Great job getting all the details wrapped together in one easy review! So far L4D2 has lived up to my expectations. The campaigns are full of cool level layout and interesting new game play quirks. So far the only thing I have been disappointed with would have to be the AI of CPU controlled teammates.
As I am sure fellow Icrontian, Rolleggroll, can attest, the AI of these teammates is awful. Maybe it is because we were playing Co-op and our 4th man had to drop out, but the computer controlled player would routinely stare at an infected that was slowly killing him, or neglect using medkits on teammates or sharing the pills. Hopefully this is an issue already being taken care of, and maybe it was an isolated event. But it nearly ruined our campaign regardless.
I played for about 4 hours last night. The zombie AI seems to just be brutal to me. Seems like a much more difficult game than the original. It's still a blast though.
I thought the difficulty was a little ramped up as well, in a good way really. My only gripe in my limited play time thus far is that I had one of those "where do I go next moments" in the mall. There was a door with some debris that was not 100% obvious to me. I will blame it on operator error.
As a side note, its really not that much different than L4D. Its kind of L4D+, which is not a bad thing, but its not innovative. Its still the same dumbed down twitched based shooter, make sure you stay fairly close to your team, back pedal and shoot. Melee weapons look different, but all accomplish about the same result. The chainsaw is really disappointing if I am being honest. I wanted so badly for it to have a payoff like Gears of War, but its just essentlay a melee weapon that I don't have to time, just rev it up and run forward.
Its still a good game, its fun, but I'm going to call it what it is. Its Valve's attempt at an "anualizable" revenue stream like Madden and Guitar Hero games are. Take the base engine, tweak the roster, add a new mode and a couple new gadgets, sell it as new. There is nothing wrong with that, but thats what they did and there is no reason to defend them against that charge, either people will see value in more L4D or they wont. I for one do and don't have any problem recommending the title.
I played through a couple of the campaigns with some Icrontic folks last night, and I had a blast on Hard Rain in particular. The weather effects in those maps were simply mind-blowingly good, and they had a huge impact on gameplay.
Yeah, I was playing with Bean, eggroll, and canti on Hard Rain. The weather effects were one of the most immersive effects I have experienced in a game. It literally "felt" like you were in the worst rainstorm of your life, you couldn't hear your teammates over the thunder and rain. You couldn't see the horde until they were on top of you. It really was awesome, unforgettable.
I need to get into a game with some of you guys. Playing with random net people never works out well.
As for the chainsaw, I couldn't disagree more Cliff. That thing is a BLAST to use. I love carving into a wave of zombies and reducing them to a pile of bits in a few seconds. There's way too much added to this game to call it L4D+ too. The new game modes, characters, AI upgrades, weapons and weapon types, special infected this is no upgrade it is a whole new game. A++ Valve.
Well, there are the zombies with clown paint this time....
Do I sense a little fanboyism for Valve here? Thats okay, nothing wrong with going a little fanboy (lord knows I do sometimes), and if anyone deserves a little fanboy love, it might be Valve. Being real though, L4D2 as a shooter sequel is what Madden is to sports game sequels. Its the same great experience with a few new bells and whistles. To be fair many sequels are just that, but since the gaming world holds Valve to a higher standard its worth pointing out.
L4D2 is nothing original, and thats okay because its still fun as hell.
It's not my fault Valve keeps putting out amazing games. Really though Cliff, what innovation would you expect from a sequel? It's not like they could completely change the entire game and still call it L4D2. You can't turn a co-op survival FPS into an RTS and expect anyone to like it. They took an awesome concept, polished the hell out of it, added game modes, tuned up the AI, added a bunch of new content, a whole new class of zombies (the special normals or whatever you want to call them), doubled the number of special zombies, etc. Comparing that to Madden updating the rosters and maybe tweaking the graphics engine a bit seems a bit unfair to me.
So thanks to a generous friend, I got a copy of L4D2 and played through two campaigns tonight with Canti, Lordbean, K, and Zenmode.
Hard Rain is incredible; the weather effects are stellar, the difficulty is high, and the stress and tension are palpable. Joking around stops when the four of us are trying to make our way back from the gas station with hurricane-force winds, driving rain, and intense lightning.
The visibility goes way down, you struggle against the wind, plod through flooding streets, and have trouble hearing and being heard even on voice chat (it actually muffles voice chat!). Amazing details.
Comments
As I am sure fellow Icrontian, Rolleggroll, can attest, the AI of these teammates is awful. Maybe it is because we were playing Co-op and our 4th man had to drop out, but the computer controlled player would routinely stare at an infected that was slowly killing him, or neglect using medkits on teammates or sharing the pills. Hopefully this is an issue already being taken care of, and maybe it was an isolated event. But it nearly ruined our campaign regardless.
I thought the difficulty was a little ramped up as well, in a good way really. My only gripe in my limited play time thus far is that I had one of those "where do I go next moments" in the mall. There was a door with some debris that was not 100% obvious to me. I will blame it on operator error.
As a side note, its really not that much different than L4D. Its kind of L4D+, which is not a bad thing, but its not innovative. Its still the same dumbed down twitched based shooter, make sure you stay fairly close to your team, back pedal and shoot. Melee weapons look different, but all accomplish about the same result. The chainsaw is really disappointing if I am being honest. I wanted so badly for it to have a payoff like Gears of War, but its just essentlay a melee weapon that I don't have to time, just rev it up and run forward.
Its still a good game, its fun, but I'm going to call it what it is. Its Valve's attempt at an "anualizable" revenue stream like Madden and Guitar Hero games are. Take the base engine, tweak the roster, add a new mode and a couple new gadgets, sell it as new. There is nothing wrong with that, but thats what they did and there is no reason to defend them against that charge, either people will see value in more L4D or they wont. I for one do and don't have any problem recommending the title.
As for the chainsaw, I couldn't disagree more Cliff. That thing is a BLAST to use. I love carving into a wave of zombies and reducing them to a pile of bits in a few seconds. There's way too much added to this game to call it L4D+ too. The new game modes, characters, AI upgrades, weapons and weapon types, special infected this is no upgrade it is a whole new game. A++ Valve.
Do I sense a little fanboyism for Valve here? Thats okay, nothing wrong with going a little fanboy (lord knows I do sometimes), and if anyone deserves a little fanboy love, it might be Valve. Being real though, L4D2 as a shooter sequel is what Madden is to sports game sequels. Its the same great experience with a few new bells and whistles. To be fair many sequels are just that, but since the gaming world holds Valve to a higher standard its worth pointing out.
L4D2 is nothing original, and thats okay because its still fun as hell.
Hard Rain is incredible; the weather effects are stellar, the difficulty is high, and the stress and tension are palpable. Joking around stops when the four of us are trying to make our way back from the gas station with hurricane-force winds, driving rain, and intense lightning.
The visibility goes way down, you struggle against the wind, plod through flooding streets, and have trouble hearing and being heard even on voice chat (it actually muffles voice chat!). Amazing details.
GG, Valve.
I get 2 weeks off for Christmas break. I think all I'm going to do is play games since I've been out of the loop since last December :\