After the cancellation of Evolve’s support by their publisher 2K, developers Turtle Rock Studios seem to have had a little spare time. They’ve used the time to do up and release an unfinished campaign for the original Left 4 Dead game that was scrapped before the game’s release as an add-on in 2008.

The Dam It campaign (which shares its name with an unrelated single-map mod released in 2009 by Tom Baldry) is a multi-map stroyline that takes the four players of the game from a crashed C-130 plane on an airfield to a hydro-electric damn, fighting zombies all along the way. The developers had intended the finale of the campaign to be different to the other campaigns by having the party needing to be split instead of all focused in one spot fighting off waves in a hold-off until time has elapsed situation. Other elements include an apple orchard, a graveyard of crawling zombies, a ravine and even a set of fuel storage building that would trigger alarms if fire-based weapons were used inside – bringing the zombies right towards you.

Obviously as an old scrapped campaign, you can expect a few things not be working fully. The fire alarms for example aren’t fully implemented. The maps are playable though and mostly completed, so getting them to work isn’t going to be a big issue. If you fancy giving it a go with some friends, grab the download here.

After the furious fighting of the quarter-finals the previous day, the remaining four Hearthstone players took back to the stage at BlizzCon 2016 today to compete first in the semi-finals before the winners of those matches then went on to take on each other for the title of Hearthstone World Champion of 2016.

After the events of yesterday, the field of 3 Americas players, 2 European, 2 China and 1 Asia-Pacific player was cut down to eliminate one China player as well as all three of the remaining American players, two of them going out to the European players and the last one to the sole remaining Asia-Pacific representative. This effectively ended America’s run, but gave Europe a great chance of retaining the title after the win of Ostkaka in 2015’s World Championship.

The first semi-final was a match between the remaining player from China, JasonZhou and Russian player Pavel. JasonZhou had made it here by beating his fellow China player, Hamster; while Pavel had taken on Americas player Amnesiac previously. The first match up saw JasonZhou playing his Zoo Warlock against Pavel’s Rogue, one that he won after a timely Doomguard draw gave him the amount of direct damage needed to finish Pavel off. The second game was taken by Pavel’s Malygos Druid against JasonZhou’s Dragon Warrior, before JasonZhou’s own version of the Malygos Druid deck took the third game against Pavel’s Tempo Mage. JasonZhou then played Dragon Warrior again for the forth game, coming closer to a victory this time; but Pavel’s Tempo Mage managed to pull a Leeroy Jenkins out of a Fireland Portal which again gave the player the amount of direct damage needed to take the game. Equalised at 2 games apiece now, JasonZhou opted to use his Rogue deck which Pavel defeated first with the Rogue deck, then finally with his C’Thun Warrior. This won him the set and moved the Russian on to the Final round, to face the winner of Semi-Final #2.

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The other semi-final was between che0nsu of the Asia-Pacific group and DrHippi of the European group. In order to get here, che0nsu had beaten Cydonia the previous day to knock out another American player, and DrHippi had taken on HotMEOWTH to finish the total elimination of the Americas team from the running. As with the last semi-final, the first four games were taken by each player alternatively, with DrHippi taking the second game with his Druid after a Yogg’Saron play late in the game paid off for him yet also potentially making a game-changing decision that could have lost him the match by using an equipped weapon from Yogg before he used his Hero power to gain an extra point of damage that would have been lethal in that round just then. The third round was won by che0nsu’s Bloodlust Shaman using its titular card to power up and rush down DrHippi’s hitpoints, while the forth round saw his Dragon Warrior deck suffering from having a bunch of cards that synced well with Dragons but having no Dragon activator in the hand and by the time one was drawn DrHippi’s Zoolock deck had too firm a grip on the field. The fifth match saw a bit of a reversal with DrHippi’s Dragon Warrior being the one missing the crucial Dragon and instead having to rely on some late-game Ragnaros RNG which fortunately paid off after DrHippi held back the 8/8 Minion until che0nsu had played his already so there was a chance of one Rag destroying the other. The sixth game was the final one as che0nsu played his Dragon Warrior again against DrHippi’s Tempo Mage. Although the Dragon Minions were around at the start, once again che0nsu’s deck let him down by having a lack of drawn Dragons in the mid-game, which allowed DrHippi to take the set 4-2 and making the final a fully European one.

