U R Left 4 Dead

[toblix]

So, this sounds cool, but:

Remember back when my Steam account got hacked by a hacker? Does that mean that I can just forget about playing Left 4 Dead online?

[Cigol]

You could always create a new account and buy it for that.

I'm looking forward to this despite being a little wary of the pacing. I'm not a fan of RUNNING ZOMBIES and much less a fan of roller-skating FPS games which don't let you breathe and take in the atmosphere, but the more I see of this the more I want to play it.

I can't wait for the custom maps... Dawn of the Dead mall anyone?

[DanJW]

Apparently there are safe rooms where you can stop and take a breather and listen to the hordes of undead outside.

The one thing I don't like so much is the crazy types of weird zombies. They seem a bit contrived. I'm sure the game will be awesome though.

[Wrestlevania]

I'm looking forward to this despite being a little wary of the pacing. I'm not a fan of RUNNING ZOMBIES and much less a fan of roller-skating FPS games which don't let you breathe and take in the atmosphere, but the more I see of this the more I want to play it.

I thought the point of L4D was the pacing..? In that it adapts specifically to the circumstance the players find themselves in. For instance, when you start a level/mission the game's AI decides how many zombies to throw at you and then either ramps things up or scales things down depending on factors like how well you're doing overall, how injured you might be, how many zombies you've killed (and what type).

The example I read fairly recently was of a group of journalists playing through the same map twice in quick succession. The first time through, things were fairly evenly paced and they didn't do all that well. But they did complete the mission. The second run through, they were a lot more organised and daring, so the game responded by quieting the streets later on and then throwing a huge wave of zombies at them--including a huge boss character to take down.

I'm liking the sound of it, but I can see it being a bit of a flash in the pan; it's going to be massive for about 4-6 weeks and then it'll really tail off. Fan-created maps will change this though, but I expect it won't last that long on the consoles. (I was particularly looking forward to the Xbox 360 version running on Live, as it'll never run on my decrepit laptop I expect.)

[Cigol]

The AI director, as amazing as it sounds, is ultimately just going to spawn enemies and adjust the difficulty on the fly. When I referred to pacing I was talking more about the way characters zip around the place like they are skating on ice and the non-stop-fast-chaotic nature of the combat. I guess I'd just like it to have all that but a more cerebral element to balance it out. I'm sure it will have 'scares' but its not going to have survival horror type elements that I most closely associate with the Zombie genre. It seems to be more about hosing down the undead whilst getting away as fast as possible.

Which, you know, is fair enough.

I'm not sure why you think it's going to be a 'flash in the pan' though? At least on the PC we've been crying out for a good CO-OP game, and I often hear people cite CO-OP as a feature which elevates mediocre titles on consoles?

[Wrestlevania]

Because...

The AI director, as amazing as it sounds, is ultimately just going to spawn enemies and adjust the difficulty on the fly.

Which I think is a perfectly valid and reasonable point. And because people are starting to get FPS fatigue I think, especially on Microsoft's FPS 360.

[vimes]

Here's why I'm waiting for L4D :

• it's one of these few FPSs that is brutal : everything seems to really hurt the characters
  
• Real asymmetric gameplay in a FPS FTW (and I think it's a first)
  
• It's a survival horror that both radiates tension AND immediate danger
  
• there is an awesome 'dying' mode
  
• you can play on the zombie team
  
• fast paced zombies and lots of them
  
• journalists seems having genuine fun playing it (and not in 'wow, it looks amazing ...' but 'holy crap, this is awesome, late me play once more')
  
• It's been in refinement mode for several months now : apparently they could have released for March but decided to aim for 'quality'.
  
• Valve is the Golden Boy of PC games right now, so hopefully this will meet the standards of Portal and TF2
  

[Ginger]

opps I had a very brief look at this and wrote it off as a doom 3 clone. So glad i read this thread this sounds absolutely wicked. Love the idea unpredictability of game

[Scrobbs]

Roll on Nov. 7th!

[Wrestlevania]

I didn't realise you could play as a zombie! That's pretty fucking cool actually and immediately changing my perception of L4D possibly being short-lived...

[Scrobbs]

...and not just any zombie! You play as a zombie 'lord' effectively, with a special skill (I think there are 4 to choose from), while the normal zombies swarm around you. I'm not sure whether you actually command the swarm though.

[Wrestlevania]

OK, now I'm positively moist.

[Scrobbs]

Just to make you a little more excited, I went off to find the currently released details of exactly what skills as a zombie you get...

http://www.zombiesurvivalwiki.com/page/Left+4+Dead?t=anon

Infected

The infected in left 4 dead are running type zombies, and come in massive waves. They have night vision and can see the locations or the survivors. Most infected can also sneak through air vents and other passages to ambush the survivors. You cannot play as a standard infected, but there are several "boss infected" you can play as:

1. The Hunter- Fast, agile, can leap great distances. If it pounces on you a teammate will need to knock it off or it will rip you to shreds. It can stealth itself and needs to stay still for a moment to leap. The hunter takes the least damage of all the infected and two are available at a time, where all other boss infected can only ahve one at a time.

2. The Smoker-Moderate speed, Can spray smoke to cloud survivors vision and impair their communication, has a long tongue to grab and choke survivors or just toss them into a horde. When a survivor is grabbed, you have touse your melee attack to free them. When a smoker is killed, it leaves behind a choking smokescreen. Smoke stuns you temporarily, disables voice commands, and blurs your vision.

