Posted 06/01/2009 at 05:59:40pm

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.

Posted 06/01/2009 at 05:48:05pm

Rosewill and Powercolor? It's only less than 500 dollars because it's full of cheap components. Also, AMD has a better bang for the buck, and at that level, you could get a better processor for the same price.

Posted 06/01/2009 at 05:43:48pm

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is in development.

Posted 06/01/2009 at 05:42:36pm

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.