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Left 4 Dead 2 Announced For November

Posted by Soulskill on from the we-need-a-zombie-topic-icon dept.

hansamurai writes "Left 4 Dead 2 has been announced at E3, and a trailer for the game has surfaced. It will be released November 17, 2009, just a year after the first game. Gameplay changes include a new focus on melee weapons, especially the iconic anti-zombie weapon, the chainsaw. The cast of characters is brand new, but the plot appears to take place during the same zombie outbreak." The game is being developed for the PC and Xbox 360, and Valve says it will make use of a new version of their AI engine, which has the ability to "procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance." Rock, Paper, Shotgun got the chance to do a hands-on preview, providing details about the gameplay and confirming that "it's a coherent new imagining of the game, this time bigger, smarter, and far more elaborate. Oh, and gloriously more gory."

31 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Sigh... by Chabo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My current PC runs Left 4 Dead only somewhat acceptably, and I was hoping that I could wait till 2010 to buy a new PC.

    Sigh... Valve just killed that plan. :/

    --
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    1. Re:Sigh... by jandrese · · Score: 5, Funny

      Don't worry, this is Valve, it will be delayed until 2012.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    2. Re:Sigh... by tibman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Hardly usable? Did you even play it? I had a blast with a group of buddies.. did all the campaigns in one day. I still play every other day with various steam groups. Valve has done a good job addressing map hacks and other wierdness you run into online. The only thing Valve didn't do right with L4D is releasing only 4 campaigns and 2 of which weren't usable in versus mode.

      --
      http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
    3. Re:Sigh... by BikeHelmet · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Left4Dead, polished a bit more, is perfect as is.

      I don't care about melee weps, beyond this: I want melee to work when a zombie is stuck in a wall or the floor.

      Nothing sucks more than a zombie hiding under a table, knawing on your leg, taking you from 70 to 20 health in a few seconds. Worse yet, the table interferes with projectile angles, so shooting the zombie is difficult(not just point and click), on top of meleeing it being impossible.

      Oh, and those trash cans. Seriously. It's not proper that a trash can rolling up against my leg completely immobilizes me and prevents me from jumping. If I press forward, and a trash can is trying to roll me to the left, I should move forward; not sit there stuttering while the trash can passes through my legs, then once it has passed through I can proceed.

      Better AI? That sounds great, but the zombies were already plenty smart(or stupid; depends how you want to look at it). Special infected AI was pretty weak, but totally acceptable in singleplayer and co-op. Not so good if your allies leave in a versus match, so you're stuck with the AI...

      The bots though? Damn they're stupid. Either give me some commands that they respond to("Come here", "Get in the corner", "Melee the zombies back while I shoot.") or make them smarter than bricks. Though to be fair, it's not the engine's fault. I know someone that wrote a modified AI script(tweaks known and hidden cvars for singleplayer and local hosting), and it really was impressive what the bots could do; they hide in closets, cover each other very well; usually one player crouches and melees while the others shoot over his shoulder. They don't waste medkits when they hit 49 health, but they always make sure one player is in the green if possible. Oh yeah, and they almost never get caught by tanks; they're good enough to beat expert mode with an all-bot team!

      But that just proves that the engine is already solid/perfect; the game just needs more polish...

      One last note - I'm sad they're implementing chainsaws. I'd be happier if they had unworking chainsaws that you could pick up, toss, but not actually use to cut things up. Every zombie game has chainsaws; it's so stereotypical. But I would laugh at finding chainsaws all over the place that can't be used, or have already been used. Maybe you can drop them on the zombies, or toss them down stairs/halls to kill/trip a bunch of zombies. ;)

      Or the chainsaw could be defensive. Carrying it around reduces damage taken from attacks from behind. Just do something original!

    4. Re:Sigh... by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm assuming they have different teams for different games, and I'm equally sure the half-life team is, in fact, concentrating on wrapping up the half life 2 series.

      Plus, in my opinion, TF2 outshines HL2 and the episodes, even though they were amazing themselves.

