Left4Dead Demo

[DarkSilver]

So I got the demo for 360.....

God damn this game is multiple things:

a) it looks beautiful

b) it plays like a mother fucker

c) FORCES good teamwork


When Valve said "you work as a team or you die" they aren't kidding. I played some tonight, and had a complete moron in our group who insisted on forging on ahead and the team be damned....and got killed multiple times. The zombies are insane, agile, fast and lethal in groups. And the amount of them that appear? Sometimes you clear a entire floor, and you get a swarm of thirty come up behind you! If you don't have someone or two nearby, your fucked.

The graphics are gritty awesome, and the games plays out like your in a movie, honestly. Even the loading screens are movie posters. At no point is it scarey, I think...but more major co-op with suspense, because honestly, unless it's friends, you've no clue if your team will work. The game I played tonight, for instance, had myself and one other working as co-leads, and once the other two started listening to orders, we started making progress. basically using teams of two, clearing out a room while the kept a lookout on the rear so we couldn't be flanked. Worked great, until the team idiot decided to break the routine we set up, and forge ahead. I got tongue lashed by a Smoker, and hung over hole in the floor by my neck where thirty zombies were clawing at the dangling me.

I kinda thought it was a bit racist.....but eh..it's just a game and I was unlucky to be chosen that time.


So....anyone else playing this lil gem of a title? So far...the hype is well fullfilled....

[Hotfoot]

So I got the demo for 360.....

God damn this game is multiple things:

a) it looks beautiful

b) it plays like a mother fucker

c) FORCES good teamwork


When Valve said "you work as a team or you die" they aren't kidding. I played some tonight, and had a complete moron in our group who insisted on forging on ahead and the team be damned....and got killed multiple times. The zombies are insane, agile, fast and lethal in groups. And the amount of them that appear? Sometimes you clear a entire floor, and you get a swarm of thirty come up behind you! If you don't have someone or two nearby, your fucked.

The graphics are gritty awesome, and the games plays out like your in a movie, honestly. Even the loading screens are movie posters. At no point is it scarey, I think...but more major co-op with suspense, because honestly, unless it's friends, you've no clue if your team will work. The game I played tonight, for instance, had myself and one other working as co-leads, and once the other two started listening to orders, we started making progress. basically using teams of two, clearing out a room while the kept a lookout on the rear so we couldn't be flanked. Worked great, until the team idiot decided to break the routine we set up, and forge ahead. I got tongue lashed by a Smoker, and hung over hole in the floor by my neck where thirty zombies were clawing at the dangling me.

I kinda thought it was a bit racist.....but eh..it's just a game and I was unlucky to be chosen that time.


So....anyone else playing this lil gem of a title? So far...the hype is well fullfilled....

...and why would it be racist? Why even bring that up? Are zombies some sort of new dogwhistle for the KKK? If you had been playing the female character, would it have been sexist? Would the old guy have been ageist? Wait, maybe it if had been the biker guy, it could have been persecuting the biker lifestyle. Or maybe he's gay, that would fill it out nicely.

Shit, why even bring that up? It's a game. Something happened that could maybe possibly be taken as offensive if it were done on purpose, but no, it's a fucking enemy that ties you up with his tongue and draws you in, dangling you if he is attacking from above. Zombies swarm you. This is like finding a face in static. Here, I'll fix this for you:

"Naturally, I was playing the black guy, so I was the first to die when things went pear-shaped."

Now, on to the game itself:

It is pretty fun, though each level is pretty short, there's a large degree of replayability, since enemy spawns and supplies are essentially random each time you play. You can't just go into a room, knowing how many zombies are going to be there and where they'll be. Also, if you sit still for too long, the game will throw a wave of zombies at you. Medical equipment is rare to fine, with medpacks being least common and painkillers being more common. Painkillers only give you a temporary boost to health, and will slowly fade to zero over time. When you go down, you can be revived, but you can only be revived so many times before you need to get a medpack or die for good. Proper usage of medpacks and painkillers is something that seems lost on most players, sadly.

The one complaint I have is that there is one zombie that is retardedly difficult to kill: The Tank. I had an entire group unload everything they had into this asshole, and nothing worked. The only thing that seemed to make a difference was if there was a minigun near the area where you encounter him, and even then, it's not a sure bet. All the other types are difficult, challenging, but manageable. Tanks are just damn near unstoppable. Even the witch, which is nasty as hell, can't compare to the absurd toughness of the tank.

