Left 4 Dead

[AtomSmasher]

Anyone else have Left 4 Dead for the PC?  My steam ID is AtomSmasher if anyone wants to play together.

[Hoopz]

Read the review today in Maximum PC.  Looks interesting.  How did you like it?

[AtomSmasher]

So far I love it.  The campaigns only run for an hour or two each, which makes it the perfect for me.  It's also brutally hard on the higher difficulty levels and requires a lot of teamwork, which is a good thing if you can find good teammates.  I haven't tried the versus mode yet, but it sounds like a lot of fun playing as a boss zombie trying to stop the others from escaping.

[somunny]

Downloaded the demo on XBOX Live.  Can't stop playinhg Fallout long enough to try it though. 

[ahofle]

Funny, I was going to start a thread on this.  I picked it up at Best Buy yesterday after playing the demo for a few days.  Circuit city has it for $40 but didn't have the game in stock, so I printed this ad to get it price matched for $40: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Left-4-Dead-PC-014633098556/sem/rpsm/oid/231874/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I love this game.  I have been missing good cooperative FPS play since the Doom2 days.  This reminds me of it in a lot of ways on the harder difficulty levels as Atom mentioned because you really have to talk about strategies prior to running half cocked into an area.  If you like coop play and have 1-3 other friends who do as well, it is a GREAT game to pick up.  I haven't played the single player mode yet, or tried online play with random people though.

[AtomSmasher]

I haven't played the single player mode yet, or tried online play with random people though.

The single player AI actually is really good, and on normal difficulty and most of the time on advanced difficulty they're often better then playing with random people online.  However, they can't follow any advanced tactics, they just follow fairly close to you and are good shots, so the harder the level is, the less useful they become.  You also lose the feeling of camaraderie you get playing with other people, but the fact that they're actually useful is surprising.

[Ginsu Victim]

Not to turn this into a slow vs fast zombies argument, but as a fan of Romero zombies, this game made me angry when I found out it had running zombies, because I really was interested in this game. Guess I'll just keep waiting for a port of Dead Rising to ever hit PC.

[AtomSmasher]

Heh ya, I actually had that thought initially too, but this obviously isn't a Romero type zombie game.  I mean, the boss zombies don't exactly fit into any of the classic zombie characteristics (I've never heard of a zombie with a 100' lasso tongue or having barf that attracts all nearby zombies), but it does make for a much faster paced and action oriented game.

[Ginsu Victim]

Yeah, my whole thing was when I first heard about it, I just knew it was a zombie game with co-op play. So I had ideas about what it should've been. Not their fault for delivering something different from my expectations. Looks like a great game.

[AtomSmasher]

I just want to add that the timing for this game was perfect for me since I'm currently about half way through the book World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

[SithMaster]

Downloaded the demo on XBOX Live.  Can't stop playinhg Fallout long enough to try it though. 

Is it correct for me to think that the demo has been taken off Live?  I checked and all thats listed under Left 4 Dead is a video.

edit-Apparently is has been taken down which is a huge disappointment.  I guess they figured the description "This game rocks, buy it" is a suitable substitute for letting people actually try the game.

[ahofle]

Yeah that was a really stupid move of theirs.  If I hadn't tried the demo, I probably would not have bought the game because of that little stunt.  Not only that, but they expired it a couple hours early (I was trying to play the demo right as it expired).

[AtomSmasher]

I also don't understand their decision to remove the demo.  I could understand if they crippled the online mode in the demo so that they don't need to have any dedicated servers just for the demo, but it makes no sense to take away the single player game.

[TOK]

Trying to play the demo on the PC version now just asks if you want to purchase the full version for 50 bucks.

Don't think so... Maybe when its 25. Its an OK game, but Valves stuff is all very linear and has kind of a stripped down feel to me. After playing other new stuff Crysis Warhead and Fallout 3, Source engine games scream "budget title".

[AtomSmasher]

I just played Versus mode for the first time and it is a lot of fun playing as the zombies.  Also, the engine is a little dated, but it's far from a "budget title."  It's currently getting over 88% on gamerankings.com, and not many budget titles get universally good reviews (lowest review score is 80%).