    5. Re:Sigh... by sopssa · · Score: 2, Informative

      So? Its not like any games are released without bugs, and valve fixed that really quickly. Now try again.

  2. What about HL2 Episode 3? by letsief · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing Left 4 Dead, but I was really hoping we'd finally get an update on Half Life 2: Episode 3. Left 4 Dead gets a sequel after one year, but we have to wait three years (presumably) for Episode 3?

    1. Re:What about HL2 Episode 3? by Zeussy · · Score: 4, Informative

      remember that Left 4 Dead that made by Turtle Rock Studios or now Valve South. Valve North have been quite quiet, apart from the TF2 updates.

      --
      Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
  3. Xbox 360? Sigh...Once Again Gimped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So once again PC owners get screwed by the shitty Xbox 360 and its 7gig disc format and outdated graphics hardware.

    PC gamers are who made Valve what they are today.

    Make a real PC game Valve, then figure out what you have to do or hire to downgrade it for the stupid little Xbox.

    1. Re:Xbox 360? Sigh...Once Again Gimped by morari · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think the fact that we're getting a "sequel" instead of an expansion pack goes to show that console versions screw everyone over.

      --
      "He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
    2. Re:Xbox 360? Sigh...Once Again Gimped by Martin+Blank · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That was exactly my thought. Some changes in the engine, addition of new special infected, and some new characters would in the past have been simply some new DLC. Microsoft's policies limiting unpaid DLC to a tiny amount over the life of the game had to have factored into this.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  4. stopped playing because valve keeps nerfing by Doobian+Coedifier · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I recently gave up on L4D because Valve has broken the ability to play Versus mode on advanced difficulty (With our own dedicated server, not one of their public ones). Normal difficulty just isn't very much fun. They have to fix this in L4D before I would even *consider* buying L4D2. Melee cooldown also pissed me off quite a bit, it's gotta be off for Advanced. And while I'm ranting, the lobby system sucks.

    1. Re:stopped playing because valve keeps nerfing by Chabo · · Score: 2, Informative

      I recently gave up on L4D because Valve has broken the ability to play Versus mode on advanced difficulty

      IIRC, wasn't that changed while the game was still in beta? Personally, I think that it's better this way anyway, because in Versus mode the main challenge is supposed to be the Special Infected (controlled by players) anyway, not the Horde. If you want a tougher Versus game, a tight-knit team of opponents should suffice.

      Melee cooldown also pissed me off quite a bit, it's gotta be off for Advanced.

      It makes it so you can't just melee-spam your way through a mob of horde. As a player I agree it's annoying, but it's annoying in the same way that being out of breath while you're running is annoying. I can see why they did it; it makes it so you have to shoot your way through a mob, or even better for the Teamplay aspect of the game, get teammates to kill the Horde that's mobbing you at the moment.

      And while I'm ranting, the lobby system sucks.

      It doesn't work perfectly, but I can see why they wanted it that way; you can either join a random game with random strangers, or you can find a group of friends to play with. Left 4 Dead isn't the type of game where you want a traditional game-server model, which is best for Deathmatch and CTF, or similar styles derived from those. Instead, you want everyone to start at the same time, like in an RTS. A lobby is the best model for that.

      --
      Convert FLACs to a portable format with FlacSquisher
    2. Re:stopped playing because valve keeps nerfing by Mr2001 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It doesn't work perfectly, but I can see why they wanted it that way; you can either join a random game with random strangers, or you can find a group of friends to play with.

      It's a nice idea, but Halo 2 did it right, years ago. It's disappointing that Valve's implementation of basically the same idea is so bad.

      In Halo, you can join a party with your friends, and then when you start a game, the system matches you up with enough players to fill the game. If you have 4 people in your party and you want an 8 player game, you might get matched up with another 4 person party, or two 2 person parties, or a 3 person party and an individual, etc. -- the system knows who's looking for a game and tries to match groups of similar sizes and skill levels.

