3:57 PM
Dont Mess With Me
continued part1 read here
Chet Faliszek stated that Left 4 Dead 2's story will explore more of the world of the game, and that Valve has created a full story for the cause and effects of the infection pandemic, including terms that they have used for the AI Director.[21] Faliszek wanted to include a "no-nonsense" woman from a Department of Motor Vehicles, but this character did not make the cut.[21] The developers solicited several bands to include them in the game; Depeche Mode responded eagerly, and allowed Valve to use their music and other imagery in the game, such as on the front from Rochelle's shirt.[22]
Doug Lombardi, vice-president of marketing for Valve, noted that the SDK released for Left 4 Dead will also be compatible for Left 4 Dead 2.[23]
PC and Xbox 360 players who pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 through participating retailers gained early access to the game's demo, which was released on October 27, 2009 for Xbox Live and October 28, 2009 for PC players, and an exclusive baseball bat melee weapon to be used in game.[24][25] Pre-ordering the PC version of the game also unlocks Bill's beret from Left 4 Dead for use in Team Fortress 2.[26] The demo became available for all PC and Xbox Live Gold users on November 3, 2009 with Xbox Live Silver users gaining access on November 11, 2009.[27] The demo features the first two maps in "The Parish" campaign. The baseball bat bonus was also shown off in the first TV spot for Left 4 Dead 2.[28]
On October 5, 2009, Valve announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be promoted by a $25 million advertising campaign, exceeding the $10 million that supported Left 4 Dead. The campaign will include television advertisements during sporting events, on billboards and magazines; and more aggressive advertising for Europe.
In response to these complaints, Valve marketer Doug Lombardi stated that the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at E3 should not be taken to indicate that Valve would no longer support the first game.[9][36] He also noted that what was shown at E3 was only a fraction of the new content and atmosphere for the game.[9] He asked the community to "trust us a little bit", and noted that their team was eager to get new material out to a large body of players of Left 4 Dead and determined that the sequel would be the best option.[23] Lombardi also stated that the most common desire from players was the need for more campaigns, and felt that the addition of these along with new enemies and weapons made the content much more than downloadable content as was the case of Left 4 Dead's "Survival Pack".[23] Both Faliszek and project lead Tom Leonard stated that the team, in putting down ideas to add to the original game, found that too much of the content relied on each other, making incremental patches in the same style as Team Fortress 2 very difficult to do.[20][21] Leonard stated that he suggested rolling up the content into a sequel to be released a year after Left 4 Dead's release, an idea that the rest of the team eventually warmed up to.[20] Faliszek stated that Newell was skeptical of the idea when the team brought the sequel forward, but still allowed the project to go through.[21] Some of the player community has also supported Valve, forming a "L4D Enthusiasts" group in response to the boycott group.[37][38]
In September 2009, Valve flew out two of the boycott group leaders to playtest Left 4 Dead 2, to which they responded that they felt that the sequel was well done. This opinion was not shared by some of the members of their Steam boycott group.[39] This event, through a series of correspondences made in jest, shortly led to Valve's Gabe Newell and designer Erik Johnson flying to Australia to visit "Joe W-A", a Left 4 Dead modder. Newell jokingly reported that Valve was "boycotting" Joe's new mod for the game when Joe asked when he would be flown to Valve in the same manner as the Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters, but whimsically offered that if Joe was to pay to fly him to the country, he would take a look at it. Joe was able to raise the required funds, $3000, through donations through his website, though ultimately Newell paid for the trip himself, with Joe's collected donations going to the Child's Play charity.[40][41]
On October 14, 2009, the boycott groups' leaders announced that they had ended their boycott and were shutting down the 40,000-plus group. The leaders were satisfied that Valve was retaining their promise of additional content and fixes for Left 4 Dead, as evidenced by the then-recent release of the "Crash Course" campaign, believing their boycott helped to assure this commitment. The leaders also believed that the group itself was losing its purpose, being populated by those that were simply trolling to bad-mouth Valve and other players.[42]
In a video interview posted on October 29, 2009, Gabe Newell stated, "for people who joined the Boycott Group on Steam, we can look at their pre-orders, and they're actually pre-ordering the product at a higher rate than Left 4 Dead 1 owners who weren't in the Boycott".[43]
Valve was forced to alter their original cover art for the game by the ESRB; the original image showed the little and ring finger of the iconic hand (belonging to Valve artist Andrea Wicklund)[44] torn off in addition to the torn-off thumb, but to appease the ESRB, Valve changed the image so that the fingers were merely bent back instead.[6] The cover was further changed for release in the United Kingdom, as the two-finger sign towards the viewer is considered an insult; the UK cover features the hand facing the opposite direction to avoid this.[45]
• OS: Windows Vista, XP or 2000
• CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
• DISC DRIVE: DVD-ROM Drive
• HARD DRIVE: At least 7.5 GB of free space
• VIDEO: Direct X 9 compatible video card (Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0)
• SOUND: Direct X9.0c compatible sound card
The Director
As in the first game an artificial intelligence system called the A.I. Director drives gameplay by procedurally spawning enemies, weapons and items based on the players' performance. In Left 4 Dead 2, the Director has been improved to encourage more participation by players, forcing players through difficult gauntlets to reach the extraction point. It will also have the ability to alter elements of the level such as placement of walls, level layout, lighting, and weather conditions, making each play session unique.[4] The Director will now reward players for taking longer or more difficult paths through each episode by providing more useful equipment, such as incendiary ammo, along these riskier paths.Development
