Valve's zombie title, Left 4 Dead, has all the makings of a modern horror masterpiece. It features a ragtag group of survivors who find themselves grossly outnumbered as they make their way to safety through dark and treacherous territory, while facing overwhelming odds against a never-ending onslaught from the hordes of the recently risen dead. Sounds great, and as far as fun factor goes, it is. However, in the midst of all the killing and constant attacks, you find yourself wondering where the horror atmosphere went. Thats right about the time you get grabbed by a another Smoker and the realization sets in. The special units in Left 4 Dead are more like cartoon super-villains than horror monsters.
This would be fine if the rest of the game didn't try so hard to capture a horror-esque essence. Instead of fighting merely zombie hordes, Valve decided to throw in these special units to add flavor to the game. Thats understandable, but their presence completely changes the feel of the game. Instead of fighting the swarms of anonymous living dead we find ourselves becoming acquainted with sentient arch-villains. We learn the names of these enemies and begin to recognize their sounds and tactics before even seeing them. Since each special unit has only one model it feels as if you're fighting the same entity throughout the game instead of hordes of faceless undead. This causes the actual horde of zombies to become merely a back setting as your true fight is with these special units. This results in more of a comic book themed action adventure than anything close to horror.
Welcome! A few quick tips so you don't get a flood of insults:
People generally don't like copy and paste blogs: users mostly post original content, and multiple successive posts tells the community you kind of want to "dump your content and run".
Also, I haven't seen more negative comments in your linked examiner post since Jim Sterling's Patapon review.
1. How did he get taken to the cleaners? Just seems like a bunch of guys insulting and disagreeing in that unique and extreme way that only gamers can do.
2. Why you want him banned? At least he's admitting he wrote the article for another website, from my point of view it seems like he's trying to expose it a bigger market.
Perhaps linking to the site is a bit much but I don't think its any different than Geoff posting some shitty griefing vid or some other shit and advertising freezecracker.
@KYOUSUKE - Our definitions obviously don't coincide. I mean to say that he was assaulted with a flurry of comments, all of which were negative.
Also my opinion:
I think that tension in a game is just as great a horror element as any. Though I'm not actually "scared" by L4D, and wasn't either by Dead Space, both share the same aspect of horror: That tense feeling you have constantly.
Also, the "HAMZA!" thing wasn't directed solely at this guy (THOUGH HE IS SPAM SPAM), but more towards Hoborg, who I dislike with a fiery intensity... (Though I love his condescension, because he appears entirely oblivious)
Well.. it's nice to know that people are so accepting of new users here at the community made by gamers and for gamers.
This is not and has never been a reason for Hamza to intervene. People bitching to CTZ about this stuff is like whining that free samples aren't big enough. Sure, he didn't know that copy/pasting is generally looked down on, but Magnalon already cleared that up here and no doubt someone has mentioned something in his first post as well.
The only problem I see is that a few people are a little too quick to pull the trigger on the Shark Signal without actually providing some constructive criticism first.
@ZEROTOLO I did provide some constructive criticism, albeit after my cry for the Shark...
I just feel putting two posts up simultaneously is a tad excessive... Perhaps I could have stated so in a kinder tone... I shall work on that, I promise :)
@Nanbu
I think people were just joshing around. It is a bit comical that two rapid copy pastas were posted (from April nonetheless), and one of them was flamed on the linked site.
Geoff is a bit different I think because Freezecracker is just a community site that hosts videos, and he's been posting here a while.
I think all the hostility has just come from Hoborg recently. I've admitted my mistakes coming off too strong to some users, and it doesn't make for a very good community feel, but I think Hoborg is just ruining the very spirit of the boards, creating more angry members that wouldn't normally post stuff like the above except in jest.
@8bit
I wasn't attempting to target anyone in particular, but I see this happening way too often to let it go without saying something.
As far as the original article goes, the trolls over at the other site seem far worse than anything we could have here. Granted, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some cross-contamination there and we actually had a few of them in our ranks.
@Zero I'm glad you can remain so kind in spite of my presence within your reticule :P As for the contamination, I wouldn't be surprised, but I believe most of those posts on his site came before he even brought his work to Destructoid. (Or I could be entirely false in that respect)
@Magnalon You're too right. Hoborg is just... just... horrible.
How about some original content for your new friends here at dtoid? We can easily find your examiner stuff through the link in your profile so there's no reason to just copy paste it over here.