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So the final opened with the guarantee of Europe retaining the title for another year, and the question just being whether the Russian Pavel or the Ukrainian DrHippi would be the one to take it with them. The first match was between Pavel’s C’Thun Warrior deck which had finished his semi-final, and DrHippi’s Dragon Warrior. DrHippi took that first game, but then Pavel pushed back taking the next three games in succession with his Tempo Mage first, then his Malygos Druid and finally the C’Thun Warrior deck in which Pavel managed to eliminate two 8/8 Arcane Giants from DrHippi’s side of the field while keeping his 6/6 Ancient Shieldbearer with a lucky RNG roll of his Brawl. DrHippi pulled back with the fifth game using his Zoolock deck against Pavel’s lone remaining Rogue deck; but in the end Pavel only had to win one more game and did so. The sixth game was between the Rogue deck and DrHippi’s Druid and was decided very early with a critical chain play from Pavel that saw him able to get out a Van Cleef with a 10/10 stat that the Ukrainian player just had no answer to in the end.

So the Hearthstone World Championship is concluded for another year, with Europe retaining the title for a second year and Russian Pavel being crowned as the Hearthstone World Champion of 2016. Congratulations to the Champion and well done on such expertly played games of Hearthstone.

Here’s to another year of great plays and wonderful new cards to come!

After a seemingly never ending, Blizzard finally revealed Sombra yesterday at Blizzcon as she hacked into the Overwatch lookback trailer. A fast, medium range offense hero, Sombra comes equipped with a machine pistol, teleporter and the ability to hack enemies and health packs on the map. She can prevent enemies from using abilities, take out shields and turrets and teleport to her translocator as it flies through the air.

She seems to be everything we’ve been speculating about and more, making the wait well worth it.

In addition to Sombra, Blizzard is also bringing 1v1 elimination and a 3v3 arcade mode to the game. The game just continues to grow, and it seems like Blizzard is going to reward us for playing these new modes with loot boxes. Since we all love loot, it seems this will get players to play the new modes right out of the gate.

Check out Sombra’s trailer below!

Having seen much competition over the last year since Ostkaka took the title of World Champion at BlizzCon 2015, the eight remaining players still in competition for the title met on stage at BlizzCon 2016 to see which of them would be making it to the semi-finals played the next day.

Still in the running for the title, all four world groups were still represented. The Americas region had the most players still in the competition with 3 players (Amnesiac, HotMEOWTH and Cydonia), both Europe (Pavel and DrHippi) and China (Hamster and JasonZhou) had 2 players remaining, which left the one remaining spot to be filled by the only player from Asia-Pacific to make it through, che0nsu.

The first quarter-final was between both the China players, with Hamster being known for trying out new decks (such as his C’Thun/Anyfin Paladin) that he hoped would catch on while JasonZhou tended towards some of the most typical decks considered to be good in the current meta (such as Zoo Warlock and Dragon Warrior). Although they were both sad to be drawn against each other in the first bracket, they were glad that China would at least be able to make it to the semi-finals because of it. The matches started with Hamster pulling off a nice win using a Token Druid deck, but then JasonZhou went on a rampage, taking 3 games with a Shaman, Zoolock and Malygos Druid in sequence. Hamster managed to claw back a second win using his C’Thun/Anyfin Paladin but he was still in trouble of elimination and the sixth match saw JasonZhou take the forth victory needed to proceed in the competition to the semi-finals.

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The second quarter-final would determine his opponent and was a showdown between America and Europe, with Amnesiac taking on Pavel, who had won an amazing 3-4 comeback victory to make it here. Amnesiac started off the set in fantastic fashion with a Mid-Range Hunter, with the deciding turn coming down to a one in three chance of a lucky RNG shot, which he made taking game one. The Americas player than went on take two more games using first a Tempo Mage, then Zoolock, to place Pavel in the same position he had found himself before, 3-0 down. The question on everyone’s lips was could Pavel perform the same comeback again? The answer turned out to be yes, as the Russian first gained a foothold by taking game 4 with a C’Thun Warrior, then utilised his Druid and own Tempo Mage to draw level. He then took the final game with a Rogue deck, pushing the quarter-final to a full seven game set and going on to face JasonZhou the next day.

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After a short break for Challengestone exhibition matches, the third quarter-final started with che0nsu carrying the last hope of the Asia-Pacific region against the second American player on-stage, Cydonia. Both players showed great skills at reading possible plays by their opponent, with the first match being especially close and ending up being taken by Cydonia with a strong showing of his Control Warrior deck. Che0nsu answered in game two with his Zoolock deck that let him take the game verses Cydonia’s Tempo Mage. Cydonia then used his Secrets Hunter for the rest of the games, but each time found himself no match for che0nsu’s decks of Tempo Mage, Arcane Giant Druid and finally Dragon Warrior, meaning the Asia-Pacific player took the round 4-1 and eliminated the second American from the tournament.

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The final quarter-final match-up of the day was between the remaining two players, another Europe vs Americas match as DrHippi took on HotMEOWTH for the final spot to face che0nsu the next day. A lot was riding on HotMEOWTH as the final American player still in the running for the title, and especially because the player ran with a Patron Blood Warrior deck modified after both the Warsong Commander and Execute changes and wanted to prove the deck was still relevant in the current meta. DrHippi took the first two games against him and his Warrior deck, leaving him with ground to make up. The third match DrHippi’s Shaman was up against the Patron Blood Warrior deck and HotMEOWTH came within one turn of being able to flip the tables on his opponent, just losing out because DrHippi had the amount of damage needed. 3-0 down the Americans player couldn’t make the up ground and DrHippi took the match-up in a clean 4-0 sweep, putting both European players into the semis and finishing off America’s hopes of getting the World Championship title this year.

So the semi-finals will be as follows – JasonZhou against Pavel and che0nsu against DrHippi with the winner of each going on to face each other in the grand final match to see who will take the title this year. Could either Pavel or DrHippi let Europe retain the title, or will China or Asia-Pacific take the championship title home with them? Tune in to the BlizzCon livestream feed today from 10:30am PDT/ 5:30pm GMT to discover who it will be!

Diablo is celebrating its 20th Anniversary and Blizzard is sharing more details on the festivities.

Darkening of Tristram Event

Originally was just going to be original music tracks added; but now Blizzard is adding all 16 dungeons, all 4 bosses.
The audio is tinny, the movement is jerky so we’re trying to get back to 1997 with the style of this event.
Recreated old monsters, but new AI.
Retro UI will be there, and D3 combat but D1 looks.
Event will be triggered by a pentagram by the Old Ruins.
Lots of easter eggs.
Rewards and Loot: Portraits based on original health and mana, Butcher Pet, Transmog is a Soulstone in your Skull! Also gives you an legendary gem for your helm.
Butcher’s Cleaver and Wirt’s Leg for your transmog as well. You can finally dual wield Wirt’s Legs
Bosses: Fighting D1-style Butcher
Patch 2.4.3 will have the anniversary event but also new Items.
Every January the Darkening of Tristram will be back.

Diablo Armory

You’ll be able to save “Loadouts” – 2017 future patch. 5 loadouts per character – passives, gear, Cube powers, talents, gems.
Instant equip loadout with 1 button.
Gem unsocketing cost will be gone, including legendary gems.
This is for PC and console.

Necromancer

Reimagining the Necromancer from D2.
Went through brainstorming phase with an art team – started with ideas like “the King of the Dead,” then the fearsome hunter who wears the trophies of the dead.
Also thought of the Cryptkeeper
This lead to the Commander of the Dead – somewhat like a Rockstar with Legions of (dead) fans.
They thought this was a good way to update the Necromancer for Diablo 3.
Also got to introduce a female necromancer for the first time.
Themes of Classic, Aristocratic, Reanimation or “Bone Saint”, Blood, Bone – the production process included ideas about armor with all of these.
Classic armor set matches the D2 Necromancer, they wanted to get that right.
Necromancer gameplay basics: Pet and Ranged Magic class, darkly themed, “darkest class ever” – they are commanders of the dead!
Includes army of skeletons, dead things, mostly dead things, magic.
Magic includes blood, bone, reanimation and curses – a personal wish you case on your enemies.
Difference from the Witch Doctor: themes are different – WD is more light hearted, more about creepy crawlies, etc. Think of the exploding chicken!
Compared to the necromancer – much darker themes, more blood and bone than disease. They are deadly series, not light hearted.
Big difference in pets – pets in WD are passive, Necromancer are more Active Passive (i.e. like monk mantras.) Short term active benefit even though your pets also exist passively.
Activating the Seal commands pets to attack targets and you have a damage buff. Much easier to lead them around as well.
Resource differences – WD has mana, Necromancer has essence. Essence doesn’t regen over time, it requires action.
Necromancer has two resources! The other is corpses. Corpses power some of your skills.
Corpse explosion will be back. Up to 10 at a time per click

Bone Spear is back.
Decrepify is a way to keep monsters grouped together. This is a curse.
Pychic Blood is a life/essence steal.

Blood Rush is a teleport type skill
Blood Golem – a very gross pet. Also with an active passive type function.
Army of the Dead – 100+ skeletons RUSH onto an enemy.

“Rise of the Necromancer Pack” is 2 character slots, 2 stash tabs, cosmetics, pets, and the Necromancer!

This is coming in 2017!

The Darkening of Tristram will be in January with the Rise of the Necromancer Pack to follow.