# Left 4 Dead 2 Demo should be playable within the hour **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337 "2009-10-27T19:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/1 "2009-10-27T19:38:38Z")
At least according to a post on Steam’s forums, those of us who preordered L4D2 will be able to play the demo starting at 4pm EDT. \*\*Dark2Phoenix \*\*and I should be on tonight, starting between 7 and 8, if anyone wants to play. It looks like it’s only cooperative mode, but you do get to see all the infected types and play with the new melee weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Roulette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8dc957/32.png) [@Roulette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roulette)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/2 "2009-10-27T19:45:41Z")
Hmmm… I’ll try to be there, assuming the demo actually comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/3 "2009-10-27T19:57:28Z")
Argh, I’ve already preordered the game from steam and I was all set to play the demo tonight until I found out I have an engagement that I had forgotten about. Hence no L4D 2 for me tonight. ☹ I will be on there tomorrow though, I’m really looking forward to this game! ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/4 "2009-10-27T20:58:31Z")
Apparently there has been some kind of mix-up regarding the demo release time. Now they’re saying it’s 11 pm EDT (maybe). Posters over at the Steam user forums are pretty pissed off. As of this post the official Left 4 Dead 2 demo countdown thread is over a 125 pages long. A 100 of those pages are just people writing angry things about Valve and Gabe Newell.😛 EDIT: The Xbox 360 demo has been out for hours. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/5 "2009-10-27T21:09:28Z")
Now it says 2 a.m. tomorrow. In other words, who knows. We shall keep an eye on it and regroup - good news for **Cowboy** , though - you’re not missing anything! ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/6 "2009-10-27T21:19:28Z")
I think [this](http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Valve_Time) Valve time chart is very helpful when deciphering actual Valve release dates. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/7 "2009-10-28T00:47:53Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Now it says 2 a.m. tomorrow. > > In other words, who knows. We shall keep an eye on it and regroup - good news for **Cowboy** , though - you’re not missing anything! Ha ha, I come home early just so I can try out the demo and now I can’t even connect to steam. Something fishy going on here… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_C](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/8 "2009-10-28T01:45:24Z")
Figures, this comes out when I’m about to leave for a 2 day trip. Guess I’ll have to try it on Friday when I get back. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/9 "2009-10-28T12:58:39Z")
More and more delays. I look at the thread title and sigh, thinking how naive I once was. On the upside: [Hitler Finds Out About the Demo Delay](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IArcyXbADik)(NSFW subtitles, audio is OK.) ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/10 "2009-10-28T15:30:00Z")
Can you play co-op without the “special” zombies yet? ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/11 "2009-10-28T15:38:16Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > More and more delays. I look at the thread title and sigh, thinking how naive I once was. > > On the upside: [Hitler Finds Out About the Demo Delay](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IArcyXbADik)(NSFW subtitles, audio is OK.) Forget it, Cinnamon. It’s Valvetown.😛 Liked this comment from the Hitler rant (he sure gets mad about everything). > [@](#): > > Being a fan of Valve’s games is like having a really fun relative that always brought you really nice presents on Christmas as a kid and just happened to molest you on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/12 "2009-10-28T17:23:48Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > On the upside: [Hitler Finds Out About the Demo Delay](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IArcyXbADik)(NSFW subtitles, audio is OK.) “You expect me to play an FPS on a console? BURN IN HELL!” Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/13 "2009-10-28T17:36:54Z")
Left 4 Dead 2 had better be a lot better than the first for me to go and get it on opening day. My girlfriend would like it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/14 "2009-10-29T02:43:22Z")
OK the PC demo is up finally, if you preordered. It’s pretty fun! ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/15 "2009-10-29T11:24:24Z")
Had a quick play last night, it’s more evolutionary than revolutionary. Looking forward to playing through the new levels though. Think the biggest difference will be versus gameplay. The spitter has promise, a decent counter to teams who camp in corners, and a well placed spit can split a team in two. Not sure about the jockey, in campaign the jumped player can resist, so it doesn’t end up going very far. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/16 "2009-10-29T19:54:04Z")
I’m liking the melee weapons. Not only do they give you a visceral feel to the game play, it changes the strategy to deal with hordes. Melee weapons are great when surrounded by the horde. Hitting someone with the frying pan and hearing a loud **GLONK** is very satisfying. The AI has improved. The special infected now do coordinated attacks. Makes them bigger threat than in L4D. The charger is a nasty piece of work and the spitter always appears at most inappropriate times. Can’t wait to try both in versus. [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARmqz48Mh0) the song from the jukebox. It’s by the same guy (Jonathan Coulton) who wrote the _Still alive_ song from _Portal_. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-4-dead-2-demo-should-be-playable-within-the-hour/515337/17 "2009-11-03T23:03:19Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > I’m liking the melee weapons. Not only do they give you a visceral feel to the game play, it changes the strategy to deal with hordes. Melee weapons are great when surrounded by the horde. Hitting someone with the frying pan and hearing a loud **GLONK** is very satisfying. > > The AI has improved. The special infected now do coordinated attacks. Makes them bigger threat than in L4D. The charger is a nasty piece of work and the spitter always appears at most inappropriate times. Can’t wait to try both in versus. > > [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARmqz48Mh0) the song from the jukebox. It’s by the same guy (Jonathan Coulton) who wrote the _Still alive_ song from _Portal_. I agree it is evolutionary but that is ok. Left4Dead made online gaming fun for me again. Charger didn’t seem all that bad to me. At least I had little trouble sidestepping his attacks. Spitter will work great in some instances. Looking forward to seeing how this changes Versus mode. Jockey…only once was he particularly annoying and my computer controlled teammates took awhile getting him off me. Was kinda funny though. Getting through the mission where you have to turn off the alarm on the tower was nicely hairy and quite the battle.