[SithMaster]

I'm going to get it for 360 if anything so that means no steam for me which cuts me off from probably half the people here.

I was hoping that 40 dollar price was for 360 too but I reread the ad and I was wrong.  Hopefully I'll get a 10 dollar gift card to make it better but my first impression was this isn't worth 60.

[Loafmeister]

The demo was pulled by Valve, not by Microsoft. The game uses the Valve servers, not the MS servers, and the word is they needed the bandwidth for the actual game.

The game kicks butt.  The play style is a breath of fresh air compared to all other shooters and yes, it does a great job of giving you the feeling of some B type horror flick.  Pretty good AI, a nice focus on cooperative play = a worthy purchase.

[AtomSmasher]

I'm becoming addicted to the Versus mode.  It makes the missions so much harder when playing as the humans and makes it a completely different, but still great, game when playing as the zombies.  My only gripe is that only 2 of the campaigns (total of 10 maps) are available in Versus mode, but with Valves record of releasing free content for their games, I'm sure the other two will became available before too long.

[SithMaster]

I broke down and bought the game last week.  My gamertag is HS113 Slayer if anyone wants to play versus or something.  Versus will be more probable since I have at least three friends that I usually play with.  I actually kinda hope someone makes a doom2 inspired version of this.  You know something like the nightmare difficulty but better.

Wait which campaigns are available in Versus?  More importantly I would like to know why they keep doing stupid things.

[mybrainhurtz]

I also have been playing this since it was released and have been having a ton of fun with it.  My steam username is Oijando, feel free to add me as a friend and we can team up some time.  byoc'ers unite!

@AtomSmasher I downloaded the audiobook version of World War Z over the summer from Audible and threw it on ipod for my lunch breaks and commute to work... it is really good. Max brooks is the narrator and they have different actors read each different persons account. i would definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't have time to sit and read a book haha

-Chad

[DaveMMR]

I heard good things about Left4Dead and I may pick it up for the PC (if I don't get a 360 anytime soon).    Might have to wait until after the holidays though.

In case I forget, my Steam user ID is the same as it is on the boards: DaveMMR.

[ahofle]

I'm still playing it with the same group of friends.  We went back and are replaying the whole thing in advanced.  The finale levels are really hard on advanced!

[AtomSmasher]

I'm still playing it with the same group of friends.  We went back and are replaying the whole thing in advanced.  The finale levels are really hard on advanced!

Hehe, I can't wait to see what you think about expert difficulty     I finally survived my first campaign on expert the other day (The team I was with have finished expert a few times, but I've always died at some point in the finale with only some of my teammates escaping.  This was the first time I actually survived.)  Two things I've learned about expert difficulty is that closets are the greatest defense against zombies, and always watch your friendly fire because a healthy teammate can be incapacitated with one bad shot.

[ahofle]

Heh, yeah we tried expert a few times.  The biggest difference was the friendly fire damage as you said.  Are there more zombies too?  Maybe it was just me, but I didn't a huge difference from advanced (other than the incapacitating friendly fire!).  And yeah, we have been using the closet trick too.   

[AtomSmasher]

Heh, yeah we tried expert a few times.  The biggest difference was the friendly fire damage as you said.  Are there more zombies too?  Maybe it was just me, but I didn't a huge difference from advanced (other than the incapacitating friendly fire!).  And yeah, we have been using the closet trick too.   

I don't think theres more zombies, but they do a lot more damage (common infected do 10 damage per hit I believe) and the tank incapacitates you with one hit (either a punch or the rock he throws, one tap and your down).  I just played through expert again on the Mercy campaign and a smoker grabbed me as I was stepping on the chopper    The good news is I got to yell "Get to the Choppa" in my best(worst) Arnold impression when it came in 

Also, I'm not sure if it's just on expert or the other levels as well, but the tank AI is really annoying (in a good way).  He'll be going after another teammate until the second you turn away to kill another zombie, at which point he charges at you, so when you turn back toward him he's right on top of you.

