Gameplay footage: http://kotaku.com/5284932/five-bloody-minutes-of-left-4-dead-2-gameplay
I think it is amusing to see the rabid Valve fanboys come out to defend this move. "I got way more support than I expected when Valve re-released existing maps in a gamemode that consists of little more than accelerating endless spawns of bad guys." Sorry, I'm not buying it.
On a slightly different note, I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but doesn't it seem like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel with how frequent the hour-to-cost ratio is deployed in defense of games these days?
Anyway, the so-called support for L4D was just a total let down, because as someone who does game development as a semi-professional hobby, I know for a fact that in the six month period it took them to actually patch L4D to the state it should've been in at retail, I could have easily done that much and more. By myself. In my spare time after work. Of course, putting it that way, it's quite likely that the skeleton crew who was actually responsible for getting the L4D patch+one map out was already working another full time job - L4D2.
As for L4D2, I'm not rabidly against it, but I don't see what people are getting hyped up about. Melee weapons don't look thrilling to me in any way, and incendiary ammunition is the kind of thing I expect from "Valve please listen to my great ideas" threads. Both these things would be trivial to include in L4D. In fact, I haven't seen anything so far that tells me this is a new game and not just a series of new maps and different skins. Maybe the new Infected will really change it up. Map-wise, the southern / daytime setting we've seen so far is a mark against it as well in my book - The only thing I find remotely scary or oppressive when I watch the videos is the thought of how hot it must be walking around in a full suit.
On a slightly different note, I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but doesn't it seem like we're scraping the bottom of the barrel with how frequent the hour-to-cost ratio is deployed in defense of games these days?
Anyway, the so-called support for L4D was just a total let down, because as someone who does game development as a semi-professional hobby, I know for a fact that in the six month period it took them to actually patch L4D to the state it should've been in at retail, I could have easily done that much and more. By myself. In my spare time after work. Of course, putting it that way, it's quite likely that the skeleton crew who was actually responsible for getting the L4D patch+one map out was already working another full time job - L4D2.
As for L4D2, I'm not rabidly against it, but I don't see what people are getting hyped up about. Melee weapons don't look thrilling to me in any way, and incendiary ammunition is the kind of thing I expect from "Valve please listen to my great ideas" threads. Both these things would be trivial to include in L4D. In fact, I haven't seen anything so far that tells me this is a new game and not just a series of new maps and different skins. Maybe the new Infected will really change it up. Map-wise, the southern / daytime setting we've seen so far is a mark against it as well in my book - The only thing I find remotely scary or oppressive when I watch the videos is the thought of how hot it must be walking around in a full suit.
I liked L4D, L4D 2 should IMO been the DLC, and I think they knew it wouldn't be long after the DLC that L4D 2 would be out, so thats why they made the content free. Thats just me.
I would like to play it for sure.
I would like to play it for sure.
I feel the same, but at the same time, I feel like Valve's sort of put its own fan base in a consumer moral bind. We inherently feel like we're getting ripped off, but we also want to try the new stuff. Really it's just a bad move by them. Consumers should never be put in this kind of situation where we begin to CONSIDER the possibility that developers are milking us. This is, of course, truth. However in the ideal/normal scenario, we glide right in willingly to spend our $40. Here, it's a true moral dilemma.Death May Die said:
SaiyajinNoOuji
I'm still better than you
I am wondering how longs its going to take for people to just take the new stuff from L4D2 and put it in as a mod for the first one. Take THAT valve! 
Citing their boycott evoking additional material being created for L4D1, the L4D2 boycott group is disbanding.
http://kotaku.com/5381575/the-left-4-dead-2-boycott-is-dead
http://kotaku.com/5381575/the-left-4-dead-2-boycott-is-dead
I think the guy's just a little too proud here. Valve responded, but that doesn't "pave the way" for anything. Many other companies have a much more hands-off approach to dealing with the concerns of the public. Take Nintendo for example. How about that Mother 3 petition?
NightCrawler
Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Meh, seems to me they're "disbanding" just in time to pre-order L4D2 without weighting in their conscience.
SaiyajinNoOuji
I'm still better than you
Sounds like someone is bitter they weren't part of this L4D million man march!Aazealh said:What else did you expect? Like Walter, I'm more annoyed that they're openly jerking their egos off. "We have made an indelible mark upon the future of this industry."
Anyways, this is a perfect example of the fuck wad theory.
