Valve Announces Left4Dead 2

[JohnXDoe3]

WTF!!


June 1, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller.

Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009's marquee titles.

"A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games."

Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more.

Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.

Supported by a $10+ million marketing campaign, Left 4 Dead has sold over 2.5 million retail copies since it was released in November of 2008. Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009, and will be launched worldwide with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign across TV, Outdoor, and Online.

"Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original."

Left 4 Dead 2 will be featured as the cover story on PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazines this month


Ok this thread is for all us L4D fans to rant, rave, and hope until November. Different from our awesome L4D thread, because mostly its to RANT! At least for me.

Seems as if all that great extra content is coming....but we will have to PAY for it in the form of an all NEW and supposedly improved game. I suppose SDK is still on for L4D, but otherwise if we want new content, well, this franchise is getting expensive!! :mad:

And i will be the first one to order, no doubt :P

Discuss L4D 2 and how awesome it sounds, but how sucky it is that we'll gonna be out another $50 prolly

[Jonny]

Exchanging money for a product? Crazy!

[JohnXDoe3]

its a product i already have you nublet

promises were made by Valve for the original...to drive the sale. DLC was suggested. this ain't it!

[Jonny]

They're still gonna support the original.

[P13]

does yours have a 2 on it?



thought not

[JohnXDoe3]

i don't want to pay for a "2" if its just like the "1"

hell L4D hasn't even been out a year

i want DLC like they said. not some lame "Survivor" mode

this better be good

[P13]

i never bought the original, not enough maps and such

[Light Flantastic]

does this look like your blog

nobody cares what you bought get the **** out

[P13]

**** you
I can say what i did or didn't buy anywhere


GTFO

[Light Flantastic]

ya you technically can but that doesnt mean anyone gives a **** you dickguzzler

[P13]

looks like someone needs a time out

[Light Flantastic]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/TimeOut.jpg

[Jonny]

Valve are kinda stupid. They decide to be nice to gamers and release free DLC... but then realise afterwards that they actually worked hard on it and have families to feed, so they have to find some way to make money... at which point people boo and hiss and throw rotten fruit at them for being big mean nasty corporate sellout pigs.

[P13]

When has this happened? I've had to pay for every Valve game

[Jonny]

Learn 2 Read.

[Skyler]

Hooray for paying for content that should be free.

[JohnXDoe3]

Valve are kinda stupid. They decide to be nice to gamers and release free DLC... but then realise afterwards that they actually worked hard on it and have families to feed, so they have to find some way to make money... at which point people boo and hiss and throw rotten fruit at them for being big mean nasty corporate sellout pigs.
oh sure families to feed....

they have sold 2.5 million copies at an average of $50-$60 a pop. they spent just $10m promoting it....and it runs on an old engine that most likely didn't cost much to give a redo

they have made over $125m dollars on the first game alone and promised FREE DLC. i know the first game will still be "supported" but a lot of what L4D 2 promises was suggested as free DLC. it just was

the way they make the second game sound...the original is just some sort of teaser. i paid $50 for a 4 level "teaser" game. and its great. but apparently if i want the "real deal" its more cash to add to the $125m

which is fine...i am very happy. just a little steamed

u c what i did there :p

i'm just sayin'!

[MBS]

i think people are angry at valve because they're releasing a product which has features that were promised to gamers when they bought the first left 4 dead

[Skyler]

Well, yeah. It's obvious that this was originally going to be free DLC, but after the success of L4D on the Xbox, they decided to churn out a quick sequel to make a buck.

[MBS]

i'm going to miss zoey :(

[simplephotographinthesun]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4loflk_RNo

allegory for post-katrina new orleans?!?!?!

[Luc214]

goddammit I just bought the original a month ago

oh well at least I only paid 25 for it

I guess left 4 dead 1 was like a little taste to see if it caught on or something.

actually reading it it pretty much seems like basically an update on the original, and instead of releasing it as dlc they decided to tack on a "2" to make more money.

[Let's Chop Cats!]

too soon. but since Valve rules, I'll buy it.