Development for Left 4 Dead 2 started shortly after the release of the first game—following a short break—building on ideas from the development team to make the next game "bigger and better".[4][20] The game was given the code name "Carnation" to prevent revealing its details before its official announcement.[21]Chet Faliszek stated that Left 4 Dead 2's story will explore more of the world of the game, and that Valve has created a full story for the cause and effects of the infection pandemic, including terms that they have used for the AI Director.[21] Faliszek wanted to include a "no-nonsense" woman from a Department of Motor Vehicles, but this character did not make the cut.[21] The developers solicited several bands to include them in the game; Depeche Mode responded eagerly, and allowed Valve to use their music and other imagery in the game, such as on the front from Rochelle's shirt.[22]
Doug Lombardi, vice-president of marketing for Valve, noted that the SDK released for Left 4 Dead will also be compatible for Left 4 Dead 2.[23]
PC and Xbox 360 players who pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2 through participating retailers gained early access to the game's demo, which was released on October 27, 2009 for Xbox Live and October 28, 2009 for PC players, and an exclusive baseball bat melee weapon to be used in game.[24][25] Pre-ordering the PC version of the game also unlocks Bill's beret from Left 4 Dead for use in Team Fortress 2.[26] The demo became available for all PC and Xbox Live Gold users on November 3, 2009 with Xbox Live Silver users gaining access on November 11, 2009.[27] The demo features the first two maps in "The Parish" campaign. The baseball bat bonus was also shown off in the first TV spot for Left 4 Dead 2.[28]
On October 5, 2009, Valve announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be promoted by a $25 million advertising campaign, exceeding the $10 million that supported Left 4 Dead. The campaign will include television advertisements during sporting events, on billboards and magazines; and more aggressive advertising for Europe.
Reception
Pre-release reactions
Pre-release sales
Pre-release sales estimates for Left 4 Dead 2 have been positive. As of July 2009, Left 4 Dead 2 ranked fifth in purchase intent out of all upcoming games, with 6 out of 10 polled stating that they would buy the game.[30] According to Lombardi, pre-orders for the sequel within the month following the announcement are double what Left 4 Dead were at the same relative time before their respective releases.[31] In a press release on October 5, 2009 Valve announced that based on the strength of pre-orders they expect Left 4 Dead 2 to be the fastest selling product in the company's history, with the game's pre-release sales averaging 300% greater than Left 4 Dead.[29]Boycott
The weekend following the game's announcement at the 2009 E3 Convention, some Left 4 Dead players called for a boycott of Left 4 Dead 2 in the form of a Steam community group called "L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2)", growing to over 10,000 members by the end of the weekend following the game's announcement,[32] and reaching more than 37,000 about a month later.[9][33] The group noted that in addition to the potential lack of further Left 4 Dead content, they were concerned with several of the aspects such as characters, visuals, and music, shown in the E3 demonstration video, feeling these were inappropriate to the first game's aesthetics, and that the release of the sequel so soon after the first game will fracture the community.[32][34] It also questioned the timing of the sequel so soon after the first game[32] and noted the lack of additional downloadable content for Left 4 Dead based on comments from Gabe Newell made during October 2008.[35]In response to these complaints, Valve marketer Doug Lombardi stated that the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at E3 should not be taken to indicate that Valve would no longer support the first game.[9][36] He also noted that what was shown at E3 was only a fraction of the new content and atmosphere for the game.[9] He asked the community to "trust us a little bit", and noted that their team was eager to get new material out to a large body of players of Left 4 Dead and determined that the sequel would be the best option.[23] Lombardi also stated that the most common desire from players was the need for more campaigns, and felt that the addition of these along with new enemies and weapons made the content much more than downloadable content as was the case of Left 4 Dead's "Survival Pack".[23] Both Faliszek and project lead Tom Leonard stated that the team, in putting down ideas to add to the original game, found that too much of the content relied on each other, making incremental patches in the same style as Team Fortress 2 very difficult to do.[20][21] Leonard stated that he suggested rolling up the content into a sequel to be released a year after Left 4 Dead's release, an idea that the rest of the team eventually warmed up to.[20] Faliszek stated that Newell was skeptical of the idea when the team brought the sequel forward, but still allowed the project to go through.[21] Some of the player community has also supported Valve, forming a "L4D Enthusiasts" group in response to the boycott group.[37][38]
In September 2009, Valve flew out two of the boycott group leaders to playtest Left 4 Dead 2, to which they responded that they felt that the sequel was well done. This opinion was not shared by some of the members of their Steam boycott group.[39] This event, through a series of correspondences made in jest, shortly led to Valve's Gabe Newell and designer Erik Johnson flying to Australia to visit "Joe W-A", a Left 4 Dead modder. Newell jokingly reported that Valve was "boycotting" Joe's new mod for the game when Joe asked when he would be flown to Valve in the same manner as the Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters, but whimsically offered that if Joe was to pay to fly him to the country, he would take a look at it. Joe was able to raise the required funds, $3000, through donations through his website, though ultimately Newell paid for the trip himself, with Joe's collected donations going to the Child's Play charity.[40][41]
On October 14, 2009, the boycott groups' leaders announced that they had ended their boycott and were shutting down the 40,000-plus group. The leaders were satisfied that Valve was retaining their promise of additional content and fixes for Left 4 Dead, as evidenced by the then-recent release of the "Crash Course" campaign, believing their boycott helped to assure this commitment. The leaders also believed that the group itself was losing its purpose, being populated by those that were simply trolling to bad-mouth Valve and other players.[42]
In a video interview posted on October 29, 2009, Gabe Newell stated, "for people who joined the Boycott Group on Steam, we can look at their pre-orders, and they're actually pre-ordering the product at a higher rate than Left 4 Dead 1 owners who weren't in the Boycott".[43]
Cover art
The UK version of the box art shows the fingers pointing away to avoid offence.
