Update: Left 4 Dead 2 Is Free On Steam, Merry Christmas!

[Bindal]

"Entirely different" and "opposite" gameplay? Sure you're not exaggerating just a tiny, little, planet-sized bit here? But it's all right; Sarge up there explained, rationally, how L4D2's few additions can affect a certain level of play.

Not really, no. L4D1 was about scavenging resources (which were available in decent amounts if you knew where to look but you couldn't be wasteful with it, either) and a slow, hold-the-line gameplay (unless nothing was going on).
L4D2 drowns you in weapons and forces you to keep moving constantly, the faster the better.

One proof would be shotguns. While the L4D1-Versions had more spare ammo, they had more spread, too. And if you were empty, you had to pump in a new shell before you could fire again (meaning that emptying the weapon was a BAD idea). L4D2? Scrapped that mechanic entirely.
Other weapons also got buffed that way.

And let's not mention that all your new sidearms, through the bank, were literally hardcoded to insta-gib commons (you know, 95% of the enemies you're facing?), regardless of difficulty and mode.


And don't get me started on the defi and hardcoded medkits (quick version: L4D1 had FOUR medkits you were sure to find outside any saferoom or Finale in the entire game - one was at the end of No Mercy 3, the other three in the final stretch of Death Toll 5. L4D2? I counted at least 22 on the base campaigns alone!)

 

[Quellist]

Anyone calling the L4D2 characters Bland clearly hasn't listened to Ellis' stories about his buddy Keith. I spat food hearing some of those.

Seriously to all the haters, its a free game, whats to hate about that?

 

[Steven Bogos]

Anyone calling the L4D2 characters Bland clearly hasn't listened to Ellis' stories about his buddy Keith. I spat food hearing some of those.

Seriously to all the haters, its a free game, whats to hate about that?

Welcome to the internet, my friend, where someone will find something to hate about EVERYTHING

 

[Quellist]

Anyone calling the L4D2 characters Bland clearly hasn't listened to Ellis' stories about his buddy Keith. I spat food hearing some of those.

Seriously to all the haters, its a free game, whats to hate about that?

Welcome to the internet, my friend, where someone will find something to hate about EVERYTHING

*nods sadly* Point taken, i guess the christmas spirit made me forget Slipknot had it right about people. Ah well back to the booze!

 

[Dectomax]

Maybe I'm just one of those guys who can forgive a games flaws if it's genuinely fun to play, but I've had a blast with L4D2, on both console and PC and I've always enjoyed the Co-op of both games. I understand that's personal opinion, but to be fair it's free game - you either pick up a game you like for free, try out a game you haven't played for free, or ignore a game you don't like for free. This really is a win-win-win situation.

 

[Vladimir Stamenov]

I don't really care about L4D vs. L4D2. What I want to ask is, since Valve's statement is ambiguous, do I keep it if I click Install in the Store Page and add it to my library or if I download it? Cause my download speed at the moment is 200 kb/s.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

._. aww...and my friend not too long ago bought a four pack of the game for us...

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I added this to my library last night. I greatly enjoyed it on 360, so it's pretty cool to get it free on PC. Thanks, Valve!

 

[MonsterHunter]

yes i also added my account

 

[Bindal]

Anyone calling the L4D2 characters Bland clearly hasn't listened to Ellis' stories about his buddy Keith. I spat food hearing some of those.

Seriously to all the haters, its a free game, whats to hate about that?

It's a horrible game? Just because it's free doesn't automatically mean it's good.

 

[misg]

Anyone calling the L4D2 characters Bland clearly hasn't listened to Ellis' stories about his buddy Keith. I spat food hearing some of those.

Seriously to all the haters, its a free game, whats to hate about that?

I don't know haters always going to find some way to complain about a game company doing something nice. Frankly for those people who did buy the game you've enjoyed it for years. Now you may have a couple more friends to play with you all this has done is add value and took nothing away from you, unless you are petty and just think that people being nice isn't a good thing.

Regardless thanks Valve!

And Merry Christmas!

 

[bafrali]

They are giving away free games. Better ***** about to make sure it is ruined for everybody.

FFS' I don't even like the series but this attitude in general just pisses me the f*** off. Anyway stay bitter if you want guys. Every healthy forum needs a little salt in its diet I suppose.

 

[Mrkillhappy]

Just added this to my steam account so thanks for the heads up, I've had this game on my wish list for about a year but have no real money for games and hardly use steam.

 

[dyre]

Honestly I couldn't get into either L4D entry (I do remember a failed boycott of L4D2 though, that was amusing) but good on Valve for spreading the Christmas spirit

 

[Hemlet]

Welp, time to add this to my game library and then not play it for the next month or so. I have other games to play and things to do that don't involve being harassed by the "ruin the FTP-noob's day" and "Valve ripped off paying customers waah" crowds. Once those inevitable shenanigans blow over I'll probably install it and have some fun.

 

[The White Hunter]

Now if only Valve's severs could actually handle this, and if I could've found a damned sever the other night to actually play the damn game. Which I already owned. Bleh.

Still can't get on the store, can't even sign in via the client.

 

[Barbas]

Oh, this must be what hit the Steam client like a ton of bricks the other day.

 

[Vigormortis]

*looks up* there's something wrong when a company can give something away for free and people criticize them about it.

Especially when the same people will clap and cheer for someone like GoG giving away a 15+ year old game...

Then add to that the irony[footnote]Or hypocrisy, depending on how you look at it.[/footnote] of people claiming Valve fans have a "double standard" when it comes to criticizing the company in comparison to other companies.

The ones that really get me are those that want to argue that Left 4 Dead 1 is objectively better than 2.

But whatever, Left 4 Dead 2 is an incredibly fun game and kudos to Valve for giving it away for free; even if their servers took a massive hit for it.

I look forward to playing through campaigns on Expert Realism with some of these new players. The reactions of the fresh-faced during certain events throughout the game are priceless.