[ahofle]

OK we have been playing some more expert and I must say I am impressed that you finished it.  It's just me and another guy playing at the moment, and we are on the subway level of the first campaign.  Man, once that tank shows up it's over.  There just doesn't seem to be anywhere to hide!

[AtomSmasher]

OK we have been playing some more expert and I must say I am impressed that you finished it.  It's just me and another guy playing at the moment, and we are on the subway level of the first campaign.  Man, once that tank shows up it's over.  There just doesn't seem to be anywhere to hide!

Heh ya, the tank is incredibly tough.  I was just playing through the airline one yesterday and we had 3 tanks on one level (we all died on the last tank and had to restart) and it was only the 3rd map of the campaign, which was insane.  We didn't have a chance when the last one came out.  The way I usually beat them is to throw a moltov so it catches on fire, then run like crazy toward the beginning of the map until he dies.  Only stop and shoot if he's really far away, otherwise just run and let the fire eventually take him.  Also, if your near a gun stash, then have everyone switch to shotguns which do the most damage, so if you do to get pinned in a corner you can at least do a lot of damage before he kills you.

[northerngames]

If anyone needs an edge I have had two prior customers for my rapid fire mod report back that the handguns work like uzi's with my rapid fire and when they were weilding both wepaons with both rapid fire triggers turned on it was there favorite weapon of choice.

[Ginsu Victim]

I finally got to see this game in action last night. Now I can't wait for my new video card to arrive so I can play this!

I'm not a fan of running zombies in movies, but in a game, they're ---smurfin---' freaky!

[Lecithin]

I'm a sucker for zombie movies and zombie games so when this came out I figured I was going to have to get it. I don't like the fact its $50. It is good, but is it that much work to take an already established engine and make a game on it that feels oddly like other valve games?

The single player is fun but the real entertainment begins online. I've played through all the campaigns on normal and hard (expert is toouuggghhh!) but when you get going in versus, that's where its at. Playing as the zombies is great and the game balances it well most times.

My only gripe (besides the price) is the servers have had some problems with crashing. Also, the match making is quick and effeceint but why not have the ability to pick your servers as well? If you have a L4D clan how do you meet up and play together (yeah I know just use the friends menu)? It just seems like a clan would like a dedicated server with their settings/etc there for them.

[AtomSmasher]

I'm a sucker for zombie movies and zombie games so when this came out I figured I was going to have to get it. I don't like the fact its $50. It is good, but is it that much work to take an already established engine and make a game on it that feels oddly like other valve games?

It was pretty easy to find the game for $40 if you shopped around.  Although I feel I've gotten my moneys worth as I've played this game a lot longer then I play most games.

My only gripe (besides the price) is the servers have had some problems with crashing. Also, the match making is quick and effeceint but why not have the ability to pick your servers as well? If you have a L4D clan how do you meet up and play together (yeah I know just use the friends menu)? It just seems like a clan would like a dedicated server with their settings/etc there for them.

If you're playing the pc version of the game, then you just need to type "openserverbrowser" in the command console to get a list of servers.

[Lecithin]

I'm a sucker for zombie movies and zombie games so when this came out I figured I was going to have to get it. I don't like the fact its $50. It is good, but is it that much work to take an already established engine and make a game on it that feels oddly like other valve games?

It was pretty easy to find the game for $40 if you shopped around.  Although I feel I've gotten my moneys worth as I've played this game a lot longer then I play most games.

Yes but how about those that pay $60 for 360? My point was that I think it shouldn't have been $50 in the first place (PC), that the game really doesn't feel that it is 100% stand alone.

Don't get me wrong I own it and love it but that doesn't change that I feel the game could have had more content in it.

[AtomSmasher]

I'm a sucker for zombie movies and zombie games so when this came out I figured I was going to have to get it. I don't like the fact its $50. It is good, but is it that much work to take an already established engine and make a game on it that feels oddly like other valve games?

It was pretty easy to find the game for $40 if you shopped around.  Although I feel I've gotten my moneys worth as I've played this game a lot longer then I play most games.

Yes but how about those that pay $60 for 360? My point was that I think it shouldn't have been $50 in the first place (PC), that the game really doesn't feel that it is 100% stand alone.

