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Left 4 Dead 2 Announced For November
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."
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?
Don't worry, this is Valve, it will be delayed until 2012.
I read the internet for the articles.
So once again PC owners get screwed by the shitty Xbox 360 and its 7gig disc format and outdated graphics hardware.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.
Left 4 Dead 2? What about Left 8 Dead?
WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
Give me mod points
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.
The real question is will I be able to to see the light from the other player's flashlights.
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."
Left - 4
Dead - 2
Chelsea - 2
Everton - 1
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
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
"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.
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.
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!
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.