Left 4 Dead Demo Impressions (with SS's)

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What is broken about the mp?

The Multiplayer is the biggest deciding factor whether I buy this game.

Valve's multiplayer work usually is hundreds of hours of fun before getting boring in most of their games. Is L4D an exception?
 
Like I posted in another thread, I think this is the logic they had going into this demo:

Release the demo early to those who already bought the game, in order to get all the major bugs and issues worked out. Then release the real demo to everyone in order to get them to buy.

They already said they are working on the multiplayer and server browser issues. I think they'll get it all sorted out shortly.
 
I'm playing with 1680x1050 - max graphics and my fps is in the 40s. They need to make the zombies move more if they get shot.

The "Zerg" swarming gets repetitive. How about some sneaking behind zombies besides the bosses.
 
I played for a couple hours last night and believe the replayability is pretty good, especially given that it's just 2 of the 20 maps they are releasing and no playing as boss zombies yet.

Bosses are in different places, the inevitable rush comes at different times and different directions, etc. Sometimes coming out of the alley they come swarming over the fence to the left, sometimes almost none around, sometimes a lot but scattered, sometimes come from the windows and alleys farther out, etc.

I tried to take on that witch once that didn't work out too well for me even though I pretty much sodomized her with a grenade to get her attention. I think I failed because as I was backing away firing I got stuck against the train car and my mates were up on the deck.

They've already done two patches to it and I saw one had the fix list of improving MP so hopefully they'll get that pinned down before final release.
 
I wish that there weren't those, how should I say it, those 'inconsequential' zombies in the distance that I can just pick off and they never come for me.

Easy move on valve's part, if a zombie is in view distance, they should either rush, or hide, but not just sit there. But as of now a lot of the time I feel like I'm hunting deer, lol. When it should be the other way around. zombies should either be attacking me, or getting ready to ambush me.
 
Agreed. If a car alarm can bring in hordes to it's source so should a gunshot.

A good rule should be once a gun is shot anything in that area that can see you charges. Hell it might even make for some interesting gameplay tactics where you want to take out a zombie by beating it to death as to not bring out the rest before you can get where you want to go.
 
Yeah I agree as well. I think any sound you make louder than a can falling of a table they should be trying to find you. I also have been reading that as you progress through the game it gets much harder. AI is more agressive and smarter.BTW, when you get a dumbass on your team, its not all that bad of a thing. That dumbass asked for help...we Left him 4 Dead.
 
Played a couple hours last night and had a blast. I expect the retail game to get MUCH better when we go from one map with two stages to twenty maps with five stages each. Not to mention how hectic it's going to be when we can play as the zombies. I see this game being fun for many years to come. I wanna play a hunter now!
 
If you're looking for a server to play on you can use mine: 8.12.21.20:27015

It's a hosted dedicated server. To get to it open the console and type 'openserverbrowser'
 
I really enjoyed the demo. No hitches or graphical issues. I haven't had time to try MP however. I'm looking forward to playing it this weekend. :)
 
play on expert, and play several times, the ai director changes thinhgs up, its cool. lots of fun, needs many improvements, I can see it being perfected in the next few months. Full release will be fun with all the new maps!
 
Expert mode is fucking brutal :D

We barely made it alive through the 1st stage and got our asses kicked every time in the 2nd part
 
Subway on expert is fucking great
We never made it really far, but its seriously fun

Can't wait for full release
 
First and foremost to all those complaining already: WOW! Shut up!

