Editorial: Left 4 Dead 2 shouldn’t be released this year
One of the biggest surprises to come out of Microsoft’s press conference this year at E3 was the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. This announcement caused a huge uproar with the hardcore Left 4 Dead fanbase as the first game was only released six months ago. Many feel that Valve is taking advantage of the loyal fanbase by cashing in on a sequel so quickly.
I suppose my reaction to the news of Left 4 Dead 2 mirrored that of many of the hardcore gamers’ feelings, as I criticized Valve on the day of Microsoft’s press conference for announcing a sequel to a game that I am currently feverishly playing. Considering the fact its only been six short months since the game has been out with barely any update goodness Valve is known for, a sequel can seem like a slap to the face of loyal Valve gamers.
Many hardcore gamers actually do consider the fact that Valve has been known for supporting its games for a long time with free DLC and updates. Actually Left 4 Dead developers in prior interviews have promised many new maps and updates, which have yet to see the light of day.
In a matter of days nearly 25,000 Left 4 Dead fans have pledged and signed a petition to boycott Valve’s latest offering. This event has been picking up so much steam even Vavle’s head-honcho Gabe Newell assured fans that L4D will continue to receive support. This seems a bit like back-pedaling when you consider the fact Valve indicated that there were enough new features in the game to warrant a sequel so soon.
What is really bothering the hardcore fans is the fact that there have been barely any support given to L4D in contrast to Valve’s legendary 10 year support on games like Half-Life. Initial impressions also seem to indicate that L4D 2 is more of a 1.5 then a full sequel as the graphics and core gameplay seems unchanged. Even Kotaku indicates that the game did not feel all that new and fresh to play.
Check out this video created by the L4D 2 Boycott group:
(Warning Video Contains Profanity)
Personally I am somewhat split on the situation as I would love to get my hands on some new maps and fight new enemies, but on the other hand I am a bit disappointed by the lackluster support the original game has been receiving. Do I really expect Valve to support L4D 1 and 2 simultaneously for a long time?
I doubt it – as I believe the promises made about new content for L4D 1 is more of a knee jerk reaction than anything else. The company could have avoided this issue if Valve announced that L4D 2 would be released in 2010 or 2011 rather than November 2009.
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23 Responses to “Editorial: Left 4 Dead 2 shouldn’t be released this year”
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June 12th, 2009
I wonder what % of these 25,000 ’signatures’ are sole PS3 owners?
June 12th, 2009
I think maybe %100. Well Microsoft needed something new this year so i guess they ask Valve for a favor since Valve hates PLAYSTATION 3 because is too advanced for them to understand. This is just showing love to Microsoft’s wallet and hate to the fan. I think Left 4 Dead 2 is gonna be just like Gears of War 2 was mediocre.
June 12th, 2009
I never got L4D, because it looked too small for a $59 game. No cut-scenes, no story, not even a plot, and only 4 levels to play with.
I thought the same thing about TF2 (which had 3 maps to begin with), but at least it was $19 to buy.
June 12th, 2009
Valve is a one trick pony. They have been using the same game engine since 2000 (even earlier if you want to get technical about it). The engine that L4D runs on, Valve’s Source Engine, has been in continual development since well before Half-Life 2 came out. Valve is just a horrible, lazy, incompetent developer. Now they are trying to milk there newest franchise.
Even if you are a fan of the first game,we need to send a message to developers to show them that it’s not ok to take advantage of there fans. Please everyone join the petition.
June 12th, 2009
Harry : “I wonder what % of these 25,000 ’signatures’ are sole PS3 owners?”
Yup…just like that “Froza 3 vs Gran Turismo 5″ Poll. Turn 10 (Froza developers) told everybody in Forza 3 forum to go and vote for forza 3. Here’s what Turn 10 post it in their forum:
“Hey all. Apparently, CNET.com is having a face-off between Forza and GT. We all know which game is we’d like to see win, so go there and vote for Forza Motorsport 3! Afterwards, come to this thread and post a message letting us know you’ve done it. We’ll gift you a random unicorn! It’s that easy. Do it now!”
now…. thats being desperate!! (funny because they said like 100 times that Forza 3 was the Definite Racing Game)
Here is the link:
h**p://www.cinemablend.com/games/Turn-10-Bribes-Forza-Fans-For-CNET-Poll-18075.html
Here is another Poll:
h**p://www.cinemablend.com/games/Gran-Turismo-5-Vs-Forza-Motorsport-3-Let-s-Get-It-On-17982.html
June 12th, 2009
Harry : “I wonder what % of these 25,000 ’signatures’ are sole PS3 owners?”
Yup…just like that “Froza 3 vs Gran Turismo 5″ Poll. Turn 10 (Froza developers) told everybody in Forza 3 forum to go and vote for forza 3. Here’s what Turn 10 post it in their forum:
“Hey all. Apparently, CNET.com is having a face-off between Forza and GT. We all know which game is we’d like to see win, so go there and vote for Forza Motorsport 3! Afterwards, come to this thread and post a message letting us know you’ve done it. We’ll gift you a random unicorn! It’s that easy. Do it now!”
now…. thats being desperate!! (funny because they said like 100 times that Forza 3 was the Definite Racing Game)
June 12th, 2009
Actually I didn’t sign it. I think you have to be a Steam member to join. I don’t want to download there crappy program just to sign it.
