demo impressions

B_MAN

B_MAN

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I just completed a few rounds of the PC L4D2 demo and boy is it great; tons of polish

seems like everything's improved including weapon feel and variety (sniper isn't completely useless this time around), level design, blood and dismemberment, etc etc
melee weapons are so satisfying to use, especially the blades
and the defibrillator is an awesome addition (have they removed closet respawning?)

what else can I say besides being really really pleased and impressed by the demo
shame we have to wait 3 weeks to play the full game!! :sniper:
 
Closet spawning is still in, but you can carry a defib in place of a health pack now in case you want a quick revive on a body.

As for the game I think its alright, not too terribly impressed but I do want to play more. The range of weapon selection is impressive though I'm not all that terribly excited for grabbing a melee weapon. I'd rather go with bullets.
 
The whole thing is different, and it's going to take a lot of getting used to. The new music, sounds, and models for the special infected will take practice to adjust with. The witch's music blends in just a bit too well with the other noise, I've found.
My biggest complaint is that these changes are so big and in such a way that it sort of nullifies the first game theme wise; this one is obviously Louisiana and southern themed, but what was Left 4 Dead 1 based off of? Northern settings? The music in the old one was techno, and the change (although nice) is a bit huge.
 
DEATHMASTER said:
As for the game I think its alright, not too terribly impressed but I do want to play more. The range of weapon selection is impressive though I'm not all that terribly excited for grabbing a melee weapon. I'd rather go with bullets.
Click to expand...

Melee weapons are far, far, far superior to the handguns, even the deagle. And about tens times more fun.

Yes, there's a deagle. It's awesome.

I think it's ace. It's an improvement on the first game in lots of little ways that almost make it feel like there's been a big change. And I for one, have no complaints about the music and setting, as I find it's still intense and I kind of like the music in this better. Feels more unique.
 
I haven't played the demo yet.

So the defibrillator can be carried instead of the health-pack and can bring back dead survivors? How exactly does it work?
And what about the bile bomb, or whatever it's called? Is it in the demo?
 
yeah it works pretty well. Basically a longer lasting pipe bomb that doesn't explode.
 
Basically dead players will respawn in the usual L4D1 way, however if you have a defib on you, you can aim it at the ragdoll body of the player, and hold it down (much like reviving somebody) and it does a little shock animation allowing the dead player to jump back up where he died.

The bile bomb is a jar of boomer vomit that tags enemies in a cloud, all nearby infected will run and attack those tagged, horde vs tank/witch etc, its especially funny watching a large mob all get tagged, and then get into a big fight with themselves.

I found the jockey to be the thing that shakes things up the most, if ur sat at a choke point like a door, he comes running in, grabs one of the team, runs him out through the door and down the street, often into Spitter acid which can really hurt if you stay in it to long.

I wasn't threatened to much by The Charger, and the adrenaline needle didn't seem that useful, but i expect they will come into play at some point.

Things I didn't see in the demo: Half the melee weapons, grenade launcher, laser sight, special ammo.
 
Lobster said:
Things I didn't see in the demo: Half the melee weapons, grenade launcher, laser sight, special ammo.
Click to expand...

same
didn't Valve say that all the weapons and such would be available in the demo?
i wanna try the chainsaw damnit!!
 
I found it greatly enjoyable with all the weapons we've seen so far. I'm pretty sure that no matter what melee weapon you get, they all accomplish the same thing, still it was nice to experiment with. For me the Spitter is the new most annoying SI, she always came in when all but 1 person was down and spit on where everyone was laying, so either our last guy would get downed or we'd burn to death. Other thoughts... Surprisingly the only weapons i've seen that were direct copies were the SMG and silenced SMG, everything else appears to be different in some way or another... well not the shotguns, which have become pretty shitty.
 
I find the bulletproof ones a bit too unrealistic, armor isn't that good. I can understand the toughness aspect of it but I think having it take maybe 50-70% less damage in the front than regular zombies is reasonable.
 
