E3 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 Announced! 4 New Survivors, 5 New Campaigns
Posted 06/01/09 at 01:30:00 PM by Norman Chan
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Update: Valve's announcement press release:
June 1, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller.
Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009's marquee titles.
"A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games."
Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more.
Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.
Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.
Supported by a $10+ million marketing campaign, Left 4 Dead has sold over 2.5 million retail copies since it was released in November of 2008. Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009, and will be launched worldwide with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign across TV, Outdoor, and Online.
"Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original."
Left 4 Dead 2 will be featured as the cover story on PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazines this month. For more information, please visit www.l4d.com
Why this crappy name
Submitted by cicicicico1 on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 5:41pm
I had my vote in for...
zombies 8 my brain or
left 2 die
Submitted by cicicicico1 on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 5:38pm
God damn i fucking hate microsoft. If you havnt noticed that $60 is microsofts cut of the game, they require these game manufactures to raise the price o the game so they can get there little cut of the action.
Submitted by Zombie_Bo_Jackson on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 8:52pm
Let them make their big profit off of the console owners at 60 bucks a pop. Ill wait till I can get it for 30 like I did the last one. With all the free updates to their games Valve has to make the big bucks somehow. Heres to hoping a ton of 14 yearolds beg mom and dad for that 60 dollar fix this fall.
Submitted by Elite1111111111 on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 5:28pm
I don't see why everyone is making such a big deal out of a new game. Once it comes out it'll have been around a year since the first one, it's going to have more Campaigns, and from what I've read they'll all have versus, and when it comes out it is going to have survival on it already. Also, who cares if the first one was 'incomplete', they released the things it didn't have later for free. Trying to make this just downloadable content when it is BIGGER than the original game doesn't make sense, and for the people with consoles, if they only have a regular hard drive it probably wouldn't fit.
Submitted by ka0tix on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:42pm
TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE CRITICIZING VALVE FOR MAKING THIS A NEW GAME, READ THIS:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/2552/
"Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the
next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change
weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring
the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players'
performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to
provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the
game is played"
This is the most important section. Given the vast improvements over the previous AI system, it wouldn't make sense to add to the current Left 4 Dead. First of all, the original Left 4 Dead doesn't even have a real "weather system". That alone requires a load of new content. Textures, physics, etc. Also, while there are multiple ways to do a particular level in Left 4 Dead, it's still quite linear. The current AI system doesn't support any sort of creation of new pathways. The ones that are hard-coded in are the ones that are there, and nothing will change that. Adding new pathways to old levels would take up space on your harddrive, and it would be a huge pain to add. Understand that the Source engine is coded purely in C++, so while it's more efficient than a scripted system, it is much more bothersome to overhaul or add to.
It's a business question. And the answer is a new game. Given the time it takes to overhaul the system, make the new textures, create new sound files and behaviors, and create a large amount of fairly new content, it's more economical to release it as a new game. I'm also willing to bet that the Left 4 Dead team is being paid fairly well to produce this much content in such a short amount of time. Along with the continuing development of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 (Which I'm sure is sorely in need of funds), the best answer is to market this as a new game.
Regardless of your feelings, it makes more sense. And regardless of what you want, Valve is a business, and if you want to see more games from them, it has to be run like one.
Submitted by abaird on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 5:54pm
You're right. The original L4D was an awesome game. For about a week.
The bottom line is, it's hardly a replayable game, and that's why myself and many others felt a bit jipped. The multiplayer had so much potential, but the gameplay was so backwards it's hard to ever get the same group of people to stick around (there is really no incentive to stay in a game when you're on a sorely losing team). And does anyone remember how buggy and laggy it was right after release? Unacceptable for a retail version in modern times.
The reason why it's frustrating to me is the price point. Team Fortress 2 was $29.99, and it's replayability has paid for itself twice over and then some. I STILL load up that game a few times a week to play. Left 4 dead was cool for about a month.
I'll be happy if they figure out the multiplayer component so the game actually becomes worth the price tag, otherwise this would be much better situated as a cheap add-on to the existing engine.
P.S. Your claims about code are based completely on speculation - I am a programmer, and it makes very little difference that they are on C++ versus something else (I highly doubt it would make sense to program any graphic intensive application in anything but C, but I digress). Plenty of other franchises have released add-ons that incorporate significant enhancements to the game engine itself. I can't say for certain what the reasons for a new game are, and neither are you, but you definitely cannot point to technology as the hard and fast reason. It could have had just as much to do about getting people to shell out more money as it does the technological hurdles involved.
We Crit cause we love....
Submitted by Havok on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 5:30pm
Most of us are criticizing Valve more because they have unfinished projects. By that, we, and I mean I, are talking about Half-Life. Valve's not releasing any info on it.
Half-Life 2 may have gotten game of the year, but I think its conclusion will be all too similar to DNF.
Vaporware of the year.
OMGWTFBBQ
Yes, I agree it is a
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:50pm
Yes, I agree it is a business. However, like any business, they piss off their customers, they have no business... Once you start going down the path of unfinished games, people tend to remember that and not buy...
