It seems like Valve is hitting on some unexpected obstacles with its sequel to last year’s smash zombie hit, Left 4 Dead. Although they must have expected it, since every one of their games has featured huge differences between “1″ and “2,” as well as expansions (free or paid) that were worth the money. Left 4 Dead 2 seems to be little more than a medium-sized expansion for the original, and its billing as a full-fledged sequel is baffling to Valve’s loyal fan base.
This interview with Valve’s Doug Lombardi offers him a chance to explain what’s going on, and also to address the possibility of cross-game play.
Looks like the guys at Valve wanted a certain level of realism in their zombie apocalypse game — aside from the whole “zombie apocalypse” bit. So they’ve based the pills in the game (”Pills here!”) on the generic Ibuprofen from Target. Clever.
Oh man, how awesome is this? I’ll always be a mouse man for FPS games, but since L4D is such a shared experience, it makes sense to make it as physically involving as possible. This resourceful gamer has hacked a Wiimote input program for XP to pass the sensor data to Left 4 Dead as joystick data. So you can play co-op with a friend right there, screaming and crying as you leave him out there with the horde. You can adjust the sensitivity, shake the controllers for different effects, and I’m sure you could add a few lines in there to config or add functionality in whatever form if you’re code-savvy.
Amazon.com has a double dead on Left 4 Dead, a favorite of some of the staffers here at CrunchGear. Xbox 360 owners can scoop it up for $39.98, which is a good $20 off the regular price. The PC version is going for $29.98 – also $20 off the regular price.
For the uninitiated, Left 4 Dead is a co-operative shooter “set in a modern day survival-horror universe” from Valve, creators of Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and many, many other wonderful games.
I actually pre-ordered the game last night so I could get me some L4D demo, but now that’s no longer necessary. Fire up Steam and download all 3.2GB (!!!) of it, it’s super fun. Play it on Advanced and get your buns handed to you. I played a few rounds last night and when you lose, you feel like it’s your fault for not working together enough (or shooting each other a lot). Like Team Fortress 2, the team aspect is really stressed, and anyway who doesn’t love co-op?
Hopefully I’ll run into some of you guys, my name in game is >> so say hi if you see me.
I know lots of you guys out there are either already playing the hell out of the demo for Left 4 Dead or, like me, waiting until the weekend to dive in. Of course, the weekend is the time when those pesky friends are always hanging around, saying how you should drink this or do that.
This weekend, you need to take control of your destiny. Tell your pal to come over and play some split-screen Left 4 Dead on your PC — it’ll look better and play better than the 360 version (I maintain this!). That way you can share a six-pack and throw down on some zombies at the same time — when was the last time you did that?
[via Reddit]
“I don’t know what the date is for release on that, though. I think it’s going to contain the first part of one of the [game's four] campaigns. That’s a decision that [Valve marketing director] Doug Lombardi is making.”
Well, if you were at PAX then you know how long the line was to play Left 4 Dead. It was more or less the same as what I played at E3 so I didn’t want to delay someone else’s good time by getting in line, but people were having a blast. I’d say it was one of the longest lines in the place, up there with with Gears 2, Fallout 3, and Starcraft 2.
Boy am I excited for L4D. I got to play it at E3 and it was fun as hell, and although I never trust console ports of PC FPSes, at least Valve is doing it right. Playing online will, if I read this correctly, always take place on a dedicated server, which means no more juggling connections to find out who’s the best host. DLC (new weapons, maps, and monsters) will be quicker to come than for TF2, although hopefully just as free.
I don’t think you’ll be getting the “real” Left 4 Dead in the 360 version, but at least you’re not getting a hack job.
While Valve and EA have never divulged an actual launch date other than “November 2008″ for L4D, Gabe Newell made it known on video at GC that the game would launch on the 10th anniversary of Half-Life.
“Left 4 Dead is going to be released on the tenth anniversary of Half-Life, our first game, so that will be on November 20th, the third week in November.”
We’re currently confirming this with EA and Valve.
Devin loved L4D when he checked it out at E3 and I have yet to demo it, but I’ll take his word for it. Those of you lucky enough to make it to PAX will have the opportunity to see the world debut of L4D for the Xbox 360 platform, which means Devin gets to play it again. Bastard.
As a side note, I’m stoked to be getting my Orange Box in the next couple days. I know I’m a year behind, but I don’t care. I’m looking forward to Portal the most. Read More
I’m checking in from E3 and it’s been, well, a stressful morning. I’d like to say for the record that Peter can’t drive, and that rental cars should come with compasses standard. But more pressing is the gaming news going on here — you saw our coverage of the big Nintendo event this morning, which was sweet, and now we’re cruising around the (surprisingly calm) show checking out everything else. I got my hands on the F.E.A.R. sequel Project Origin, Valve’s Left 4 Dead, and the less sensational but still fun Guinness World Records game and Lego Batman. Read on for details and shots.
This week in CrunchArcade: OS Mechas, iPhone hot rods, co-op zombie blasting, Mike Tyson, and a baby pixelsaurus. Get your gaming news, previews, and freebies here in pellet form. Read More
It seems like Valve is hitting on some unexpected obstacles with its sequel to last year’s smash zombie hit, Left 4 Dead. Although they must have expected it, since every one of their games has featured huge differences between “1″ and “2,” as well as expansions (free or paid) that were worth the money. Left 4 Dead 2 seems to be little more than a medium-sized expansion for the original, and its billing as a full-fledged sequel is baffling to Valve’s loyal fan base.
Amazon.com has a double dead on Left 4 Dead, a favorite of some of the staffers here at CrunchGear. Xbox 360 owners can scoop it up for $39.98, which is a good $20 off the regular price. The PC version is going for $29.98 – also $20 off the regular price.
