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==Reception==
==Reception==
In October 2008 Valve reported that preorders for ''Left 4 Dead'' had beaten those of ''[[The Orange Box]]'' by 60%.<ref name="edge_ad_campaign">{{cite web |url = http://www.edge-online.com/features/left-4-deads-10m-ad-campaign |title = Left 4 Dead's $10M Ad Campaign | publisher = [[Edge (magazine)|Edge]] | accessdate = 2008-10-14 }}</ref>
In October 2008 Valve reported that preorders for ''Left 4 Dead'' had beaten those of ''[[The Orange Box]]'' by 65% "at a comparable time before launch".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6199592.html|title=Left 4 Dead preorders outpace Orange Box|publisher=[[GameSpot]]|date=2008-10-17|accessdate=2008-10-18}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 02:13, 20 October 2008

Template:Future game

Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead cover (Windows version)
Left 4 Dead cover art
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Publisher(s)Valve Corporation
EngineSource
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
ReleaseSteam
Retail
Genre(s)Survival horror
First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer


Left 4 Dead (abbreviated L4D) is an upcoming multiplayer co-operative survival horror first-person shooter game by Valve Corporation. The game has been built using Valve's Source engine and will be available on Microsoft Windows and the Xbox 360.

Left 4 Dead pits four human playable or AI controlled survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic against hordes of aggressive "Infected". The Survivors' goal is to help each other make it through various scenarios to safety. The Infected are controlled by an AI that dynamically balances difficulty and mood depending on the players' progress and situation. In an alternate game mode, human players can control up to four mutated Boss Infected with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.

The expected release date for Left 4 Dead is November 18, 2008 in the United States and November 21, 2008 in Europe to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the release of Half-Life.[1] A demo will be available in early November for Windows and Xbox 360 users. [3]

Gameplay

Left 4 Dead is played in first-person perspective,[4] where up to four players take control of the four main characters of the game; the "Survivors". If four human players are not available to play, the Survivors can also be AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the Infected, which are humans who have been infected with a mysterious disease.

The game is focused on cooperation and team play; colored outlines are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement, and Survivors can be knocked down by the Infected and only helped up by another player. If a teammate is downed after being helped up twice, without tending to his wounds in between, the player is out and must wait 60 seconds before respawning.[5] Certain "Boss Infected" also command special attacks, such as a Hunter's pin, which requires assistance from a teammate to get out of. Survivors can also share first-aid kits and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has full friendly fire that cannot be switched off, increasing the need for caution around other Survivors.[6]

The Survivors communicate by automated voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some will also sound off automatically when doing such things as reloading or spotting Infected. Over 1000 unique lines have been recorded for each Survivor.[6] Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving.[7]

The game is experienced through four scenarios that take place in various urban and rural locales, such as a hospital, an airport and a murky countryside.[8] Each scenario is divided into several shorter sections marked by safehouse checkpoints, where players can heal, re-arm, calm their nerves, save their progress and retrieve players who were killed.[9] The levels are neither linear nor completely open-ended or free-roaming. There are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies and alternate objectives.[10] At the end of each scenario, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of Infected until rescue arrives.[6] Each scenario lasts between 45 and 75 minutes.[11]

AI and the Director

The artificial intelligence of Left 4 Dead features a dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing, and difficulty called the "Director". Instead of set spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies in varying positions and numbers based upon each player's current situation, status, skill and location, creating a new experience each playthrough.[6] The Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues such as visual effects, dynamic music and character communication.[7]

Versus mode

In the deathmatch Versus mode, four additional players can take control of powerful Infected with unique abilities, amongst the other AI-controlled Infected. The playable Infected numbers are limited so players must select their preferred Infected and wait for it to spawn, with the Tank as the exception, it being able to only spawn a few times in each scenario. The Infected have the ability to see Survivors through the walls at a certain range if the Survivors are running, have the flashlight on, or are talking. The Infected can also see in the dark, unlike the Survivors. Infected spawn ahead of the Survivors and can, if they stay still, see a marker for their likely path of advance so they can set up ambushes. Throughout levels, Infected-only ways up buildings are marked with symbols. These can be climbed and used for ambushes, especially with the Infected immunity to falling damage.[citation needed]

Award system

Left 4 Dead will include Steam's achievement system, recording players' accomplishments and mishaps. Part of the intent of this system is to help players to avoid griefers and to find teammates with more experience.

