Cardiff, London and Sheffield: April 8th 2010: The Doctor, Amy and some of the show’s most iconic monsters will be making a journey from TV to home computers, as the BBC unveils Doctor Who: The Adventure Games – four original ‘interactive episodes’ which will be made available for free from www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho.

These four new adventures will take the form of downloadable computer games available for PC and Mac, in which players assume control of the Doctor and Amy as they embark on new adventures which complement the new TV series.

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games has been produced by a team drawing on the very best talent from TV and gaming. The interactive episodes are executive produced by Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger, Beth Willis and Anwen Aspden (BBC Wales Interactive), alongside Charles Cecil, one of videogaming’s most revered creators.

The games are being developed by Sumo Digital, one of the UK’s best game designers. Stories and scripts are from Phil Ford (co-writer Doctor Who ‘Waters of Mars’) and James Moran (Severance, Torchwood Children of Earth). The project has been commissioned for BBC Online by the Vision Multiplatform team, headed up by Simon Nelson, and is being driven by BBC Wales Interactive.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have been digitally recreated in-game, and have provided full voice-overs. Music has been provided by TV series’ composer Murray Gold. An additional cast will portray original characters and classic enemies.

“Children don’t just watch Doctor Who – they join in. They make up games, invent their monsters, create their own stories,” says Steven Moffat, Head Writer and Executive Producer,

Doctor Who. “Now, there’s something else – now they can be the Doctor in brand new episodes.

Doctor Who: The Adventure Games will offer fans of the Doctor a unique opportunity to enter his world, face his challenges and grapple with his deadliest foes.

“By developing these games alongside the new TV series, we’ve been able to weave exciting narrative strands with the very finest game design to create a new kind of Doctor Who, which can be enjoyed by the whole family.”

“There aren’t 13 episodes of Doctor Who this year,” adds Piers Wenger, Head of Drama, BBC Wales and Executive Producer, Doctor Who. “There are 17 – four of which are interactive. Everything you see and experience within the game is part of the Doctor Who universe: we’ll be taking you to places you’ve only ever dreamed about seeing – including locations impossible to create on television.”

Simon Nelson, Head of BBC Multiplatform in Vision, continues: “A few years ago we couldn’t have dreamt of commissioning such an innovative form of drama. By integrating the creation of these ‘interactive episodes’ with the development of the TV series, we’ve been able to create amazing two-hour dramas in which you control the action. We’ve all imagined what it would be like to come face-to-face with some of the universe’s most terrifying monsters – now viewers can find out for themselves.

“Establishing new forms of drama is exactly what the BBC should be doing. By aiming these ‘interactive episodes’ at the broad audience of TV show – unique in British television, in that it encompasses at least three generations – we’re aiming to encourage the family to gather round the PC or Mac in the same way they do the television. Driving computer literacy is a keystone of the BBC’s public service remit and we expectDoctor Who: The Adventure Games to be hugely popular in the homes of Britain this year.

“Only the BBC could produce such an innovative slice of new drama. We’re offering two-hour original Doctor Who episodes to production standards on a par with the TV series, working with the very best creatives within the UK. We’re hugely proud of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, which will establish new standards in interactive drama and allow families the country over to enjoy Doctor Who stories in unique and innovative ways.”

“Doctor Who: The Adventure Games will offer the chance for Doctor Who fans to visit places they’ve only dreamed off, facing off against monsters they’ve previously had to imagine,” concludes Anwen Aspden, Executive Producer, BBC Wales Online. “Players will visit places which have never been shown on television – and these will go on to define the look and feel of future TV episodes.”

The exact titles of the four episodes are being kept secret for the time being, but the four original stories will take players on a journey throughout time and space, including one location from the Doctor Who series which has never been seen before on screen. Players will encounter new and original monsters, in stories which form part of the overall Doctor Who canon.

The first episode of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games will be available to download for PC and Mac from www.bbc.co.uk/docotorwho in June 2010. Its title will be revealed at a special press event on April 21st 2010 – if you are interested in attending, please do let us know.

I was late to the game (quite literally) with the original Left 4 Dead, I didn’t get/play it until several months after its release. The reason I was always apprehensive was that I believed the game to be more focused on multiplayer (which it is) and I’ve always enjoyed single player games more due to the story normally being better, also the structure of Left 4 Dead that being campaigns broken into different chapters with the A.I. director changing various things around didn’t tickle my fancy BUT my opinions change as frequently as the weather so I purchased the greatest hits version of the game a few months back and found myself thoroughly enjoying it. Sure all the aspects of the game I thought I’d dislike were there but I didn’t care because the game was just plain fun. This brings us to Christmas day when I received Left 4 Dead 2 and zombie killing became my new past time.

Left 4 Dead 2 doesn’t break the mold set by its predecessor, Hell it doesn’t even bend it but it does improve upon it. Everything that you enjoyed about Left 4 Dead is still intact, 4 diverse characters, campaigns broken up into chapters and zombies…lots of zombies. So what makes it worth a purchase? Well there are a few things to consider.

The Campaigns:

The original Left 4 Dead featured 4 Campaigns with 4 chapters each (since the release one new campaign with 2 additional chapters has been released). Each Campaign took place in different environments including an Airport, Wooded Area, City Streets/Hospital and a Farm. While different the campaigns didn’t change much up the same enemies appeared in each and they all sort of looked the same due to the dark color palette. The sequel ups the ante by adding a 5^th Campaign and all of the said campaigns take place in vastly different settings for the most part, this time out we get a Mall, a Small Town, a Sugar Mill, a Carnival and a Bourbon Street wannabe . Each Campaigns environment have unique features including swamps, sewers, rain storms and all sorts of fun filled set pieces, also each campaign features unique common infected including clowns and hazmat zombies. There little additions but they add to the feel of the game. The lighting is also vastly improved as unlike the first game there is daylight present for me made the experience more immersive as I could actually look around and see the surroundings I mean its not like zombies only come out at night, right?

The Graphics:

The game looks great as did the first but little tweaks here and there are welcomed. The gore has been amped up with all sorts of zombie bits flying at the screen and the zombies themselves are much more diverse, including the aforementioned special common infected there are more models for the common infected and several new special infected including The Charger, The Jockey and The Spitter. The special infected from the first return as well with some visual upgrades. Like I mentioned the lighting is great, the weather effects are nice and the character models have been given a boost over the first. Overall is a very nice looking game.

The Gameplay:

If you played the first you know what you’re in for yet again however yet again its all about the small additions. You can still carry a main weapon and a secondary weapon as well as a healing product but this time out we get something the first was sorely lacking, MELEE WEAPONS! Swords, Cricket Bats, Axes, Guitars and a few others all are just fantastic. I’ve spent most of my time with the game using the various melee weapons because there’s just nothing more rewarding then decapitation. Along with the melee weapons there are also some new healing items such as adrenaline shots which act similarly to the pain pills and a defibrillator which can bring a killed survivor back to life. Like the rest of the package the additions are not game changers but they improve on an already good formula.

The Final Say:

If you enjoyed the first you will enjoy the second and if you hated the first this won’t change your mind, it’s as simple as that. I suppose I can see how some would refer to this as more an expansion and less a sequel but I wholly believe the game is worth it, it’s everything the first game was and everything that it should have been. If we get Left 4 Dead 3 I can’t think of anything missing that I would add but I’m sure the good folks at Valve are up for the challenge.

Also Yes I know the game came out in November and it’s now January but what can you do, if you still on the fence and want a review here it is.

Final Verdict

8.5 out of 10

Sinatra REALLY Likes Left 4 Dead 2