Wah, wah, Left 4 Dead is getting no support from Valve! I guess they better put away this brand new campaign, then. "Crash Course" is coming to PC and Xbox 360, a brand new two-chapter campaign geared towards Versus Play and providing a shorter, more intense multiplayer experience. I'm the first person outside of Valve to play it, and I've been biting my tongue all week.
Crash Course is set shortly after the events of No Mercy, where it's revealed that the helicopter pilot who rescued Bill, Zoey, Louis and Francis was actually infected. The other survivors blame Zoey for crashing the chopper, since she's the one who ended up shooting the pilot. A whole bunch of new dialog has been recorded for the game, and there are one or two extra surprises in store for those who are used to how Left 4 Dead works.
I did ask Valve if it would be free but was told it could not be confirmed at the time, due to being in talks with Microsoft. Luckily, the press release we just received states it will cost 560 MS Points (boo Microsoft!), and be free on the PC. Bad news for 360 fans, great news for PC players.
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August 4, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the next major downloadable content (DLC) update for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead (L4D), the #1 new game title on Xbox 360 and PC in 2008
Entitled "Crash Course," the latest DLC delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms. Targeted for release in September, "Crash Course" bridges the gap between the end of the "No Mercy" campaign and the beginning of "Death Toll" in the original game, expanding the game universe with new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale
While containing both Survival maps and a Co-operative Campaign, the primary goal of "Crash" is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game's existing Versus campaigns. A recharge timer for infected teammates has also been added, and item spawn behavior has changed for more balanced gameplay.
"Since the release of Left 4 Dead last November, the design team has been excited about creating new experiences for this world and allowing players to do the same, by releasing much of our internal toolset, like the Survival Pack and Authoring Tools," said Gabe Newell. "We're working with the fans toward the ongoing entertainment value of the product."
Left 4 Dead is an action horror game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games. Released in November of 2008, L4D has earned over 50 industry awards from outlets around the world and sold almost 3 million copies worldwide.
Left 4 Dead: Crash Course is targeted for release in September and will be available free of charge on the PC and for 560 Gamer points on Xbox Live.
Contest:
12:00 PM on 08.04.2009
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Actually this sounds quite good. I like the idea of continuity from campaign to campaign. Apparently No Mercy and Death Toll are really part of the same story, who knew!
This is what happens when you write a story days in advance. :-)
Edited.
What kind of...
Take that. Suffer under my wrath, trillion-dollar-company.
Fuck them. Finally I don't have to feel bad quitting mid-campaign in versus because I don't have enough time.
Sexy.
Wait, would there be a way we could go through No Mercy, Crash Course, and Death Toll as one giant campaign? Like an endurance run?
Besides, at least it's not 10 or 15 dollars like most stuff these days.
These companies will die if they kept working on DLC and couldn't make a profit off of it. I swear, it feels like everyone on the internet lives at home with their parents and doesn't understand how the REAL WORLD works.
Exactly. Many people who've put DLC or XBLA games up have said that MS has told them they needed to price games a certain way. Fir instance, Behemoth wanted to give the Castle Crashers DLC away for free, 'til big daddy Microsoft came in and whined that they weren't gonna see any profit from that, and put a price on it. I'm pretty sure that, if Valve had it's way, this would be coming out for free/160 MS points, tops.
Nonetheless, fuck yeah more L4D.
Now if both platforms released the DLC in which you had to pay, and it was on Valve's request, then the people complaining wouldn't have a leg to stand on, and I'd be right there with you.
Now, you know just as well as anyone else where the legendary orange valve is actually going should Jim become their next cover-girl.
Inner Thigh?
Consider this our new initiation into being forced to waste our money on shitty things like gamer pics and avatar clothing because our money is stuck useless currency and there is too little of it to amount to anything worth buying.
My recommendation is when Doc Brown shows up, get in the DeLorean and insert this shit right before that L4D2 announcement at E3. Problems solved.
Looking forward to it. Kudos to Jim and D-toid.
I can't wait to find out what other stuff Francis hates.
And I agree with Tha Meat on the valve guy cameo.
Microsoft sucks sometimes.
I think Turtles in Time is proof positive that we (the Internet Justice Brigade!) could get this pricing fixed. I mean, if F.E.A.R. 2 can have a free map pack, there's no reason that one of the most popular games on the service couldn't also have another free download.
Let's just keep pumping out this vitriol.
Touche. I still feel that the money is going towards a right cause (Supporting developers). I don't know percentages but if its anything like Apple's 70/30 split for app sales then I know my money is in good hands.
By paying for gold memberships and DLC, Mircosoft and developers are able to make a profit and invest some of those profits for innovations and thats what will make the industry grow. Look at Sony and Nintendo (not to flame, I have all three systems and I love them all for own unique reasons) Those companies are giving away their online services and servers for FREE and thats the reason why they are SOO behind in online gaming. My PS3 has all the processing power I would need in a console but I still cant do party chats between games and its the reason PS Home is still in BETA.
Yes, it sucks that the PC DLC is free and Mircosoft is charging but its the reason why we get Spring and Fall Dashboard updates.
I would just buy 2 Rock Band songs with the rest of my points.
If anything, I think the yearly fees we pay for XBL ought to grant us a bunch of free DLC. Imagine if when you paid for XBL you got complimentary DLC, paid for by MS? Then nobody would ever be justified in bitching about the price of XBL again. But no, instead we keep wondering wtf that $50 a year is going towards other than pure greed.