Xbox 360 version

The Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead has the same game modes as the PC version. The game supports split screen and system link play.[12] Players can mix split screen and online play in the same game.[13] A new matchmaking system is also included for online play.[7] The quick key voice commands have been removed in favor of the Xbox Live headset.[citation needed]

Valve will run dedicated servers on Xbox Live for Left 4 Dead.[13]

Characters

The final design of the Survivors. Left to right: Louis, Bill, Francis, Zoey.
File:L4DP.JPG
The Survivors (original design). Left to right: Louis, Francis, Zoey, Bill.

The Survivors

There are four playable human characters in the game (hence the "4" in the title).[14] Each player is randomly assigned a character upon joining the server and each character has the same abilities and may use the same weapons.[6]

Louis is a business man in a shirt and tie. Francis is a tattoo-covered biker. Zoey is a young woman. Bill is an old Green Beret Vietnam veteran.

Survivors are armed with various firearms divided into two tiers. The first tier is available for everyone to select from when the scenario starts, in addition to the Springfield Armory GI .45[15][16] all Survivors always carry. Weapons in the second tier can be found throughout the maps and at the end of the scenario, just before the final fight. The second tier, in addition to having a wider variety of weapons, also provides weapons that fulfill the same role as first tier weapons but are inherently better, such as replacing the Uzi submachine gun with the M16A3 assault rifle. In addition to firearms, Survivors can also carry a Molotov cocktail.[15] The pistols are the only weapon that Survivors can use when they are knocked down by the Infected. All weapons and any other item the Survivor holds can be used to make a close range melee attack.[10] This attack can push targets back to make space, push fellow Survivors or to gain time to reload. A one hit kill can be performed by a bash if the Infected is unaware of the attacking Survivor.[8] In addition to these weapons, machine guns can be found mounted in defensible positions in some areas of the game.[8]

The Infected

The Infected are Left 4 Dead's foe of the Survivors, and they are partly inspired by the infected from the 2002 film 28 Days Later[17] The Infected, as opposed to the slow, shuffling zombies associated with Night of the Living Dead or Half-Life, are fast and agile, creating quite a formidable foe. They can be dealt with easily on their own, but in great numbers are difficult to defeat. In addition, there are five mutated Infected who have their own special mutant abilities and are more powerful than the regular Infected.

  • The Boomer is a hugely obese Infected that can spew projectile vomit at the Survivors, blinding them and attracting swarms of nearby Infected to them. Boomers blow up when they die, spraying nearby Survivors with blood that also attracts the Infected.
  • The Hunter is an agile Infected who can climb walls and jump over rooftops, similar to 28 Days Later Infected and Half-Life 2's Fast Zombie. Crouching for some time gives the Hunter access to a powerful pounce attack that pins a Survivor down until the Hunter is knocked off.
  • The Smoker has a long, whip-like tongue that can strangle Survivors and drag them away from their team mates, similar to Half-Life's Barnacle and Resident Evil's Licker. When in danger, it can leave a haze of black smoke, distorting the Survivors' vision.
  • The Tank, a huge, muscular but noisy Infected, is capable of throwing large items - such as cars - or blocks of concrete. The Tank can take a large amount of damage before dying, but when played by a human player it must keep on the move not to become vulnerable.
  • The Witch is the only mutant Infected that cannot be played by human players and appears in all four difficulty modes.[18] They are normally passive and can be avoided by careful players, but flashlight beams, physical contact, and loud sounds such as gunfire or car alarms in their vicinity rouses them. Witches can strike a Survivor down in one hit and can take a large amount of damage.

Development

File:L4d filmic.jpg
Before and after the application of cinematic effects.

