Posted by Adam on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Valve announced today at E3 that Left 4 Dead 2 would be released this fall. Coming to PC and Xbox 360 L4D2 will feature new weapons including melee weapons such as a chainsaw, axe, baseball bat, and frying pan, 5 new campaigns, a new game mode, 4 new Survivors and a new Special Infected, along with updates to the AI Director and more.
L4D is one of my favorite games, and it definitely needs more content, but I’m not sure I would pay $50 for what seems to be nothing more than an expansion pack at most. The thing that worries me the most is that this just might divide the L4D community if the sequel is not compatible with the original for online play. It’s also surprising that Valve would release this as a new game instead of updates like they have done with TF2, especially considering that TF2 sales increase after every update. TF2 has added 14 new maps, plus modified some for new game modes, 18 new weapons, new hats, and still more to come. Going off what has been revealed about L4D2 it just doesn’t seem to measure up.
Below is the press release from Valve announcing Left 4 Dead 2
June 1, 2009 – Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), the sequel to the best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller.
Coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 promises to set a new benchmark for co-operative action games and become one of 2009’s marquee titles.
“A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008’s top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.”
Set for release on November 17, the title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more.
Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D’s dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players’ performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.
Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.
Supported by a $10+ million marketing campaign, Left 4 Dead has sold over 2.5 million retail copies since it was released in November of 2008. Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009, and will be launched worldwide with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign across TV, Outdoor, and Online.
“Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original.”
Left 4 Dead 2 will be featured as the cover story on PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazines this month.