[Luc214]

yeah I'll be buying, chainsaw combat is too good to pass up

[JohnXDoe3]

i'm going to miss zoey :(
i always play as her :'(

memories from Claire in Resident Evil N64. or PS1 i forget?

anyway i will be buying this, too. i mean i have only logged 525 games played since they started keeping stats so who am i kidding

but reading over the press release again this is obviously the DLC which was always mentioned by Valve and others made into a regular game. it would be great if it could run through one L4D program and on the same server system...but who knows? idk if thats even possible

i don't mind paying for it. but its kind of the principle of the thing. you put out a small co-op game like L4D and you expect a little more to be added. "Survival Mode" meh...

also the melee thing isn't real big to me. and when they say "different weapons" does that mean more? because 3 different weapons will just be 3 different weapons. the idea for the DLC was to add more weapons to freshen things up

maybe they will offer a deep discount to those who already have the game and a bargain to those who want both? sounds fair. not a big deal to pay for it....just not what i was expecting from the L4D peoples

[bradc1988]

gay

[Nosferatu]

the first L4D was fun for about 15 minutes. then i moved on to a different game...

not sure if i'll even bother with the sequel. unless they decide to mix up the gameplay other than run shoot run shoot "RELOADING!" run shoot.

[JohnXDoe3]

a series of Gameplay clips. if it works right they should start one after another after several seconds. apparently this is an all daytime L4D game

http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/14352245/left-4-dead-2/videos/l4d2_gmp_axeownage_052809.html


http://i43.tinypic.com/id9evq.jpg

[GreyHam]

Isnt this a pisstake, mostly based on the absurd suggestions made on the steam forums (like 'this game doesnt cater to ethnic minorities' and 'we need melee weapons')

[JohnXDoe3]

well this is not a "sequel" thats for sure. i have this game already. except mine looks better and is classic :cool:

i wouldn't buy this for $50. i already have it. and mine is at night. for $20, yeah. this is obviously the DLC promised L4D. just some different characters. that fat black guy is an lol

i think when everyone paid $50 for the first one they thought "more to come" because thats what the company said, and the game is small. and this was the "more." its just for sale now

i'll keep playing the original as long as i can. $20, no more :)

[Gnarmageddon]

left2dead

[sLarkin20]

This looks like something that should be released as DLC, not a new game.

[Luc214]

I really have no idea why they can't add this onto the original. Same engine, same sound effects, couple new weapons and animations and upgraded AI.

Release it as an expansion if you need the money, naming it as a sequel is just ridiculous though.

[sLarkin20]

Yeah, from what I've read the only new stuff is the characters (big deal), "improved" AI, the levels, and a couple new special infected. Graphics obviously look a bit better, but since the bulk of the new stuff is simply new levels and special infected, I don't think that justifies paying $50 or whatever it's gonna be for a brand new game.

[IgniteYourAvail]

Hopefully Valve will make this more than an expensive mod this time :rolleyes:

[Anglachel]

this just pisses me off

valve games always start off half a game and then they improve on it, thats what you'd expect
but theyre gonna charge us for 2 half games now

its the ****ing 360s fault aint it

**** you consolefags

[sLarkin20]

Yeah, **** you 360 bitches. It's your fault.

[Luc214]

I predict this is going to be the same as the original in it being too short and not enough content.

So then instead of valve doing the sensible thing and combining we're getting two half finished parts

What I'm hoping for is for all the content from the original to be included in this (tweaked of course) and for this to be a significantly cheaper upgrade if you already own the original. Does pretty much make it like an expansion but I don't know why it isn't one in the first place.

If they totally got rid of nighttime levels that was stupid, it's going to make things so much more difficult for smokers in vs mode.

[sLarkin20]

I don't think they are going to add the old maps into the new game.

"The game will be set in the Southern United States, starting in Savannah, Georgia and ending up in New Orleans, Louisiana."

[Luc214]

this was a really weird move.

idk maybe we're wrong and it's so much new stuff that they just figured it would be easier to make a new game instead of adding on to the old one.

Maybe the first one was supposed to be more of a "test" to see if it did well, with them holding off their resources for a fully blown version.

[MBS]

this move is pretty much catering to xbros

[Luc214]

how? xboxs can get dlc

[Jonny]

I don't think they are going to add the old maps into the new game.


I read that they are. I forget where.

[MBS]

how? xboxs can get dlc

ah i thought it was like tf2 where pc gets all the cool **** and xbox is still stuck with broken maps and version 1.0

[Mr. Ron]

Yeah, they should have just made this an expansion and not a new game.

L4D was fun online but it got boring fast. They could do so much with it besides making it a "shoot stuff" game. Introduce an actually plot, characters, non-shooting missions and so on.