Development on Left 4 Dead started in mid-2005.[19] Valve aimed to create a horror film-inspired game that merges single player games' character-driven narrative structure with multiplayer games' social interaction and high replayability.[7] The game was first revealed in the Christmas 2006 publication of PC Gamer UK with a six-page article describing a playthrough at Valve's headquarters. A teaser was released with The Orange Box. The game was first playable at the Showdown 2007 LAN in San Jose and at QuakeCon 2007.[20] Turtle Rock Studios announced Left 4 Dead on November 20 2006[21], and was acquired by Valve Corporation on January 10, 2008 because of the game and long-standing relationship between the companies.[22] Certain Affinity announced in February 2008 that they are assisting with the Xbox 360 version of the game.[23] The game opened up to pre-purchasing on Valve's Steam system on October 15 2008.[24]

Left 4 Dead uses the latest version of Valve's Source engine, with improvements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation to more realistically portray hair and clothing, and to improve physics interaction with enemies when shot or shoved in different body parts. Animation was also improved to allow characters to lean realistically when moving in curved paths. Rendering and artificial intelligence were scaled up to allow for greater number of enemies who can navigate the world in better ways, such as climbing, jumping or breaking obstacles. Lighting has been enhanced with new self-shadowing normal mapping and advanced shadow rendering that is important to convey information about the environment and player actions.[25][7] Wet surfaces and fog are used to create mood.[26]

Many kinds of post processing cinematic visual effects inspired by horror movies have been added to the game. There is dynamic color correction that accentuates details based on importance, contrast and sharpening to focus attention on critical areas, film grain to expose details or imply details in dark areas, and vignetting to evoke tension and a horror-film look.[7]

Reception

In October 2008 Valve reported that preorders for Left 4 Dead had beaten those of The Orange Box by 65% "at a comparable time before launch".[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Definitive Release Dates". Left 4 Dead 411. Retrieved 2008-10-11. Cite error: The named reference "Left 4 Dead 411" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "L4D System Requirements - L4D News". September 27 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "EXCLUSIVE - Left 4 Dead Demo Details". De-Frag.com. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  4. ^ CS-Nation preview
  5. ^ "IGN Command Prompt Podcast, Episode 21". IGN. IGN. 2008-08-14.
  6. ^ a b c d e Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview at left4dead411.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f Gabe Newell. Making Left 4 Dead E3 2008 Presentation (Video presentation). E3 2008, Los Angeles: Valve. {{cite AV media}}: External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. ^ a b c "Left 4 Dead Information Thread (post #2)". 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  9. ^ Shacknews Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview
  10. ^ a b "GameSpot Video: Left 4 Dead E3 2008 Stage Show Demo". GameSpot. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  11. ^ "E3 2008: Left4Dead Interview. New Graphics, Weapons, and Steam Achievement Details". www.maximumpc.com. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  12. ^ "Left 4 Dead". Xbox.com. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  13. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead for Xbox 360 Using Dedicated Servers on Live". 1UP. 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  14. ^ "Left 4 Dead E3 Preview: New Characters, New Weapons, New Details". ShackNews. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
  15. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead 411 - Information - Weapons". Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  16. ^ Pistol screenshot
  17. ^ PC Gamer preview
  18. ^ [1]
  19. ^ Luke Guttridge (2008-05-01). "Valve Software's Doug Lombardi interview". play.tm. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  20. ^ First Left 4 Dead In-Game Footage/Pics Caught At Showdown LAN 2007
  21. ^ Turtle Rock and Valve Announce Left 4 Dead
  22. ^ "Valve Acquires Turtle Rock Studios". Valve Corporation. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  23. ^ Cat Outta The Bag
  24. ^ Left 4 Dead released - steam news
  25. ^ John Callaham (2007-03-22). "Left 4 Dead Interview". FiringSquad. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  26. ^ Valve Corporation (July 2008). "How Valve Connects Art Direction to Gameplay" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-08-02.
    Simon Carless (2008-07-31). "In-Depth: How Valve Makes Art To Enhance Gameplay". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2008-08-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ "Left 4 Dead preorders outpace Orange Box". GameSpot. 2008-10-17. Retrieved 2008-10-18.

See also

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