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Left 4 Dead Demo Dated, Cinematic Released

Posted by Soulskill on from the spry-zombies dept.

Valve has announced that their upcoming horror game Left 4 Dead will have a demo available for play on November 11th. They've also released an impressive four-minute cinematic to show off the game's theme. Left 4 Dead is set to launch on November 18th, and if pre-order numbers are any indication, it will be even more popular than the Orange Box. CVG put together a short survival guide for dealing with those troublesome Infected, and Firing Squad did an interview with Turtle Rock Studios' Michael Booth, in which he mentioned that they want to be able to track stats through Steam so players are able to build a "reputation."

30 comments

  1. Wow by Sylos · · Score: 0, Troll

    Talk about being behind the times. This news has been out for *at least* 2 days.

    --
    'Number-memorizing Chinese people.'-Anon
    1. Re:Wow by Loibisch · · Score: 0

      This IS Slashdot...News for Nerds, Stuff that mattered yesterday...

  2. Stat tracking... by Bieeanda · · Score: 0, Troll

    Lovely. Now you too can be booted for not having a high enough global ranking, or playing so well that your host's ranking looks poor by comparison, just like in Warcraft 3 or many Xbox Live titles!

    1. Re:Stat tracking... by Killer+Orca · · Score: 3, Informative

      Sorry, wha? I've never heard of that happening for Live, ever.

  3. With this much publicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The question is, will the game go viral?

    1. Re:With this much publicity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      If Valve is involved, then it likely contains the Steam virus.

  4. Slooooow news day by WankersRevenge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is anyone else getting sick of all the marketing this game is getting? Mind you, I intend to pick it up and play with some buds, but these days, I can't go anywhere in the tubes without seeing that half chewed green hand in my face. And sorry Valve, you guys kick ass and all, but I do not get excited about intros. Or cut scenes.

    1. Re:Slooooow news day by PolarBearFire · · Score: 1

      It's a multiplayer game, there has to be a sizable group of players on day. Otherwise, the experience wouldn't be there at the start. Anyway, where do you see all these ads? I haven't seen any that aren't on gaming or technology sites.

    2. Re:Slooooow news day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There seems to be a huge one on the front page of Slashdot.

    3. Re:Slooooow news day by ikono · · Score: 1

      What is this game even about? This is the first time I've heard of it..

      --
      Karma is for whores
    4. Re:Slooooow news day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ABP?

    5. Re:Slooooow news day by LingNoi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Is anyone else getting sick of all the marketing this game is getting? Mind you, I intend to pick it up and play with some buds,

      Mission accomplished. ;)

  5. Looks fun but, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    This looks fun, but not $50 fun. If I remember correctly, it only has 4 levels? It just seems like a glorified zombie panic.

    1. Re:Looks fun but, by Mascot · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This looks fun, but not $50 fun. If I remember correctly, it only has 4 levels?

      The selling point is in everything apart from the actual physical level being dynamic.

      Those 4 levels spread out over 20 maps, so it could be relatively sizeable all in all.

      I can see how I'll enjoy an hour of hectic zombiefest many times over a few months time. Which seems to justify the price. I haven't preordered yet but I suspect as the "pre-order only" demo date approaches I'll be sorely tempted.

    2. Re:Looks fun but, by dougisfunny · · Score: 1

      And you get $5 off, if I'm already planning on purchasing, why not save a little money?

      --
      This is not the funny you're looking for.
    3. Re:Looks fun but, by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Preorder-only demo? Isn't the point of a demo to let you see the awesome gameplay (at least from the POV of the developer) and sell the game to you rather than tell you "hey, you'll get to play more of this when we finish it but thanks for the money!"?

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    4. Re:Looks fun but, by Mascot · · Score: 3, Informative

      Pre-orders get access to the demo a few days earlier is all.

  6. Pfft, I'm all for hype but... by mattbee · · Score: 1

    This trailer says to me "expect to die - a lot". Think I can hold back my $50 until they're going to give the demo away, and finish watching Dead Set instead :) Plus the UK/US exchange has swung madly away from us Brits so Steam purchases aren't as good value as they used to be.

    --
    Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
    1. Re:Pfft, I'm all for hype but... by orudge · · Score: 1

      I normally prefer to order games online via Steam, but I pre-ordered Left 4 Dead on DVD via Amazon.co.uk due to the fact that, even with the Steam discount, it's cheaper on Amazon when you consider VAT and the poor exchange rate at the moment. Plus, if I play the demo and then decide "eh, I don't actually want to buy this game", I can cancel my order on Amazon before it ships - just try cancelling a Steam pre-order.

  7. Re:Troll!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This troll post fails to deliver.

    Where did the guy trolling about fecaphilia go?

  8. Re:Troll!? by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 3, Informative

    FYI: it's called coprophilia and one who eats excrement is known as a coprophage.

  9. First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

    I was going to pick this up as I assumed as an MP only game, it would be priced sensibly, perhaps 30$ US, after all the last time we dropped 45$ US on a Valve product we got HL2, HL2 Ep1, HL2 Ep2, TF2 AND Portal.

    Left for Dead does look good but with the US$ gaining ground against other currencies (laughably, it won't last) the 45$ US now equates to about 70$ Australian for me.
    I was going to blindly pick it up mind you, without hesitation, without a demo, just to simply impulse purchase it but when I saw 45$ I was very very disapointed.

    Their loss, not mine, I've got a tonne of other games to play, so rather than make any money from me they just made none.

    1. Re:First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was going to pick this up as I assumed as an MP only game, it would be priced sensibly, perhaps 30$ US, after all the last time we dropped 45$ US on a Valve product we got HL2, HL2 Ep1, HL2 Ep2, TF2 AND Portal.

      Left for Dead does look good but with the US$ gaining ground against other currencies (laughably, it won't last) the 45$ US now equates to about 70$ Australian for me.
      I was going to blindly pick it up mind you, without hesitation, without a demo, just to simply impulse purchase it but when I saw 45$ I was very very disapointed.

      Their loss, not mine, I've got a tonne of other games to play, so rather than make any money from me they just made none.

      Why not just ask someone from the United States to purchase the game for you and gift it to your account? People from across the world do this all the time, with regards to regional prices and game availability.

    2. Re:First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by ozphx · · Score: 2, Funny

      Good idea. Are you in the US? Would you do it with currency too?

      I mean forget this $45, I'll send you $45k AUD and then you can pick me up $45k USD and send it beck!

      --
      3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
    3. Re:First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by FlyveHest · · Score: 1

      I was going to pick this up as I assumed as an MP only game

      There is a single-player campaign also.

    4. Re:First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      That's like saying Deus Ex was a multiplayer game because it came with an MP component.

    5. Re:First game I'll 'vote with my wallet' on. by jgtg32a · · Score: 1

      You do know that the Orange Box was an unreasonably good deal.

  10. HD Version by DanWS6 · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.bigdownload.com/games/left-4-dead/pc/left-4-dead-intro-cinematic-hd/ Very cool.