Valve to Release Alien Swarm for Free Tomorrow

Post by Dan @ 11:54am 19/07/10 | 80 Comments

AusGamers user Mantarok points out that Valve are gearing up to release the long-rumoured Source Engine port of Alien Swarm, a top-down cooperative multiplayer game that was originally developed as a UT2004 mod before the mod team were scooped into the Valve Software fold to work on Left for Dead and Portal 2.

Most awesomely, Valve are releasing the game completely free, including the game's complete codebase - an excellent showcase and resource for any budding modders or studios looking to license the Source Engine.

Available free of charge, the game thrusts players into an epic bug hunt featuring a unique blend of co-op play and squad-level tactics. With your friends, form a squad of four distinct IAF Marine classes. Plan your attack using an unlockable arsenal of weapons with countless loadout configurations against a wide variety of aliens. Blaze your way through an overrun, off-world colony, eradicating the alien infestation in environments ranging from the icy planet's surface, to a subterranean lava-flooded mining facility.

More details can be found on our new Alien Swarm game page.

Alien Swarm is due "July 19 2010 PST", so look for it approximately around noon tomorrow Sydney time.

Alien Swarm Gameplay Trailer

Alien Swarm Launch Trailer

alien swarm source engine valve trailer

Latest Comments

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greazy
Posted 11:58am 19/7/10

Looks awesome for a free game.

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Bikkies
Posted 12:08pm 19/7/10

Loved this on the Unreal Engine. Glad to see others get to enjoy it now.

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Carson
Posted 12:23pm 19/7/10

This is why Valve are the best devs everrrrrrrrrr.

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do0b
Posted 12:51pm 19/7/10

looks awesome!

looks like 'Alien Brood' or whatever that old game was

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MARLINBLADE
Posted 12:56pm 19/7/10

Can't wait... i love this sort of shooter and especially the co op aspect... the free aspect gets a big thumbs up from me as well!!

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Reality
Posted 12:58pm 19/7/10

alien swarm for ut2k4 was the beast and news of this came out of nowhere! WHOOOP IT MADE MY WEEK

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Winston
Posted 01:00pm 19/7/10

Alien Breed, you may be thinking of?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/22610/

AB was fun, only 2 player co-op though.

This looks awesome.

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Fuzzy
Posted 01:48pm 19/7/10

Oh wow, I remember playing this mod

It was hella fun, when I could find other aussies to play with.

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Mantorok
Posted 01:56pm 19/7/10

Alien Breed, you may be thinking of?

Yeah, he was probably thinking of the old Amiga/MS-DOS version though.

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do0b
Posted 02:45pm 19/7/10

Alien Breed, you may be thinking of?

Yeah, he was probably thinking of the old Amiga/MS-DOS version though.

heck yes thats the one, that game was scary as back in the day ;) haha

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Eorl
Posted 03:29pm 19/7/10

F*** yea, looks sweet as

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breno
Posted 06:38pm 19/7/10

wow Source engine is looking sweet as...still :0)

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Mattressi
Posted 08:50pm 19/7/10

I love Valve! :D

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Methz
Posted 10:08pm 19/7/10

goty.

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Midda
Posted 11:39pm 19/7/10

6 hours to go!

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Damo
Posted 06:02am 20/7/10

still nothing!!!

hurry up already

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Dazhel
Posted 07:22am 20/7/10

woo it's up now :D

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MARLINBLADE
Posted 09:18am 20/7/10

Had a quick smash this morning and it looks and plays great... Can't wait to get online with it hey... Co op and levelling up is gonna be awesome!!

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Eorl
Posted 10:41am 20/7/10

It's friggin awesome. Was playing this morning and its instantly addictive. Couple bugs though, but they should be fixed quickly.

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Martz
Posted 10:55am 20/7/10

bloody download servers too busy

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 11:13am 20/7/10

MY GOD this game is awesome!

I too had a go this morning, it is addictive. Good team work can happen too.

Parasites are a b****, specially when your medic is dead.

Good games to be had with this one, and it's free!

