Left 4 Dead 2 is released on November 17, 2009
Original post made by Eliteguy from Facepunch, edited by Keychain
E3 Trailer
Zombie Survival Guide Trailer
Gamestop Commercial
TV Spot 2
Interviews
Screwattack Impressions
Comic-Con 2009
Gamespot
MMA Fighter Nate Quarry
Hard Rain Interview
General Information
• Left 4 Dead will be Steam/PC-DVD/Xbox 360 exclusive.
• Engine: Source (Possibly new features?)
• Publisher: Electronic Arts
New Features
• Left 4 Dead 2 will feature 5 new campaigns taking place in the deep south of the United States
• New survivors. New weapons. New infected. New locations.
• Five expansive campaigns for co-operative, Versus and Survival game modes.
-The Parish
Stop the Alarm
Car Alarms
Frying Pan
Axe Ownage
-Swamp Fever
Swamp
Shanty Town
Comic-Con Footage
-Dark Carnival
Campaign Start
Baseball Bat
Carnival Gates
Hotel and Guitar
Highway Fire Katana
-Dead Center
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
-Hard Rain
Beginning
On The Rooftops
Garage Sale
Into the Cane Fields
Enter the Sugar Mill
• An all new multiplayer mode.
• Uncommon common infected. Each of the five new campaigns contains at least one new “uncommon common” zombies which are exclusive to that campaign.
• AI Director 2.0: Advanced technology dubbed “The AI Director” drove L4D's unique gameplay – customizing enemy population, effects, and music, based upon the players’ performance. L4D 2 features “The AI Director 2.0” which expands the Director’s ability to customize level layout, world objects, weather, and lighting to reflect different times of day.
• Stats, rankings, and awards system drives collaborative play
Characters:• Over 20 new weapons & items headlined by over 10 melee weapons – axe, chainsaw, frying pan, baseball bat – allow you to get up close with the zombies. Including:
Pistols:
Sig Sauer P220
Glock 17
Magnum Pistol (Deagle)
Machine Guns:
Silenced MAC-10
FN SCAR
AK-47
Shotguns:
Pump Shotgun (Possibly a Mossber 500)
SPAS-12
Sniper Rifle:
H&K G3/HK31SG1 (Current gun is unknown, both are assumed)
Misc:
Grenade Launcher
Adrenaline
Defibrillator (While not much is known about this item, it's confirmed.)
Ammo packs
Incendiary Ammo
Explosive Ammo
Laser Sights
Heavy Machine Gun:
Unlike the previous gatling gun in L4D1, this mounted gun is apparently 'better' but has limited ammo.
Unconfirmed Weapons:
At least two more ranged weapons are known: one will be a powerful revolver, and another will be a bolt-action carbine that may be a Level 1 version of the hunting rifle.
Melee Weapons:
Baseball Bat
Cricket Bat
Crowbar
Electric Guitar
Fire Axe/Hatchet
Frying Pan
Katana
Machete
Police Baton
Chainsaw
Coach:
Rochelle:A high school defensive coordinator and health teacher with dreams of coaching professional football. In college, Coach played with the intention of going pro until he had a career-ending knee injury. He’s from the Savannah, GA area, and is used to handling (living) kids and parents.
Coach wears a short-sleeved polymer sports polo that is yellow, white, and turquoise—most likely to match his school’s colors. He also wears khakis, white wristbands, a chrome whistle, a black belt, black shoes, and black weight-lifting gloves. Coach is overweight, and his rotund model sometimes clips weapon stocks.
Coach’s booming voice is brought to you by Chad Coleman, who plays Denise “Cutty” Wise from the TV series “The Wire”. His mildly scornful personality and patronizing voice lines seem to be a reflection of the paternal nature of his job, his interest in sports, and his religious leanings.
Ellis:A tough-as-nails northerner from Cleveland. After graduating from Cleveland State with a degree in communications, Rochelle pursued a career as an on-air news personality, but only managed to find work as an associate producer/intern. Two months later, after an outbreak hit Atlanta, Rochelle got her big break and was sent to the evacuation center in Savannah to produce her first big segment. If only she’d known that her biggest break would be out to kill her.
Rochelle wears an orange babydoll T-shirt, a thin brown over-the-shirt belt, and tight blue jeans. Her shirt differs in color from what she wears in the campaign poster.
Rochelle is voiced by Rochelle Aytes, an actress whose repertoire includes “White Chicks” and “Madea’s Family Reunion”. She appears to be strong-willed and can be somewhat indignant.
