E308 - New Left 4 Dead Footage, Updated Character Designs

[DigiQ8]

During a presentation at the Electronic Arts E3 press conference, Valve's Gabe Newell revealed that Left 4 Dead characters have been redesigned to "better reflect the characters status as survivors of a recent outbreak instead of hardened battle veterans". [br]

You can view the video here. Stay tuned for more Left 4 Dead gameplay videos and info today.

 

[PvtRyan]

Oh snap, that bit of cinematic footage looked great. At first glance I thought the black dude was a real person.

 

[Sheepo]

Wow, that looked fantastic

 

[Vidrio]

ace! cant wait

 

[Przemek]

Wow, I also thought the guy was a real person, but it was ingame! Imagine how people will look in Episode Three :|

 

[Marler]

Wow

That was amazing footage, shame it was longer though. When will we know what the age rating of Left 4 Dead is?

 

[Penguin929]

Wow, I didn't know it was going to look this good.

 

[Hellrider]

Best of the E3 trailers, I'm hyped even more now.

 

[Combine_Advisor]

i really hate l4d . i want ep3

 

[V-Man339]

i Really Hate L4d . I Want Ep3

Who Are You?!?!

 

[taviow]

It is not possible to hate l4d.
Looks awesome.

 

[V-Man339]

Considering they're rethinking the character designs...
You think they're going to delay the game?
I mean, that was the whole thing with Team Fortress 2.

 

[FoxFire]

i really hate l4d . i want ep3

Although Gabe has taken a keen interest in Left 4 Dead, it isn't being developed directly by Valve. It's being developed by Turtle Rock Studios which Valve acquired some time ago.
And do you really think we'd see Episode 3 sometime in the near future anyway?

When will we know what the age rating of Left 4 Dead is?

I'm not sure where you live, but I assume it will get the same age rating as Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source got here in America: M.

 

[Kirkburn]

Considering they're rethinking the character designs...
You think they're going to delay the game?

Despite the presentation quite clearly showing at least one of the new models, and the release date?

 

[Marler]

I live in the UK so 15/16 yu reckon?

 

[monkeyclass]

wow cant Freaking wait!

age rating doesnt (unfortually) have any effect in Denmark. It is only "for the parents" sake it is there. So a salesman cant denie a 8 year old to buy it... then again if a 8 year old buys this then I dont wanna mess with him

 

[The Esas]

For some odd reason, I got the tiniest itsy bitsy vague feeling of Resident Evil: Outbreak when watching the video. True, this game is going to be hardly anything like that game, but it just reminded me of it.

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

I prefer the look of the older designs. The new characters just look too clean cut.

 

[UseAbuse]

RIP beards

2006 - 2008 ;(

 

[DoctorWeeTodd]

Left4Dead411 said it best:

In order to appeal to older players, Bill now resembles John Wayne. Francis is more friendly to the gay biker population, and Louis has transformed into Dave Chappelle in an attempt to attract more Gears of War players. Zoey has blue hair. Check out higher-resolution images over at Kotaku.

 

[Sheepo]

I think the biker should look a bit more rough. Other than that, they look very good.

 

[theotherguy]

old girl design was way hotter imo.

 

[V-Man339]

Despite the presentation quite clearly showing at least one of the new models, and the release date?

Seriously, you should know Valve by now.

 

[Nitre]

I found it quite interesting. The dynamic difficulty thing might turn out a bit weird, but if it works it will be pretty cool.

The character designs were awesome as well.

(woop for racial equality in games)

 

[GeorgeWLucas]

I thought the old character designs looked much more "off the street". The new characters look like they're trying to be hip.

 

[Absinthe]

The old character designs looked like they were already half-zombified. I like the new ones.

Although I do miss the old Zoe a bit.

 

[FoxFire]

the release date?

The nice folks at Left 4 Dead 411 have a time counter and everything already going at the top of their website :cheers:

 

[MaximusPM]

after watching the old models for so long i think i'm gonna miss them... maybe valve release them so we can use in Garry's Mod?

Well, my thoughs on the new ones... The design for Zoe really rox, loved it. Louis is also really cool. Francis looks more badass, but dunno, maybe the older represented better the biker type. And I didn't like the new one for Bill.

Regardless of my opinion on the character design, I think the new models don't fit with the game.
They look a bit cartoonish, don't you think? They are too skinny. look at their legs, they look like toothpicks. Also the textures are too pale, too clear. They don't fit with the infected models... It's almost like replacing the pseudo realistic models from CS: Source with the cartoonish models from TF2, but not changing the environment to fit it. Besides, neither Louis or Francis looked like 'prepared for war' before, just Zoe and bill. but as Bill is somewhat a war veteran, that didn't look so weird. Now he looks like an old guy with a very ugly hat.