Its is just the demo. Multiplayer is not broken, it is not even active yet! Co-Op Campaign IS the multi for the demo. Please do not complain about the difficulty, turn it up to expert and then post here. The graphics are good for the source/orange box engine! Zombies/Infected are not broken either lol, they are undead/infected they are not all going to act the same and be the "ideal" zombeh of your dreams...what else can you guys complain about!!?! (crap shouldn't have said that lol)...k done with short rant. :D

To be frank, I love the game. I downloaded it last night and fell asleep sadly before I could play it. I did play it this morning and it was so much fun! I could not understand why there were guys playing that did not understand that if you go out all rambo you will DIE. It was funny watching them die but annoying as hell lol. I finally realized that you had to up the difficulty to find the "better" players (just generalizing my experience, dont mean to offend...that much). Once it was on expert, oh boy was it hectic!!! The AI director really lived up to what it was supposed to do!
Potential Spoiler: Right as you walked down the stairs at the beginning in the second room to the left I was covering my squads six. As they cleared the other rooms all of a sudden the whole damn wall busted open and I was completely surrounded by Infected!! I had played it nearly 5 times and never saw that happen! It was GREAT!!! We were all screaming!! Haha

Playing on a dedicated server with four players who actually understood the term "teamwork," (aside from those who never played and wanted to explore :p) made it a totally different ballgame!
 
Played it today.

It's pretty average. It's laughably easy on anything but the highest difficulty, and the supposed dynamic spawning thing by the "game director" apparently doesn't work, since I've played through it about five times now with no variation in the zombie locations. The guns and meds alternated from one table to another, but that was it. All that changes are where molotovs spawn.
 
I was thinking about pre-ordering this game and after seeing the screenshots I'm happy I didn't. Unless the full game has a gfx update I'll probably pass on this one. It reminds me of F.E.A.R. which came out around 2-3 years ago...
 
RX3 said:
First and foremost to all those complaining already: WOW! Shut up!

Its is just the demo. Multiplayer is not broken, it is not even active yet! Co-Op Campaign IS the multi for the demo. Please do not complain about the difficulty, turn it up to expert and then post here. The graphics are good for the source/orange box engine! Zombies/Infected are not broken either lol, they are undead/infected they are not all going to act the same and be the "ideal" zombeh of your dreams...what else can you guys complain about!!?! (crap shouldn't have said that lol)...k done with short rant. :D

To be frank, I love the game. I downloaded it last night and fell asleep sadly before I could play it. I did play it this morning and it was so much fun! I could not understand why there were guys playing that did not understand that if you go out all rambo you will DIE. It was funny watching them die but annoying as hell lol. I finally realized that you had to up the difficulty to find the "better" players (just generalizing my experience, dont mean to offend...that much). Once it was on expert, oh boy was it hectic!!! The AI director really lived up to what it was supposed to do!
Potential Spoiler: Right as you walked down the stairs at the beginning in the second room to the left I was covering my squads six. As they cleared the other rooms all of a sudden the whole damn wall busted open and I was completely surrounded by Infected!! I had played it nearly 5 times and never saw that happen! It was GREAT!!! We were all screaming!! Haha

Playing on a dedicated server with four players who actually understood the term "teamwork," (aside from those who never played and wanted to explore :p) made it a totally different ballgame!
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sounds really dynamic and awesome!!! keep the short sweet reviews coming!! :)
 
Normal is just too easy IMO. Expert is about right, made it through with 3 of us and one NPC in about 40 minutes with 4 deaths. Really really fun :D

My only issue though, when you mouse over Create Room or lobby if you read the sub text there is a rather blatant grammar error lol.
 
guitarguy6 said:
I was thinking about pre-ordering this game and after seeing the screenshots I'm happy I didn't. Unless the full game has a gfx update I'll probably pass on this one. It reminds me of F.E.A.R. which came out around 2-3 years ago...
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Really?
 
Absolutely fantastic. I can't believe how fun this game is. The demo is like two short sections but I have played it like a dozen times and it is fun everytime. Also, it feels different everytime. I think the game randomizes enemy spawns so it is always different.

If the demo is this fun the full game is going to be simply epic. I have had more fun goofing around with this demo than the full version of Crysis Wars. Valve may have topped themselves.

They aren't pushing any envelopes technically but the core gameplay and atmosphere is so good it doesn't really matter. I can't remember the last time I played a DEMO this many times. It is just nonstop, campy, gratuitious zomby killing. It is almost like one of those old arcade light gun shooters where you have to just mow down waves of zombies.

This is like Half-Life's sadistic, horror movie obsessed, nosepicking cousin--in the best way of course.

