Oh hai... I'm BluDesign. I'm one of the layabouts here on dtoid, being unemployed and all. I decided to fire up L4D and try out the new Survival pack, which got released today.
I haven't managed to try out the two new versus campaigns, but I'm sure Dead Air and Death Toll are just as compelling as No Mercy and Blood Harvest. I look forward to hitting someone as a smoker or boomer on the Church standoff soon.
Where everyone knows your name... because it's on the tombstone... stupid
I'm here to discuss Survival Mode with you all.
No, it's not some sort of Zombie version of "The Long Walk"
Survival is just outright "rape mode."
I would've wanted a few more rounds of zombie hordes before the specials show up, but it is SURVIVAL mode. I've managed to make it an average of 2:30 on the three levels I tried.
BTW, the elevator in the hospital? It's rape central when the tanks show up. There's no hiding in the corner anymore. A tank and 2 smokers will see to that.
This guy will do awful, awful things to your dead body. Sooner than you think.
I lasted longer on the one rooftop level I picked than I did in the Last Stand level. The Last Stand level was a bunch of randoms from XBL, and all they wanted to do was blow up every goddamn gas tank and canister they could get their hands on. Basically they were a hazard to be around because they were really not helping anyone but the two guys who were playing together.
I usually kill around 40-50 zombies per level on the campaign when I play online. I was averaging around 100-150 or so per round of Survival. They really cram them in there. Plus, you gotta figure, how many will you kill once they incap you, because you will get incapped.
If you can kill a bunch while incapped, you'll net a good dozen kills if you're fast enough.
And Tanks don't always get their music cue, so don't be surprised if one just shows up.
How it's laid out is basically it's a highlight of some of the major combat areas, mid-points of each level. Every match has a good dozen mixed molotovs and pipe bombs, 8 health packs (2 for each person), and pain pills. You usually start out with either double pistols or a random weapon. Given how tight the spaces are on most of these, the auto-shotgun isn't recommended. The M16 or the Sniper rifle is much better suited. And there's usually 1-2 ammo drops per level depending on the layout. Hospital = 1, Last Stand = 2, Dead Air Crane = 1.
I won't be around much today or tonight, but I should be up for some Versus tomorrow night if anyone is down with that.
Gamertag = Metalocalypse
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I just had a nice little detour to that wiki for "The Long Walk" - pretty cool stuff.
Whoa, only averaging two and a half minutes on each level in survival mode? I figured it would be hardcore, but that's pretty rough. I'm a little rusty, too.
I heard something about the melee being revamped, where there's a cooldown period that keeps people from hiding in a corner and using melee nonstop. Was that included with this update?
Yes it is. At least it is in survival mode. I didn't play through Versus or any campaign modes to find out if it's there too. It's not that bad, it just adds a 1 second delay to the melee command.
Also, The Long Walk is a badass story. It's been rumored to be in development for a filmed version, but I really don't know how you can make it compelling on film, especially given the ambiguous ending.
Yes it is. At least it is in survival mode. I didn't play through Versus or any campaign modes to find out if it's there too. It's not that bad, it just adds a 1 second delay to the melee command.
Also, The Long Walk is a badass story. It's been rumored to be in development for a filmed version, but I really don't know how you can make it compelling on film, especially given the ambiguous ending.
I'm jealous. I seriously want to download this right now and play. I am looking forward to the raping! But alas, I have to study for stupid finals so the raping will have to wait. Damn. :(
Gah, it's still not out on PC yet. Jealous. As for The Long Walk, I think a movie version could be perfectly fine. King's stuff is generally well suited for film, and this one could be done for pretty cheap as it would mostly just be kids talking and, um, walking.
I love it. Me, Snaileb, XMalachi, and Locust Hybrid just got 8 minutes on The Gas Station.
I too just spent a good 15 minutes looking at "The Long Walk" . And as with all Wikis, that lead me to the Randall Flagg wiki. Damn wikipedia.
The highest I've gotten is 2:50 so far. I joined a team who had a best of 5 minutes, but not while I was there. I agree this is rape mode. A few times on LAst Stand, the first enemy to spawn was a smoker who jerked teammates to the ground from the top, which lead to their immediate death. I have yet to get to use a health pack, as I am too swarmed to get a chance. This mode is going to take a really tight strategy to get good times. Again, it should now be referred to as "rape mode".
@Fyodor
Yeah,
That would be about it though.
Kids. Walking. Talking. There's a lot of psychological mind games going on with the characters though, and it's always VERY hard to show this kinda stuff on film. I'm sure they could highlight the whole drama of what's going on when walkers get ticketed, but it's going to be only a portion of the total experience you get from the actual story.
@Zombutler
NICE...
Hi Bludesign, my gamertag is DreadJesterBatt. Call me if you need an extra gun. ;O)
When I saw that graph that was posted on spawn times I thought they had gone totally overboard, spawn tanks every 5 seconds after a few minutes. I wouldn't be surprised if they toned it down a bit in the future.
I thought it'd be far more fun with a gentler difficulty curve, given the time it takes to get into a decent game I can't see myself playing this very much if rounds only last a few minutes.
My thoughts on the DLC itself? Why is the DLC available on a console, whose certification proces is known to be several weeks long than their own goddamn distribution platform. Raaaaaaage!
I love The Long Walk, one of my favorite King stories. And the film version is not just rumored, Frank Darabont has confirmed that it's his next project after he finishes his Fahrenheit 451 remake.
I disagree , I use shotties all the time on Survival and my average survival time is 8 minutes (with randoms on Steam) ...
I should really give this DLC a test later.