NightCrawler
Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Aazealh said:What else did you expect? Like Walter, I'm more annoyed that they're openly jerking their egos off. "We have made an indelible mark upon the future of this industry."
Actually it's quite funny to see that most people of the 40k group (and some internet media channels) are openly bashing their decision. Those two sold out to Valve too easily and teh internets shows no remorse.
Besides they don't "own" the boycott group.
Thing is, if this guy (former L4D2 boycott leader) is saying Valve delivered the long-promised additional content for L4D1, it's kind of a misnomer in my opinion. They released Crash Course, which is a 2-level campaign (other campaigns are 4-5 levels), and a new game mode.
No new weapons, no new characters, no new special infected.
The above additional features will be in L4D2 though, of course.
Personally, I'll still be buying L4D2 despite all these grievances. L4D1 provided dozens of hours of playtime for me and my friends. We had a blast while it was still hot. And really, I've dealt with more painful backstabbing in the video game industry than this mishap by Valve. First and foremost, the non-US release of Seiken Densetsu 3 and Mother 3.
No new weapons, no new characters, no new special infected.
The above additional features will be in L4D2 though, of course.
Personally, I'll still be buying L4D2 despite all these grievances. L4D1 provided dozens of hours of playtime for me and my friends. We had a blast while it was still hot. And really, I've dealt with more painful backstabbing in the video game industry than this mishap by Valve. First and foremost, the non-US release of Seiken Densetsu 3 and Mother 3.
NightCrawler
Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
I'll wait for the general opinion and specially for a weekend sale. I had some fun playing L4D but still think the sequel looks more like a mod than anything else. It's not deserving of it's launch price.
Dar_Klink
Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
"Kill all sunzabitches..."
I was worried I wouldn't like this cast, (No Bill or Francis) but after this trailer I think it's good to make new friends.
That trailer fucking delivered. That's all I can say. Watch and take it all in.
EDIT: *watching again*
EDIT 2: Did I just see a SWAT Zombie at 1:59? Haven't heard about those yet.
I was worried I wouldn't like this cast, (No Bill or Francis) but after this trailer I think it's good to make new friends.
That trailer fucking delivered. That's all I can say. Watch and take it all in.
EDIT: *watching again*
EDIT 2: Did I just see a SWAT Zombie at 1:59? Haven't heard about those yet.
The game has re freshed I'm interest. I enjoyed the first one a lot. I haven't picked up L4D since RE 5 came out. So I'm all for picking this up.
Valve kind of dropped the ball for the PC demo. Pre-order customers bought it with the promise of the demo being preloaded, so you could play it Tuesday. My copy was preloaded, but failed to launch yesterday. This was the case for all PC owners apparently. 360 owners had no problems. This morning, I woke up to see my preloaded copy of the demo redownloading itself, meaning the demo they had previously distributed had somehow failed to pass the test.
This doesn't bode well for launch day
This doesn't bode well for launch day
NightCrawler
Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
I actually really enjoyed my playthrough last night, and I can't imagine going back to L4D1 after playing with all the new weapons.
Many of the changes to the game are superficial, but definitely upgrades. As for the melee kill complaints, I don't understand them unless you're a pure, 100% strategist. Decapitating a zombie with an electric guitar is very, very satisfying, and gets lots of laughs in multiplayer. It is worth it, even if you are at risk for friendly fire from some dipshit teammate. The CLANNNGGG of a frying pan is also very satisfying.
Oh yeah, and the music is just fabulous. It's got New Orleans' style big brass jazz renditions of the L4D1 music, and it's especially chaotic and awesome during crescendo and horde events.
Many of the changes to the game are superficial, but definitely upgrades. As for the melee kill complaints, I don't understand them unless you're a pure, 100% strategist. Decapitating a zombie with an electric guitar is very, very satisfying, and gets lots of laughs in multiplayer. It is worth it, even if you are at risk for friendly fire from some dipshit teammate. The CLANNNGGG of a frying pan is also very satisfying.
Oh yeah, and the music is just fabulous. It's got New Orleans' style big brass jazz renditions of the L4D1 music, and it's especially chaotic and awesome during crescendo and horde events.
SaiyajinNoOuji
I'm still better than you
Well L4D2 has been released... of course when I start being able to pull out 20+ damage jumps with the hunter, the population dies down because of the new game! (at least for me anyways). So, any more people get L4D2? What are your thoughts?
