Zoey, Bill, Francis and Louis have become iconic characters since they first appeared in Left 4 Dead, becoming the subject of articles, memes, and videos across the Internet. A huge part of what made L4D popular was the banter between these excellently realized characters. We wondered how tough it was to step away from them, and put the question to L4D writer Chet Faliszek, who revealed that it was quite scary to introduce a brand new cast.
"So, leaving them behind was a weird case of us wanting to expand the world and not saying we're done with them yet," he explains. " They're not dead, but we wanted to have this kind of other track, and we talked about going to the South, and it doesn't make sense that, like, Zoey's in her jumpsuit down South and she's mysteriously living in Savannah as well.
"It's scary making new characters, it's a terrifying process because you look back at Zoey and Louis and Bill and Francis and you see people's excitement over them, and your own excitement for them, your own love for them, and it's really scary, I'm like, 'Oh my God are we going to go through that again?' But you know, we've done GLaDOS, we've done Alyx, we've done other characters that I think people remember and I think every time we do it it's this scary thing.
"I'd say the characters took the absolute most time [to develop]. From January 1, until you saw them at E3, was just non-stop working on them."
From what I've played of Left 4 Dead 2, the new characters have potential to be as memorable as the original four. They have very distinct personalities and, so far, seem quite likable. Whether they will prove ample replacement for the characters we've come to associate with the game, however, remains to be seen.
Contest:
9:00 AM on 07.31.2009
| 
...oh wait. nevermind.
btw, "PEEELS HERE".
You forget where this is taking place. I grew up seeing black people waving confederate flags on their way to high school football games.
Why? Just because I'm a certain skin color I'm restricted to certain types of music?
ahahahh
still it was a good article no l4f2 boycott and ps3 stuff :D
it will be a nice game :D
@clarke Yes. Gangsta rap and R&B.
And I call dibs.
Left4Dead 3 Confirmed!
You know what else doesn't make sense, Chet? Fucking zombies. Also, the original 4 survivors escaping from zombies in 4 different scenarios.
It's more of their personalities. Valve did a great job setting the original four character's personalities in stone. After a while of playing the game, each of their individual quirks become evident and shape the character, into awesomeness or hilarity. Louis's enthusiasm over pills, Francis's hatred for everything (even Ayn Rand), Zoey's knowledge of movies, and her recital of their lines. The fact that Valve did it so well that you really believe that each of the four characters have an acknowledgment of the other three, that there's that buddy system that they've developed. Now Valve has to do it again, with four completely new personalities, in a new backdrop, and with (they've said this in an interview) more interactive conversations with each other.
Not to say they can't do it, but you have to at least appreciate how much work they have to do.
And that is how former L4D clan Suit Up was born, and later disbanded.
I doubt the characters will be as loved as the original 4, but you never know, they could surprise.
@sharpless
BS , I called dibs on him before you , just go check it , I said it in the first teaser !