Sunday 26 July 2009

Left 4 Dead 2 is not an expansion

There have been a lot o whining lately from Left 4 Dead gamers about the fact that Valve announced a new Left 4 Dead 2 game in late 2009. They say they feel that they were cheated because the new game should have been released as free DLC, and that Valve has abandoned Left 4 Dead support and development. Some of them even say that the game is unfinished or unplayable.

Just immature whiners.

Valve do not owe them anything:

  • The game is very much playable, on the contrary it's one of the games I played the most I think

  • Valve already released DLC and SDK for Left 4 Dead. The Survival Pack is a great addition to the game. If some people don't like it, that's their problem, but saying that it's nothing just because they prefer to play versus (or play versus only) is twisting reality. Left 4 Dead is not only Versus (even if Versus is cool). And for those who say that releasing new Maps (or even adapting existing Maps to a new game mode)is really zero work, they should begin to Map themselves

  • Valve has the right to develop a new game when they want



Beside, judging by the additions in A.I. Director, game engine and gameplay in Left 4 Dead 2, it could never be an expansion on the first game. Expansions are when you add limited new content and stories without changing the game engine itself. here we have (and I think it's just the beginning):

  • New special infected (and even new special normal infected) with the consequences on the A.I. Director, not mentioning how the Versus mode will evolve because of that. It's much more than only tweaking the characteristics for one class like in Team Fortress 2.

  • The new evisceration / gore effects in the game engine (beurk !!)

  • New Dynamic weather, and dynamic path, all handled by the new A.I. Director