The Left 4 Dead demo is released on XBL today. I hope to get a bit of a play in tonight, and with luck we'll be able to room-up and play as a team (and you need to play as a team, believe me.)
BritishGaming have a useful Survival guide with tips on how best to face each type of zombie and some general hints.
If you’re at the safe house and one team member is lagging behind, or pinned down, don’t hesitate to kill your team mate and shut the door. They’ll respawn next round.
So much for 'No man left behind.'
If you are vomited on by a Boomer, run for the nearest closet, cupboard or small room such as a bathroom. Shut the door and hold your cross hair on the door. While the upcoming rush of Zombies will be able to break the door eventually, your Boomer-vomit headache will have worn off and you’ll be ready to fight. On the other side of the door, the entirely ignored survivors can pick off the undead with ease. Even on the hardest difficulty, a cupboard can ensure you lose absolutely no health to a Boomer attack.
MMmm... Boomer vomit.
If you’re at the front of the group - please, for the love of god, duck.
Zombie ducks? Quack!
9 comments:
Download finished...
Intense, but very much fun.
The online keeps up well considering how fast the game is.
Some more thoughts upon reflection...
This really does demand what little level headed teamwork you can muster. Have you ever played a FPS and made that 100th calm headshot and thought - I'd never be like this in real life, I'd be running around like a chicken, shooting the walls, the ceilings, my mates... That's what this is like about 80% of the time.
Just when you think you've got a handle on the situation and you can relax, someone will scream that they've been grabbed by a smoker, or get some boomer bile on them and it's all kicking off again.
There are only two safe places on the demo map. The safe rooms. There is nowhere else in this game where you can afford to let your guard down.
The attack waves are so nicely timed that it must be triggered rather than random. Example: You find a hole in the ground, due to injuries one man is lagging slightly behind and you've not noticed. You start to drop down the hole. As soon as the third man hits the ground, the straggler will be grabbed. It's hilariously panic inducing.
Another nice point is you find that the characters say exactly the same things as you. You come across a cache of ammo and announce to the team over the mic. Just a second later you hear your character say it too. Same with pills, molotovs, pipe bombs, and the old stand by "Get it off me! Get it off me!" screamed in a girly voice (both you and the game.)
I alternated between grinning like an idiot and chewing my tongue.
Moment of the night for me was running towards the shining beacon of the open safe room to have Aphex slam the door in my face. I'm sure I woke up the kids shouting "AAAHHHH Let me in! Let me in!"
It's a day one purchase for me.
Another quality moment: Looking for first aid or pills you turn into a dark room... all you can see is the circle of your torchlight flickering across the walls and furniture. You hold your breath as you probe the darkest corners... wary of the possibility of disturbing a 'witch'.
You breath a sigh of relief as nothing leaps at you screaming. Alas, no first aid though. You turn to rejoin your teammates, but all you can see is their tiny ready-brek silhouettes way off in the distance, and possibly a level below you.
They didn't see you turn off and you didn't tell them. Now you're alone and you can hear the cough of a Smoker, or the choking gobble of a Boomer, or the sobbing childlike cry of a witch, any of which means you've had it.
"Wait wait wait!" you start to run blindly, hoping there's nothing between you and your team. Did they clear every corner on their way through? Did they check every door? Is there an ingress from the street somewhere?
The funny thing is just when you think you're going to be the victim, you end up being the saviour. You round the corner to see two men fall to the ground and the third is being dragged up the wall at the end of a 12 foot tongue. You shoot the Smoker and revive the fallen guys.
based on these comments alone - pre ordered and cannot wait. Great commentary Mr Beta.
The teamwork element is further highlighted in the games 'set-pieces', which aren't like traditional set-pieces, because they never necessarily go the same way twice.
Apparently the game has an AI Director - which determines what threat to throw at you next. From the games I played last night, it really does seem to work well, throwing *just* the situation you didn't want to be dealing with at you, usually as you are in the middle of something else - so a 'Hunter' will come and beat somebody to the ground, and while you are trying to melee him or shoot him off the downed player, a Smoker will grab somebody with their aforementioned 20ft long tentacle and drag them off.
It is the speed of timesplitters with the Infected of 28 **** Later with the weapon noises from something very loud indeed, not enough health packs, and you really shouldn't play it on Normal difficulty - it is just a little too easy. 'Advanced' is pitched about right, for tension/intensity, and 'Expert' is batdroppings mental.
I'll be playing a bit as a stark contrast to the considered and involving Fallout 3, most days this week.
WOW
Nice comments.
I've downloaded and can't wait to play it!
"Oh look at the time, children! Time for bed!"
"But dad, it's only 5 o'clock!"
"Talking back, eh. Well then, it'll be 4 o'clock tomorrow night!"
(queue evil maniacal laugh)
Sorry - I didn't really manage to get on last night. I watched the end of Dead Set as Mrs beta was out, and to get me in the zombie frame of mind.
I fired up Fable for a bit and promptly fell asleep.
Up for some tonight though.
Cool game. The bastard hybrid cross of Gauntlet and Resident Evil.
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