2008 was a hell of a year in just about every category, from movies to music to world events to video games… It seemed that with every new day, something crazy and unexpected was just on the horizon, from a presidential candidate choosing a complete buffoon as his running mate to Chinese Democracy finally being released. Here are a few of my most notable memories from 2008.

The Movies: While The Dark Knight seems to have made everybody’s list, I’ll add Iron Man and Pineapple Express to my list. Poor Iron Man came out of the gate swinging, and I came out of the theater proclaiming that it was the greatest superhero movie ever made. And it was…for a couple months until Heath Ledger blew everybody’s damn mind. Nevertheless, Robert Downey Jr. was stellar as Tony Stark and Jon Favreau brought my favorite Marvel superhero to the big screen perfectly.

Seriously, I probably watched this trailer over a hundred times before the movie was released. Pineapple Express is not only my favorite movie of the year, but it’s the best movie Seth Rogan has ever been in. It also reminded me that James Franco is at his best when he’s funny. The guy is a great comedic actor and I hope the success of Pineapple Express encourages him to do more with the funny.

The Gadgets: I used a plural, but in truth there is only one gadget to mention in 2008: the iPhone 3G. Never in my life did I think a phone could change the way in which I live my life. But the iPhone is the most important device I own and the one thing that I must have with me at all times. I use it to watch movies, listen to music and podcasts, play video games, check news, browse the internet, update Robot Panic, take pictures, take notes, text dirty messages to Hilden and Moe, and of course call people. The App Store has completely revolutionized nearly everything in my life, and because of this wonderful gadget, I have joined Hilden in the cult of Steve Jobs.

The Games: Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy…there were some excellent games released in ’08. Among my favorites were Professor Layton and the Curious Village, No More Heroes, Burnout Paradise, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Little Big Planet, Dragon Quest IV (DS), Fable II, Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. Not to mention great downloadables like Castle Crashers, Megaman 9, and Galaga Legions. But the game that simply blew us all away was Left 4 Dead. Our obsession with zombies has been well-documented here at Robot Panic, but even we were stunned to find out just how incredible Left 4 Dead was. The game took nearly everything that is great about zombie movies (relentless hordes, a group of unlikely survivors, an ultimate standoff) and translated it perfectly into the greatest multiplayer game I’ve experienced in years. I was all set to choose Little Big Planet as my Game of the Year, but one evening with Left 4 Dead was all it took to change my mind. Hell, the game is so good that even Moe is playing it. Hilden and I had to buy him a 360 just so he’d stop playing our copies.
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Ah, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, plebians. My picks of stuff and nonsense.

10) Diary of the Dead: Romero has returned to us with more zombie joy. Despite a main character that would have made more sense being written into a 15 y/o fanfiction rather than a major movie release, the film stuck to it’s roots. Zombies, survivors, zombies and survivors being maimed in creative ways, and a little bit of light social commentary to go along with it. While I’m apparently still the one who enjoyed Land of the Dead, I appreciate Romero getting back to the original, cannibalistic undead roots of his stories.

9) iPhone 3G: It has single-handedly revolutionized crapper activities, as well as becoming to closest iteration of a handheld, works-anywhere laptop computer I’ve ever seen. The new iPhone as well as the App store support it has received has redefined the superphone and probably become the single most absurdly useful device I have ever owned. So, why does it not rank higher? Apple rigidly locking down functionality that should have been part of the thing from day one and the sheer obnoxiousness of having to wait in line to sign multi-year agreement for the device both annoy me. So down to #9 you go phone.

I still love you.

8 ) Good Old Games (Gog.com): It’s a site that has been built for the sole purpose of repackaging our PC nostalgia and selling it to us, at a fair price, with no DRM, and working on modern machines. Black Isle Studios titles? Check. SCUMM adventure games? check (and two are free with the last update). Phneri awash in a cheap gaming paradise? Check.

7)  NXE: No, it isn’t bigger than Jesus, but the Netflix thing is pretty badass, and even now I’m plotting to acquire a bigger hard drive to avoid the whine of the 360′s DVD drive.

Oh, and my Avatar goes into the night and violates your avatar while you sleep. In every way imaginable.  So I’ve got that going.

My initial reaction to the NXE was an overwhelming ‘meh,’ but after giving it some time I’ve gotten to like the extra features, and managed to save a fair amount of change by dropping cable in lieu of watching things instantly through the 360.  So yeah, it’s not bad. And Grindhouse is on it.
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Ah, Left 4 Dead. The podcast has sung it’s glory, and most of us have played it by now. Those of you who elected to buy something else that week…I pity you.

