Dan_Dare Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Distinct lack of general excitement for this game round these parts, guys. I'm disappointed in you, really. Here's some videos to enthuse you. mmm....Zombie carnage.
Pit-Jr Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 I want to get excited but i cant until a PS3 version is announced
Sanchez Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Yeah, I'm going to be buying this for PC and probably not stopping until January.
Dan_Dare Posted August 31, 2008 Author Posted August 31, 2008 secondary thread function: Point and laugh at ps3 users.
Shorty Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Whilst this game does look like a lot of fun, I think I ruined it for myself by imagining something much bigger and more epic when I first heard about the concept. I imagined it as 4 people in a city against zombies, and you were able to act as one would in such a situation (like in 28 days later or something) finding shelter and sneaking about the streets figuring out where the hell you were supposed to go and looking for other survivors. I'm not saying the game doesn't look great, I just think it seems quite linear as opposed to what I had imagined. Also they've got to sort out the clipping before release, I see it in every single video.... Does it have a local co-op?
Hero-of-Time Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Impressions from PAX08 Left 4 Dead is freaking awesome. Sometimes standing in line for two hours ultimately ends in disappointment. For instance, on more than one occasion I’ve been turned away from a game demonstration or panel due to there just being way too many people. I didn’t get a chance to see Ken Levine, missed out on my Fallout puppet, etc, and while I suppose it’s to be expected when an estimated 65,000 people turn up, it’s still rather disheartening. However, standing in line for two hours for Left 4 Dead was totally worth it. The line was massive, and the Valve employees could only accommodate eight Xbox 360’s at a time, so the line was moving incredibly slowly. I did notice that the Press was getting special attention -Valve had a special line and a special little booth reserved for anyone wearing a Press badge. After the first hour of waiting, I almost wished I could steal one from one of the passing journalists who skipped the huge line and waltzed into Valve’s VIP lounge which was blocked off from the public’s view. Well, that is until the guy standing behind me scowled at the aforementioned journalist and muttered, “bloody wanker.†I didn’t want to be thought of as a wanker. So I continued to stand in line. That and I didn’t want to get thrown out of PAX though my tired legs were making a strong argument that it might have been worth it. But I digress. After waiting for another hour, I finally got a chance to play Left 4 Dead. Three other players and myself were tossed into the Subway level (the scenarios were randomized) and immediately we scrambled to grab weapons and med-packs. I grabbed the Uzi and my friend grabbed the pump shotgun. We ran mindlessly about for a few seconds as we got acquainted with the controls, and then I accidentally opened the door to the safe house which more or less tossed us from our safe haven into the zombie infested hell that awaited us. This game is freaking ridiculous. There’s no other way to describe it. Zombies are everywhere, and their reactions, their animations, and their behavior is perfectly reminiscent of Dawn of the Dead (the new one) and 28 Days/Weeks later. They scream, they howl, they crawl up walls and over cars to mob you to death, and the only thing you can do is find a corner with your friends, and hope to god you can repel wave after wave of the undead. The Uzi was a poor choice. It fired quickly and did decent damage, but it failed to knock back zombies. My friend with the shotgun was fairing better, but all too soon we realized our position behind a car failed to provide sufficient cover. And then one of the “fattie†zombies approached, but a well placed shotgun round vaporized him into a huge cloud of blood. Zombies are pretty smart. Instead of trying to focus on you as a team, they usually select to go for the closest person they see. What usually results is one team member getting swarmed while your teammates have to struggle to keep them back and revive you. Dying is incredibly common. On more than one occasion I found myself getting kicked on my ass, and then I whipped out my dual pistols and started blasting away at the undead until my friend could come pick me up. After that, I ditched the Uzi for a M-16 which was more accurate and more powerful. I also managed to secure myself an additional medpack (which heals a lot of damage but incredibly slowly) and pain killers (which heals small amounts of damage but instantly) which in retrospect was a dick move seeing as that all my team mates were almost dead and I was still fairing pretty well. Oh well. The rest of the demo played very much in this vein. You creep through dimly lit areas with your small arsenal