4 maps, no story, no improvements… and sold at full retail price is serously messed up. They should charge around $40 or so. But then again Halo STD is doing the same thing… it’s wrong.
June 12th, 2009
I don’t see what the big fuss is. I loved the game but sadly there was not that much to it. If they are going to do a second one in November I don’t have a problem with that. Why would you be upset about #2 being released. DLC is something new for consoles before that there was no such thing. Why can’t people make up their minds. If there is DLC then they say it should have been included on the disk. Now that there is a 2nd game coming out they are saying there is no DLC or support. God people are stupid. Valve just do what you gotta do and ignore the idiots.
June 12th, 2009
most ppl are angry because they dont want to waste their money on a sequel using the same Engine as the previous game, same gamplay just new characters, new melee weapon and new maps which can be done via DLC.
June 12th, 2009
I was under the impression that valve did release a free map pack for L4D…….
I don’t really see the big deal. A COD game comes out once a year and noones crying over that.
Although I could see some peoples problem as the game is primarily a MP game. I was a bit ticked that UT2004 came out so quickly after UT2003, but then the addtional gametype (onslaught) made it well worth the price.
June 12th, 2009
‘I wonder what % of these 25,000 ’signatures’ are sole PS3 owners?’
Consdering its a steam group then it could be any number, but %99.9 will be PC gamers who own L4D.
June 12th, 2009
Is doesn’t really mater where the signature’s came from is way too damn early to make a freaking sequel. This game is trying to beat Halo and Gears of War for money i guess. Valve will always sucks as a game developers amateurs…
June 12th, 2009
@ phranctoast, you’re halfway correct. They released a new game mode for free called ‘Survivor’ which was akin to Gears 2 Hoarde mode, but about a million times harder. Along with patches, exploit fixes etc. I can’t say with a straight face that we have not been shown any love from Valve.
Good point about the COD games. You can also add the sporting games that add the odd bell and whistle to last year’s iteration and charge full price for it to that list. I wonder why nobody gets pissed off from that.
Either way, I loved the first one, and will be shelling out the titty dollars for the second. Those idiots who signed this petition can kiss my black ass.
June 12th, 2009
@ harry sachz: Your black?
June 13th, 2009
@Harry
I got too pissed about the sports games years ago to keep buying them. I tried again last fall and got NHL09, but it was not enough of a leap from the NHL99 (10 fuckin years!) that I loved, and I probably won’t buy another one for another 10 years. Never bought madden, it can suck my left nut.
June 14th, 2009
Yes.
@ Jofa,
Funny you mention NHL 09. I bought it a few months ago and hated the new control scheme. I changed the controls to ‘NHL ‘94 Controls’ and it really did feel like I was playing NHL 94.
June 14th, 2009
Firstly why the fuck are all you ps3rd fanboys getting all hot and bothered about a game that you won’t be able to play???
Secondly where the fuck are valve getting the time to release 2 games in the space of year when they still haven’t released Episode 3 for half life 2???
June 14th, 2009
harry
Just tried out the external 500gb hard drive on the 360.
Works like a charm.
The Xbox handled an Xvid .avi without any trouble at all.
I had to change the file system from NTFS to Fat32 but I found a little program for that easily enough, it just took it a few hours to do the job.
Brilliant.
Thanks for encouraging me to do this, it’s going to be a very handy option.
June 14th, 2009
To CON, harry sachz, and CAD: COD3 is nothing like COD4, and COD4 is nothing like COD5, understand? It has it’s own story, single-player maps, weapons, multiplayer maps, and Enemys to play with. Saying COD are all the same is like saying Doom 3 and Crysis are all the same too.
L4D, on the other hand, is just 4 multiplayer maps with 6 types of zombies, even Counter-Strike had more then that! And considering that Counter-Strike is nothing but a fan mod, that’s not really good for L4D.
which makes L4D2 look like a mod of a mod.
June 14th, 2009
Zoar, nobody is forcing you to buy it, so it shouldn’t bother you.
Happy, no worries, glad I could help!
June 15th, 2009
Zoar:
“To CON, harry sachz, and CAD: COD3 is nothing like COD4, and COD4 is nothing like COD5, understand? It has it’s own story, single-player maps, weapons, multiplayer maps, and Enemys to play with. Saying COD are all the same is like saying Doom 3 and Crysis are all the same too.”
I have to disagree with you here. CoD 4 and CoD 5 are basically the same game. just as L4D and L4D2, the only difference between CoD4 and CoD5 is different map and different weapons the the plays the same, same graphics, same menu, same everything. to CoD is getting old.
June 16th, 2009
Yeah Call Of Duty 4 is getting old it over hype. I’m buying the new Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 if it has good trophies and a lot of PSN support. I hate rehash if Sony announces a new Killzone or Resistance i won’t buy this mini game.
June 16th, 2009
How come zoar is addressing CON? He hasn’t been here for a while. Keep up, would you?