demo impressions

[Operational]

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.

Melee weapons mostly suck against Special Infected and in Expert mode (where friendly fire is so potent).
However for Normal/Advanced I agree that melee weapons are very good and unless I find a Deagle I'll choose one over Pistol/Dual-Pistol.

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 do love the AK, but I'm not sure it's as clear cut at that

I'm interested in seeing how the different Tier 2 weapons are affected by the laser sight.

 

[Frits]

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).

Good thing player experience varies on this subject. I myself haven't found melee weapons very handy at all, not even on Expert. After I found out that I was ff-ing all the same while wielding a melee weapon, I switched back to using my guns. Infected didn't seem to drop down as efficiently using a melee weapon anyway.

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.

Based on the actual game and not just the demo, right? Anyway, I sure hope you won't end up being all positive, because I find reviews that lack any critique to be very suspicious...

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Doesn't seem like worth buying after some extensive playtime during last week. Maybe a rental since I won't be running this on a laptop.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Best weapon so far...I'd have to go with the black auto shotty or the burst fire rifle. Not enough encounters with ak tbh.

 

[Kyzr]

I spent 12 hours playing the demo almost non-stop. I have no regrets.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Anyone who doesn't want to shell out, try and pick up a copy of L4D2 by entering our competition - http://www.halflife2.net/2009/11/08/win-a-copy-of-left-4-dead-2-write-us-a-poem/

 

[Captain M4d]

Good thing player experience varies on this subject. I myself haven't found melee weapons very handy at all, not even on Expert. After I found out that I was ff-ing all the same while wielding a melee weapon, I switched back to using my guns. Infected didn't seem to drop down as efficiently using a melee weapon anyway.

I find melee weapons handy when I'm being overwhelmed by a horde and I just shot my last bullet of the round, because it takes way too long to reload/push them back to be efficient.

My weapon of choice is the machete, but it's extremely effective in clearing out a horde quickly. I suppose the other melee weapons like the guitar and baton aren't nearly as effective, making them seem more like gimmicks--I'll give you that--but I kind of like that, because it adds humor to the game, and I'm generally not looking for total serious gamer time when I play Valve's less serious titles like TF2 and L4D.

Based on the actual game and not just the demo, right? Anyway, I sure hope you won't end up being all positive, because I find reviews that lack any critique to be very suspicious...

I'll do my best!

 

[Apocalypse89]

Is it just me or are shotguns kind of useless in comparison to an SMG/Auto-rifle + Melee combination? Rifles are generally awesome at any range up until the zombies get right into your face, where the melee dominates. It doesn't help that the ammo situation from L4D1 was reversed and now shotties seem to run out much faster than auto weapons.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I still really enjoy using the shotguns. The combat shotgun, as I think it's called, is extremely useful for taking out zombies when you're running. Even at a standstill it will spray pellets everywhere, so it's not like you had to worry about losing your accuracy. I use all the shotguns, although I don't use the tier 2 one much anymore. Still, I like having the option in the game.

 

[selizabeth]

I was put off by the first L4D, and pretty much missed that boat entirely. But since the demo for L4D2 was free I figured hey, why not give it a whirl... I'm definitely hooked. Love the shotguns and normally I HATE using shotguns in games.

I also didn't realize just how much good teamwork impacts the success of a round, but then I experienced the difference of playing with people who actually cared and then another round with three people who were all friends and ignored me (and spoke spanish, lmao) the entire time. So I'm definitely looking forward to more games with closer knit teams as both survivors and the special infected.

I think the demo was a success - it converted me for sure and got me to open my wallet to pre-order the game!

 

[DEATHMASTER]

You can look up the stats of all the wepons here: http://left4dead.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_Rifle

(just type'm in)

 

[Apocalypse89]

Some minor nitpicks: I don't like how, when joining a game in progress, the player names are listed at the bottom during the loading, unlike L4D1 where they were placed on the corresponding character in the poster like an acting role. Not a big deal, but the L4D1 way was more immersive and it was nice seeing which character you were about to play.

More annoying is how the crosshair disappears if you don't attack anything for around 30 seconds. You can easily bring it back by meleeing the air, but it's frustrating when you suddenly see an SI after a quiet section and find yourself unable to aim at it properly.

 

[The Monkey]

I hate how you can't see your kill statistics after you finished the last map, it just goes straight to the commercial.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Well at least that's just a demo thing

 

[Ren.182]

Some minor nitpicks: I don't like how, when joining a game in progress, the player names are listed at the bottom during the loading, unlike L4D1 where they were placed on the corresponding character in the poster like an acting role. Not a big deal, but the L4D1 way was more immersive and it was nice seeing which character you were about to play.

More annoying is how the crosshair disappears if you don't attack anything for around 30 seconds. You can easily bring it back by meleeing the air, but it's frustrating when you suddenly see an SI after a quiet section and find yourself unable to aim at it properly.

They go in order of characters, from left to right. So the first name will be the character on the far left, second will be the next one to the right, etc etc.

The crosshair disappears? Thats a bit silly. Thankfully don't think I've ever not shot for more than 30 seconds in L4D.

 

[Operational]

They go in order of characters, from left to right. So the first name will be the character on the far left, second will be the next one to the right, etc etc.

Correct. I suspect they did it like this so they can also have the names of the infected players on the same screen.

 

[Gman]

I Haven't tryed the demo yet.
The Chainsaw looks pretty Good.

 

[MorganFreeman911]

Playing as Infected is incredibly fun. Google how to do it. It's pretty easy.

 

[Frits]

Playing as Infected is incredibly fun. Google how to do it. It's pretty easy.

Cool, I didn't know that was possible! Found an article on Ars; gonna try it tonight...

 

[AgentXen]

The Game is good so far, But the arm,hand and weapon models are so stupid looking and over sized....that's like the only complaint i have so far..

 

[DEATHMASTER]

TBH once you've used the hunting rifle, the other models aside from the deagle aren't noticable.

 

[Frits]

Cool, I didn't know that was possible! Found an article on Ars; gonna try it tonight...

Tried it, fun indeed. Nice way to get a taste of what Versus play should be. A note, though: the plugin doesn't guarantee bug-free gameplay, of course. I found myself spawned at impossible locations quite some times.

This can be solved by doing 'set_infected 0' and then back to 1, which causes you to respawn. By doing that, I uncovered another nice bug, which leads to hilarious situations. Each time you go back to being a survivor, an EXTRA SURVIVOR is created. So in the end, you'll end up with a pack of survivors. Here, check this out:

Here you see 3 Nicks posing for a Frits who recently died:

The bots seem to like this cabin a lot. They're not keen on leaving it, even though they tend to leave the back door open. The director even stops sending them any zombies. Is 'mercy' a character feature of L8D's new Director?

At low health, they suddenly decide to make a run for the alarm switch. They don't really survive, though, given their low health:

Just to give you guys an impression. Sometimes it's quite hilarious, for example when all bots of the same character say something in chorus. Give it a try, just for laughs!