I can't see the defib being useful in the standard campaign since the L4D1 closet respawning is still in (although they feel more spread out).
Scavenge looks too fast paced for them to be used.
They could come in handy in VS but given a choice between carrying a defib and medkit no one is going to choose the defib.

To me it feels like the defib is only in the game because the "realism" mode disables closet respawning. I don't have a problem with that though.
 
No Falcon support. :/
 
Just the people that own them.
 
I can't see my legs. I loved being able to see my legs in L4D. I don't know why they took that out.
 
I didn't really enjoy it :|. Too many weapons.
 
A game shows it's greatness when I can take a guitar, swipe it at a zombie and knock it's head clean off with a "twaaang". I love it.
 
Sounds like they succeeded is actually adding a sense of style and atmosphere into what I thought was a pretty stale IP, for Valve's standards. I'm enjoying the music/locales/characters vastly more than those featured in L4D.

Hell, maybe I'll even buy it at some point. Looks fun.
 
Gorgon said:
yo Jondy,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4MR8RAL-_c
Click to expand...


I hate looking at videos of computers running things so much better than I do. I feel like maxing out my credit card so I can see badass framerates.

The demo is fun and I think it's actually a good bit more difficult than the original when on expert. I mean expect was always about avoiding as many hits as possible since even a common infected could put you down if you don't turn around fast enough. Hordes come from multiple sides and chokepoints and corner standing have been stripped of their effectiveness with the addition of the special infected. All around good time with the improvements and new additions.
 
ugh...I see Valve hasn't changed the shitty panic music still... can you even switch that off? it's so ****ing annoying!
 
PriNcE oF SpAcE said:
ugh...I see Valve hasn't changed the shitty panic music still... can you even switch that off? it's so ****ing annoying!
Click to expand...

All the campaigns are using different music this time around, if it bothers you that much, you can just overwrite it with one of the others. :p
 
Lobster said:
All the campaigns are using different music this time around, if it bothers you that much, you can just overwrite it with one of the others. :p
Click to expand...

I overwrote it (L4D1) with the Kirby theme.
 
LOL anyone click on the Judebox in the first level and get 'Your Brains' by Jonathan Coulton ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARmqz48Mh0&feature=related

Game, seems pretty polished and the gore, just ridiculous but fun. Also Machete = pure win. Spitter is a pain in the ass as is the Jockey, but the charger is quite cool. Goddamn that alarm button though....:E
 
The jukebox is amazing.

I agree on the defillibrator seeming more or less useless, but maybe it'll be worth it on the later maps once medkits become more scarce. As it is, even on expert, both maps seem littered by medkits.

The crescendo is easily the one of the best crescendos of the entire series. I'm hoping we get more of this stuff. Although, with a bit of adrenaline, it really isn't that hard, sometimes it's possible to get the alarm turned off without being attacked once.

Am I the only one who finds the tonfa absolutely useless? It's pales in comparison to pretty much all the other melee weapons. The only advantage I can find is that the blood doesn't obscure your view as much. Well, at least it's very widely available (the machete and desert eagle aren't).

I just wish they'd have included a small survival map as well, everybody seems familiar with it now, wouldn't spoil too much.
 
It's incredible. It might actually get me back into playing L4D1.
 
On a side note: I decided to take a look inside the 'sounds' folder, because I'm kinda fascinated with what they did with the theme tune. Any of you guys happen to have done this as well? I found the following interesting stuff:

- we already knew Valve spends a lot of time and energy tuning their games. Well, props for what they've done with the common infected. There's a boatload of sounds in there, and I'm fascinated with the way their sound actors must have had an awful wacky time creating these sounds! Creating this must have cost them several new throats...

- The jockey easy is the wackiest of all. Props to the actor who created these sound effects; he'll probably need brain surgery by now.

- The female boomer effects frankly disappointed me. We all know the Boomer has several sound effects that really make you go 'yuck!'. Apparently for the female Boomer they decided to take some of the old sounds and just pitch them up to match a woman's voice, but that actually makes them sound really weird and robotic. Too bad!