Now, for those fortunate souls who have the game, they may be encountering a problem. Notably, staying alive and healthy while fighting off hordes of cannibalistic mutants. Fortunately, I’m here to offer a series of bullet points designed to keep you mostly alive during the course of your gaming. They follow.

1. Stay with the group: In Left 4 Dead your most valuable weapon is the three teammates working with you. Not only do they help pick you up after you get sodomized by a hunter, but they can do other useful things, such as:

-taking hits

-opening doors and finding hordes of undead

-being exploded on

-being eaten by the witch while you shoot it

2. Seriously, stay with the group: Remember how the first to die in a horror movie is always the douche who wonders off by himself? Don’t be that guy.

3. Aim for the head: No, these aren’t Romero zombies, but they still generally dislike being shot in the face more than the leg. Head shots save on ammo, which keeps you from running dry in the middle of the finale and trying to fight off a tank with your peashooters.

4. Crouch: Crouch a lot. If you think you’re crouching enough, crouch more often. Crouching does a variety of things. First, it keeps you out of the line of fire when swarmed by zombies or when someone’s trying to shoot past you.  Second, it improves your aim drastically. Finally, crouching targets can be harder to hit, which may be all the edge you need against a hunter or boomer in vs. mode.

5. Blow up everything that you can find. Explosives are all over the world of Left 4 Dead, as they should be. And lighting things on fire or exploding them cuts off avenues of attack for bad guys. The game throws a lot of grenades, gas cans, and propane tanks your way, it would almost be rude to not blow them up.

6. Learn what weapon complements your level. Sure the assault rifle can be great for most situations, but in the cramped corridors in No Mercy nothing beats the automatic shotgun with it’s huge close-range modifiers, but the same shotgun becomes worthless at distance. Likewise, one survivor with the hunting rifle can make a huge difference in the wide open spaces you find in Blood Harvest ant Death Toll and can shoot through enemies to take down several at once in a crowd, but does poorly in run ‘n gun situations.

7. Don’t chase achievement points. 90% of Left 4 Dead’s achievements are very easy to get, and you’re going to snag 600+ points or so in the first week of normal play. Don’t get your teammates killed trying to get those extra 20 points. Want crOwnd? Or Akimbo Assassin? Go for it on single player. Dying because your teammate refused to pick up a real gun sucks.

8. Get on the damn mike. Left 4 Dead is not a game to avoid chatting in. You need to cooperate with your team, and they need to hear your call out for help. Besides, the game is way more fun when you can hear the guy playing Louis scream like a little girl as the hunter eats his spleen.

9. Don’t be Louis. This is a horror movie. The minorities always buy it first. Honestly now.

There you go. A batch of pointers to keep your alive and shooting zombie faces in Left 4 Dead. At least until you shoot the witch and get torn to pieces.

Why would you do that?

If you’ve tuned into Drunken Gamers Radio recently, then you’ve heard many a story of our continual battle to kill as many zombies as possible in Left 4 Dead. You may have noticed that many of those stories have had the name LeftyBrown attached to them. For those not in the know, LeftyBrown is the co-host (along with his wife) of the Married Gamers podcast.

We all know that Left 4 Dead is played best with friends and a community without douche is always a good thing. Well, if you’re looking for just such a community, then Lefty is your man. He dropped us an email and wanted us to let you know that the Married Gamers community will be playing Left 4 Dead on a weekly basis. They’ll be playing every Sunday, starting at 5pm EST, all the way until Janurary 31st. And he’s kindly invited the DGR/RobotPanic community to join him and his crew. I can tell you that a game with LeftyBrown means you’ll have a shotgun wielding, zombie ass kicker that gives no quarter. It’s a good time and you won’t be disappointed.

Hey, a weekly meeting with the zombie horde is always a good thing and if you’ve been looking for some folks to play with, well, send Lefty an invite request and enjoy the zombie killing!

Once again, we’ve got zombies at the core of our show. Maybe we should start getting worried about our state of minds. But with Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ and Left 4 Dead, shooting the undead is far too much fun to stop. We also cover Tomb Raider: Underworld, the Moe Minute Returns and the news on this week’s show!

SHOWNOTES

DS Review: Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ
PS3 Review: Tomb Raider-Underworld
360 Review: Left 4 Dead
Retro Review: Barnstorming (2600)
Moe Minute
News: Trophies Now Required
Dead Rising Lawsuit
Boom Blox 2
NXE Hypebole Explosion!
Release List
The Last Shot
DGR Mailbag

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