So trying to convince your random game-shy, horror fan of Left 4 Dead’s beauty falls flat when they’re pointing at the ground shooting mud while zombies rampantly eat their flesh off… In the game, obviously.

It’s like when I tried to teach my game-shy, European flatmate the beauty of the award winning and subtly perfect Portal. The brilliant physics engine, the subversive dialogue, the taxing puzzles; they all meant nothing because my flatmate couldn’t look in the same direction she was running. D’aarggh! So close.

Her mind was open but her lack of background knowledge kept her from one of 2007’s finest chunks of pop culture. Curse you years of shitty first person shooters for ruining that moment! Reminds me of ice skating - because I can’t skate I don’t know how much ‘fun’ I’ve missed over the years.

So, get over that hurdle and Left 4 Dead 2 is yours to start playing. Or, almost. This intrepid zombie shooter has nothing in the way of plot; get from A to B without being eaten. The single-player, off-line mode is mundane and uninteresting and it’s pretty difficult too. But worst of all; it encourages teamwork and co-operation. This is like encouraging your flatmate to do your dishes for you indefinitely - it’s counter-instinctive, it’s foolish. Or it’s brave. I’ll go with brave, because that’s what I was driving at.

In online multiplayer mode, 99 per cent of first person shooters ask you to shoot the shit out of the guys in the other outfits. Left 4 Dead 2 asks you to protect the other players and work your way to the next checkpoint (or ’safe houses’ as the game optimistically calls them). The game gives you awards for helping your buddy up or for stitching up someone’s wounds. Failing that, wandering off on your own gets you very-killed - a whole stage up from just killed. It’s an outrage, I tell you. If I want to shoot my fellow gamer’s character then I will. I will and I’ll ruin the whole game for everyone else and myself because sooner or later I’m going to need their help.

OK, I’ll play along. I always do (that was all rhetoric to prepare my point) because, get this, Left 4 Dead 2’s co-operation merit system works. And it’s a lot more compelling helping people. The only other game that comes close to doing this is Burnout Paradise, but with cars.

Of course, Left 4 Dead 1 did all this too. This sequel is really a 1.5 version - a quickly released follow up which the first one should have been. But it’s hard to hate this hippy of a video game - handing out flowers and teaching you how to help your fellow man.

THAT is what makes Left 4 Dead 2 so excellent. You bond with your team mates, you go through hell with them. And if you’re lucky you make a few new friends along the way. When you get three other good, mature, intelligent players on Left 4 Dead 2 alongside you and you share a journey this game becomes as compelling as any horror movie.

But you have to know the basics of first person shooting. Couple that with its under-powering similarity to the first one and you shouldn’t play this. So don’t, ignore the hype, unless you have master-thumbs like me. And if you don’t, go and learn, you’re missing out. If you do I’ll learn how to ice skate.

If you missed the MCM Expo on the 24^th and 25^th of October, shame on you. The movie, comic and media exposition 5000 rocked the Excel centre in London’s Docklands. Again. This year’s turnout was, well, normal really and the show itself packed in more movie, media and comic titillation than an entire interweb.

Shows like this happen all the time, all over the world and while they’re full of memorabilia merchants and obscure comic book artist signing their obscure comic books, there’s also interesting things on show like new video games and celebrities from old TV shows like Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Oh, DS9, we miss thou.

But are Terry Farrell and Nicole De Boer really all that? Well, no. Not unless you’re me and you’d always wanted to meet them. Even though I didn’t. I was in the same room as them! Which, really, is very, very rubbish. Still, there was a DeLorean and an Ecto 1 and a Warthog from Halo. Also, TV’s Ronny Cox was there. Look him up, I promise you’ll recognise him from something. He’s a quiet, evil legend.

Top of the gaming demo booths were Left 4 Dead 2 and Bayonetta. The first is a sequel. Well, it’s not so much a sequel as a poorly time mismanaged add-on to the original Left 4 Dead - which is a very good game. Happily, the zombie shooter/survival/team-co-op type game’s second outing is a far tighter copy of the first.

Wicked witches

If you don’t know, Beyonetta is some kind of witch, or something. With clothes made from her hair. You battle lots of angelic demons and jumps around. Butterflies come out sometimes. I’m not sure what it’s about, but it’s a lot of fun. Just proves that a big-boobed gaming heroine can actually be in a half-decent game. And Sega made it too. Amazing. Sega can still make good games. Huzah!

As for the rest, well, I’m 30 so most of the rest of the show didn’t appeal to me; Yu-gi-oh things, role playing type card games, Japanese artists signing things, an over-crowded Rock Band stand (had I’d been a little earlier this would have been placed in my ‘good things about MCM Expo’ list).

