Left 4 Dead 2

[Stormtec]

They are going to continue to support the first game alongside this one. They're not going to just abandon the first game, so says Chet Faliszek in the podcast interview I linked earlier.

Interested people should really give it a listen. He talks about some some interesting stuff about the game.

[SuperBeatBoy]

Am i the only one that thinks that it is way too soon for a sequel. Why don't they just focus on what they have already, but judging from previous valve announcements we probably won't see it till 2020.

Heres hoping Valve show off episode 3 during the remainder of E3.

[C']

I think this was the biggest genuine surprise at E3's conference.

No one was talking about it. The trailer wasn't leaked onto Youtube a week ago. No "celebrity" forgot they were NDA and posted on their Twitter that they just got back from doing a voice over for "some Zombie game from Valve".

Just a truly surprising announcement and I credit MS for that.

[merf]

this is totally out of leftfield, wasn't expecting this at all.

I'll put some trust in Valve here and believe that the 'director 2' will allow them to do things not possible in straight dlc for the first.

they could go some way to redressing peoples feelings about being a bit short sold on the first by including all the original levels with the new features

[spagmasterswift]

I hope they drop certain elements (like new melee weapons) into the original movies leading up to the release. Louis wants to cave in some heads with a skillet.

Can't wait to watch the movies when I get in. Best thing to come out of the conf and as C' says, a great suprise!

[abigsmurf]

I think this announcement has backfired slightly for them. It feels too soon for lots of people and there's going to be a good number of people feeling like they're paying full price for a full content pack.

They should've waiting before unveiling this and made it clear it's worthy of a full new game.

[ExtremePabs]

The first is excellent but the timings bad I agree. Probably still buy it though.

[Matt]

Mixed feelings here. A genuine surprise, it's very un-Valve like to milk a franchise. I genuinely don't like the trend of yearly updates for any title a company feels it can get away with. I felt the first title had a real lack of content as it was. Hoping this won't be a full price title.

On the other hand, the first game had plent of room for improvement. Despite the grief the fanbase gave me in the First Play Thread, I stand by my statements that a more interactive environment would make this more fun. So hopefully that will make it. Imagine pushing a car down hill, it hitting zombies and acting as cover along the way. If everything behaved realistically like that, the game would open up immensely. Strategy, and creative ways to kill the horde. Shooting a fire extinguisher in a narrow corridor, it pings around the floor, knocking over zombies. Would be hilarious

And maybe they've given the engine a much needed update so all survivor lights work

[Dezm0nd]

Milk a franchise by having a 2nd game? Valve aren't milking by putting L4D 2 on a disc. It may seem soon but thats because Valves games have legs whereas most games dont, therefore we notice it much more here..

it was a surprise and a ****ing awesome surprise, bring 'em on

There are by far worse offenders out there, and if this turns out to be a yearly thing, is that a bad thing for L4D?

[merf]

the point about Valve games having legs is a good one, is part of the 'backlash', if you can call it that, against this because so many people are still playing and loving the original ?

I still fire it up all the time, whcih can't be said for any other games I bought last November (apart from pro-evo & animal crossing)

[abigsmurf]

It's a pretty bad thing for online gaming as different versions of games are incompatible. If you want to keep playing on populated servers, you need to keep updating.

It's one of the problems with UT. Lots of people still play the classic version (facing worlds on UT classic is still brilliant fun) but you then had 2K1 2K4 and 2K7 (although I believe they provided a free upgrade for one of them)

[Asholay]

How are people having a go at Valve for this.... crazy????

Cannot wait for this - and I agree a bit with Chain, would be great to see more interaction with the scenery on this, although would it pre-occupy players from the raw shooter that L4D is? Why make a simple game more complicated than it needs to be?

[Richard.John]

It's really just a case of reboot, surely. Melee weapons should have made it into the first game anyway. I am amazed that they didn't add baseball bats or knives into L4D. The chainsaw in the sequel will be fun.

[Matt]

Cannot wait for this - and I agree a bit with Chain, would be great to see more interaction with the scenery on this, although would it pre-occupy players from the raw shooter that L4D is? Why make a simple game more complicated than it needs to be?

A valid point. Then again, if this is full retail, is another 4 maps enough to warrant the price without a big change?

How I see it, is any added interaction would be voluntary, opening up new emergent gameplay. You wouldn't have to do it, but it's there if you want. Would add some nice random moments

Besides, Valve do seem to be making it more complex - more melee weapons, ammo types, etc.

[FelixofMars]

Not really bothered about this, too soon and I am not convinced that the first one provided enough content. especially as they had to patch back in the last two campaigns as Vs and then off new free maps (that where then tiny and based off the levels anyway)

I demand more bang for buck and less annoyance with the difficulty.