[comments] Left 4 Dead

[charlesr]

Left 4 Dead review

Thanks to Jamie for the banner and words.

[Stormtec]

I'm not outright opposing anything in this review, but I'd like to see a quote of Valve's admission that the vs. mode is unbalanced. Not that I don't believe they said that, but I want to examine the context. I.e. vs. mode's intentional imbalance, or broken imbalance. Hope that made sense XD

[Hohum]

I really can't remember where I came across that quote about versus balancing... might have heard it on a podcast?

Couple of things to fix though, being the awkward chap I am - you have developer as 'Valce' in the summary box, and instances of 'hoard' when it should be 'horde'.

[charlesr]

Ah thanks for that. Most of the staff now sacked (including myself).

Clarified the "admission" bit. They kind of admit it in the commentary apparantly.

[MJ]

I thought the Versus unbalanced thing was mentioned in the game's in-game commentary track.

[egparadigm]

instances of 'hoard' when it should be 'horde'.

I shall have to remember that one. *Commits to memory*

[MrMarbles]

There's a fair/fare mix-up hidden somewhere in there too

As for Versus being a nice addition than a must-play, that's where I feel inclined to disagree with the reviewer: in my opinion it's the Versus mode that gives this game its daddy-longevity legs. Playing as the Survivors starts to become more and more satisfying when you outwit the Infected as you know that you're up against human intelligence; meanwhile, playing/griefing as the Infected is simply the most fun any game has provided in recent memory.

There's nothing more satisfying than ambushing the survivors just as they leave the safe room so that they only get 2 points

I'd say that I've put at least 70% of the 40+ hours I've played so far into Versus Mode.

Balanced or not, when people aren't cheating it's almost always the better, most organised team who wins.

[egparadigm]

There's a fair/fare mix-up hidden somewhere in there too

Egads! It's always the homophones that get me.

[MattyD]

I'm not outright opposing anything in this review, but I'd like to see a quote of Valve's admission that the vs. mode is unbalanced. Not that I don't believe they said that, but I want to examine the context. I.e. vs. mode's intentional imbalance, or broken imbalance. Hope that made sense XD

It's in the Director's Commentary. Without saying in as many words they basically admit that despite heavy play-testing they just couldn't make the game 'balanced' and so decided to concentrate on the main co-op game. That's why only two of the movies are available in VS - they only left it in for a bit of fun.

[Brats]

The balance comment from Valve is wierd, because the game swaps over. The whole point is to last longer as the Survivors than the opposing team did.

It's like saying a penalty shoot out in Football isn't balanced - the striker has a clear advantage over the goal keeper. It doesn't matter though as both teams get an equal number of shots at goal.

[Hohum]

Yeah, but some situations aren't always fair. For example, the survivor team might have a witch that can easily be avoided, whilst on the next round it could be blocking a essential doorway for the other team. Also, one team may get a tank to attack the survivors with on their round, but the other team doesn't... etc.

[MattyD]

IIRC it wasn't just mechanical balance and 'fairness' that concerned them but the fact that they and their playtesters didn't much enjoy playing the survivors since it seems like you're just getting constantly trolled. I'm sure they mention that 'changing ends' was only added because otherwise nobody would want to play the survivors, and anyone who's played much VS will know that's turned out to be true. Whenever I start a lobby with some friends we always have to set ourselves to Survivors or people will just leave the lobby as soon as they enter. Personally I think it's a great challenge for high-tier players even if it does make the Infected slightly more predictable than when the AI Director is spawning them.

In any case, everyone should really listen to the commentary for themselves. They explain all this much better and it's also really interesting in its own right.

[Stormtec]

I have listened to the commentary ages ago, but I can't really remember whereabouts they say that. I don't doubt they do mention it though, I just can't be arsed to go back and go through the whole commentary again, however interesting I find it XD