      Left 4 Dead, on the other hand, has no group matchmaking. If you want to play an 8 player versus game with three friends, you have to start a lobby with them, then wait for 4 more individuals to randomly join.

      That sucks for you because it might take a long time, which is partly because people who join early like to leave if the lobby doesn't fill up quickly enough. And that's if it works at all: when I start a friends-only lobby and then switch it to public to fill it up, very often I don't get any more players no matter how long I wait.

      It also sucks for the other players because they're playing with strangers (who might be unskilled, uncooperative, or have no mic) while you're playing with the same friends you always play with. There's currently no way to match your team up against another team; it's always a team vs. a bunch of random individuals.

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  5. Title by yoyhed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Left 4 Dead 2? What about Left 8 Dead?

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    WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
  6. Re:MODERATORS!!! READ THIS. It is of great importa by jgtg32a · · Score: 3, Funny

    Give me mod points

  7. This sucks by Caboosian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the hell happened to the continued post-release support of L4D? TF2's community has been growing steadily thanks to the fantastic updates being constantly released for it - yet L4D's map editor isn't even out yet? Simply put, this is a grab for money - they're cutting the legs out from under L4D, and releasing what quite simply should be free updates. I mean, honestly, this isn't even that much new content - the gameplay is exactly the same, the graphics are just barely better, and the setting, well, kind of sucks.

    As far as I'm concerned, Valve just got downgraded from premium status in my book. This game is a mistake.

    1. Re:This sucks by kusanagi374 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Basically Valve broke their promise from last year and is now officially a greedy developer. If they intended to have Left4Dead be a technology preview all along, they should've gone and called this paid beta-testing as the Prologue version, like Gran Turismo 5.

      "Valve intends to support hotly anticipated zombie survival shooter Left 4 Dead post-release with new characters, new maps, new achievements and new weapons in order to grow the community, Gabe Newell has revealed.

      Speaking to VideoGamer.com at Leipzig Games Convention, the Valve co-founder and managing director said the developer intended to follow a similar downloadable content policy as it has with Team Fortress 2.

      Newell said that Valve's support of the game post-launch will be essential for growing the community.

      He said: "One of the things that we're doing is we seem to be in a transition between games as a package product and games more of a service. So if you look at Team Fortress 2, one of things that's really helped grow the community is the continuous updates, where we release new maps, new character classes, new unlockables, new weapons. And we tell the stories about the characters, like the meet the sniper, or meet the sandwich. And that ongoing delivery of content really seems to grow the community."
       
       

      source: http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/left_4_dead/news/valve_details_post_left_4_dead_launch_plans.html

    2. Re:This sucks by Chabo · · Score: 3, Informative

      It was released in beta a couple weeks ago. If you own the game, go to the "Tools" tab in Steam, and it should be there. In another few weeks, they said they'll be releasing the ability for the game to handle 3rd-party maps/campaigns.

      --
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    3. Re:This sucks by $1uck · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I cannot disagree with you more. Seriously, for how much time I've played the game and how much enjoyment I've received from the game I have gotten my money's worth multiple times. The article I read specifically states that this does not mean that support for l4d is going away. It also stated that it is a possibility that l4d would be included with l4d2. Something else I'm completely fine with, I would simply give my copy of l4d away to someone who was unsure if they wanted to buy the game.

      Looks to be plenty of new content, 5 campaigns, new infected, new behaviors from old special infected, melee weapons, expanded alteration game play driven by the ai (maps will vary from play to play).

      If you think it sucks don't buy the game. I will gladly shell out the money when the game is released (fully expecting it to sell for half the price 6 months later).

    4. Re:This sucks by TinBromide · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is what happened to Battlefield 2. EA killed their BF community by splitting it between the old bf2 players and the new bf2142 people. When BF2142 came out, some BF2 people bought it, some people tried to stay with BF2, but BF2142 wasn't worth the "upgrade" cost over BF2 so the veterans continued to play, but without the influx of new people, the community is still dieing a slow death. Right before bf2142 was announced, BF2 still sold for $50USD. After the announcement? The price dropped dramatically. BF2 had a reign from June 2005-October 2006, in winter of 2006-2007, the community fizzled, hard.

