Key Information

* Alien Swarm is being released for free by Valve.
* Is a tactical, 4 player co-op action game with a top-down perspective.
* Complete game code and mod tools available to the community.
* The SDK is separate from that of other Source games.
* Features 4 unique classes.
* Over 40 weapons and equipment with many configurations.
* 8 unique characters.
* Has Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane difficulties.
* Features only Campaign Mode and Offline Practice Mode.
* Uses L4D2 style add-on system for custom campaigns.
* Much less randomization than L4D so players can observe, learn, and overcome challenges.
* Uses a modified Source engine between the L4D2 and Portal 2 iterations.
* Supports dedicated and listen servers.
* Contains Valve game easter eggs.
* 64 achievements
* Does not currently support Mac or controllers.



Game Overview

Alien Swarm is a game and Source SDK release from a group of talented designers at Valve who were hired from the Mod community.

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.

Along with the game get the complete code base for Alien Swarm that features updates to the Source engine as well as the SDK. Alien Swarm adds 3rd person camera, depth of field, improved dynamic shadows and a wide variety of gameplay additions to the Source engine.


Classes and Characters

There are 4 distinct playable IAF (Interstellar Armed Forces) marine classes to choose from in the game. Each class has it's own set of strengths and weaknesses and will feature 2 playable characters to choose from for a total of 8. Each character has it's own unique appearance and back story.

Medic

* Corporal Eva 'Faith' Jensen
* Private Leon Bastille AKA "The French Man"


Tech

* Private David 'Crash' Murphy


Officer

* Master Sergeant Joseph 'Sarge' Conrad
* Corporal Karl Jaeger


Special Weapons

* Private Thomas Wolfe


Maps

The game will launch with 7 official maps for players to battle their way through, we'll see what we get in the future through updates and community content. Here is a list of maps with known objectives.

Cargo Elevator

Rydberg Reactor

Deima Surface Bridge

Sewer Junction

Timor Station

* Activate Cable Railway
* Detonate Warhead
* Escape


SynTek Residential

Landing Bay


System Requirements

* OS: Windows® 7 / Vista / Vista64 / XP
* Processor: Pentium 4 3.0GHz
* Memory: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
* Graphics: DirectX 9 compatible video card with 128 MB, Shader model 2.0. ATI X800, NVidia 6600 or better
* Hard Drive: At least 2.5 GB of free space
* Sound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card