L4D came out last November and they’re announcing a sequel already? I guess there’s no official expansions coming to the original L4D. I’m still playing the first L4D, why couldn’t Valve announce Episode 3 instead?
Link to teaser. Warning, lots of blood and gore.
http ://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-09-left-4-dead/49967?type=flv
I was just going to link this.
This seems very unlike Valve. I smell the taint of EA.
Aggggh! Mental picture… it is unwanted!
L4D2? Sounds like an astromech droid.
Here is an article that goes into some of the gameplay changes we can expect from L4D2. There’s also links to some gameplay videos. I can’t see much difference to the first L4D in terms of graphics, but the environments seem to be larger. The new melee weapons seem cool and the fire ammo is awesome, but this feels more like an expansion pack than a whole new game.
I agree it looks like an expansion pack.
Has technology changed that much in this last year to warrant a sequel already?
It needed it. I don’t know why they didn’t put out more content or release this like Rockstar released The Lost And the Damned (and the upcoming extra scenario, too). I’m guessing that this means there’s something about the mechanics that they figured out post release that wasn’t easily patchable. Either that or they wanted more cash.
Either way, this is a good thing. Left 4 Dead is pretty stale now.
I second the OP in that L4D2 but still no Episode 3?
I mean, L4D is awesome, but at some point they’re eventually going to have to start on Episode 3.
Both Left 4 Dead 2 and Call of Duty 4…2… (?) elicit huge :rolleyes: from me.
As a massive Valve fanboy, this disappoints me.
I empathize, but such is life.
I’m still waiting for them to release a full game’s work of content for the first one. I’ll be damned if I am paying again for what should have been released at launch.
It’s a seperate development team for the most part - it probably isn’t hugely affecting the development of ep 3.
I’m irritated that they’re not expanding L4D, and they’ll want more money from me for this. But it looks so cool, I’ll probably fork it over. (Though you know what? It would be nice if they gave a discount to current owners of the first game.) But it does look like a lot of fun.
Case in point: in the first video linked in that blog post, there’s a nifty Arrested Development reference: “Shoot the guy in the $3000 suit? Come on!” 
And then there’s the tanks redneck cousin, the Charger. Love his overalls.
Well, the Boomer and Tank, as we know them, at least.
Ok, first off, I love l4d. If it’s current version had been the initial release, the game would have been nearly perfect.
It could have stood a minor expansion down the line though. 1 or 2 more full campaigns 6 months after release. Instead, we just got a what we should have had from the start.
That said… The game cost me $50. A lot of peopel got it cheaper on one of valve’s low cost deals. I’ve put in well over 100 hours playing it. Probably closer to 250 hours. Yes, I’m a game-addict, but this game was a LOT of fun. Even if you assume 100 hours, it works out to 50 cents an hour. Not bad bang for my buck. And it’s a long time until l4d2 is releas3ed, so I’ll rack up a lot more time in l4d.
So, I’ll buy l4d 2. I mean, based on it’s predecessor, it’s looking to be a solid value. I’d rather it was an expansion pack or something, but at the same time, I don’t know what they’re doing under the covers. They claim they’ve made major changes to the AI director, including the ability for it to alter the route by closing off paths to force the survivors down longer or shorter routes. They’re also altering the size of the levels to be larger and more open. That may require an overhaul of the engine in order to process those changes and still be available on the fairly wide range of hardware that the original is supported on.
We’ll see. They’re claiming a November release date. Dunno how realistic that is. those of us with past experience with valve time know how fluid that date can be.
Either way, I hope most of the SDMB players will join me in the new game. Damn shame to break up the amount of fun we’re having.
It’s interesting how people see sequel in terms of game engine rather than story.
I think the idea is that a new story could easily be done with an expansion pack to the current game, which is very lacking in the number of maps and content. An entirely new game generally has a graphics upgrade.
I wonder if this is the end of Valve’s perfect-game-with-infinite-replay-value business model; the contemplation saddens me. This continued trend of sequelphilia has really negatively impacted the quality of games, I think.
This leaves Blizzard the lone champion of the we-actually-beta-test golden oldies, how unfortunate.