There were other games on show as well, but you weren’t allowed to get your grubby mits on the gameplay - like Avatar The Game, based on James Cameron’s world changing, not-yet-released movie. You could get your paws on Star Trek Online - the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) based on the massively popular Sci-Fi franchise. And massively off-canon. I ain’t touching that one, Mr Roddenberry’s licence holders. You can’t just make up uniforms and stick them in a Star Trek game. Forget it.

Costume-play. Yes!

An Expo like this wouldn’t be an Expo like this if it wasn’t for the costumes. Playing in costumes. Or, Cosplay, as they call it - dressing up as your favourite fictional hero or thing. It’s fantastic. Well, some of it is. Most of the home-made get-ups are just cute - well done for trying, Billy! Well done! But others were jaw-dropping. Like the full-suited movie Iron Man, some girl as the hologram woman from Halo and two proton-pack sporting Ghostbusters - with an Ecto 1. I think I mentioned that already. But it was very important.

All in all, a fully excellent experience. And worth the trip to the Docklands. Shame on you for not going, but, lucky for you, the next one is in May. Just book your tickets.

Alright, one of the world’s most popular pastimes. Forget all your preconceptions, this festival isn’t about sitting shoulder to shoulder with spotty teenagers or socially inept 30-somethings, it’s a celebration of the multi-billion pound industry.

While this year’s festival is a touch more modest than in previous years - perhaps due to that whole ‘recession’ thing - there’s still plenty to see and do. So strap on a good pair of walking shoes and be prepared to learn a whole lot at these eye-opening events.

London MCM Expo
24th - 15th October
£10/£13
Excel Centre

The London movie, comic and media expo is a showcase for all the latest in, uh, movies, comics and media. But it also has a hefty games section. To ‘celebrate’ the London Games Festival, the MCM Expo will unveil a life-sized Warthog vehicle from the Halo video games. If you already know what a Warthog is, order your tickets now.

If you don’t there’s still plenty to keep your dusty thumbs very busy. Sega will be there showing its latest wares - yes Sega still exists, it still makes good games. Activision, the second-largest games publisher ever, will also be on hand to demonstrate its upcoming titles, as well as Namco, Ubisoft and Capcom. See what’s new and find yourself impressed.

And once you’ve had enough of the gaming, there’s a slew of TV and movie stars signing their glossy photographed faces, previews of upcoming films, Q&As and the odd competition. Get yourself down to London’s Excel Centre. Booking details can be found here.

Eurogamer Expo
30th - 31st October
£6
Old Billingsgate, EC3R

As one of the leading online gaming magazines, Eurogamer knows how to put on an expo. So much so, that you’ll have the chance to play every major, and not-all-that-major, new title due to hit the shelves in the next six to 12 months. Even if gaming isn’t your thing, for £6 you can keep up with your nephew for once and maybe find something you didn’t know you liked. Left 4 Dead 2 anyone? Yes please. For a full list of the games on display, check this out.

Playful
30^th October
£40
25 Red Lion Square, WC1R

Gaming isn’t just about wiggling your thumbs until you throw your controller across the room in frustration, it’s a continually evolving medium with an envelope so heavily pushed it’s falling over. Playful is a one-day event aimed at exploring what it means to ‘game’ - from the different ways we’re challenged in media to how gaming has become far more mainstream in recent years. Go on, admit it, you don’t like games but you enjoyed playing on the Wii that time.

To quote Sims creator Will Wright, “We have this ability as humans to build fairly elaborate models in our imaginations, and the process of play is the process of pushing against reality, building a model and refining that model by looking at the results of looking at interacting with things.”

Some of the smartest bods in game design will be there to talk about how gaming is changing the world you live in and educate your brain to the point of exploding (your brain will not explode). Playful is even offering free lunches and ‘all the tea you can drink’. You don’t get more British than that.

The Fringe Festival
£FREE
Location: Various. Check website for details

Like your childhood haircut, no festival is complete without its fringe. The London Games Festival is no exception. Usually small events in pubs around the capital, the Fringe Festival is the chance for you to meet fellow gaming fans, pit your skills against them and maybe learn a trick or two. Due to its streamlined nature this year, the London Games Fringe is a little on the sparse side right now, but head over to DS London to get a taster.

DS London is a meetup for people who own a DS. The members meet in a pub and play DS games all while being totally social - which is exactly what the spirit of the London Games Fringe is all about. There should be other events advertised in time so keep your eyes peeled on its website.