Func_Msgboard: Left 4 Dead 2

Posted by ijed on 2009/11/04 13:53:11

Most forums threads on this are pointless flame shit.

Not that I'm not expecting that here, but it'd be nice to hear some opinions anyway.

I'm enjoying the demo quite a bit - despite the shortness. The variety in just about everything is refreshing, as is killing a witch with a guitar to the back of the head.

My general impressions:

Tier 1 weapons are pretty lame, but they always were. At least now they feel more unique and suited to particular purposes.

Tier 2 weapons are great, without exception. The Spas auto shot is a laugh, even though it doesn't feel as powerful as the L4D1 version.

The changes to throwable weapons are pretty good overall - the pipebomb having a shorter range and the bilebomb outperforming it in the 'horde summoner' category being a decent modification.

Melee is dangerously fun - brawling typically gets you shot up by your team-mates. Kind of dissapointing that it doesn't seem possible to time a 'perfect strike' ie. 'Dead Stop' on a Charger. The big problem with the melee is the camera. Despite the HUD warning it's very easy (thanks to the blood all over the screen) to not know where your attacker is. It should be third person cam I feel.

The Jockey is great, his supposed ability to leap from survivor to survivor will cause havoc in versus.

The Spitter seems more at home in the enclosed areas of L4D1, but its only a map and a half in the demo, so we'll see. She also has the potential to be very nasty in Versus.

The wandering witch is ok I spose. Really I'd have liked to see a completely new non-playable, whilst keeping the original witch. Will be interesting to see if day/night affects how the witches behave.

The Charger is great - I wouldn't change anything, except maybe how light the ragdoll seems when he's killed. He often floats towards the team when killed in mid charge.

The various reskins to the original SI are businesslike. It'd be nice to see some proper reskins as well though, not just modifications /re-imaginings of the original meshes. Might cause some confusion but I doubt it - they each move in a very specific way.

The new health systems are generally welcome, although defib seems a bit pointless. The Adrenaline is much more tactical than the pills and very useful for the new style crescendo event.

AI Director2 seems pretty functional, although the demo maps don't seem to show it's ability to mix stuff up so much, although we have ended up wandering around in circles (in a good/terrifying way) a couple of times.

[Edited cos most people are playing the full now]

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Well...

#81 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/05 14:45:22

...sort of finished the game last night. I say sort of because I didn't actually make it to the chopper alive (got carried away killing things) but Negke did so the survivors escaped if not survived ;). All very cool stuff, I like the last episode...

Shouts out to:

Bal - for being patient and rescuing me a lot.
Biff - for being a real life Ellis when he's on the mike.
czg - for being surprisingly generous in coop and not setting tooooo many car alarms off.
Daz
negke
Rebb - for some good survival skillz.

Anyone else I played with and forgot.

More soon eh!

Now...

#82 posted by bal on 2009/12/05 15:29:25

Expert! :D

#83 posted by Zwiffle on 2009/12/05 15:46:49

I tried expert on Swamp Fever the other day with some friends. We barely got past that little river pulley before getting murdered all 5 times. Tough shit.

Fun Game Yesterday

#84 posted by neg on 2009/12/05 16:03:41

I wonder who's the bigger threat on expert though, the infected or Shambler...

Oi!

#85 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/05 16:29:17

My friendly fire isn't malicious, it's well-intentioned, I'm trying to cover you guys :S

Can I Join The Func_ Steam Group?

#86 posted by ericw on 2009/12/09 06:16:32

I would love to take part in some left 4 dead 2! My steamid is ewasylishen at gmail.com

Get On #tf

#87 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/09 09:53:21

Quite a few people lurking on there and up for a game...

They Robbed Me

#88 posted by ijed on 2009/12/13 03:51:34

Of Little Rocket Man, but now I have their Guardin Gnome achievement.

Fuck yeah.

Shambler

#89 posted by ijed on 2009/12/13 03:53:14

'I was trying to help!'

What's the road to hell paved with again?

Shamb's team mates brought down by FF?

Hey

#90 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/13 22:51:40

It provides a nice springy surface to stroll along...

Smooth As Well

#91 posted by ijed on 2009/12/14 11:38:00

All the different sized special infected would be too lumpy.

I should join a game but can never promise when I'll be able to connect for a full campaign cycle.

