Left 4 Dead 2 DLC Expansion details surface
Not too long ago, Valve announced that they were going to feature two DLC expansions for Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. The Passing is going to be Left 4 Dead 2's first DLC and will feature the four survivors from Left 4 Dead (no, you can't play them) who will help out the L4D2 cast during the third act of the DLC campaign. The Passing will also include new arenas for Survival, Versus and Scavenge modes, and a new co-op challenge mode. Players will also encounter a new "uncommon common" infected, dubbed the Fallen Survivor, which can drop random items when killed. Expect to see the L4D 2 DLC sometime in "late March".
Not to leave anybody hanging, Valve will explain how the Left 4 Dead survivors made it all the way to rural Georgia through a DLC/Expansion for the original L4D. The major SPOILER alert here is that the tagline in the L4D 2 DLC is "No one survives forever" and it has been confirmed that one of the orginal L4D survivors will end up sacrificing his/her self in the events of the L4D campaign DLC. They must have ran out of rescue closets. No idea on who dies, but speculate away.
Left 4 Dead 2 Pre Release Demo
At a preview event in London, Doug Lombardi confirmed that Left 4 Dead 2 will be getting a pre release demo:
"With Left 4 Dead in particular we've found that word of mouth really is the strongest thing," Lombardi told us. "With Left 4 Dead 2 we plan to do a demo before the game comes out that'll have multiplayer in it. And hopefully we can continue the free weekends with the full game post-launch."
It seems that Valve is hoping that the recent announcement of DLC for Left 4 Dead by the end of summer and the L4D 2 demo will help quell the angry mob of videogamers. Even though Valve is trying to show people that they have no plans to drop support for Left 4 Dead, some gamers still believe that the release of Left 4 Dead 2 will fracture the community. It does make sense; owners of L4D will have interoperability with L4D 2 owners to a point. The problem is that gamers who don't have Left 4 Dead 2 will be unable to join their friends playing the L4D2 content.
Although, despite the outraged from the community and the gamers boycotting Left 4 Dead 2, a lot of people really want to play the game. Valve is reporting that pre orders for the sequel are doubled that of Left 4 Dead had from the same place in the release cycle. That is a whole hell of a lot of pre orders since Left 4 Dead had more pre orders than the Orange Box! It seems that most people don't care ( and I am in that boat myself) that L4D 2 is coming out so soon. Yes, its only a year later, but I had TONS of enjoyment with L4D; plus all of the new content wouldn't have been able to be shoe horned into the original L4D. The Left 4 Dead 2 pre release demo will give us a good idea of how much content is new.
In other news, I have to decide if I want to kill one or both of my Left 4 Dead dedicated servers and possibly make them Left 4 Dead 2 servers. I doubt the setup guide for a Left 4 Dead 2 dedicated server will change much from the first one, but I will post up my guide as soon as I get my hands on that L4D 2 demo. That is, if I'm not too busy playing it myself that is. Also, how did a cricket player and bat get into Left 4 Dead 2? It is a mystery.
i would love to hear your ideas and thoughts on Left 4 Dead 2, so why don't you leave a comment?
Left 4 Dead 2 E3 Promo Video
One of the exclusives announced from Microsoft at E3 is Left 4 Dead 2; which will be released one year EXACTLY from the first L4D. It is really soon, especially if you realize that Team Fortress 2 has been out for close to two years and is still receiving constant DLC. I am on the fence about it, hoping that it doesn't turn out like the Madden franchise, I AM looking forward to L4D 2. It seems that Valve's Chet Faliszek has a handle on why Left 4 Dead 2 is coming so soon. (From Joystiq)
"Left 4 Dead 1, like I said, had some of those fundamental things that we wanted to change about it, like the changes to the director, which took really long periods of time and a really long period of testing," he said. "And so, those changes fell in line with the long period of time it takes to create characters and everything else. That's why we're doing Left 4 Dead 2, right?"
I would love to see it as DLC for Left 4 Dead, but no pricing for it has been released, and Valve says that the upgrades to the game can't be shoehorned into L4D. Either way I am looking forward to the new storyline, weapons, and special infected. There is the new gameplay mode as well as the one they haven't announced. I am really looking forward to the melee weapons (such as the chainsaw, axe, baseball bat and frying pan). For those who may have missed the promo video, you can view it below, or grab the high definition video through Steam. Remember, only five months to go before Left 4 Dead 2!
Video from That Video Game Blog.