      However, unlike valve, EA did an awesome job of the post-release upkeep with new maps, good patches, and an expansion. I'd rather see this as an expansion for l4d where they add new maps and weapons, or at least add the something back into l4d. In a multiplayer game, the value of the game lies in large part with the community, when you split players like this, you hurt the community, and the value of the game. If you release a new multiplayer "chapter" each year and tell people up front (like ut2k3, then ut2k4 or madden 200X) that there will be more on a yearly bases, no owners of the first installment take issue when a new game comes out the next year, but I'm thinking that some people may have bought l4d hoping for the same great post-release support that TF2 people currently enjoy where by now there might be a new campaign or two in addition to the survival mode. However, this announcement pretty much means that l4d1 will exist for all eternity pretty much as it is now with little UI tweaks and such that come about as a result of the work happening on l4d2 (like the matchmaking lobby update that someone mentioned above).

      Also, I think that releasing a sequel a year after a game is in bad taste. I like to pretend that whenever I walk around in public, companies don't see me only as a wad of walking disposable income to be swindled away.

      --
      Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
    5. Re:This sucks by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yep, this is a very uncool move from Valve. I mean look at the ton of content TF2 has gotten for free. Now L4D has had the one big update, and now the sequel is coming, which as it stands appears to be standalone.

      When the original game cost $50, Valve are taking the piss. Very VERY uncool. If Valve genuinely do throw this out as a full price sequel, I will never buy another Valve title again.

      They screwed my friends and I over once before with the bots for Counterstrike, removing them from CS 1.6 so they could sell them in Condition Zero after my friends and many others beta tested them, submitted bugs, and were led to believe they'd be released properly for CS. (Valve even went so far as to remove the "Bots Removed" info from the changelog for 72 hours before admitting they were going to be CZ only) and I eventually relented and picked up The Orange Box etc... Bought L4D back in February.

      Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

  8. Dynamic Lighting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real question is will I be able to to see the light from the other player's flashlights.

    1. Re:Dynamic Lighting by Martin+Blank · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think he's asking more about seeing the areas lit up by the other players' flashlights. It's something I've heard a few players talk about. I can see where my flashlight hits, but not where other flashlights hit. I suspect that it's a computationally difficult thing to perform.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
  9. Man up and write a letter. by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Gabe Newell (gaben@valvesoftware.com) reads all his mail. If you are upset about the failure to treat L4D as more than a tech demo, send him an email discussing your concerns. At the least, he'll respond, and who knows? It might help.

    Be polite, be reasoned, and make sure to explain why you're upset. At the risk of making it sound form-letterish, I'd quote what he said as mentioned by this article:

    http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/left_4_dead/news/valve_details_post_left_4_dead_launch_plans.html

    --
    "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
  10. And the scores are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Left - 4
    Dead - 2
    Chelsea - 2
    Everton - 1

  11. TF2 Scout Included by SilentOneNCW · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've heard that the Scout from TF2 will make an appearance... BOINK! http://williamjudd.com/2009/06/01/left-4-dead-2-announced-scout-from-tf2-to-feature/

    --
    games journalism blog
  12. Re:can't wait to see the add by Goldberg's+Pants · · Score: 3, Funny

    "This time we actually released a full game. HAHA to all you suckers that bought the first one. Wankers."

    It sucks when the sports titles do it at but at least there is some justification there.

  13. More maps, this time? by incognito84 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't have a problem with Left 4 Dead 2, but the one problem I did have with the original L4D is that there simply wasn't enough maps. You were running through the same sets over and over and over and over again.

  14. Hey moron! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How about you lick my balls?

    Moderation +4
        50% Funny
        20% Insightful
        20% Underrated

    Know what you are talking about before you post, douche tool.

  15. Old 'Nawlins by brain1 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, I recognize the setting in the screen shots as the French Quarter in New Orleans around Royal Street. Looks like a typical Mardi Gras to me. Especially the morning after. -dh