[Anglachel]

how? Xboxs can get dlc
not 4 free

:|

[Luc214]

I read that they are. I forget where.

if so I'd be a little happier, I don't want a daytime zombie fragfest by the bay in some sailing suit to be all there is :\

[Pop music sucks]

how? xboxs can get dlcThe game is harder than normal FPS games. Too many people are used to Halo bullpoop where one man armies can win. The first patch was to lower the VS difficulty from Advanced to Normal. Advanced had the best combination between Infected and Survivors. Survivors needed to work exceptionally close to get the best score, health points and survivor multiplier, not kill count. Kill count doesn't matter in this game. I think that Valve tried something different with the concept on Left 4 Dead and emphasized explicit teamwork than solo work.

VS lobbies should have difficulty choices like Campaign does. VS lobby options are only one of four campaigns and Friends-only/Open lobby. If my friends buy it when it is released, I'll think about it, but paying $90 for one game is ridiculously retarded. This game was all that Valve had promised for Left 4 Dead.

There have been so many times I've played on an open lobby with pubbers and they were all horrible. So many ragequitters I lost count.

[Phantom]

Awesome, definitely getting this.

[StooTwo]

When the **** are Valve going to announce Half-Life 3 =(

[Luc214]

The game is harder than normal FPS games. Too many people are used to Halo bullpoop where one man armies can win. The first patch was to lower the VS difficulty from Advanced to Normal.

wait vs used to be more difficult for survivors?

I always thought that the vs games I've played the survivors seemed to have an upper hand

[MBS]

you didn't play in the first couple weeks of release then. they had it so that the server determined what difficulty the versus match was, so you could play versus with expert difficulty ai (ie, the regular zombies hit for 20 life, etc etc) now everything is just defaulted to normal.

expert was fun to play because it was just a grim race to see who could get farther before being completely overwhelmed

[Anglachel]

**** me wrong game

[Let's Chop Cats!]

closed beta? where the hell did you hear that?

[StooTwo]

What does that mean..

[Luc214]

HL2 EP3 is currently in closed beta you slow nub

that's not HL3 you slow nub

[Nosferatu]

and if Half Life 2: Episode 3 isn't even being showcased, why would they be revealing Half Life 3 you slow nub.

EDIT: but really now that i think about it...screw Left 4 Dead 2, I WANT ME SOME EPISODE 3.

[smith_]

overrated game, no intensity and is extremely repetitive

[bradc1988]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQe4tlsfRbY&feature=haxa_popt00us00

[JohnXDoe3]

lol that was epic. i watched with the sound off. best thing ever

"everybody leave except my MSN, Skype, and Yahoo buddies"

"i even have a Valve tattooed on my head!"

that Hitler feels my pain....

anyway after browsing some forums and looking at more info i'm pretty sure existing owners of the PC game will get this at a deep discount. apparently the first game is going to be included with the second. which in my mind means people who have the first game like many of us don't need half the game. so why would we pay full price?

some have even suggested current owners of the game might get the contenet for free. but thats prolly just wishful thinking

[sLarkin20]

I'll probably end up buying it.

[Pop music sucks]

However, I do like the concept of the Wandering Witch. I had talked about that to my steamfriends and it would be an awesome concept. I also had talked about how she'd have to be wandering near a choke point exit. Like in No Mercy-Apartments, by the red alarm car, near the stairs leading into the subway. Or the only alleyway after you get into streets. That would make her even more of a threat instead of now. A good cr0wner can just kill her.

I'm a good cr0wner and I've gotten so good at it I can do it with the pump shotty :] Of course, since my steamfriends know that they always set up right by the witch.

Also that red alarm car should be able to reset after a few minutes. A lot of people are purposefully setting off the alarm at the rooftops so they don't have accidentally set it off once they get on the ground.

[Matt?]

i only played at a friends house but the online survival mode was reallly fun. i'd consider buying L4D 2 but only because i never bought L4D 1

[Light Flantastic]

http://www.edge-online.com/news/18500-join-left-4-dead-2-boycott-group

[beans]

However, I do like the concept of the Wandering Witch. I had talked about that to my steamfriends and it would be an awesome concept. I also had talked about how she'd have to be wandering near a choke point exit. Like in No Mercy-Apartments, by the red alarm car, near the stairs leading into the subway. Or the only alleyway after you get into streets. That would make her even more of a threat instead of now. A good cr0wner can just kill her

Completely agree, a lot of times you can completely go around her without doing anything to her which just defeats the purpose obviously. This would make it more intense, therefore more awesome.

[Luc214]

lol that was epic. i watched with the sound off. best thing ever

this and the WoW one are the best.

Best part was:

"This is like that lie Duke Nukem Forever, I waited 10 years for that game and then it's cancelled because those fat bastards do nothing but sit around and play WoW!!!!"

*girl starts to cry*

another girl: "It's okay.... they can still finish it.