Left4Dead 2 was announced a few weeks ago, probably at E3 or at the Microsoft pre-E3 thingy-ma-bob, not sure, doesn't really matter. The game is slated for a release in Q4 this year, which is slightly queer as the original was only released in Q4 last year. For Valve, the games developer, this is a bit of an anomaly - they traditionally like to place half a decade between sequels. Existing Left4Deaders are a wee bit upset by the news - you may thing bizarrely, me I think understandably.
You see when the original L4D came out it was what one may describe as "light" and others might describe as "barren". It shipped with only four scenarios, each of which can be completed in less than an hour. Valve insisted that the game had an enormous amount of replay value due to its online co-op play and randomly generated enemy encounters and that more content was en route so the scant number of scenarios available at launch wasn't really an issue as far as they were concerned.
So here we sit a good 8 or 9 months down the line and what have we had so far in terms of new content? Survival mode. Survival mode consists of 16 maps (All bar one adapted versions of certain areas from within the regular scenarios - i.e. not exactly "new") where the aim of the game is to survive a constant onslaught from the hoards of Infected for as long as you can, earning shiny medals at the 4, 7 and 10 minute marks (yay!). Survival mode is incredibly fun (or incredibly frustrating depending on who you end up playing with) but I personally still feel that the game struggles to merit its full price status.
So Valves effort towards new content for L4D seems to be rather lacking, yet they've managed to produce almost an entire second new game... Fishy, particularly as the game is looking quite finished (and if I was playing with the dude in this video, I'd totally vote-kick his ass). What grabs my goat about this is that it doesn't appear to be enough to be a whole new game. What's new? Well, there's new Survivor characters, new scenarios (set in the daylight no less) the addition of melee weapons and some new special infected - some sort of thalidomide affected Tank, probably others yet to be announced or to cross my path. Looks like it's still using the Source engine and the graphics don't look significantly better if at all better (hard to judge when it's cam footage), so why does this need to be a new game at all? Really the addition of everything we're seeing new for L4D2 would make more sense as either the free additional content promised for L4D released periodically, or a bumper expansion costing £10-15.
Valve maintain that L4D will be supported even after L4D2 is released, but given the lack of dedication they've shown the title thus far, can we really rely on such promises?
Also I'd like some new guns please. Like Desert Eagles, or Magnums, or a rocket launcher. Also I'd like to be able to throw explosives without specifically equipping them - it's a slow and clunky game mechanic that's painfully outdated.
freedoms_stain, concerned zombie hunter, out.
You see when the original L4D came out it was what one may describe as "light" and others might describe as "barren". It shipped with only four scenarios, each of which can be completed in less than an hour. Valve insisted that the game had an enormous amount of replay value due to its online co-op play and randomly generated enemy encounters and that more content was en route so the scant number of scenarios available at launch wasn't really an issue as far as they were concerned.
So here we sit a good 8 or 9 months down the line and what have we had so far in terms of new content? Survival mode. Survival mode consists of 16 maps (All bar one adapted versions of certain areas from within the regular scenarios - i.e. not exactly "new") where the aim of the game is to survive a constant onslaught from the hoards of Infected for as long as you can, earning shiny medals at the 4, 7 and 10 minute marks (yay!). Survival mode is incredibly fun (or incredibly frustrating depending on who you end up playing with) but I personally still feel that the game struggles to merit its full price status.
So Valves effort towards new content for L4D seems to be rather lacking, yet they've managed to produce almost an entire second new game... Fishy, particularly as the game is looking quite finished (and if I was playing with the dude in this video, I'd totally vote-kick his ass). What grabs my goat about this is that it doesn't appear to be enough to be a whole new game. What's new? Well, there's new Survivor characters, new scenarios (set in the daylight no less) the addition of melee weapons and some new special infected - some sort of thalidomide affected Tank, probably others yet to be announced or to cross my path. Looks like it's still using the Source engine and the graphics don't look significantly better if at all better (hard to judge when it's cam footage), so why does this need to be a new game at all? Really the addition of everything we're seeing new for L4D2 would make more sense as either the free additional content promised for L4D released periodically, or a bumper expansion costing £10-15.
Valve maintain that L4D will be supported even after L4D2 is released, but given the lack of dedication they've shown the title thus far, can we really rely on such promises?
Also I'd like some new guns please. Like Desert Eagles, or Magnums, or a rocket launcher. Also I'd like to be able to throw explosives without specifically equipping them - it's a slow and clunky game mechanic that's painfully outdated.
freedoms_stain, concerned zombie hunter, out.
No comments:
Post a Comment