3. The Boomer-Moderate speed, Fat, Can vomit over you to impair vision and attract more infected, explodes if shot.

4. The Tank-Slow, Strong, slow, and HUGE. They can crash throguh walls, batter down doors, and send survivors flying. You cannot choose to play as a tank, but you will be prompted randomly: all players will get a chance before any player uses the tank a 2nd time. In the final stage of a level, there are two tanks. There is a glaring disadvantage, however: if the tank does not see a survivor on screen, a "rage meter" will fill up, and when it tops off, the tank will go berserk and the player will lose control. The only real way to take down a tank is to direct all the survivors fire.

5. The Witch-Fast, Strong, kills instantly, can be crept past. She gets up if you bump her, shoot her, or shine your flashlight at her. Basically don't be stupid and she won't be a problem. Although the witch is a boss infected, the witch is always an AI, as it mostly lies on the floor.

(More to come later...)

This game is going to ROCK!

[Ginger]

Reminds me of the alien vs human pvp of AVP2, this has got me really excited (been ages since I've felt like this about a game). Cheers for the foreplay Norfolk

[Cigol]

Pre-orders can now be taken on Toblix's favourite digital distribution platform; STEAM according to RPS the price, if you pre-order, is $44.99 plus tax (which in the UK would be about £30 I guess?). No word on any juicy extras like a 'beta' period to sweeten the deal just yet.

from; RPS

[LOPcagney]

I've been looking at this for a while, and it just keeps getting better. I love zombie horror.

Then again, I would literally buy anything if it had Valves name stamped on it.

[DanJW]

Then again, I would literally buy anything if it had Valves name stamped on it.

[Scrobbs]

I think it works out at around £22.50 with the discount.

[Cigol]

Unfortunately, no. It's around $52 including tax in the UK, and that works out around £30 - you can actually find it cheaper in the shops for once. Still, I'm sure it'll justify the price tag and Valve have great after-release support which means new maps, maybe even features - but that's complete speculation

[Wrestlevania]

Given the mind-bending complexity of all the AI and environment systems involved in Left 4 Dead, I would imagine patches and improvements would be a - ahem - "dead cert".

I've not tried any Source-based games on my "new" (old) desktop at home yet, but I'm sorely tempted by Left 4 Dead.

[toblix]

Left 4 Dead looks fucking win-derful.

[Cigol]

How cool is this teaser film; crikey!

[ThunderPeel2001]

Very good... I wonder how it's going to play, though?

[Scrobbs]

It's going to be the fucking dog's.

I'll definitely be getting one, maybe two servers for this. Once it's out proper, if enough of us have it, will set up a passworded night of zombie killing action if people want!

Here's a link for the demo FAQ

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7659-EUPL-8723

[DanJW]

It plays awesomely! Second day at the EG Expo I spent most of it managing the queue for Left 4 Dead, and had a couple of goes on it myself. People were standing in line for an hour to have a second go.

Perhaps the most impressive thing is the 'horde'. The bog standard zombies. Most of the time they mill about aimlessly, banging their head against the wall and stuff, and a couple may shuffle towards you. But if too much noise is made then they will start to wake up and begin running at you.

Occasionally a major in-game event will kick off and a big message appears on screen saying 'Player 3 Alerted The Horde!'. Then a whole tonne of them will come at you, almost always from where you were not expecting. The impression of a crowd of homicidal maniacs charging is incredible! They move very realistically, and can climb over any obstacle to get to you. Nowhere is safe, because they will scale walls, climb fences, bash down doors, crawl under cars... they will always find a way. The animation is superb.

The trick to gameplay seems to be 'don't get corned'. It becomes an exercise in crowd control - you can survive sustained attack as long as the numbers don't start to stack up. But the zombies know how to pick their targets, and will often gang up on the weakest team member and hem them in.

The teamwork mechanic is also excellent. As well as the 'ganging up' thing, several of the boss zombies specialise in incapacitating a single player, which means if their friends are not nearby to save them they will be helpless. Luckily there are several stages of 'death'. When you lose all your health you go 'incapacitated' where you fall to the floor and get given a temporary health bar, but you can still shoot with your pistol. From this position a friend can run over and help you back up on your feet, restoring some regular health. Similar situations occur if, say, you fall off a roof and are left hanging on by your fingertips.

If you get bundled by the horde while prone or no-one can come to get help you, you will die. Luckily there are occasional 'trapped survivor' rooms that if found, will respawn any dead players. Also if you go prone too many times then your screen will go monochrome and one more knockdown will kill you.

Helping another player out of a sticky situation, or healing them with a first aid kit, feels great. The game gives plenty of feedback on everything that's happeneing so a message will come up telling everyone who saved who and from what.

The dramatic AI pacing thing is perfect. After watching the game for a whole day I never saw a level play out the same way twice, and I never got bored of it.

Finally, it's amost more fun to fail the mission than to win. Seeing utter chaos break loose, with one player being ripped up by a hunter, another strangled by a 'smoker', one guy being mobbed to the floor by the horde and the fourth player trying to help them while taking on a tank while a molotov cocktail explodes around him... and knowing that all is lost and waiting for each health bar wink out one-by-one Aliens style... is hilarious.