Don't get me wrong I own it and love it but that doesn't change that I feel the game could have had more content in it.

I often agree with that stance about games, especially since there has been a recent trend of games only having 8-10 hours of gameplay (such as Mirrors Edge and Heavenly Sword), but in this particular case I disagree.  The developers spent their time creating levels which are extremely replayable instead of just having an large number of levels and content.  Any game that I still enjoy playing after 80+ hours is well worth $60 in my opinion.

If you prefer a game to include loads of new content instead of improving on the gameplay, then I recommend you pick up the latest dynasty warriors game.  It's basically the same game as the first DW released over 10 years ago, but it has lots of new content and improved graphics.

[Lecithin]

no, I come from a time when games had replayability and content :-)

It does have replayability online, offline, I wouldn't argue as much. But what game doesn't have online replayability? You're playing with different people each time so its hard for the game not to be different.

Games should have solid gameplay (if it doesn't its a bad game, no arguement), once your gameplay is solid then you introduce features and balance your curves. I feel that getting solid gameplay in L4D is not an enormous achievement and because of that it should have had more content. I have played it for a lot of hours (its a solid game) but there are definitely things that could have been easily added and balanced for the price (only 2 campaigns in versus for example).

Maybe its me but I'm getting tired of games that are released with half their content and then you're charged for what should have been there in the first place (sims 2 anyone, or spore?) and games with bugs and lacking the gameplay it should have. Maybe I was spoiled when I grew up and found the first 300 games I ever played played flawlessly. Then again I don't think thats spoiled, I think thats what you should be getting when you buy a video game. Yes I understand its harder to create games now (I teach classes on game design) but the standard is still there.

Again, I do enjoy the game, it plays well and is fun, I'm not bashing it, I just think there are a few things that could have easily been added without a ton of effort.

[AtomSmasher]

You should know that Valve has already said they will be releasing more content for the game for free.  If they support the game even half as much as they do team fortress 2, then we should see a new campaign or two and versus mode allowed in all campaigns.

Also, I'd say each campaign is good for at least 2 playthroughs offline, which means it would have well over 20 hours of game time, which is pretty good by todays standards.  And I find very few games to be fun to play online, so I rarely consider a game to have even remotely the amount of replayability as this one.  I admit I'm baffled as to why only two of the campaigns are available in versus and am disappointed at how few weapon choices there are, but overall it is a fantastic game and well worth the money.

[Lecithin]

an interesting note, the servers were bugging out two weeks ago and the game actually threw my friend and I into one of the 2 campaigns that you can't play in versus. Oddly enough they worked perfectly fine in versus.

I'm glad to know they're going to support it as that seems to be the new thing (updating content) which to me is wonderful but when you get to games that are released without it and then charged for it (when its pretty much there in the first place), that much I can't stand.

I do enjoy getting new content in games, its like you're experience the game for the first time all over again but I can see how this would be used to release games earlier with promises of new content that should have been there in the first place.

Its the two versus that aren't out there that get to me, especially with the server bug my friend and I played through.

[AtomSmasher]

I actually have gotten that bug a few times myself which is why I also don't understand why every campaign isn't available on versus.  But Valve has done a fantastic job of adding free new content to Team Fortress 2 (they've added several new maps, game modes, and weapons) and they've said they'll support L4D in a similar fashion, so hopefully it won't be too long before they start releasing more maps for it.  Although I have to admit I'm still learning new things about the old maps (did you know on No Mercy, theres a way to skip the part where you raise the scissor-lift and run along the roof top.  Theres a door across from the scissor-lift that if you melee it a couple dozen times it falls down and lets you skip that whole section.)

[Lecithin]

yep yep, I found that one out last week. I'm very glad to hear they'll be adding some things, that I did not know and it makes me happy to know we'll have more content.

The levels (especially with the director feature) do add a lot of replayability and I do find little new things every so often. With versus you get to see the levels in a new light as well. Picking out hiding spots and noticing places you would have never gone.

It is also nice to have someone to discuss games with Thanks for the opinions (and I mean that whole heartedly)