of weapons, hopping and twitching at every sound. The game absolutely refuses to give you more than a few seconds of respite at a time, and every time you think you can stop and recuperate, another wave of flesh hungry zombies are swarming after you. What I found particularly impressive about Left 4 Dead was not just the well balanced and fun game play, but how Valve has crafted its atmosphere. You genuinely feel like you’re in a George Romero flick. Every corner you turn has you tense, every surprise attack has you jumping in your seats, and every small victory had all four of us high-fiving one another in congratulations. Whatever sense of accomplishment we achieved was incredibly short lived. One of our team mates got separated from the rest of us (he was probably less than two rooms away) and he was jumped by a bunch of zombies. Before any of us could run back and help him, another wave of zombies assaulted us and we were forced to retreat into a wall, guns blazing, to hold back the onslaught. We survived but our buddy was tragically torn to shreds. “Dude, that sucks,†said my friend. “Now you have to just watch.†The poor guy looked so disappointed in almost looked like he wanted to kill himself. Also, the booth smelled like urine for some reason. Playing the game with only three people was significantly different than with four. The wave of zombies decreased noticeably to compensate for our fallen comrade, but every second of the demo was still intense and exciting. Ultimately, our team failed. There was a shattered window and I peeked through it. Down on the rainy streets below, zombies were everywhere. I took my assault rifle, shot one that was standing on top of a car, and then hopped down while my friend covered me with a sniper rifle. I shot several more zombies while standing on top of an over turned vehicle, but then in the distance, I noticed a huge army of zombies running towards me. I also noticed a huge mammoth of a zombie charging towards me as well. That couldn’t be good. I started unloading into them, hitting several, but thirty bullets per magazine simply wasn’t cutting it. I tossed a pipe bomb and a molotov cocktail at them. Shrapnel and flames ripped through their ranks, setting zombies on fire and sending torn limbs flying through the air, but it did almost nothing to stop them. Maybe all four players would have been able to push them back, but one guy with a machine gun didn’t stand a chance. I also noticed that my friend had stopped sniping. It turns out he was jumped from behind and quickly mobbed to death. I was so focused on saving my own skin I hadn’t even noticed him go down. Or my other team mate for that matter. He was dead too. One thing that came in handy when surrounded by zombies is the melee button (which pushes zombies back by bashing them in the face with your gun) and the Resident Evil 180 degree spin. It allows you to keep the zombie horde at bay and look badass as well! There wasn’t too much else I could do. Once the giant zombie hit me, he shoved me several feet back and proceeded to pummel my face in. I desperately unloaded into him with my guns, but to no avail. I could only just roar in defiant fury as I shot him over and over and over again in the desperate hope that I’d be able to kill him before he killed me. But no. He smashed my face in and the demo was over. Afterwards, the two other guys who I was playing with stopped my friend and I and we chatted about what exactly went wrong. I had never met these guys before, and yet within the twenty minutes that we played together, we had formed a team. Perhaps not a unified, cohesive team, but a team nonetheless. This is something I really hope I see happening on Xbox LIVE and PC. The game not only encourages cooperation -it mandates it. It’s success is largely going to be dependent on the players you play with, and I sincerely hope that gamers out there are up for the challenge. I did have a few gripes about the game. While the graphics were awesome, there were some odd animations that bugged me. For instance, when you pick up an object, your players hand just sort of floats aimlessly in front of you. Also, the controls weren’t very responsive, but I’m assuming somehow messed up my control settings before I got there. Very, very, very small complaints about an otherwise extraordinary game play experience. I got a chance to speak with a Valve employee after the demo. According to him, there’s going to be multiple campaigns, and while they don’t have plans for downloadable content quite yet, he did say it was certainly a possibility. And what about Left 4 Dead coming to the Playstation 3? He sighed and gave me a weary grin. I’m sure I was about the thousandth person that day to ask him the same question and he was tired of repeating the same answer. With a tired shake of his head he told me, “There are no plans to bring it to the Playstation 3 at this point. It will be exclusive to the PC and Xbox 360 when it launches.†So there you have it. Left 4 Dead is amazing, but Playstation 3 owners will not be getting any zombie love.
