U R Left 4 Dead

[miffy495]

Just fired it up, as I had a bit of game time tonight. Wow. Despite my aversion to multiplay, I can really see myself becoming absorbed in this one. Good times all around. Those zombie rushes can really get you. Very cool game.

[DanJW]

I just tried the public demo and while I love the teamwork aspect and I love killing zombies I don't see the whole "OMG! OMG! BEST GAME EVA!" in it...

It's exciting to save and be saved by your teammates, but I don't see why people keep saying this will be better than Dead Rising?

I don't know why people would compare it to Dead Rising; they are compeltely different styles of game.

As for the other... perhaps you need to play a few games until you see the way the AI director works and the excellent replayability, and perhaps until something really fun and spectacular happens. Problem with randomised gameplay - you might just have a run-of-the-mill game the first time round.

Great Valve blog post here about the visual effects and how they aid gameplay.

I don't think I'll be able to get the full game until Christmas Hopefully will have the the demo tonight though.

[Scrobbs]

We're seeing some subtle things about the AI director, but we aren't sure if it's actually happening or its being percieved as such.

For example, if you have one of those moments where everything you aim at and every round you fire is dead on and you are owning the whole show - the infected "appear" to target you out of the group...

Another example, on the homebrew extreme setting (i.e. cheating) with infinite ammo/grenades and larger groups of zombies etc., the AI decided to punish us with a smoker + boomer + horde then follow up with a tank + witch + multiple hordes combo.

I so hope it's true.

[Chris]

I just tried the public demo and while I love the teamwork aspect and I love killing zombies I don't see the whole "OMG! OMG! BEST GAME EVA!" in it...

It's exciting to save and be saved by your teammates, but I don't see why people keep saying this will be better than Dead Rising?

Why are people even comparing it to Dead Rising? Literally the only similarity I can think of is that they both have zombies, and they're not even similar zombies. It's a completely different game in just about every respect games can be different.

EDIT: I keep not noticing the last page of posts.

[miffy495]

Had a nice little run tonight. Signed into a quick play game with two players who obviously had quite a bit of experience and one who was at approximately my skill level. Unfortunately the only players with mics were myself and the other rookie, but thankfully the guy playing Bill knew the commands well and kept a watchful eye over us. Given the patronly veteran look of Bill, he really played the part.

Our other vet, the guy playing Louis, was a bit of a tool. It got to the point where we'd reached the end of the demo (a very enjoyable run with lots of tension) and Bill was surviving entirely on the temporary health bestowed by pain pills. He had plenty of health left when we found the safe room, but Louis was running around waiting for more zombies to spawn so that he could get the award for killing the most special zombies. While he was wasting time like this, the other three of us were waiting in the safe room while Bill slowly died. When he had less than a fifth of his health left, I went out to get Louis and hopefully end the game successfully. I said very nicely, "Dude, Bill's about to die. Get in the safe room so we can end the level." He kept right on shooting the spawning special zombies. It was at this point I saw over his shoulder that a smoker had spawned behind him. I could have easily taken it out, but I figured a lesson was in order. I watched as the smoker grabbed him and pulled him down the hall and around the corner, then followed. I shot the resulting frenzy off of him, and after I'd saved his ass, calmly said "Into the safe room. Now." We made it right as Bill was losing his last units of health, but closed the door just in time. Mission success, and Bill (very rightly) took the award for most special zombies killed. I beat Louis for second place by one. That smoker that I'd saved his point-grubbing ass from.

Any game that can give you group dynamics and interaction like this is a definite must play for me. As I keep on saying, I'm not a fan of multiplay. I usually can't stand it. Something about this game though, I think it could really make me a believer.

[Scrobbs]

Servers now up! This game is as much fun as promised. 4v4 is such a blast.

[Cigol]

I'm experiencing some really depressing bouts of lag which affect everyone (and therefore appear to be linked to the server/game) - happens during those intense scenes, naturally, and it destroys the atmosphere Not all servers are like that thankfully, but I do hope they come up with a solution. Fast.

As for the game... well it's sort of what I expected. Great, but not 'oh shit oh shit, OMGZ, is awesome', it sort of feels dated in a couple of respects and the reliance on multiplayer leaves a dull singleplayer component.

It's a little straightforward I thought too. There's the last stand situations - where you push a button and defend yourself from a horde of zombies, and you can man a couple of stationary gun emplacements and throw around some petrol cannisters - but is that it? So far, and I've only completed the first two chapters fwiw, there's not a lot of variety in the gameplay. I mean as good as it is, and as replayable as it is I would have liked a little more.

Where are the puzzles for example or scenarios which require splitting up or something? You never seem to deviate from the run around as a group shooting as fast as possible and at as many monsters as possible shtick - I'm not saying I don't enjoy that, I do, but it seems like something Valve could have easily expanded upon. It's going to be what modders do, so why not Valve? Seems strange, and a bit disappointing on reflection.