Nick:A smart, fun-loving, beer-loving, goofiness-loving mechanic with Southern flare. After finishing high school, he spurned thoughts of college, choosing instead to pursue his passion of working on cars. Ellis’ youthful exuberance and carefree nature allow him to remain upbeat even in the most dire of situations.
Ellis wears a gray-and-white work shirt. Two crossed black-and-white checkered flags and the words “J.B.’s Auto Service” are printed on the back. Ellis also wears a matching gray-and-white baseball cap with webbing in back, work boots, and a tan jumpsuit with the top half gathered around his waist.
Ellis’ voice actor is Eric Ladin from “Generation Kill”, who voices the role with a moderate Southern accent. Ellis is the most helpful and good-natured of the group, and even his most aggressive lines only reach the point of humorous indignation. At the end of The Parish, Ellis utters the line every player has yelled into the mic at end of No Mercy at one point or another. You know which one.
A line we’ve heard Ellis say is that he loves horses. This makes us wonder if he’s the anti-Francis, dialogue-wise.
Infected:A gambler, petty conman, and consummate picaresque in a purportedly expensive white suit. Nick hails from the Midwest, but he’s a vagabond by nature, moving from place to place without settling down. He’s the most cynical and bitter of the Survivors, and is still trying to figure out the best angle on the recent upturn in the brain-eating market. Over time, he begins to trust and value his new compatriots.
Nick is voiced by Hugh Dillon, an actor from “Flashpoint” on CBS. As mentioned earlier, he’s the most cynical and distant of the Survivors. One of the lines Nick can be heard saying is “You’re going to shoot the guy in the $10,000 suit? Come on!” This is likely an allusion to Arrested Development, where Gob has an obsession with the ever-varying price of his suits. There may be multiple unique variations of this line, each with a different price degree of emphasis.
• All new gore system
• Common InfectedThe gore system in Left 4 Dead 2 has been completely revamped to be much more viceral. In Left 4 Dead, you can destroy or dismember a complete arm, leg, or head. Body shots resulted in a bloody spot. In Left 4 Dead 2, location damage is much more complex. You can blast away just a part of the head, punch holes to reveal bowels, or hit more…vital locations. Some shots can blow away significant portions of the chest.
While much of this is superficial, it subtly changes gameplay. Unlike before, shearing a limb off may not kill a zombie immediately. It will die soon, but it may have enough time to attack you a few times before it collapses. Chet called this “gibbing” and had this to say: “You can shoot off a chunk of his stomach, you can shoot off an arm—you can have a guy with both arms shot off still running at you. He’s going to die soon, but he’s got a little momentum."
Gibbing will affect Special Infected to some degree. For instance, since Tanks do not have an external HP meter, Survivors may be able to determine roughly how much damage he has sustained by looking at how much gibbing has taken place.
Pipebombs no longer simply vaporize Common Infected. Instead, they turn the zombies into ragdolls, expelling them dramatically. Some zombies will remain whole while others may be torn asunder. See an animation here. There will also be more significant blood splattering effects. Certain kills will cover nearby Survivors in blood, which sometimes lingers on them.
• Uncommon Common InfectedCommon Infected similar to those in the first game will populate the game, with some differences. Superficially, the clothing the zombies wear has changed to be more in line with Southern sensibilities. In addition, zombies may now have a range of different skin tones and sport new glowing eyes. Chet has said that Common Infected will not be able to see as far in daylight.
On the less superficial side, Common Infected will now be more numerous. In Left 4 Dead, the average number of zombie deaths over the course of a co-op campaign might have been somewhere around 1000. In Left 4 Dead 2, the average body count will be closer to 2000. This is both due to higher densities and longer campaigns.
Common Infected will also be harder to kill. The “gibbing” mechanic mentioned earlier is an example of this. It’s not clear what other game mechanics will affect CI hardiness.
• Special InfectedA new type of Infected, called Uncommon Common Infected (UCI), will be mixed in with Common Infected. These UCI each have a special perk or ability. Each campaign will have at least one type of UCI, and some UCI may be unique to one campaign. UCI are (most likely) not playable in any game mode.
Currently, the only known UCI are the “hazmat” zombies, who wear environmental suits that make them immune to all incendiary attacks (e.g. Molotovs and incendiary bullets). They can be white, yellow, or green. These zombies were formerly CEDA agents involved in the containment and evacuation operation, but the suits failed to protect them from the infection for some reason. Chet has said that the hazmat zombies will be unique to The Parish, and that there will be one area “full” of them. In the Swamp fever campaign, the uncommon infected are called mud-men because they crawl in the muck and jump up at you and blind you with mud.