[DarkSilver]

damn..forgot to put the sarcasm tag, I didn't mean it seriously Hotfoot. Relax. And no, it wasn't that he was the first to die when it went pear-shaped, rather the hanging part.

But even as I mentioned it, I meant it in a joking manner...again... I forget on occasion, that intent isn't always as clear on the written word as the spoken.

[Hotfoot]

damn..forgot to put the sarcasm tag, I didn't mean it seriously Hotfoot. Relax. And no, it wasn't that he was the first to die when it went pear-shaped, rather the hanging part.

But even as I mentioned it, I meant it in a joking manner...again... I forget on occasion, that intent isn't always as clear on the written word as the spoken.

It's cool, just remember that inflection doesn't show up in text as easily, so you can't always write in a conversational fashion.

[SylasGaunt]

The demo's gone public now so everyone can play. Just finished my first round and god damn did it get intense sometimes.

[The Defenestrator]

I played through single-player once, and got to the end with no problems, but every time I go online, my team gets wiped out almost as soon as we get to the street, if not earlier.

[Death from the Sea]

downloading the demo now.... I pre-ordered my copy awhile back.

[DPDarkPrimus]

I have to see if this runs on my PC because I tried the demo with some friends on the 360 and it is intense as hell, but I don't know how long the community will last on consoles.

[Losonti Tokash]

People still play Halo 2 on Live so I think it's a fair bet that a good multi game like this will stick around for a while.

Anyway, I'm gonna download this later in the week. Used up most of my bandwidth for the week already so I have to wait until tomorrow or so.

[TheFeniX]

The hilarity involved in a 4 man game on this is awesome.

Me: "Ok guys, there's a witch up here. Turn off your lights and avoid her at all costs."
::Walking through the subway car, I look out the window and see Paul approaching the witch:::
Me: "Paul, what the fuck are you...."
::gunfire as Paul shoots the witch and the witch mauls him to death::
Me: "What the Hell is wrong with you?"
Paul: "You didn't say anything about not shooting her."
Chris: "You know Paul, 'avoid her at all costs' pretty much covers 'not shooting her.'"
Paul: "Man, fuck you guys. I didn't hear anything about not shooting her."
Chris: "Tough shit Paul, let's keep moving."
::loud roar, tank busts through wall::
Dan: "What the fuck is that thing?"
::Chris and I haul ass, leaving Dan behind::

It's pretty awesome so far. We beat it on normal the second time through, then tried "Expert." The tank is tough on Normal, but near impossible on expert. Every time we ran into him, we died except for one time. Chris and I booked it for the airvents. We then split up and pounded him with rounds. He managed to kill Chris, but I finally put him down with an SMG as he moves a lot slower while crawling through the vent.

Anyways, after about...... 20 tries on the last attempt we almost made it. Chris hit the button to open the door. Dan and I took the mob on for Chris who made it through the door. About 5 feet from the safe-room, Chris gets nabbed by a fucking smoker and it fades to black. Shitty way to end the night.

[chitoryu12]

This is definately a game I'll be playing for a long time coming. I downloaded the demo yesterday and played it for almost two hours straight. Fortunately, I haven't had much of a problem with stupid teammates, simply because on lower difficulties I can and have bashed through entire hoards myself and on Advanced or Expert the players are usually the more skilled of the bunch, so they can think more tactically and have better reflexes and knowledge of the levels.

I do particularly like how the animations blend with the ragdoll. It's pretty cool to see a zombie sprinting at you, get shot by a quick SMG burst, and spin to the ground, flailing. The Friendly Fire doesn't seem to be much of a problem, as I've thrown pipe bombs at zombies surrounding a fallen player to eliminate the majority of them, while the human survives.

[DPDarkPrimus]

People still play Halo 2 on Live so I think it's a fair bet that a good multi game like this will stick around for a while.

Of course, because the popularity of Halo 2 is a good representation of the average Live community.

[Zixinus]

Anyone up playing this thing? I can really use some people who don't fucking agroo the fucking witch. Really, every game I played so far that has the bitch, some idiot will aggrivate the bitch. Why, why, WHY? Why must it be made more difficult for everyone else?

[General Zod]

I just downloaded the demo yesterday. It plays like Half Life but with zombies.

[Zixinus]

I just downloaded the demo yesterday. It plays like Half Life but with zombies.

