I have an addiction.
Not to something fun like meth. Or even cigarettes.
I have an addiction to zombie movies. And I’m not gonna sugar coat it: its pretty
unhealthy. Every time the power goes out my first thought is “zombie outbreak” and I
quickly try to figure out how to barricade myself inside whatever building I’m in and where
I can find an adequate weapon. So you can imagine how excited I was to find out about
Left 4 Dead. Co-Op action/survival-horror where you can play as the zombies and as
the survivors? Yes please.
The first screens looked promising and after I saw Valve was publishing it I breathed a nice
sigh of relief. But that comfort quickly turned to disappointment after I saw it in action.
Now, I love
Half-Life,
Half-Life 2, and all over the add-ons/expansions but I
never liked
Counter-strike. It always felt a little too jumpy and/or clunky for my
tastes. I didn’t hate it, just never really got into it. So you can imagine that I was a little let
down when I saw that not only did
Left 4 Dead retain the same graphical looks as
Valve and Sierras other shooters, but also played like them.
Now, don’t cry foul because I just stated above that I love the
Half-Life series, but its
game/graphics engine is really starting to feel dated. Games like
Call of Duty 4 took
the FPS to the next level and L4D looks like a sad step backward. I’m not usually a graphics
whore, but when a game I’m excited for starts looking like it was made 5 years ago, I get
annoyed. Now, this might be OK for PC gamers, but with [i]Gears of War 2, SOCOM, Far
Cry 2, Dead Space,[/i] and
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway on the horizon, games
using a dated graphics/game engine are bound to fall behind.
Maybe it will be a lot of fun to play and maybe the gameplay will make me forget about the
subpar graphics, but I can’t say that I’m not already disappointed. I’m just hoping that
disappointment gets forgotten when I actually play the game.
To be completely honest, I will probably buy it anyway. I bought
Dead Rising day one
and even though it wasn’t amazing, I played the crap out of it. Zombie games are my gay
cowboy Heath Ledger: I just can’t quit them.
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If a zombie can run, why can't it use firearms? And at that point, wouldn't becoming a zombie be an improvement over being human? No thanks.
That doesn't bother as much as the developers not being able to put decent textures in a games. Come the fuck on.
But yes, I too prefer the classic slow hoard of zombies.
Anyway, what will make this game fun for me is co-op mode.
Also, the frame-rate will be untouched, which is always a plus in my book.
Also, I think it woulda been kinda cool if they made this game using the TF2 engine. The world needs more cartoon zombie outbreaks. It's true.
Less scary? Perhaps. Fucking amazing? Indeed.
I honestly will probably love it. All this disappointment will probably disappear when I play it.
@B-Radicate
A cartoon zombie game would be absolutely incredible.
Also, the downside of being a PC gamer is that there aren't too many co-op games that aren't MMOs. Hopefully L4D will fulfill that desire as well.
Exactly. I'm glad most of my friends, who don't have great computers but DO love zombie stuff, will be able to play Left 4 Dead with me. I'll take fun, framerate, and great game design over top-of-the-line, buy-a-new-computer graphics any day.
My $400 custom build can play Bioshock on medium-high and Crysis on medium. So don't feed that line crap. You don't need a top of the line computer to play a newer game on decent settings. Just a graphics card that has been made in the last year or two. You can get plenty of decent ones for under $100 now. They could have easily been able to use a graphics engine that wasn't older than Hannah Montana in order to make the game accessible.
That is all, the king has spoken
Valve's business model specifically is designed to cater to gamers with a wide variety of computers; that's how you make money in the PC market anymore. 40% of Steam gamers don't have SM3 video cards capable of running Bioshock or Crysis or Call of Duty 4. 60% don't have multicore processors. Valve plays to their audience appropriately, and if they took your stupid advice, they'd just fuck themselves over in the market, and further hurt PC gaming.
In conclusion, STFUAJPG.
Yes. Let's water down the graphics for the masses. Great point.
Valid points, but which game actually LOOKS better on medium - Bioshock or Half Life 2: Episode 2?
Bioshock on medium - while keeping up a steady frame rate - looks like vomit smeared with low res monkey feces. And for a game that's heralded for its art design and atmosphere, I have a hard time accepting those praises if they single out the beauty of their game to the people with the latest setups.
PS: All games have problems with the ground. All games just have flat ground with an image laying over it. The real trick is how well they cover it up. CoD4 covers it up with some grass but whoops!
Bioshock on Med-High (don't remember which settings I had on high) looked close to the 360 version. Granted, it wasn't running at 60fps, but I'll talk 30-40fps with those graphics.
And HL:EP2 is the best I've seen that engine look. It's still dated, but at least it was acceptable. If L4D ends up looking like HL:EP2 I'll be ok with it. But the latest screens don't look that good.
I was just using it as an example. The character models don't look that great and the environments are pretty plain. That was just the first picture I could find that made it obvious.
Yeah, hopefully the screens of L4D will look better when it's released... but who really cares, we'll be seeing it in motion!
With billions of bloodthirsty, physics driven zombies flying at you, I think it'll look great, and they're constantly tweaking the look so I think we have nothing to fear.
You in Dtoid's Steam community? We should play some TF2 sometime dude, and L4D later this year.
I'll probably buy this for 360, but I have The Orange Box for PC. I'll have to look up my Steam ID (I'm on my Mac right now, otherwise I'd just fire it up). I'll be sure to join it sometime soon. I love TF2 just never really anyone to play with.
I know I sure will..?
"Zombie games are my gay
cowboy Heath Ledger: I just can’t quit them."
Too damn funny, man!
Nice to meet you! I too share your infatuation for the zombie movie genre. I just can't get enough. Whether it's a good zombie flick or terrible one, they all rock!
Hey - Let's hope and pray 'Left for Dead' doesn't disappoint. Betcha can't wait for Resident Evil 5! I just discovered Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Damn, it's way cooler than I thought. If you haven't yet, check it out! You deserve it!