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DM
Posted 11:33am 20/7/10

Yeah the fact its free is awesome. Could of used a few more maps though. Only 1 to play through?

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Lynx
Posted 12:10pm 20/7/10

There is like 6-8 or something

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ravn0s
Posted 12:21pm 20/7/10

you get a parasite hat for tf2 if you complete the hat trick achievement.

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Mantorok
Posted 12:22pm 20/7/10

Yeah, there's more than one map in the campaign.

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DM
Posted 12:57pm 20/7/10

Well yeah. I worded my sentence strange. I just hoped there would be more than 1 campaign. In MP they have split it up into like 7 things. Would of liked another but its all good. Also my TF2 hat isnt working. Never got it.

EDIT - NM it worked now.

last edited by DM at 12:57:07 20/Jul/10

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reso
Posted 12:55pm 20/7/10

Don't forget they released everything you need to make more levels. I'd expect to see a bunch popping up pretty quickly.

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infi
Posted 01:08pm 20/7/10

looks f***en sick for a free game.

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-=guitar*man=-
Posted 01:55pm 20/7/10

so if it's been ported to Source, how come no Mac version? :(

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MARLINBLADE
Posted 03:25pm 20/7/10

Coz Mac = Ghey

lolz

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CHUB
Posted 03:38pm 20/7/10

Just randomly crashed out of a 2 hour game, did about 5 maps, very fun :D

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Martz
Posted 03:40pm 20/7/10

Coz Mac = Ghey

lolz

haha! oh stop it marlin ;)

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Midda
Posted 04:09pm 20/7/10

so if it's been ported to Source, how come no Mac version? :(

There's a few Source Engine games that aren't on Mac, this isn't the only one.

Just played it for about 90minutes on co-op with a mate, it's pretty awesome. It gets pretty bloody hard though when you've only got 2 people. Those infestation parasite things are a b****. Can't wait to give it a go with more people.

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glynd
Posted 04:16pm 20/7/10

is it like L4D where people just join the team or is it only steam friends?

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StopShootingMe
Posted 04:24pm 20/7/10

Anyone, but you can choose a friends only game. Speaking of which, this is a game that would benefit from knowing your teammates, is there a QGL group already?

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DM
Posted 04:58pm 20/7/10

Fun game but i've had nothing but lag issues with it. 1 - 2 second delays between shots and kills. Also my screen spins around like buggery when attacked so makes things pretty f*****g hard to play. Shame too since its fun. Oh well back to BC2 I guess

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Plasma
Posted 05:21pm 20/7/10

I'd check back on it in a few days; at the moment there's pretty much zero dedicated servers up for this game because there is no Linux server yet, and the Windows server requires Steam installed (unlike CS etc).

I'm sure that bug would be fixed tomorrow though, then lag should not be a problem.

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Wrecktim
Posted 05:54pm 20/7/10

awesome fun. played a few rounds.

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Nakor
Posted 08:54pm 20/7/10

did you try hosting your own game DM?

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Wrecktim
Posted 10:47pm 20/7/10

just got back from a few hours long session. my scene spins around randomly every now and then but i think its the auto aim with the flame thrower or something. havent had many problems with lag. i was the host for the most of the time.

parasite things are gay. took us about 10 goes to do one level because of them and me going the wrong way a few times. haha. alot of fun tho.

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CHUB
Posted 11:49pm 20/7/10

7 hours today... that's enough for me, my brain is fried. Finished 7/7 on normal, 5/7 on hard so far before the server randomly booted me.

Lots of fun combos of weapons/classes, the tesla coils go pretty good in certain areas.

