As Left4Dead2′s launch date this fall looms ever closer, I’ve noticed a growing number of internet lurkers coming out of the shadows to defend Valve and it’s decision for a sequel. I, like many other gamers, loved Left4Dead but was incredibly disappointed with just how small it was: it was definitely not worth $40, and luckily, I got it on a Steam special for only $20. Had I known that it only included 4 playable characters and 4 playable maps, I probably would not have even bought it for $20.
Valve, however, has a reputation for stellar support and update for it’s games, by consistently releasing additional maps and freely downloadable content patches. It did this with Counterstrike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Team Fortress 2, and in Half-Life 2 it experimented with serialized add-ons for $10, which were more than worth the money.
I wholeheartedly believed that Valve would support Left4Dead by adding additional maps and expanding the experience consistently. Instead, Valve dropped the ball on it’s Source Development Kit holding back modders, added two new maps, both of which are tiny, and one short gameplay mode, which I felt, was quite weak and did not do the original gameplay modes justice.
Considering that Team Fortress 2 has received new maps, new weapons, new achievements, and is rumoured to be receiving a new playable class, one has to wonder: Did you just not love Left4Dead, Valve?
An announcement, which felt like a knife in the back after the gravity of it sank in, was Left4Dead2. Which would be just as small, just as limited, and hopefully not just as unsupported as the original- for another $40.
Perhaps, Valve has engendered within me a sense of entitlement in terms of their post-launch game support, but I feel like Left4Dead never really breathed or lived it’s life-span and now they want more money. But surely, with their stellar digital distribution network and their ability to control and reprice games on it, as well as the large share they take out of purchases, they can’t be hurting for money?
I can’t say for certain, but everything I keep hearing is “They don’t owe us anything, you aren’t entitled to anything, so take what you get and quit whining” Which seems bizarre to me…if I’m paying an amount and getting a service…and suddenly the quality of that service drops, I think I, as the end-user, have the ability to at least ask why. And I’m sorry, I’m not going to stop asking why Valve has decreased its quality of service. I think we should all be asking why the company that runs the digital distribution network that holds the lion’s share of digital distribution is decreasing its quality of service. It only bodes ill.
As the market for downloadable games develops, surely, we don’t want the juggernaut at the helm steering it onto the rocks…
When this game first came out on the 360, I heard many things about how awesome the gameplay is and how great the modes of playing as a survivor or as a zombie are. I received it as a holiday present from my girlfriend and popped the sucker in. Immediately, I dug the almost cinematic feel of being right in the midst a zombie movie. What really turned me off from L4D was this though:
1. I really can’t stand teaming up and playing with 12-year-old kids. Their high-pitched wails grind on my nerves. Normally that’s no problem on most online shooters but this game makes it crucial to team up with others in order to survive.
2. I like to rock a game alone even if I’m playing online. Sometimes I just want a normal deathmatch, which this game doesn’t provide. You basically have to hope that you get experienced people on your team or wrangle some of your own friends while hoping they have the same system as you.
3. I agree with what you said. Having only four maps is pretty wack. Add to the fact that you really only play on a couple most of the time makes the replayability fly out the window.
I decided to sell this game to get my money’s worth out of it while assuring my girlfriend that I loved the token gesture of the present. I have no intention of playing part two but would gladly take a mixture of Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising. Where’s that type of game at?
Well on the topic of Left4Dead + Dead Rising, you know, making good games is HARD. It’s easier just to slack off and see what you can get away with charging $40 for. And when you control all the distribution and pricing as well, what’s there to stop you?