You don't like when game companies just rehash the same old thing over and over do you? Same thing with us and our blogs.
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
about me
I am an artist by trade but I am known to enjoy video games and blog about them. Feel free to check out my site at examiner.com for all my blog posts. You can also follow me on Twitter for more updates.
Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press living the dream since March 16, 2006
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Welcome! A few quick tips so you don't get a flood of insults:
People generally don't like copy and paste blogs: users mostly post original content, and multiple successive posts tells the community you kind of want to "dump your content and run".
Also, I haven't seen more negative comments in your linked examiner post since Jim Sterling's Patapon review.
Right now you're shamelessly advertising your site on another site and its all the way back from april.
All of which is frowned upon, at the very lest, pretty much anywhere really.
SPAM. Now where is that shark so he can ban you with his mighty shark penis.
HAMZA , WHERE ARE YOU HAMZA ? WE MISS YOU !
Wow dude, your ass got taken to the cleaners on your own website for this exact post... Also, HAMZA!
1. How did he get taken to the cleaners? Just seems like a bunch of guys insulting and disagreeing in that unique and extreme way that only gamers can do.
2. Why you want him banned? At least he's admitting he wrote the article for another website, from my point of view it seems like he's trying to expose it a bigger market.
Perhaps linking to the site is a bit much but I don't think its any different than Geoff posting some shitty griefing vid or some other shit and advertising freezecracker.
@nabu it would probably get a pass if there werent two of them doing it at the same time i almost didnt catch it
@KYOUSUKE - Our definitions obviously don't coincide. I mean to say that he was assaulted with a flurry of comments, all of which were negative.
Also my opinion:
I think that tension in a game is just as great a horror element as any. Though I'm not actually "scared" by L4D, and wasn't either by Dead Space, both share the same aspect of horror: That tense feeling you have constantly.
Also, the "HAMZA!" thing wasn't directed solely at this guy (THOUGH HE IS SPAM SPAM), but more towards Hoborg, who I dislike with a fiery intensity... (Though I love his condescension, because he appears entirely oblivious)
For the love of god, I don't want this man banned! That's cruel by any means. He's been here what? 10 minute?
No, I merely demand a spread between his posts, so he's not pushing down other blogging triumphs. (Though I'd hardly call this a triumph).
Well.. it's nice to know that people are so accepting of new users here at the community made by gamers and for gamers.
This is not and has never been a reason for Hamza to intervene. People bitching to CTZ about this stuff is like whining that free samples aren't big enough. Sure, he didn't know that copy/pasting is generally looked down on, but Magnalon already cleared that up here and no doubt someone has mentioned something in his first post as well.
The only problem I see is that a few people are a little too quick to pull the trigger on the Shark Signal without actually providing some constructive criticism first.
@ZEROTOLO I did provide some constructive criticism, albeit after my cry for the Shark...
I just feel putting two posts up simultaneously is a tad excessive... Perhaps I could have stated so in a kinder tone... I shall work on that, I promise :)
@Nanbu
I think people were just joshing around. It is a bit comical that two rapid copy pastas were posted (from April nonetheless), and one of them was flamed on the linked site.
Geoff is a bit different I think because Freezecracker is just a community site that hosts videos, and he's been posting here a while.
I think all the hostility has just come from Hoborg recently. I've admitted my mistakes coming off too strong to some users, and it doesn't make for a very good community feel, but I think Hoborg is just ruining the very spirit of the boards, creating more angry members that wouldn't normally post stuff like the above except in jest.
@8bit
I wasn't attempting to target anyone in particular, but I see this happening way too often to let it go without saying something.
As far as the original article goes, the trolls over at the other site seem far worse than anything we could have here. Granted, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some cross-contamination there and we actually had a few of them in our ranks.
@Zero I'm glad you can remain so kind in spite of my presence within your reticule :P As for the contamination, I wouldn't be surprised, but I believe most of those posts on his site came before he even brought his work to Destructoid. (Or I could be entirely false in that respect)
@Magnalon You're too right. Hoborg is just... just... horrible.
It was an interesting read... but I guess this blog is old and frowned upon?
How about some original content for your new friends here at dtoid? We can easily find your examiner stuff through the link in your profile so there's no reason to just copy paste it over here.
You don't like when game companies just rehash the same old thing over and over do you? Same thing with us and our blogs.