Well, considering that it was made originally as a mod, that's not really surprising.

[TheFeniX]

Anyone up playing this thing? I can really use some people who don't fucking agroo the fucking witch. Really, every game I played so far that has the bitch, some idiot will aggrivate the bitch. Why, why, WHY? Why must it be made more difficult for everyone else?

I'm pretty much done with the demo except for tonight because my brother-in-law downloaded it and wants to try it out. I will be purchasing the game though. We've basically got our 4 man team, but you never know when one might not show.

Well, considering that it was made originally as a mod, that's not really surprising.

I never really looked into L4Dead too much, but did they pick up any of the guys from "Zombie Master?" Or did they just rip apart "Zombie Mod: Source?"

[The Vortex Empire]

Why are so many of the people online stupid? When it warns you that some cars set off alarms, tells you which car has an alarm, and we're playing on the highest difficulty, why the fuck would you shoot the car and get us all killed?

[Zixinus]

Am I with the only opinion that the game is way too fucking short? I mean, only two levels? Would adding the third or even fourth given THAT MUCH grief?

I'm pretty much done with the demo except for tonight because my brother-in-law downloaded it and wants to try it out. I will be purchasing the game though. We've basically got our 4 man team, but you never know when one might not show.

What's your SteamID so I can friend you?

Why are so many of the people online stupid? When it warns you that some cars set off alarms, tells you which car has an alarm, and we're playing on the highest difficulty, why the fuck would you shoot the car and get us all killed?

Yeah, my problem too. Usually, when someone scares the witch, I just let them be torn apart. Can't do that with the car though.

[General Zod]

Am I with the only opinion that the game is way too fucking short? I mean, only two levels? Would adding the third or even fourth given THAT MUCH grief?

What'd you expect from a demo?

[Zixinus]

What'd you expect from a demo?

Point, but its still too fucking short. There are five chapters in the game, all with five levels (I think). Having one or even two more levels of the first chapter is hardly unreasonable, especially if there are 22-21 more levels to the full game + a few more features.

[Braedley]

I've only played it in single player, although I have friends and relatives that have it, so I'll be playing 4 player games in the not too distant future. I played through on the normal difficulty, thought that was easy enough, so tried the hard, beat that with more than enough life left in me and my party (although we nearly died right before the end of the second stage), so I thought I'd try it on expert. Louis died about 200ft from the first checkpoint, and when we opened the door for the second stage, we only had one health pack, if that. We died before we got to the mid stage ammo dump. Well before, in fact. Actually, pretty close to the ticket counters for the subway. I think my problem was that I was playing too defensively, when in fact I should have been running for the safe house for those last 300ft.

I'll definitely be playing more in the coming days with friends and family.

[chitoryu12]

What'd you expect from a demo?

Point, but its still too fucking short. There are five chapters in the game, all with five levels (I think). Having one or even two more levels of the first chapter is hardly unreasonable, especially if there are 22-21 more levels to the full game + a few more features.

Actually, there's only four scenarios with several chapters each. An entire scenario would be about a quarter of all the levels in the game.

I never really looked into L4Dead too much, but did they pick up any of the guys from "Zombie Master?" Or did they just rip apart "Zombie Mod: Source?"

To be honest, it doesn't have much in common with either. It's built on the Source engine, but they try to make everything seem less like they just took weapons, scenery, and sounds from Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike and slapped zombies in it. Zombie Master had one player play it like an RTS and command the hoards, while Zombie Mod: Source had the players on the zombie team play as all the zombies and all normal zombies, rather than superpowered unique zombies. Left 4 Dead has fast zombies and majorly emphasizes teamwork. The boss infected are surprisingly balanced, actually. Well, except the Tank. But he was never meant to be balanced except on Easy.

[Losonti Tokash]

Finally downloaded and played the demo a bit.

It's freakin sweet as hell, who wants to play with me on Live a bit later?

[General Zod]

To be honest, it doesn't have much in common with either. It's built on the Source engine, but they try to make everything seem less like they just took weapons, scenery, and sounds from Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike and slapped zombies in it.

They didn't do a very job of it considering that was my first impression from playing the demo.

[TheFeniX]

What's your SteamID so I can friend you?

Sorry, I'll be playing the 360 version as my PC gaming days are (sadly) pretty much over. At least until I drop some money on a new rig.