Try Scavenge Then

#92 posted by negke on 2009/12/14 12:17:25

It's kind of like a mini-Versus. A 5-round match usually takes no longer than 30 minutes.

Expert

#93 posted by negke on 2009/12/14 12:20:16

Haven't tried it with a proper team yet. It's pretty tough as, for example, a single blow from a common infected already costs you 20 health. Still, I was able to get through the first two maps of Dead Center without larger problems in SP. So anyone here care for a try?

#94 posted by Zwiffle on 2009/12/14 15:14:33

I played with some friends on Swamp Fever on expert. We never beat the level, we could barely cross the river. TOO HARD!

But

#95 posted by ijed on 2009/12/15 00:24:53

I tend to connect, start a game, then have to go change a nappy.

Never liked Expert to be honest - too frustrating to keep retrying.

Usually play on advanced, which seems to be a decent balence between danger and fun. A tank can still finish a good team if it gets lucky, on normal they're a joke.

Woo.

#96 posted by bal on 2009/12/15 08:12:16

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/61608

Cool

#97 posted by negke on 2009/12/15 10:17:46

But they better not charge for it.

Re: expert - seeing how failed miserably on advanced yesterday, I suppose more a little more practicing is due.

Err Words

#98 posted by negke on 2009/12/15 10:25:26

I guess expert probably requires at least two Bals per team. I must have been lucky with the bots that day ("without larger problems" isn't right - I was close to death a couple of times, and if it wasn't for the bots crazy aim and lots of dumb luck, I wouldn't have made it half the way).

Hmm

#99 posted by nonentity on 2009/12/15 16:57:26

Just read the comments on that shack article.

Apparently white people are more 'loveable' than blacks...

Hmm

#100 posted by nonentity on 2009/12/15 16:59:01

I just want Zoey back. The Zoey skin mod was awesome. I know I wont feel the same way about Rochelle.

People of her consistency are not attractive IMO.

I know, I know. Never read internet comments, but god dyamn

Meh

#101 posted by ijed on 2009/12/15 21:41:17

The writing for both characters was pretty insipid. Not the actresses' fault, more the nerd writing the scripts could portray a female character well and/or in a form understandable to others.

And bear in mind that the others are videogame playing nerds (admit it).

I found it easier to relate to Zoey because her skin colour matches my own, Rochelle doesn't act like (white invented) black female stereotypes so I'm kind of lost. But Ellis as well is a cardboard cutout.

It's not easy to write scripts for interactive stuff, I know from experience. Nick works because he's just making comments to himself. Coach is very well acted - I'd be surprised if the actor had mandated changes to his own script, rambling on about food etc. And that fucking laugh on finishing a level makes me smile.

In summary, seeing as I've managed to confuse myself - asking some pimply dork to relate to a female game character who doesn't have big tits will leave him confused. Asking him to do so when she's black will scare the shit out of him. The launguage doesn't have a denominator for 'him that will die alone in around 60 years'.

Ten quid his desktop image is Zoe's head photoshopped onto some porn.

Hmmm.

#102 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/15 22:13:09

I quite like Zoey. Just more my type.

That add-on sounds cool :)

Interesting Yeah

#103 posted by ijed on 2009/12/15 23:15:34

But a bit pandering. Will be intersting to see the Big Valve Plan though.

According to the Left4Dead Wiki Zoey and Franics were supposed to be flirting in the first game, but it got taken out because it was distracting.

Since the games are supposed to be based off of the films and they're for an adult audiance it'd be nice for the characters to have a bit more humanity.

Like having Coach or Ellis recognise more than just the places, or talk about their dead families.

Rochelle

#104 posted by Preach on 2009/12/16 02:11:27

With Rochelle, my impression is that they were trying so hard to avoid any gender or racial stereotypes with her, that she came away with very little definition at all. I'm not gonna claim that I can back that up with some evidence from an interview or anything though. It's just the vibe I get.

Coach is played by an actor from that show which gets all the love in the Film Thread - "The Wire" (he played Cutty, for those who know it). He certainly got his share of good lines. I particularly liked him reading a sign in the fairground: "You must be this tall to ride. Sorry Ellis, it's been real man..."

Rochelle.

#105 posted by Shambler on 2009/12/16 21:27:38

I agree with Preach's assessment.

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