It is really buggy but it is Valve--they will polish this until it glows. They aren't reinventing the wheel here but I do think they have something unique here.
 
I get the feeling that this is a game we'll play a lot for a month or so after getting it and then never touch it. I just can't see how it can continue to be fun. I've played it five times now and at no point have I felt any suspense or apprehension. We're just running through mowing down brain-deads. Even on expert. It's not going to last, unless they have about two hundred different levels.

You know what? Fuck it, I'll FRAPS a video of a run through and just watch it over and over. I've got a free afternoon.
 
Wally said:
I get the feeling that this is a game we'll play a lot for a month or so after getting it and then never touch it. I just can't see how it can continue to be fun. I've played it five times now and at no point have I felt any suspense or apprehension. We're just running through mowing down brain-deads. Even on expert. It's not going to last, unless they have about two hundred different levels.
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Ya thats how I feel, I did the same thing with TF2
 
I just played, deciding to take a big FRAPS. The sound didn't record, which was a shame, because my team was one useless silent guy and two nasal American teenagers, one of whom was instructing us when to turn our torches off, turn them on, use medkits, pills, shoot, fucking everything. Officious little twerp. We need some sort of screening process to determine who's allowed to use microphones.
 
Wally said:
Played it today.

It's pretty average. It's laughably easy on anything but the highest difficulty, and the supposed dynamic spawning thing by the "game director" apparently doesn't work, since I've played through it about five times now with no variation in the zombie locations. The guns and meds alternated from one table to another, but that was it. All that changes are where molotovs spawn.
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Er then play on highest difficulty? The full game will have match making to auto join you to games with players who are roughly the same skill as you and it will probably auto set the difficulty to the highest, that also means no newbs playing in your team.

Dynamic spawning does work, there are no statically placed zombies, there are only areas where you're likely to find them, even then, their position and exact numbers in that area aren't fixed.

The guns and meds can alter quite a lot, the "main" stash of guns, the advanced ones the M4, Auto shotgun and sniper, that can alter from being as early as just after the start of the 2nd map, all the way to almost right at the end which changes the experience a lot, having to fight the tank before then with the crap weapons is much harder. The weapons can spawn in between those 2 location in at least 3 other places ive counted.

There are many spawns for the handgun, pills, pipe bombs, molotovs all over the place, theres a great many more spawn areas for them than the number which appear so its not as if you know all the locations to start with. On higher difficulties you get the large med packs spawn also, along with what seems like a greater frequency of pipe bombs.
 
Frostex said:
Er then play on highest difficulty? The full game will have match making to auto join you to games with players who are roughly the same skill as you and it will probably auto set the difficulty to the highest, that also means no newbs playing in your team.

Dynamic spawning does work, there are no statically placed zombies, there are only areas where you're likely to find them, even then, their position and exact numbers in that area aren't fixed.

The guns and meds can alter quite a lot, the "main" stash of guns, the advanced ones the M4, Auto shotgun and sniper, that can alter from being as early as just after the start of the 2nd map, all the way to almost right at the end which changes the experience a lot, having to fight the tank before then with the crap weapons is much harder. The weapons can spawn in between those 2 location in at least 3 other places ive counted.

There are many spawns for the handgun, pills, pipe bombs, molotovs all over the place, theres a great many more spawn areas for them than the number which appear so its not as if you know all the locations to start with. On higher difficulties you get the large med packs spawn also, along with what seems like a greater frequency of pipe bombs.
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Yep, that's all true. However, I heard a lot of noise about how one area will be totally empty one run through, and the next packed with zombies, building up the suspense and such. I didn't realise what they really meant - and what you're referring to - was "yeah, they'll stand around that car next time instead of this one" or "you see that zombie in the far right corner? Guess what: next time, he might be in the far left corner! Can you believe it?".

I played it another half dozen times today and the guns were on a table earlier than they were last time! Some zombies had moved places, slightly! A boomer hit us at the start of the subway, instead of halfway through!