Submitted by ka0tix on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:59pm
The game isn't "unfinished." It obviously met its mark or it wouldn't have sold so well. I, personally, love the game. I also don't see a problem with them coming out with another one. I know my XBox harddrive can't take much more, and an update to incorporate everything in there wouldn't fit on it. Since I can't run it on my computer, I don't have any other choice. An update the size of what would be required to make the current Left 4 Dead include what would be in Left 4 Dead 2 wouldn't make sense by any standards. XBox users probably wouldn't see it unless it was charged for (and for a hefty pricetag, I'm sure), and both PC and XBox users would see a lot more errors occuring. In the end, a new game is the best route to take.
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 4:31pm
Contentwise, the game's pretty limited as it is. 4 campaigns doesn't add up to much when you can play through them in 4 hours or less (I can complete them in less than an hour each). It's main claim to fame is the multiplayer, and the VS mode only had 2 of the 4 campaigns (they just added the other 2 now in a DLC). They're releasing an SDK to allow map designers to create their own campaigns/content (also not available on release). It wasn't worth $50 on release (good value for less though).
That counts as unfinished to me. They're talking about adding all sorts of things for a sequel. I understand the coding, and how it can't be retrofitted yattayattayatta. However, my fear now, based on the history, is that it's going to be another go around of limited content, followed up by a sequel with the rest of the content that has to be in a new game because the current game engine "can't support all the cool new ideas".
We're not even going into the various Halflife Episodes.
I have to agree with some of
Submitted by I Jedi on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:14pm
I have to agree with some of the posters here... Left 4 Dead was a game that left a wonderful amount of playtime and could STILL be added upon. Why they decided it was necessary to release another version of Left 4 Dead, we will never really know. Valve, your games are wonderful... Almost everyone one of them that I've played, minus one, I've liked a lot. You're a great gaming studio, but you leave too much to be missed. Left 4 Dead is a perfectly fine and functioning game in its own rights and shouldn't be replaced with a new version. Also, whatever did happen to the Half-Life 2 series? Again, great games/episodes, but all end too quickly.
Submitted by ka0tix on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:43pm
Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is in development.
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 4:31pm
How long has it been now? A couple years?
Submitted by Havok on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 12:13pm
Left 2 Live?
Left 4 Dead 2 Day?
Louisiana 4 Dead?
The possibilities are almost endless...
OMGWTFBBQ
Like they couldn't expand on
Submitted by D.E. on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 12:07pm
Like they couldn't expand on the first L4D which was already fairly lacking in content.
Agreed. This should be an
Submitted by horzo on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 2:12pm
Agreed. This should be an expansion pack, not a new game.
Submitted by bjtalbot on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 12:02pm
VALVE - PLEASE FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED!!!!
HALF LIFE 2 EP3 ... PLEASE!
Agreed, the ending of each
Submitted by AntiHero on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 12:18pm
Agreed, the ending of each episode pissed me off...
I don't like Microsoft, I associate with it.
meh...
Submitted by Mr.Pooney on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 10:32am
I never realy got into the game i played 3 levels and moved on
maybe cause i was more into the nazi zombie in COD5
so.... should i give MP Game of the year a try?
what do you think? try the first or wait for the new one?
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Submitted by dorkknight on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 11:07am
Did you only try the first three levels in single player? If so, that's why you said "meh". This game is all about the multiplayer. Online play is a completely different experience than playing alone, not to mention "Versus" mode is just awesome. There's a slight learning curve, but playing as the infected is just a blast.
You owe it to yourself as a geek to give this game another chance.
Submitted by Defiant on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 11:02am
Might as well play the first one while you wait, then move into the second so you have a feel for it. I can't see it hurting you to try the orginal before you play it's sequel.
Submitted by Defiant on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 10:27am
Can't wait! My only problem with the original is the lack of a real variety of weapons, I hope there is at least 20 in this release.
Submitted by jcollins on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 1:11pm
20 weapons... How much variety are you exactly expecting? There's only so many ways to shoot/dismember/kill a zombie. Plus, the more weapons you have, the longer it takes to balance them. Otherwise you'll have situations where you've got 20 weapons, but only 1 is used.
Submitted by Defiant on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 5:48am
I am expecting more variety then I got with the first left for dead weapon load out, there simply was too few weapons. I like to go back and play the game with different guns.
As for how much variety? Counter strike has a ton of weapons, I'm sure they can mange to have that many in left for dead 2.
Submitted by jcollins on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 9:40am
Variety I can agree with. 20 weapons seems a bit excessive. Counterstrike has a ton of weapons, but how many are actually used?
maybe...
Submitted by johnny3144 on Mon, 06/01/2009 - 6:45pm
katana
throwing stars
chainsaw(in there)
a dissembled lawmower
and they can prob throwing few more guns for more playing style. like a SMG that's inaccurate but powerful at close to close range.
Submitted by jcollins on Tue, 06/02/2009 - 9:41am
Throwing stars against a zombie? Ok, you're off my list of teammates for the zombie apocalypse!
Submitted by Defiant on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 5:13am
But what if he is a ninja?
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