The Left 4 Dead demo was released on Live Tuesday night, so I decided to give it a try. I was definitely curious about this game, as it’s a zombie game and it’s by Valve (Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, etc.). I tried out the second hardest difficulty setting in the game, Advanced, just to see how it would all play out.
The game has a certain Counter-Strike feel to it, as it runs on a modified Counter-Strike Source engine and you pick up weapons similar to what you’d find in Counter-Strike like pistols, SMGs, shotguns, and assault rifles. I didn’t bother to try playing it online as I figured playing with AI would save me the hassle of dealing with uncooperative kids.
The way the demo worked was that the four Survivors would plow through linear levels as dozens of zombies would attack them. Amidst these zombies would be “special zombies” that were more threatening. For example, one zombie type, called the Boomer, would explode when you shot him and if you were to close when he exploded, you’d be covered in ooze from the Boomer and that would attract other zombies to come attack you.
I felt the demo underperformed in a few ways. First of all, there’s no persistant ranking or stat-tracking of any sort. Even in Team Fortress 2, your stats were displayed at least to you personally when the level was loading. Maybe it was just held back from the demo, but with no stat-tracking and most of the focus of the game being on co-op, it doesn’t seem like it will have much longevity. Do I really want to keep running through these levels over and over again with friends just for the hell of it?
I also don’t like how fast the zombies move. I believe it actually takes away from the enjoyment of the game when everyone is running around so fast like on rockets. I’d turn the corner and 20 zombies would just bolt in my direction and be up in my face. It almost makes it feel comical how fast they move. The game also didn’t feel as co-op as I’d like. It felt like I was just leading the group and blazing my way through the zombies but maybe because zombies were pouring out everywhere so quickly, I didn’t have time to really think about my team or figure out ways to work together.
It’s like Valve decided to try their hand at a survival horror game, while at the same time keeping FPS-style mechanics so everyone is running around super fast. I would have much more appreciated a slower-paced game, where the players wouldn’t be able to move so quickly and the zombies were even slower. That way you feel like you’re being overwhelmed by sheer number as the fright slowly builds up. Instead, you’re being overwhelmed by sheer number of zombies on rocket boots all at once and you just blast anything you see without really being able to digest anything. And that’s the biggest problem I have with the game – it’s too fast to really enjoy.
I read in early previews that there would be multiple paths to get somewhere in a level and it was up to the players to work together to get through to the next “safehouse”. I was disappointed that in the demo it was pretty much a linear affair, like most other FPS games. Maybe other levels in the retail version will be better – the demo claims that there will be 20 levels in retail.
The general mechanics work: shoot zombies and they die. I can’t really disagree with that, but the overall feel of the game just feels off. My initial conclusion is that it has several things holding it back from being a stellar game in my opinion. At this point I’d say it’s “too arcadey”. People complained that Call of Duty 4 felt too arcadey but this is even worse! I’ll probably wait for this to drop in price and pick it up to go through on my own when I have more time but it is far from a must-buy.
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I’d urge you to try some co-op with human players. The experience is completely different and much more satisfying, as you get to play more tactically (especially in the harder difficulty levels!), setting your own pace, and less like you’re “arcading” your way through a generic shooter.
I, too, was a bit disappointed by the level included in the demo. I hope they make use of branching paths in the full version to increase replayability.
I took your advice astaroth and asked a couple of buddies of mine to download it and try it with me last night. I’ll admit that after playing for about an hour with one of them, it was definitely more fun with other people, but part of me thinks that playing any game with buddies is bound to be more fun. We were getting amusingly annoyed as the AI Bill kept taking all of the medkits and stuff…
Deep down, I like the game. After playing through it again last night, it seemed less chaotic than when I played it for the first time. The main issue I still have though is its longevity. The closest thing I can compare this game to is Terrorist Hunt in the Rainbow Six Vegas games, and that didn’t last too long for me. I’ll be curious to see what the full game has to offer in terms of length. At this point it almost feels like a dungeon-crawler but with no loot and no leveling up so it doesn’t have quite the hook that will keep me playing it for months to come. I think I’ve grown out of games that I simply play online to play but with no real reward or recognition. It almost feels like just grinding – but albeit more fun.