HOLY SHIT

Oh yeah, one more point: isn't it great how, when you finish, you have to sit through a minute of video trying to sell you the game you've already bought? It was clever how they figured that one out.
 
No one asked you to play it, also some area's are deserted, at the very start i played it and the stairs are the adjacent room were packed, the next time empty. One time a small room was empty the next it was full to the brim and if i hadn't entered it form another direction my team would have been raped from behind.

So you see it is not just slight differences but pretty major ones at times. As i have seen others say, if you play the same it will behave the same. It is most likely that you are going through the level's in pretty much the same fashion.

The director does not change things randomly but in accordance to how you act in the game.
 
Some of the feral zombies placed about will have a certain likelyhood of certain areas being empty, the area just before the safe room at the end of the first map is the best example I can think of, we've been jumped there a few times, but most of the time it's empty.

I also suspect that the director gathers info on the same group over more than just one map, and that it takes at least a map or so before it starts making any major changes to how the zombies are presented to the group since it wont get a good average of the players skills over a small period of time.

It could be that if you continue to play well into the 3-4-5th maps of that chapter that the number of zombies you see increase a lot, we wont know until the full game is released unfortunately.

You dont have to sit through anything, press esc once you've finished the round and click exit to menu...the advert at the end is so they dont need to re-make the demo for when its released to the people who havn't yet bought the game, although yes, it's a bit lame.
 
necrophile said:
No one asked you to play it, also some area's are deserted, at the very start i played it and the stairs are the adjacent room were packed, the next time empty. One time a small room was empty the next it was full to the brim and if i hadn't entered it form another direction my team would have been raped from behind.

So you see it is not just slight differences but pretty major ones at times. As i have seen others say, if you play the same it will behave the same. It is most likely that you are going through the level's in pretty much the same fashion.

The director does not change things randomly but in accordance to how you act in the game.
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Nobody asked me to, but I paid money for it. Sorry if you don't think I should voice my own opinion just because it differs from yours, you silly child.

As for the rest of it: I find it hard to believe. I've played with scores of different people on the internet, taking different routes each time, sneaking past zombies and ploughing through them. Basically what I'm saying is all the press leading up to it led it to sound like areas larger than a room in a house would be affected. As it stands, of the sixteen or so runs I've now done, the house you start on top of has zombies in. Maybe a boomer. you shoot down through the hole in the floor (zombies there) and make your way into the alleyway. Then you reach the police car. Zombies down that street. Subway, then safehouse. Then, the second stage - shoot down through the floor (zombies here!). Jump down, make your way into the underground (zombies here). Up the stairs onto the train cars (no zombies until you go through the short tunnel). Sometimes a witch, but always zombies here. Carry on until you reach the door on the left which leads up to the basement of the warehouse (sparse zombie distribution). Sometimes a tank. Warhouse. A few zombies. Press the button. Lots of zombies. Run upstairs, finish.

Now, out of sixteen runs, they have all been like that, so either it's a massive chain of coincidences and playing with dozens of different people on different difficulties have somehow yielded the exact same routine every time, or it's as trivial as I suspect, and they dynamism is over-exaggerated because zombies are in vogue, and thus valve and turtle rock can do no wrong. I know which one I follow.

Frostex said:
You dont have to sit through anything, press esc once you've finished the round and click exit to menu...the advert at the end is so they dont need to re-make the demo for when its released to the people who havn't yet bought the game, although yes, it's a bit lame.
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Unfortunately you do if you want to keep playing with the same group.

Don't get me wrong, I like the game and enjoy it, it's just that the game director thing is a load of old cock as far as I've seen. Fingers crossed that it'll be different in the full game, since I already bought the frigging thing and can't sell it on.
 
Love the game, but the multiplayer has been frustrating. I have played 3 times and in all 3 instances everyone wants to be the hero. Difficult to get players to work together in order to maximize firepower, minimize friendly fire issues.
 
Good game. AI director works. wally seems to be whining about everying. my guess is he's been getting his ass handed to him in game and is crying about it. boo hoo, wally, grow up.
 
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