- The WitchThe original five Special Infected—Boomers, Hunters, Smokers, Tanks, and Witches—all make an appearance in the existing gameplay videos, and will be retained in Left 4 Dead 2. At least the Hunter, Smoker, and Boomer have some new sounds, although we don’t know how much of their repertoire has been re-recorded. These Special Infected will also have slightly different abilities. According to Chet, they’re “going to have variations in boss infected, where a Smoker or a Boomer has mutated, and has slightly different abilities." It’s not clear exactly what this means. It could mean that Smokers in L4D2 all have a different set of abilities compared to L4D1; it could mean that each Smoker you see in L4D2 has a chance of being unique from the previous one; or it could mean a number of other things.
In addition to the original five Special Infected, there will be three new Special Infected that may also be part of the Versus lineup.
- The ChargerThe Witch will behave differently during daytime. Instead of sitting, she will stand and wander around, making her much more difficult to crown. She may also turn around randomly. This has led some to call her the “Wandering Witch”. There are some indications that the warning signs for the Witch will also be less perceptible in the daytime. It appears that she doesn’t startle much easier (if at all easier) when standing. Gameplay footage shows the Witch sitting down in daylight. This might be due to her position in the shade or because she got lazy.
- The SpitterThe Charger has been described as a “one-armed ram on Crystal Meth”. Extreme speed is the Charger’s main strength. He is designed to defeat camping tactics by rushing Survivors who have packed themselves into a tight group. After preparing his charging attack (much like a Hunter prepares a pounce), he can rush Survivors like a bull, knocking them over in a line. The Charger picks up the last person he encounters, slamming him against the ground repeatedly (and disabling him). He appears to be able to scale walls very quickly, though his pathing is still buggy.
The Charger is a sort of half-Tank. While not quite as hulking as a Tank, he has an enlarged torso and right arm and an abnormally shaped head. His left arm is shriveled and hangs oddly off the side of his hunched back. He wears a pair of overalls that have slightly burst due to his malformations. Here’s a view from the back.
Some sources say the Charger has 500 HP, but based on gameplay footage, he may be able to absorb up to 1500 HP from the front (on Normal), possibly due to location-specific damage mitigation (armor). He is immune to bashing. While his charge has an area effect, his slamming attack does not appear to have any AOE or cleaving effects. The Charger is primarily designed to disperse Survivors and defeat camping tactics, and as such, he’s weaker against Survivors who are spread out. He also has trouble turning (and possibly stopping), and it may be possible to dodge him or trick him into falling off a precipice.
The Charger has a distinct long, medium-pitched bellow, but some accounts claim that he has few obvious warning signs, so he may surprise the group from its flanks. The Charger can spawn multiple times per chapter, and can spawn at the same time as a Tank. He is already playable in Versus, and will be added to the standard lineup. It’s not clear how often he will spawn or if multiple Chargers can exist simultaneously.
- The JockeyThe second new Special Infected released by Valve is the aptly named Spitter, who makes the Witch look like Keira Knightley. The main purpose of the Spitter is to force Survivors to move out of tight spaces or to take damage when they are unable to move (e.g. resuscitating downed Survivors) or being knocked around by CI. The Spitter is only visible a few times in existing gameplay. She will be playable in Versus.
The Spitter shoots a projectile, creating a lingering cloud of acid that does damage over time, perhaps starting at around 5 damage/second on Normal. Based on current gameplay, she appears to have a range similar to a Smoker’s range. When the spit first hits a flat surface, it spreads into a yellow surface mist that soon turns to a deep red. The changing color might correspond with an increase in damage taken per second. The surface mist also emits a tall cloud of orange smoke.
The spit itself might take some time to fully deploy, similar to a Boomer’s bile. Footage from early on shows the spitas a green blob, but some recent sources indicate that the attack looks like a faint red trail.
Gameplay ChangesThis is quite possibly the most sadistic Special Infected to date. The role of the Jockey is to create mayhem and wreak undying havoc on stragglers by jumping onto Survivors’ backs and steering them around, much like its namesake. This allows the Jockey to steer them into Witches, back towards the start, over cliffs, into women’s bathrooms, and so on.