Still the strength of feeling as I tried to rescue a comrade as the helicopter was in its holding pattern, that sinking feeling as the horde beings to overwhelm me, and the sudden realisation that neither of us will make it... well, nothing like it. Very exciting, tense and enjoyable game.

[David]

I'm trying to figure out why I'm not playing this game now that it's out and I own it. I'm quite sure I'm over-thinking it, but it remains mostly unplayed on my Steam account since its release.

I am not so psyched about joining up in a campaign with a bunch of random people (especially a mix of headset users and mutes; I think I'd prefer either uniform headset-ery or radio silence to one dude being the "leader" and barking orders), and I can't seem to find my Steam friends available when I do want to jump in. I find that the friends I do spot jump into servers that become full quite rapidly--no surprise there, seeing as there's a 4- or 8-player limit, but it's still damn frustrating. I might just run through the single player mode, but I'm not super-motivated to do that.

I have a feeling I'm looking for an impossible paragon Left 4 Dead experience and don't want to spoil it with a playthrough that is merely okay.

Man, I can't believe I just wrote that. Sorry. Am I way off base?

[Scrobbs]

...maybe I'm being totally spoilt. There's a bunch of us with mics all on the same server; I guess that's the best way to play it.

[Wrestlevania]

I think it must be...

I tried the demo on Xbox 360, stumbled my way through it with complete ease and was left wondering why the hell this game's getting any attention at all.

[twmac]

Arrgh.

This game is good but it suffers from floaty cam (all the characters tend to glide everywhere rather than making it feel like they are having to deal with inertia or gravity). I can never really get into it as anything other than a good frag fest.

Even when I get dragged down by the zombies I never feel like I'm in any real danger as, in reality, I'm really just a disembodied camera staring up at the horde. Just a matter of hoping that I'll get respawned and/or the game will restart.

Harsh, I know but I just don't feel anymore invested in this than I would a good match of TF2 or Unreal Tournament. No bad thing but it feels like the game missed the point a little.

EDIT: It would have been nice if the characters levelled up as the campaign proceeded and if you died you lost all enhancements, that would really give an incentive to not die.

[David]

As I suspected, I overthought this to a large degree. I jumped into a few games and played for a couple of hours and enjoyed it immensely. Holy shit playing as infected is fun!

[toblix]

I just played this for a bit, and it was fun. I guess you'd need to play with great folks, though, not the average cunt.

[LOPcagney]

I really enjoy it. I like the change in pace from most of Valve's shooters, specifically that it's not completely up to you. The Director does the job of making you feel rushed so as not to get caught in another swarm, while the game-play favors a slower, more methodical approach.

I've only so far gotten to play single-player, but I imagine it only gets better when you can strategize with friends, especially in the four last stand levels. My only disappointments so far are superficial: I wish they had made better use of the cornfields in Blood Harvest. I wish characters didn't tend to float around at the edge of cliffs.

I just played this for a bit, and it was fun. I guess you'd need to play with great folks, though, not the average cunt.

Idle Thumbs server this weekend?

[ThunderPeel2001]

Idle Thumbs server this weekend?

Add it to the calendar

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[Cigol]

I just played this for a bit, and it was fun. I guess you'd need to play with great folks, though, not the average cunt.

Maybe, maybe not;

I think the associate oft-stated standard caveat - "as a teamwork game, it's no fun playing with random people" - is far less true than you'd expect. In fact, throwing a group of strangers in a strange situation and then one of them acting strange is the kind of random chaos that Left 4 Dead thrives upon. Things going wrong is glorious. And when things go gloriously wrong, it's the sort of thing you happily blow 500-word intros on. Left 4 Dead is the zombie apocalypse trapped safely inside your computer. Take a holiday in their misery.

Check out the rest of the review by Kieron Gillen here.

A renegade Bill with a French accent running ahead of the pack, blissfully unaware of how he's damaging our chances of survival - or a health kit hoarding, cowardly Francis who you think twice about rushing to rescue. A rag-tag bunch of characters trying to survive together is often just as fun as playing with a group of friends mechanistically trying to do things right.

I've had a couple of bad experiences (people idling at random only to shoot you all to death on the penultimate level ) but more often than not - like Team Fortress 2 - you'll come across those good folk interested in playing the game properly. But I have to say, unlike Team Fortress 2 the players (on release) are definitely not as mature across the board

I'm also not sure if it's the same for everyone else, as it could just be a coincidence I'm reading too much into, but I think it's a game you have to play a fair bit to appreciate. My first few games, beyond the initial excitement, were pretty tepid and boring but it eventually started ramping up both the excitement levels and challenge - so I would suggest anyone who finds it all a bit 'huh' at first don't leave it at that.

[Wrestlevania]

I just played this for a bit, and it was fun. I guess you'd need to play with great folks, though, not the average cunt.

Don't want to speak for the rest of you, but I certainly consider myself an "above average" cunt.

Add it to the calendar

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Let me know your Google account addresses, Thumbs, and I'll add you all to the editors list for the Idle Thumbs calendar.