The tech puzzles are a pretty sweet addition to the gameplay, makes you feel useful :D

In terms of replay value, I'm NEARLY over it... 5-10 more hours tops till it needs new content because once you learn the maps, there's not a lot of enemy randomization and you quickly figure out where to place SG's and s***.

last edited by CHUB at 23:49:01 20/Jul/10

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Rdizz
Posted 02:45am 21/7/10

i just finished about 2 hours of it... awesome for a free game 4 player co op

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MARLINBLADE
Posted 09:56am 21/7/10

Hopefully due to the fact they released the SDK with it, there will be a s***e load of new user made content for this... I can see a L4D type series of missions coming up and that would be wicked... This has been a great diversion for me from BC2. I was ready to try something different for a while because it's becoming a real grind levelling up... So this with 4 friends and half a bottle of bourbon was f*****g awesome fun last night and i'm keen as to do it again tonight... oh wait... danny green fight... Maybe not tonight then!! lol

GG Valve... Free = Good / Alien Swarm = Good

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MARLINBLADE
Posted 09:58am 21/7/10

Found this too:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1371026

Built in map maker

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Rdizz
Posted 11:48am 21/7/10

anyone keen to play in the next few hours?

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CHUB
Posted 11:52am 21/7/10

I'll battle on Hard if you're up.

What's your steamname? You're not showing up under the AbuseCrew group.

last edited by CHUB at 11:52:33 21/Jul/10

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Rdizz
Posted 11:57am 21/7/10

just rdizz
im in hte QGL steam group
give me like a hour

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CHUB
Posted 12:02pm 21/7/10

Added.

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konstie
Posted 12:37pm 21/7/10

add me, username = konstie

or it may be bob. not sure

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 12:37pm 21/7/10

Just played insane, its the only way!

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kirkoswald
Posted 12:07am 22/7/10

WOW This game is sooo addictive!

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Midda
Posted 12:45am 22/7/10

Just finished it on hard with 3 mates, and we actually had less trouble with it than we did when we played through the first time on medium. Makes a huge difference when you're more used to the gameplay. Time for Insane next!

I think this game would benefit massively from a L4D-like AI director. Knowing what and where all of the enemies are going to spawn makes things less exciting. I'd have expected it to be in there, considering it was made by the L4D team and is a similar experience (in that it's a group of 4 people mowing down huge numbers of enemies).

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Mantorok
Posted 07:11am 22/7/10

I think this game would benefit massively from a L4D-like AI director.

Use this console command:
asw_horde_override 1

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1371124

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CHUB
Posted 07:38am 22/7/10

Played on Insane yesterday, completely different game, way more fun.

Within 5 seconds of the 1st mission, someone got hit with a facehugger and then 5 flying swarm show up, totally caught us by surprise.

The standard swarm move fast as f*** too.

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StopShootingMe
Posted 08:33am 22/7/10

I'd like to play through on Insane, but the games I've gotten into have been laggy and filled with noobs. Must arrange a QGL game to eliminate lag.

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do0b
Posted 08:36am 22/7/10

is there only the 1 scenario?

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CHUB
Posted 08:40am 22/7/10

Yep, 1 campaign with 7 levels.

Only finished 1 level on Insane so far, so I still have a few more hours of replay value.

People are creating/publishing maps already so it wont be too long till we have something else to play.

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Midda
Posted 11:51am 22/7/10

Use this console command:
asw_horde_override 1

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1371124

Wow, I just gave that a try, and it's awesome! Definitely going to add some replay value. There's some other handy stuff in that thread as well, like putting the reload bar under your marine. Cheers!

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CHUB
Posted 11:56am 22/7/10

For the people that haven't pick up on it...

To quick reload, hit your reload key and then hit reload again when your reload progress line is on the white section... if you get it, instant reload.

If you miss the section, the reload bar will go red and take longer then a standard reload.

Very cool addition to the game.

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Midda
Posted 12:28pm 22/7/10

It's exactly the same as the active-reload in Gears of War.

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CHUB
Posted 12:31pm 22/7/10

Never played GOW :(

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qmass
Posted 01:11pm 22/7/10

the reload bar is in a totally spastic position, dunno why they didn't put it closer to center screen. (the aiming reticle already shows ammo, should bigger concentric circle with the fast reload mark around the outside of it)

There is a lot of very cool design in the game, the way the crosshair both aims and is used like a mouse to target objectives/orders or draw on the map is very seamless and well done.

