit of this new beaut. So fill us in with your opinions, guys! What d'you think about it? Particular favourite aspects, disappointments?

I'm quite enjoying it. I think the big shield bugs are a bit of a let down in that they don't seem to do much attacking rather than just sitting there hiding. And the parasites? f**k 'em, that's ridiculous. You should at least be able to have an ally punch it off or something. Due to those freakin' parasites I've been stuck on the level where you first encounter the biomass/eggs etc. on my own about 4 times.

[Demon_Hunter]

me, mark and grid and someoneelse also got stuck on the 4th level.
as for everything else. a bit hard to get used to controls.
like the ghx. not the best voice acting. abusable map drawer...

[Xearo_Disaster]

yes! the voice acting is terrible, jesus. glad someone else noticed. xD and people drawing penises everywhere on the map is really annoyin'.

[tom_armitage]

people drawing penises everywhere on the map is really annoyin'.

Sorry guys But i did find the map usefull. When i died i was able to guide bear and the gang around the map with ease. Not realy lisened to the voice acting, I like the fact you can put your own music in the game to be battle songs. and was the 4th level the one where you had to do the eggs and biomass then get on the lift, If so that was the hardest level. then the one after is super easy.

[Gridlock]

I expected a longer campaign, but I guess the harder difficulty levels make up for it. The animations look a bit awkward (how they hold their guns and how they run for example), some of them seem to be ripped right from Source games. Also I think it's a bit too fast paced. They said the game will require tactical coordination or whatnot, but in most games I saw people favor the 'run & gun' method. Also, the levels are too easily unlocked. If you become fairly competent at the game you'll unlock 1 level each round.

[Mad Mike]

And the parasites? f**k 'em, that's ridiculous. You should at least be able to have an ally punch it off or something.

I tried shooting it off Blizzard. With lethal results. Not on the parasite part though. 
Sorry mate 

people drawing penises everywhere on the map is really annoyin'.

People -> Gridlock. And yes, it's 100% confirmed. Almost surely.
But the map is useful indeed. I drew a hatted gentlemanne, but he happened to disperse after a while.
Something else? Why, yes. I like freakin' love the Vindicator. Especially on close-up range.
Also, fast reload is quite useful, but the marker on the crosshair should be more visible.

[Bizzie]

To quote the Simpsons (the game, actually): "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game".

Well, I do not know about the happy part, but Alien Swarm is enjoyable. We almost passed the campaign last night (me, Tom, QuadrAlien & ex-NDH Kabosh) on the Normal difficulty level. We ended up with Kabosh reaching the chopper and dying just few inches from the ledge where you're supposed to jump onto the chopper thing. Sad ending, but I believe we all had a blast.

Teamwork's essential, especially on the latter levels. Sentries are fairly useful too, especially if the group has to wait for a lift or a chopper. Medic is always needed due to the headcrab-like aliens jumping & humping your head - currently there is no way to get rid of them yourself.

The map is very useful. It is good that drawings describing penises and boobs vanish quickly (ahem, some of you) but a dead person's route planning help might be left unnoticed during the action.

Speaking about dead people: there is no respawn. There are no magic closets (like in L4D) etc., so if you die, you stay dead. As said above, it is possible to draw on the map to help your buddies who are still alive.

The controls may be hard for some people. Naturally, you can change the key binds to your liking, but it's not hard to get used to the default control set either. As Tom said earlier, you can also add your own battle music (which, AFAIK, plays only when you're in a 'critical situation': waiting for a lift, for example). Activating the lift on the first biomass level caused my game to play Avenged Sevenfold from my music folder, which was rather epic - I didn't expect it at all!

In addition to the above: voice chat increases the fun factor of the game by roughly 25 %.

What I'd love to see in Alien Swarm: more official campaigns & a more tactical mode with shorter maps.

All in all, Alien Swarm is brilliant. I like the top-down view and the fact that it is completely free. I hope Valve keeps updating the game, although I fear their other titles are more important to them.

If you see me playing, come join me. If I see some of you playing, I'll ask you if I may join.

[QuadrAlien]

Two words for a non-Medic solution to Parasites - Tesla Gun.  They've got low enough health that it'll burn through even groups of them in milliseconds, and friendly fire doesn't apply to it, so it can be used on ones charging a teammate if you're quick enough to spam it in their direction before they latch on.

A pity about the loss yesterday - I'm pretty sure the countdown was on a dramatic 1 second left, as well.

It's great fun, though - I'm sure people will start hammering together the custom campaigns soon enough.  And free is always nice.

[Gridlock]

People -> Gridlock. And yes, it's 100% confirmed. Almost surely.

I can assure you that I was not drawing those reproductive organs onto the map overlay (at least it wasn't just me, but I do not do that anymore, I promise).

Also, fast reload is quite useful, but the marker on the crosshair should be more visible.

There's a nice workaround for that. It brings the bigger reloading bar under your marine. The command is to be entered in the console. asw_fast_reload_under_marine 1

currently there is no way to get rid of them yourself.

Your best bet is to avoid them, but by using the electric shield (3 charges) you can throw them off your scalp.

[Mad Mike]

To[...lots of written stuff...]join.

I thought I heard you say see you write that Alien Swarm sucks. 

@Gridlock: Thanks for the advice.
But.
In one game there were 2 people except you and me, and in the other one there were 2 different people except you and me. I was not drawing. Also, when being the leader, you did not choose to proceed to the next mission while said organs were appearing.
Sorry, but my deduction skills lead to you.

[Xearo_Disaster]

You can use the healing auras or the medical gun to heal yourself when there's one on you, but the shield is best.

[Gridlock]

Sorry, but my deduction skills lead to you.

Maybe I was talking to someone on Steam?

[Rioter]

And as per usual, i'm late and know absolute nothing about this game or how good it is apart from reading what you guys thought. Doesn't help when each time i'm invited to a game I'm either busy on something and when i finish I find the game is full, or I'm busy on Worms (my worms clan has decided to become active all-of-a-sudden).

All I've seen is the start page.

It sounds like a fun team multiplayer, and when I finally get a chance to play on it, I'll probably enjoy it and look forward to it (pending I'm not slow off the mark and even get past the home screen, which in that respect should be an achievement in it's own right!!!)

[offtopic]I should also point out my computer is in the process of committing suicide, must be a Dell thing[/offtopic]

[markp]

tesla gun is overpowerrrrrrrrrrrrrred

[Demon_Hunter]

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/alien-swarm-in-first-person/347646?playlist=featured
That firstperson