The Pros and Cons of L4D

Well, as with all games, there's good and there's bad.  As a credit to Valve, the bad really isn't THAT bad, moreso annoyances and the like which hopefully in time will be addressed.

The Good : The gameplay is highly addictive.  Though we know that in time people will mod L4D servers up with 12 man co-op and break the core gameplay in other ways, the concept of play and the way it's implemented is fantastic.  From the simple downing of "straggler" zombies to the distinct sounds of special infected like Hunters, Boomers, Smokers, Witches and Tanks.  Even the rush of adrenaline when the horde comes for YOU.  The game implements 5.1 excellently, and I can tell often where the ghastlies are coming from before they appear on screen.  I THINK that the game is 4 "missions" each with 5 stages, for 20 "levels".  We were demo'd 2 stages/levels.  Can't wait to see what the other weapons are.  Will there be 10 in addition to what we saw? (Uzi, Pistol/Dual Pistols, Shotgun, Auto-Shotty, Sniper Rifle, Assault Rifle, Molotov, Pipe Bombs, etc?)

The Bad : First and foremost, I REALLY hope Valve deals with the issue of lag.  MANY servers had most players at 1 red bar of ping, and that made for shooting zombies relatively challenging.  Secondly, though no fault of Valve, I'm rather sick of players running into line of fire.  You get warned "Don't shoot teammates!" and they get warned "Don't walk into line of fire!" but WOW does this happen a lot!  I'll crouch to let someone fire over me and I'll be spraying an upcoming horde rush, and then some human player runs in front of me, catching 20 rounds in the back before I hold fire and reposition.  Ugh.  There's also a bit of a problem with the game's "Witch Spookin".  I've had her list me as the one who startled her when I was behind a wall, lights off and just standing there, not even firing.  Up comes the warning, and I'm checking vectors like a fool wondering where she's coming from.  Around a corner and half a second later, I'm down.  Hopefully just a bug, but it's happened about 3 times, so I think something's a bit off.

Anyways, aside from that, I think this game will do well, since, like TF2, it requires/forces teamwork of the players.  Helping players up, saving them from elite zombies, giving them health - it all bolsters a form of unity and team play that is very refreshing.  Co-Op is making a comeback, slow but surely.  I hope to see some of you guys in L4D servers.

Something tells me, that this game will enforce teamwork quite more than TF2. In TF2 a single loner of specific classes can mow down sh*t by himself quite nicely. But here you are facing different types of enemies, apparently, if this "director" thing actually works, in different games... and it's just the four... no classes, just four equal players...

I smell alot of griefing though. Don't ask me why, i haven't even played yet

Yeah - everyone is equal despite skill.  But if someone wanders off, or if he's leading the pack and then the pack takes a 180 without letting him know, getting caught my a Smoker or Hunter or the like is a guaranteed death.

This reminds me of the hidden... and the hidden = gooooood!
I'll give it a try this evening when i find the chance

Quote:

Man, Aegis, it sure seems like Valve has some beef with you. They're always giving you the short end of the stick, and this time, it's the witch's whooping stick. I feel for you, man . Maybe we'll meet up on a server sometime and I'll take the fall, hehe.

The first time fighting a Witch was a learning experience.  I mean, come on, what enemy does a developer give you that you DON'T fight?  Go around her?  Naaaaaah!  I'll just introduce her to my shotty.  And then next thing I know I'm dead and spectating my teammates dealing with "my" problem. 

Still, aside from that, I like the mix of ultra baddies (even hordes), and hope Valve introduces a couple new ones down the line.

Yeah, sadly, I probably won't get to test this out on a capable machine before the demo disappears, and last night I tried it on a visually lackluster laptop in single-player, and I didn't even know she was the witch. She was just sitting there in the middle of the subway tracks, so I tried to blow her halfway across the rails...but that didn't happen. I got the popup saying I had startled her, and I started freaking out, like shit, she's coming for me, unload, UNLOAD!!

...It didn't work.


I tell you, after reading on the forums beforehand about how you should avoid her like herpes and then unknowingly unleashing her wrath, that's one of the most heartpounding moments I've had in gaming in a while. There's so much to look forward to in this game. I can't wait to eventually get it and take it online to the co-op.

I honestly dont think anyone can judge l4d at this point.
I feel that the demo is a mere shadow of what the final will be.

They've tweaked the netcode several times already since the demo has been released.

yea agreed im intressted in the 10 new weapons
what they will be i dont know
Other types of the smg e.g mac 10 or AK-47 for the rifle
i think a grenade launcher would be kinda funny and ballenced as when in confied places you are dead with it.
o And providing you live close e.g england other people in england get just fine ping i belive so that cool.

I don't think anyone is judging the game in it's completion - it kinda goes without saying since, well, the game's not out.  It's a demo, we just judge the game to that extent.  It looks promising, hopefully there will be no facestabs, or I'm gonna roadtrip to Valve and have a sit down.

I like moments when a teammate is reviving another, and the other 2 are actively taking vectors to keep watch over them.  Getting SWAT-like on these mofos.  That's what we call "ssssmooovness." (You gotta 'lisp' the 's' to get it right.)

And that either happens a lot with a core group of friends who are tactically sound, or once in like 50 games in pubs.  Either way, it's cool to behold.