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CHUB
Posted 01:07pm 22/7/10

One thing I noticed but haven't tested... flares have a note saying "provides auto-aim bonus" or something.

Perhaps they aren't so useless after all, anyone tested this?

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reso
Posted 01:24pm 22/7/10

the reload bar is in a totally spastic position, dunno why they didn't put it closer to center screen. (the aiming reticle already shows ammo, should put a bigger circle with the fast reload mark around the outside of it)

It is on the crosshair, just really f***** hard to see. Use the console command to move the bigger reload notifiaction under the marine.

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qmass
Posted 01:13pm 22/7/10

One thing I noticed but haven't tested... flares have a note saying "provides auto-aim bonus" or something.

Perhaps they aren't so useless after all, anyone tested this?

auto-aim is already pretty useless because its piss easy to aim as it is, being only on one plane. (the tech assault rifle has the same effect and I never notice a difference) + you dont need to aim that well with a flame thrower anyway...

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 01:27pm 22/7/10

The flares help the turrets aim too.

They also provide light which can be useful in some places. On insane there are soo many parasites hiding all over the place..

The chainsaw is excellent!

My fav loadout at the moment is taking the soldier and using his autocannon and the unlockable minigun. SO MUCH FIREPOWER.

The autocannon is your main weapon you use to run around with and you switch to minigun when you are defending a position, pretty much nothing gets past you, better then a sentry gun.

If I go tech, I take his default gun and the chainsaw and use the chainsaw for most of the map, I almost always take a welder too as tech. Welding doors is so useful!

Adrenaline can be a lifesaver too, specially in insane when a lot of a parasites drop on your team.

Does that Director AI command work on servers hosted by 3fl and whatnot if your the leader?

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Hogfather
Posted 01:29pm 22/7/10

I need to give this a go methinks - anyone on tonight to hold a nub's hand?

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qmass
Posted 01:31pm 22/7/10

join a steam group (I think there is a QGL one) and then join group chat and ask if anyone wants to play alien swarm...

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 01:31pm 22/7/10

Hogfather, just join any 'normal' rated game. It is pretty easy.

When you gain a few levels and unlocks step it up to hard then to insane for the best funz.

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Tollaz0r!
Posted 01:32pm 22/7/10

Also,

Alien Swarm Maps

Not much there at the moment though, any other places people know of?

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Hogfather
Posted 01:34pm 22/7/10

join a steam group (I think there is a QGL one) and then join group chat and ask if anyone wants to play alien swarm...

I'm in the QGL group at the moment, never actually used it har! Thanks for the info should be awesome.

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thermite
Posted 08:41pm 22/7/10

How the f*** do you play this game??

I've tried connecting to servers and doing the offline training... nothing happens?? Just text. Where is the game?

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Plasma
Posted 08:47pm 22/7/10

It's via the 'Play Online' menu or whatever it is, you then pick one of the games listed and it joins.

Also a self plug; I've updated my Left 4 Dead site to also now handle Alien Swarm, http://www.play4dead.com/ to find servers to play on.

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Eorl
Posted 09:58pm 22/7/10

I'm currently trying to get a server running with 6 players. It is possible, however at the moment, the 6th player to join is put to spectate, and every round after will choose a random person to be spectator.

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ravn0s
Posted 10:17pm 22/7/10

<3 plasma

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CHUB
Posted 09:18am 23/7/10

For people wanting a more detail insight into the stats and stuff, the Alien Swarm wiki is awesome... been reading it this morning.

http://alienswarm.wikia.com/wiki/Alien_Swarm_Wiki

Good to finally know EXACTLY what things like the Officers "leadership" offers to the team and s*** like that.

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Pinky
Posted 11:30am 24/7/10

Just played it first time (I'm a bit slow). Great little game.

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d0mino
Posted 04:59pm 24/7/10

i also just played this, it is good

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CHUB
Posted 05:40pm 24/7/10

4/7 on Insane so far :D

Can't manage to get a solid 4 player team to do the parasite level.

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