November 12, 2009
By Redskins
Last week, Valve released the Left 4 Dead 2 demo to the public. So what's the deal? Is it really just a money grabber like the boycotter's say? Or is it a true sequel that adds much more to the L4D franchise?
Read my play through to find out my views on this.
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TF2 meets 28 Days Later.
First off let me say that I am not really a unbiased reviewer here. I believe I only watched 2 game play videos of L4D2 before I played this demo, and even before those, I supported the boycotts idea that a second game is unneeded.
Like the original, Left 4 Dead 2 is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, and focuses on four survivors fighting against hordes of the infected in the Southern United States, starting in Savannah, Georgia and ending in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The survivors must fight their way through levels, interspersed with safe houses that act as checkpoints, with the goal of reaching a rescue vehicle at the campaign's finale.
So the core game play is the same, so what's new in number 2?
I'll start off positive, Valve has added new weapons and items to the game, along with melee weapons. This is a welcome change from the first game, as it lets players develop their own individual style, would you rather have a pistol with unlimited ammo as a backup weapon, or a guitar that you can smash infected over the head with, but that puts you within clawing distance of the cannibalistic townspeople? Would you rather have a med pack to heal yourself, or a defibrillator to revive your dead teammates?
Second of all, Valve has completely re-done the gore system. In the first game, the most you could do was shoot off a arm or leg, the goriest part of the game was a boomer's blown up torso. The new gore system allows you to do this and more, shooting a zombie point blank in the chest will leave a big crater, with the internal organs viewable in the sides. And it's completely dynamic, you shoot a zombie in the hip, his leg will fall off and you'll see the hip bone. Shoot the rib cage, you get ribs. It looks great, and I found myself stopping after all was clear and taking a good look at my gruesome kills.
The third and fourth are the new special infected and the new graphical style Valve has gone with. The new game has 4 special infected, and the old 4 are back again. The game is much more unpredictable now that there is a greater variety.
The new graphical style looks more cartoonish (Hence the tag-line) then the first, but this could be due to the level shown in the demo being in broad daylight, a first for the series. I'm on the fence about the new look, in a way it blends pretty good with the new gore system, and the normal infected models are a lot more varied, but it does ruin the immersiveness of the game a bit, which clashes with the gore system which makes it more immersive.
Now onto the bad points...
To be honest, I enjoyed my time with the demo, I had fun playing it and it reminded me of when I first bought and played L4D. My worry is it will soon run dry like the first did, and I would lose interest. I will probably continue to play the demo for a bit, but I don't think I will be purchasing the game...
This may sound like a re-hash of what the boycotter's said, but I can see it's true after playing the game. This is not a true sequel in my opinion, as the first was not a complete game. In my opinion, L4D2 should have been a expansion, not a sequel.
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So in summary:
I enjoyed playing through the L4D2 demo, and the new gore system and items really bring the variety that was needed in the first game. L4D2 is the game L4D1 should have been. And the sad fact is this is the main reason I will most likely not be purchasing L4D2. I regretted buying L4D1 almost a month after I bought it, and since L4D2 feels more like the game L4D1 should have been, it's not new enough to hold my interest longer then the first game did, as the core game play is a carbon copy of the first.
If you really liked the L4D2 demo, and are confident that the 5 campaigns and 2 new game modes will be enough to keep you content (And Valve is likely to release DLC). Then by all means purchase this game. But in my personal opinion, if your tight on money, it could be better spent on a A+++ title if you already own L4D1.
Left 4 Dead 2 gets competition
By JPControllerRecently there was a release at Fpsbanana's site in the
prefab section for L4D, this one was titled "Scavenger mode in L4D"
With this interesting community made feature, it proves that anything is possible when using a game in new ways.
A few examples can be shown in Halo 3 using the forge feature to making a button
:
To making a drawbridge:
Valve announced that they are releasing by popular request, the props used in the "Meet the" videos. In this article we present the modding community with an "What if"
What if:Does this open potential single-player game mods for some of the classes?
Examination:
In his former life as a tracker of dangerous game in the unforgiving Australian outback, the Sniper would spend months by himself. Prolonged isolation taught him a valuable lesson: You don't have to rely on other people if you never miss.
Cause: Thanks to Grand Theft Auto for shaping the mold on side missions for games, one could hypothetically make a modification of Team Fortress 2 focusing on one of the characters in the game. In this example, this could be in the form of assassination missions with a cut-scene of the sniper getting into his van and driving to a payphone, or just by walking to the payphones and a cinematic takes over.
If someone could do this for Team Fortress 2, then imagine the popularity for TF2 ever growing.
From playing Multiplayer, then switching to single-player walking to payphones and answering a phone call:
With the customization for TF2 this is very possible, different character from the Scout:
to the Spy:
