My L4D2 demo Mini-Review.

[Dr. ROCKZO]

The Demo definitely was a small slice of the cake. And it was trying to give a broad taste of too many fillings, it didn't show the Advanced AI or the potential of all the Special Infected. But I did manage to have a lot of fun with it, at a Web Cafe with my friends all messing around and "lulz"ing it away, I guess I was being the more common gamer and the one Valve was trying to Appeal too.. hopefully the full game will give you your part.

 

[Fogold]

I never found the melee weapons themselves to be silly, I found that the stupendous amount of gore made them silly. I can understand someone using a blunt weapon to protect himself in that situation, but that blunt weapon decapitating the zombies is just silly. I always found the gore the more unusual choice made by Valve. There seems to be no reason for Valve to add it.

 

[martijntje]

I agree mostly with you. But I actually enjoyed it. some stuff I would like to add.
-laaaaaagggs. I had to set everything to low to get a smooth game, I dont have a brand new computer, but I should be capable of running the game right.
-the jockey is just annoying
-a bit of direction would be nice. I actually joined an online game, just so other people could figure out where to go for me.

In single player mode, just grab a melee weapon, keep w pressed and go,go,go, the other plays will keep up with you no matter what, even if you noclip, they will just teleport to a place near you.

 

[DaBeatzProject]

Yeah, the game froze every 30 seconds for me too. And I have a good computer...

 

[martijntje]

For those of you that find the game too easy, do this.
enable console.
from the main menu type
map <mapname> (of course you do not enter "<mapname>")
when the game is loaded, type
sv_cheats 1;alias hard "ent_fire player sethealth 1;wait;hard2";alias hard2 hard;hard

now if it is still too easy for you
alias superhard "z_spawn mob;z_spawn tank;wait;superhard2";alias superhard2 superhard;superhard

if you didnt understand what I just did, the first one sets the health of all players constantly to 1, so basicely you die from one hit. the second one constantly spawns a massive amount of zombies (and a tank).

I guess the second command will cause a massive amount of lag and can possible crash left4dead2

 

[Psy]

I just played the campaign on single player and I have to say that I'm not in the least bit excited about the full game.

 

[Ida]

I see exactly what you mean on all your points, but on the other hand none of it bothers me. Silly and stupid melee weapons? Yup! Simple design? Indeed there is. For the most part, all pluses in my book.

It's obviously a matter of taste, but it makes me sad to think how you must miss out on all these wonderful games because of your critical views. :S

 

[Wegason]

I played through the demo solo, so I wasn't expecting knocks-your-socks-off gameplay. I was however comparing the experience against playing L4D1 solo, and all told it was very nearly the exact same game. If anything, L4D1 comes across as the superior experience, because it definitely sells the "zombie apocalypse" theme in the visuals and sounds. The L4D2 demo's daylight setting and twangy banjo music really pull me out of the mood.

THIS!

I also agree with DJive, I found the L4D2 demo to be underwhelming, I played through it once with mates who are dead keen on it and I haven't played it since. I was distinctly unimpressed, it did not feel like a Zombie Apocalypse, the game was too easy, I honestly believe L4D is harder at expert than L4D2 is. At normal its just ridiculously easy on L4D2 whereas L4D was at least okay difficulty wise.

The visuals and effects are friggin awesome, and yes the melee weapons are fun to use, but quickly become boring.

To me it just felt like the demo lacked any challenge, nothing was hard, everything dies too quickly.

-a bit of direction would be nice. I actually joined an online game, just so other people could figure out where to go for me.

This as well! Without the nighttime setting there were no visual clue as to where to go.

 

[Ida]

I had no problem with directions. I usually followed the relatively straight layout and found the entrance to the next area by going through whichever door I saw first. I noticed a bunch of visual cues in terms of fire and interesting scenery (the park, for example).

 

[DJive]

hopefully the full game will give you your part.

So do I. This is what i think i was really trying to get at, as more of a competitive gamer, i feel valve forgot about "me" in l4d2.

I was distinctly unimpressed, it did not feel like a Zombie Apocalypse, the game was too easy, I honestly believe L4D is harder at expert than L4D2 is. At normal its just ridiculously easy on L4D2 whereas L4D was at least okay difficulty wise.

The visuals and effects are friggin awesome, and yes the melee weapons are fun to use, but quickly become boring.

To me it just felt like the demo lacked any challenge, nothing was hard, everything dies too quickly.

Fully agree.

 

[FaTony]

What. Played 12 hrs of this today, made ~100 attempts on expert (maybe more). No luck. Easy? H4x0rz.

 

[Locutus]

I can't say I disagree with anything in the first post.

I played for about 15 minutes, ran through normal a few times. Then I went straight up to expert as well, we ran it twice, messing around. Logged a total of two hours, can't see how people are still messing with this demo.

BUT, the promise that the realism mode shows is excellent. Can't kill zombies unless they are shot in the head? Looks like I'm gonna be a little more careful with my ammo!

 

[DaBeatzProject]

THIS!

I also agree with DJive, I found the L4D2 demo to be underwhelming, I played through it once with mates who are dead keen on it and I haven't played it since. I was distinctly unimpressed, it did not feel like a Zombie Apocalypse, the game was too easy, I honestly believe L4D is harder at expert than L4D2 is. At normal its just ridiculously easy on L4D2 whereas L4D was at least okay difficulty wise.

The visuals and effects are friggin awesome, and yes the melee weapons are fun to use, but quickly become boring.

To me it just felt like the demo lacked any challenge, nothing was hard, everything dies too quickly.

This as well! Without the nighttime setting there were no visual clue as to where to go.

You've only played the demo once, and you found it easy. Now play it AGAIN. Also, I agree that it's not as easy as L4D to find your way through, but come on... Would you prefer zombies pointing the way for you? This is a zombie apocalypse, not just three streets you have to cross!

 

[Gerbil]

You might find the demo boring, but don't forget there's many more in the full game; FOUR other 5 stage-campaigns, another 3 stages in the Parish Campaign, Scavange Mode, Survival Mode, VERSUS mode, ...

!!!

Dead center and Swamp fever have 4 levels each from what I heard.

But the new game modes will probably make the game much better

 

[Radaka]

I've been speculating on the reasoning behind lowering the difficulty of the game. Here are my reasons.

1. To make versus mode more centered around the relationship between players and less on the horde (boomer nerf)

2. I played L4D1 on a friend's Xbox and found normal harder on there harder than expert on PC (could just be me)

3. See number 2.

I feel like the game has been dumbed down for the console 'tards.

 

[DJive]

I feel like the game has been dumbed down for the console 'tards.

Blame HALO for that =)
and WoW for MMOs.


the 2 games that brought in "extremely casual" gameplay and.. well larger, but younger audience.

 

[Randdalf]

I've played it at least 10 times and I think it's brilliant.

Compare it to any other game on the market these days... yeah.

Also, the difficulty is scaled up on the PC, it (I think) has a higher common infected count among other things.

 

[DJive]

Also, the difficulty is scaled up on the PC, it (I think) has a higher common infected count among other things.

There lies the problem i guess.

on PC its VERY easy to aim and move, where as console its not as "simple" so its harder to kill things in console.

If all they are doing to make it "PC" is add more enemys at the same "strength" then that's going to fail.

1 or 200 of them a head shot is a headshot. 200 just takes more ammo, and in the demo it felt like Ammo or a new gun were VERY VERY VERY VERY plentiful always

 

[Wegason]

Realism mode does excite me, the problem with versus IMO was that the difficulty was normal, when it should have been advanced on L4D. In L4D2 it has to be advanced judging by how easy normal is.

@ Beatz

Why should I play the demo again when I didn't enjoy it much the first time?

Don't get me wrong I love L4D, and L4D2 is pre-ordered still, but i'm not playing a demo that does not excite me or challenge me

 

[Shmitz]

Compare it to any other game on the market these days...

That's part of the problem. I am comparing it to another game on the market, L4D1, and I'm not seeing a $50 improvement over the game I already own.