Left 4 Dead gives Right 2 Life.
We played the Zombie Apocalypse game long before Left 4 Dead arrived on our hard drives, delivered in a bile-stained kerchief hung from the beak of an undead stork that is amazing Steam.
THE Zombie Apocalypse game.
You know, the one where your friends ask you, “Okay, so if there was a zombie outbreak RIGHT NOW… what would you do?” And everyone goes around the room, or car, or jacuzzi or whatever… and says “I’d pick up a golf club, make my way to the top floor of D’s apartment and barricade it. He’s got guns.” Et cetera.
I love that game. And in similar fashion, I really like Left 4 Dead.
It’s a touch on the thin side… only four campaigns so far (but if any company can be trusted to supplement their multi-based games with content nowadays, it’s Valve), only 10 or so weapons— and that’s including Molotovs, Pipebombs, Pistols and miniguns you can’t move.
It’s like a magic pool that looks kind of shallow when you’re alone, (the game is almost boring to the point of unplayability when playing solo after experiencing it with 3 friends) but once your buddies show up, it gets so much more profound.
I’ve run each scenario (“scenarios” are makeshift zombie movies like an outbreak at a hospital, or making your way to an airport that is overrun) at least twice now, in what… 4 or so days, and I’ve already got a wealth of “fucking cool!” moments to talk about and that are crisp and clear in my head. I’ve been playing primarily with D and his awesome ilk from the [BS] clan, and let me tell you…. it’s SO much fun.
The game has a pretty clever AI system in play called “The Director” that is to change gameplay every time you play. It’s not quite as radical as it seems… the change is often merely a special boss zombie appearing in a different room than your late playthrough, but overall, it keeps you on your toes so it doesn’t get boring.
One example is a very small room with an emergency door that will trigger a horde of zombies. Partly due to my focus on other doors during previous attempts, there was one instance of this where the majority of the zombies came crashing through the ceiling like a deluge of undead horror rather than pouring through the doors as per usual.
When looking to how Team Fortress 2 has grown in the year since it’s release to the public through BETA, I have a lot of high hopes for Left 4 Dead in the capable hands of Valve.
However—
Having a relentless mind myself, I can’t help but offer up some thoughts for the future… if I could have it my way.
Outfits/skins for the Survivors. 4 movies… the SAME clothes in each one. It’s a small, superfluous gripe, but while I understand each scenario has no ties to another, it would help me believe that each set is independent, and less like these poor 4 fuckers had the worst series of weeks in human history, effectively walking into EVERY zombie stronghold on Earth, and never once thinking about raiding a clothing store or abandoned house for a set of duds that AREN’T bloodstained, shitsoiled or BILEDRENCHED. On that note…
New Survivors. When a Survivor is felled in combat or left to die, he can often be rescued later in the level from a closet where he is “locked in.” Now, I realize there’s an element of suspension of reality… what with survivors locking themselves in closets with Uzi’s and being fully incapable of shooting through the wooden door (like we do ALL THE TIME) or bulleting the lock… but when you save this survivor, they look exactly like the one that just died.
I don’t know about you, but I really appreciate the conditional dialogue set in place by Valve (it works so well in Half-Life 2 and TF2). When Louis dies, and as the remaining survivors whimper and mourn them, “Oh no… not Louis… dammit”… I really enjoy that— but finding a carbon copied clone of that survivor 4 doors down really breaks the immersion. Can we get a second set of four survivors? I don’t care if they SOUND the same, I’d just rather them not look identical.
More Cooperative Moments. I know much of this is just my being spoiled by playing through Gears of War 2 with D (who is honestly one of the best shooter companions you could hope for) but I think there’s a lot of room for “coop moments” in this game. I keep telling anyone who will, or won’t, listen (sounds like me, right?) about some of my ideas in this concept.
Like a “puzzle room” with just a small obstacle… probably weight/physics based like the ones in HL2, where two people complete it while the other two cover them from zombie hordes. The reward is one or two extra health packs or grenades (depending on difficulty), with the risk of having to stay put while hordes come and possibly boss zombies coming to tear you up. I think there’s a good balance there… do I run through, and forego the extra health/weapons, or go for a gambit that may very well save me later in the campaign?
Another I considered was a platform on a crane that the survivors can stock up upon— gas and propane tanks and the like. During this time zombie attacks are put on hold until a switch is pressed— then the crane loudly comes to life, attracting a horde beneath. As the survivors are hung precariously above the clawing horde, they must clear out some of the zombies for when they are dropped off at the other side of the sea of undead. Midway, the horde breaks through a door near the crane, and begin to climb up and onto the crane itself. The survivors must kill these zombies as they climb over the crane arm, before they drop onto the platform, for each one that hits the platform drops it closer and closer over the horde, to the point where they can jump up onto it and climb on, or stop it before it reaches the other side. That to me would be “high tension” as fuck.
More Scenarios. Yeah, I know these are obviously coming, but there are a few in particular I really want to see. Particularly one on a 747 (or maybe even Air Force One!) where zombies have overtaken sections of the plane (Flight Of The Living Dead!). The scenario begins in coach, moves towards the back of the plane, down into the cargo hold, then back up into coach, through first class and then a fight into the cockpit to assist the captain in landing the plane by fighting off hordes of zombies. Then you could get awesome survivor banter like “Well, at least it wasn’t Snakes!“ or new achievements like if two Survivors hole up in a lavatory, they each get “Mile High Club“. (See what I did there?)
A Cruise Ship allows for the same concept, with less claustrophobia, and admittedly, a more realistic zombie count. Each scenario offs something like 1,000-1,500 zombs and a 747 can take on 500 some passengers. Plus, those safe room doors would look awfully gaudy on an aircraft. And honestly… where’s my MegaMall, complete with a zombie infested theater that is perpetually showing clips from Night of the Living Dead or Dead Alive?
More Variety. It’s the zombie apocalypse, people! I want to feel more solitude at the beginning. I think it would be more psychologically grating to start alone and have to find the other survivors before the first actual act begins. I want to hear my character talk to themselves with an ebbing sanity- “I’m the only one! Oh my god, I’m the last one left alive. I’m going to die!” and stuff like that. When they hear or see another survivor in the distance, “No, that can’t be. My eyes are playing tricks on me. There’s no way someone else made it through this.” and so on.
I also want to see more set pieces. There are some really good ones in there currently… a gas station that blows apart in spectacular fashion using the Cinematic Physics Engine, the rooftop battle, the cornfield dash, airplane crash. Some really wonderful moments… give me more, though. Whatever, so I’m greedy!
Meet The Survivors. I can’t help but think that this is already in the works. I want to know more about the survivors, their backstory, and I want to see more of that pitch-perfect balance between terror and humor that was evident in the launch trailer. I honestly thought each scenario was going to have a cutscene or movie to go along with it, and I died a little inside when I realized the wicked 5 minute trailer in the beginning was all I was going to get.
Honestly. though… I love you, Valve. So much. Put out more things.
~LX screams like a titty-baby when the Tank comes on Expert.
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