Poll: Left 4 Dead's Story

[yourbeliefs]

Think of it as an Umbrella accident on a pandemic level.

 

[Twilight_guy]

A story would be nice but, honestly it would just be a waste. Nobody would want to sit through the same cutscene on each level every time they played. If the story was a side thing that you could read up on, chances are no one would bother since most people just want to shot some zombies and don't care. A few fans (like me) would study up on the story, but that doesn't seem to justify wasting Valves time on a minority group. See: Diablo 2.

 

[Carlston]

i like play left 4 dead a lot but whats with it have no story to how the zombies got there its like the only game without a story

Well they sort of did have a story, and each time you finished a camapin something dicked up and you were in the next mission. But as well, you have a infection, zombie hordes and simple game play.

If anyone hasn't noticed... you RUIN things with to much story. Sometimes the weird shit happened, we fought it is better than trying to explain things so deep it becomes stupid. See resident evil, Condemed...hell wolverine... somethings are meant to have mysterious roots. And its nice that left 4 dead just has you surviving.

 

[Iron Mal]

I figure a heavy story would have made it to serious.
Game is supposed to play out like a cheesy B movie, and it does beautifully.

Here's the thing though, they have tried to do L4D in a cliche horror movie style but other than the settings and the movie poster loading screen it's absolutely nothing like a zombie movie.

While cramming a story in would make multiplayer more tedious and lengthy than it has to be I think that it would be an interesting addition to the single player campaign (it would help to add a sense of purpose to what is otherwise a very meaningless game).

 

[iJosh]

Its fine the way it is. BUT A story in movie scenes would be pretty good.

 

[VitalSigns]

I figure a heavy story would have made it to serious.
Game is supposed to play out like a cheesy B movie, and it does beautifully.

Here's the thing though, they have tried to do L4D in a cliche horror movie style but other than the settings and the movie poster loading screen it's absolutely nothing like a zombie movie.

While cramming a story in would make multiplayer more tedious and lengthy than it has to be I think that it would be an interesting addition to the single player campaign (it would help to add a sense of purpose to what is otherwise a very meaningless game).

Thats weird I thought the Meaning of a game is to have fun.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Left 4 Dead's Story? What story? Unless you mean its hideous lack of a story.

I don't think the game needed a story, as we can all see it did fine without it. However I would certainly prefer one. I like interesting storylines.

 

[IHaveNoCoolness]

I don't think it's necessary...

During the zombie apocalypse, it's not like the media is going to be functioning very well so it's entirely possible that these people know as much as we do about why the zombies plague is going.

I mean, it might be nice to know why the 4 survivors are together and how they met. But I think it just makes the online experience better. Everytime, it's 3 new partners, I don't know anything about them, I don't really care, all I know is we need to work together. So in a way, the lake of story makes it more realistic (at least for me).

 

[DeepPockets69]

You use your imagination, lets see, ghonnoreah got so evolved that it caused the need for human flesh to be feasted on in order to maintain mental stability. and if left unattended to the desise would decay the host and drive them mentally insane, but the desire for human flesh was the only thing the humanoids could feel. see thats easy

 

[Iron Mal]

Thats weird I thought the Meaning of a game is to have fun.

You misunderstand, I meant it was meaningless in a narrative sense. You have no purpose or explanation for what you are doing (i.e: you are there for the sake of it) which, for some, can detract from how rewarding the experience is (it's hard to feel that you've achieved anything at the end of the campaign if you have little, if any, idea what the hell you were doing in the first place).

 

[xChevelle24]

i like play left 4 dead a lot but whats with it have no story to how the zombies got there its like the only game without a story

Does it really need a story? Really? Really?

If it needs one that badly, just make one up yourself and have at it.

 

[hamster mk 4]

The story is the one the players make up. Like the time Francis was tring to help me up when he got floored by a hunter. I had to shoot the hunter off him from the ground because the other two party members were busy spraying down a hoard.

Besides can you say that tetris and pong had sories? or realy need them?

 

[Podunk]

If they put a story into the game, it would probably be bad. Better no story than a crappy one. (Seems like there are a couple new articles on the escapist about this very point.)

 

[TriggerUnhappy]

I like the lack of a story because in a multiplayer game like this, it would only get in the way, especially if done in any sort of cutscenes. Not only that, but you're playing from the perspective of the survivors who don't have a clue about what's going on or what caused it. Their only motivation is the same as yours: try and survive. Try and think of this as the game version of Cloverfield, you're no longer an observer of the scene that knows every detail of what's going on, but rather you're experiencing the action from one perspective, a survivor of the catastrophe/apocalypse, so all you really know is that people are turning into zombies and are coming to kill you.

 

[Captain Pancake]

It was intended as a multiplayer game, and most players online don't have enough time or patience to get immersed in a story. that's what single player games are for, so the developers took the liberty to not include one. to begin with, they were going to link the campaings, I.E. after the heli rescued you at the hospital, it would crash and lead you to the Death toll campaign, then from death toll to Dead Air etc.

 

[UltimatheChosen]

its like the only game without a story

*Cough*
Have you never heard of Tetris? Bejeweled? Shining Soul II (I refuse to admit that game had a story, it was too bad to be classified as such)? Space Invaders? Centipede? Pong?

 

[slevin8989]

the story didn't have to be there but it could have made it better showing how the people found each other and a little background on the characters would have been good.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Nah. I believe this game shows how easy it is to make a good, enjoyable and fun to play "zombie game.

I mean the gameplay is very simple: Kill shit. Kill Shit with special powers. Kill shit that's really damn Big.

Storyline: You good, them bad. Kill. Oh and some crap about "they are changing" and such.

Bottom Line. This game's fun to play has it is, giving it a storyline would just complicate it.

 

[Librarian Mike]

Left 4 Dead does have a story. It's written on the walls of the 'safe rooms'. Granted, it's not conventional but I find it to be more effective than anything. What would be cool is if it changed whenever you played.

In any event, I find its lack of plot-driven action to be freeing, kind of like old-style games where you just turn it on and start playing.