- I find all of the sounds for the new SI to be less original and creepy than those of the first SI. Including the tunes you get to hear when playing SI in Versus (yes, they're included in the demo).

- Apparently, the 'music' when you're being attacked by a horde is randomly generated by mixing any of a number of drum samples under any of a number of trumpet samples. For what it's worth, I think that's cool.

- I think I'll try replacing the current alarm sound with any siren I find online. IIRC, there's a site somewhere featuring a wide range of alarm sounds...
 
I think it's great.

The only criticisms that I have is:

1. There seem to be weapons and medkits all over the place! (This may be unique to the demo, as to showcase more stuff in a shorter experience.)
2. The Riot Infected are completely immune to gunfire from the front. (Would rather have them take more shots to kill, and be vulnerable to the Magnum and certain Tier 2 rifles.)
3. On easier difficulties, the defibrillator doesn't get used much at all.
4. The shotguns do not carry enough reserve ammo. (down from 128 to 56).

Other than that, I'm having a blast, and can't wait for the full game!
 
lol at wam_music in the sound>music folder, sounds like its out of dark carnival.

edit: I also see you can get 'still alive' on the jukebox.
 
Lone Wolf said:
lol at wam_music in the sound>music folder, sounds like its out of dark carnival.

edit: I also see you can get 'still alive' on the jukebox.
Click to expand...
Lol indeed. I thought you meant the Nirvana song though, but it's the Portal tune. Cool surprises abound!
 
The demo is awesome, maybe too awesome, as I can't warrant paying anything over $30 for the full game. I never play versus or survival, etc in the original game, so for occasional stress relief I'm fine kicking ass in the one level I've been given. Gotta love demos, you guys.
 
I like this a lot better than the original. Like other have said, this game feels more polished in overall gameplay aspects. While some people thought the melee weapons were going to be gimicky, I have found a lot of strategy in using them (especially on advanced and expert mode when FF can easily kill).

I also like the new special infected a lot. All three of them add to more interesting scenarios for the survivors.

I'm very thankful for the Spitter. Versus mode is going to be so much better now that the survivors won't be able to corner camp.

I like the abundant arsenal of weapons. It makes the game feel a lot more immersive: instead of having the same, damn weapons in every location, they almost always vary throughout, and I have noticed differences in recoil and firerate between different shotguns, rifles and SMGs.

I think the graphics are better than L4D. There's a lot more color in the locations, and I also like that some of the levels are set during the day. It feels more realistic, because instead of playing levels night-to-night like in L4D, we are actually seeing day-and-night cycles which indicate the progression of a story.

I'm going to write a review of the game for my college newspaper later this month, so I'll have something that is more concise and organized to share then.
 
Captain M4d said:
I like this a lot better than the original. Like other have said, this game feels more polished in overall gameplay aspects. While some people thought the melee weapons were going to be gimicky, I have found a lot of strategy in using them (especially on advanced and expert mode when FF can easily kill).
Click to expand...

I find that the melee weapons are way better than the pistols (at least the standard pistols, maybe not the Desert Eagle). This makes both the pistols and the shotguns almost obsolete. But hey, we get a shower of blood.

I like the abundant arsenal of weapons. It makes the game feel a lot more immersive: instead of having the same, damn weapons in every location, they almost always vary throughout, and I have noticed differences in recoil and firerate between different shotguns, rifles and SMGs.
Click to expand...
I feel that the AK47 is just plain superior to every other weapon in the game, since it excels both as a long-range rifle and a tank slayer.

I think the graphics are better than L4D. There's a lot more color in the locations, and I also like that some of the levels are set during the day. It feels more realistic, because instead of playing levels night-to-night like in L4D, we are actually seeing day-and-night cycles which indicate the progression of a story.
Click to expand...

I think this is mostly due to the level designers, since especially The Waterfront seems insanely detailed in comparison to most of L4D1. I doubt that the other campaigns will look as great (especially, I think that Hard Rain will look somewhat bland).
 
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