Daft Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 I want to get excited but i cant until a PS3 version is announced Ditto. It isn't like they are an incompetent company, just lazy. I'm also kind of relieved that it isn't coming out any time soon since I'm really overloaded with games over the next couple months. It'd be nice if we got it sooner or later but this isn't going to free my 360 from its box. I refuse to pay to play online and this game is about online.
Sanchez Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Valve is not a lazy company, they're perfectionist. They're a small team working on multiple projects at once (including supporting their old games like crazy, Counter Strike Source STILL gets updates) not to mention the Team Fortress 2 content and PS3 is NOT easy to port to. Still, there's rumours that EA is working on a port.
McPhee Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Really can't wait for this game. I've not read a great deal about it, but any multiplayer game by Valve is and instant must-buy for me Team Fortress 2 is my favourite game of the past few years and it has me insanely hyped for L4D!
The fish Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Does it have a local co-op? On the 360 it has 2P splitscreen. The other two can be made up from AI, system link, or folks offline, or any combination of the above. I'm buying it on the 360 f'sure, as my friends like splitscreen co-op games (as do I), and several are thinking of getting 360's, so we should be able to get 4 together.
Daft Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Valve is not a lazy company, they're perfectionist. Just because they are one doesn't mean they can't be the other. Ignoring a console, which is potentially more powerful, with a user base of over 15 million people? Seem lazy to me.
gaggle64 Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Definitely getting it on 360. Can't wait to get this shit on at Uni with my house mates. secondary thread function: Point and laugh at ps3 users.
Guest Stefkov Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Reading that above this sounds awesome. I think I'll get it for the 360 first then for the PC afterwards.
Apple_NdiB Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 Distinct lack of general excitement for this game round these parts, guys. I'm disappointed in you, really. Here's some videos to enthuse you. mmm....Zombie carnage. Mayne, you're joking aren't you? I've been going on about this game for bloody ages!
dwarf Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 secondary thread function: Point and laugh at ps3 users. But PS3 pwns 360. It has way better games and it can even play bluray and it has free online. 360 sucks. Lol joke, really doesn't matter which console is best because it's just taste in games.
Guest Stefkov Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 PC all the way baby. Can't beat Steam. I would go for the pc first but I don't know how my internet will fair when I get to Uni.
Dan_Dare Posted August 31, 2008 Author Posted August 31, 2008 Just because they are one doesn't mean they can't be the other. Ignoring a console, which is potentially more powerful, with a user base of over 15 million people? Seem lazy to me. Thing is, They're not exactly sitting on their hands all day are they? They have 3 or more games in production, all of which are on two platforms already. They carry weight with steam, but they're still just one studio.
gaggle64 Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 On the subject of a PS3 version: After playing around with the 360 version of the game for a bit, I bugged Faliszek about the PlayStation 3. Why no PS3 version for the game, I asked. Faliszek said that it's mostly a matter of development time. Creating the Xbox 360 version of the game is close enough to creating the PC version that it's "almost like pushing an A button," he said. The PS3 version, though, essentially requires starting from scratch. That doesn't mean the game won't be coming to the PS3, but I suspect it will be awhile.
Cube Posted August 31, 2008 Posted August 31, 2008 I'm not sure if I'll be getting it, but if I do I'll be on the 360. Better controls (I hate keyboard & mouse, it hurts after 10 minutes of playing), better graphics (for me), I'll probably play it more on the 360 anyway and it doesn't use Steam. The only disadvantage is possible DLC.
Dan_Dare Posted August 31, 2008 Author Posted August 31, 2008 DLC might be an issue, but Valve are bringing the TF2 DLC over to 360 soon. Shame it's months late and won't revive the game. I played it today and it was so boring. Nobody used mics, nobody played as a team. It was bullshit.
McPhee Posted September 1, 2008 Posted September 1, 2008 As opposed to PC, where the TF2 community is thriving :p Think i just decided which version i'm buying
Chuck Posted September 1, 2008 Posted September 1, 2008 DLC might be an issue, but Valve are bringing the TF2 DLC over to 360 soon. Shame it's months late and won't revive the game. I played it today and it was so boring. Nobody used mics, nobody played as a team. It was bullshit. Erm I play every night with ipaul and there are plenty of people and plenty of mics.
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