Racism accusations
Willie Jefferson of the Houston Chronicle, after seeing initial promotional material for the game, considered that several of the infected "appear to be African-Americans" implying a racist approach to the game, and also noted that "setting the game in a city that was a scene of dead, bloated bodies floating by" some years after the impact of Hurricane Katrina was "a bad call".[46] Faliszek, commenting on Jefferson's claims, considered the supposition to be "utter insanity", and commented that the infected are a mix of all races, and that the game's version of New Orleans is "not a brick-for-brick representation" of the city and were not trying to make any statement about it with the game.[47][48] Kotaku considered that "Jefferson's seemed to me to be picking a fight where none exists."[49] Others noted that the appearance of African-American infected simply reflected the racial diversity of New Orleans.[50]Australian ban
See also: Classification of video games by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification
Left 4 Dead 2 was refused classification in Australia by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). It failed to gain a MA15+ rating, the highest possible rating for video games, thus preventing the sale of the game within the country.[7] In its report, the OFLC cited the reason for refusing classification as "The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play."[51] However, a small number of members of the OFLC board believed the game could merit the MA15+ rating which was used to publish the first Left 4 Dead. It is expected that changes could be made to the game, as had to be done with Fallout 3, to allow the game to be classified as MA15+ and thus sold in Australia.[52] Both Lombardi and Newell were "surprised" by the classification refusal.[53][54] Valve appealed the OFLC's decision about a week after being notified of the ruling, comparing the sequel to its predecessor, which had been classified as MA15+, and the mature ratings the sequel had received from similar rating organizations around the world.[55] However, as the appeal process, expected to end on October 22, was close to the planned release date, Valve had also submitted a modified version of the game for classification addressing the concerns the OFLC has stated.[54] This version, which no longer contained images of "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies", has been classified as MA15+ by the OFLC, thus allowing for the game's release in Australia, though Valve and Electronic Arts still hoped to have their preferred, unmodified version classified by the OFLC for release.[56] The appeal of the decision to deny classification to the unedited version of the game was conducted by the independent Classification Review Board, and resulted in the previous ruling to deny classification being sustained. The Classification Review Board cited "insufficient delineation between the depiction of zombie characters and the human figures" as one of the key factors in its classification refusal.[57] Left 4 Dead 2's classification refusal has reignited debate over the current prohibition of sale and exhibition of video games which the government deems inappropriate for fifteen-year-old children. Video games in Australia may not be sold or shown to the public without a government-determined content rating. Unlike film and other media in Australia which have ratings for mature content, the most permissive video game content rating is for works suitable for fifteen-year-old children- no ratings for adult or late teen consumers exist. Consequently, video games may not be sold or shown in Australia if they are not government-approved for fifteen-year-old children, making video games subject to bans and censorship not imposed on other media such as film, books, and music.• OS: Windows Vista, XP or 2000
• CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2GB for Vista
• DISC DRIVE: DVD-ROM Drive
• HARD DRIVE: At least 7.5 GB of free space
• VIDEO: Direct X 9 compatible video card (Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0)
• SOUND: Direct X9.0c compatible sound card
LEFT 4 DEAD 2 TRAILER
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 89 (Xbox 360 and PC)[74][75] |
| Metacritic | 89 (PC and Xbox 360)[76] [77] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 9/10 |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | A- A A+ [78] |
| Eurogamer | 9/10[79] |
| Famitsu | 35/40[80] |
| Game Informer | 9.25/10 |
| GameSpot | 8.5/10[25] |
| GameSpy | 4.5/5[81] |
| IGN | 9.0/10[82] |
| Official Xbox Magazine | 9.5/10 |
| PC Gamer UK | 93%[83] |
| TeamXbox | 9.1/10[84] |
| X-Play | 5/5[85] |
| Giant Bomb | 4/5 |
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