The Jockey leaps around, much like a frog. Once it encounters a Survivor, it jumps on his back and starts to steer him. Survivors who are disabled are unable to attack. They have very slight control, but the Jockey will have the lion’s share of control over movement. Other Survivors can knock him off with a bash or by shooting him. We don’t know if Survivors take friendly fire damage while disabled. Once a Survivor is incapacitated, the Jockey automatically jumps off, but may continue clawing the Survivor.
• Doug has said that first aid kits will not always be available in safe rooms. For instance, it appears that health kits are not in the first safe room in The Parish. Placing them outside (e.g. in ambulances) is meant to encourage more strategic play. Chet has mentioned that Survivors may be able to “double up” on incapacitated teammates to revive them faster.
• The original AI Director was a heuristic script that changed item/Infected spawn locations and music to vary the intensity of the game. In Left 4 Dead 2, the new-and-improved AI Director 2.0 will have even more control. In addition to spawning and music, the AID2 will be able to control weather conditions and even the physical layout of some parts of the map. By rearranging obstacles, it can make effecting escape more difficult for Survivors doing well. Currently, the objects and locations we know the AID can rearrange are the hedges in the garden maze (Jackson Square in The Parish 2), the crypts of the cemetery, and the cars in the impound lot. Chet has mentioned that the Gauntlet should also have dynamic pathing. We don’t know if the AID picks from pre-fabricated routes or if it has a pseudorandom algorithm for arranging them.
The AID2 can also control weather and other effects to completely customize the experience. This is especially true for the third campaign, which takes place in a marsh-like area. A lot of the map will be relatively open, so to make things more difficult, the Director can suddenly bring a harsh downpour that severely limits visibility, making it almost impossible to spot Infected and even teammates. Outlines won’t appear in the rain. According to Chet, “We’re giving it control over the weather now. Now you go from [a sunny day] to holy crap man, I can’t see anyone around me. It’s like the Blood Harvest cornfield, right.”
• Valve has added a two-objective crescendo, which we will call the “rolling crescendo”. In this, Survivors start the crescendo event at one end of an area, but must blast and bash their way through obstacles to get to the other side of the area to turn off whatever is bringing the hordes. In The Parish 2, the CEDA muster area is the first known example of a rolling crescendo. Survivors must reach a tower to turn off an alarm to stop the hordes and the open the doors to the next area.
This is designed to thwart any camping or stacking strategies. Chet has specifically said that the highest priority for the L4D2 team thus far has been counteracting camping, saying that it “sucks that the best way to play the game isn’t the funnest.” New crescendos are one way of dealing with this.
Another new type of crescendo-like event occurs at the impound lot. Practically every car in this lot has an active alarm, making it an extremely precarious place to be. While it doesn’t appear that there is any particular trigger in this case, the impound lot can suddenly become more intense than a crescendo with a few stray bullets.
It appears that the original style of crescendo will still be included in the game. The part of The Parish that involves the float is an example.
• As seen in gameplay footage, there will be melee fatigue in Campaign mode.
-Scavenge Mode
http://www.destructoid.com/-scavenge-mu ... 1332.phtml
VictoryAt a hands-on event in San Francisco tonight, Valve pulled the covers off of a new competitive multiplayer mode that will appear in Left 4 Dead 2 -- "Scavenge."
This new mode (designed to be shorter than the traditional competitive) has four survivors fighting to find 16 gas cans across the game map. Using the cans, the goal is to fill up a generator to win the match. Split up over six rounds (three per team), each starts with 120 seconds; each gas can will add an additional 20 seconds to the overall time. If time runs out, yet one survivor is still holding a gas can, the game will go into overtime until the generator is up and running or an infected knocks it from their hands.
On the opposing team will be the Infected, who are doing everything they can to feast on human flesh and (of course) stop the survivors from restarting the generator. Not only can infected knock the gas cans from the hands of the survivors, but special infected like the "The Spitter" can light the cans on fire with its phlegm. Survivors must also watch their fire -- one stray bullet can set the can on fire as well.
Valve are planning to ship Left 4 Dead 2 with six maps for "Scavenge" mode, each reconfigured maps from the game's campaign. "Motel" is one such area, and Hamza "The Shark" Aziz is going hands on with it as I type. Details, impressions, and more soon... if he survives.
Brief Victory
Scavenge Katana
Scavenge Jockey
The Parish
Swamp Fever
To Have Counter-Strike Weapons
Let's talk about how awesome this game will be, sha'll we?[/url][/url]
