Oi. Hi again. I decided I'd go ahead and review another game quickly, and I've been feeling a little defeated since my review on Sven Coop. Only 31 people bothered to read that review, and my other one I did recently is over a webgame... so I feel a little obligated to review something popular which I'm sure EVERYONE will read. After all, reviews are meant to be persuasive... but who'd read a review on something no one cares about?
So, here's something everyone cares about:
I can't exactly remember what was running through my mind when I first heard about this game. I do know that when I found out about it, though, I was busy trying to find a half-decent zombie game that fit a certain criteria I had invented in my head. While I admit now that the expectations I had invented in my head were rather high, I thought perhaps a multiplayer, sandbox RPG/FPS zombie game wouldn't be so far-fetched. It wasn't until later that it occurred to me why the game Dead Rising was so popular, but even that game didn't really fulfill my dreams. I became rather put out by the idea of there ever being a truly great zombie game. Then Left 4 Dead came out...
... and proved my point.
Now, do NOT get me wrong. Left 4 Dead is a great game. I still enjoy getting on every once in a while to play it. However, it doesn't really take me that long ranting about it for people to understand me when I say that it is a VERY SHALLOW GAME. You can jump in, play maybe 30 min., and then you've experienced the majority of the gameplay. Now, there is CERTAINLY more to it than that... but you have to know what you're looking for from it. If what you want is a captivating, super-intensive game, then you'll do better with Resident Evil. But if you just want some simple, zombie-based fun, then this game does it.
The premise is simple, and everyone has heard about. Four people (Francis, Zoey, Louis, and Bill) are the most unlucky zombie-apocalypse survivors on the planet, and they have to try and escape multiple scenarios which they keep falling into by reaching the end of a 10-20 min. linear pathway at what is invariably called the "safe room". They continue this pattern until the massive zombie orgy at the end of 5 or so of these, at which time they make an escape on one of a few various escape vehicles. Cool.
There are a total of 6 guns in the game, 2 throw-able bombs, and 2 healing items. And a melee attack. That's it, and they function very well. The game rarely suffers from balancing issues because of this. And yet, here is where some of my problems arise. First off, for a game that's been made by Valve, that happens to be a very short list of weaponry. It's not like they're well known for packing characters up to the proverbial brim (*cough*), but what's up? Can't there be a BIT more variety?
Then there are the enemy types. There's 6 basic enemies in the game:
1. Infected - Basic drone
2. Witch - Insta-kill deathtrap
3. Tank - Playable "tank" zombie built like the Hulk.
4. Hunter - Playable "hunter" who can leap extreme heights and distances
5. Smoker - Playable "licker" whose tongue works like a long-distance grapple weapon.
6. Boomer - Playable "bomb" who's barf is a zombie-wave bait.
...which is perfectly fine for a game if you want to play AS the zombies. However, all my fantasies involve shooting them to death. If I'm playing a game where it's more enjoyable to BE the zombie, have I really found what I'm looking for? Yet, that's more a personal objection. So...
What about the environments? Well, I actually can't complain at ALL about the game environments. The levels are well thought-out, despite being obscenely linear, and the detail put into each part is a pleasure to behold. I especially loved finding some graffiti by other survivors, because the majority of it is quite humorous. The game takes on quite an air of humor, by the way, which is one of its more enjoyable traits. I love a game that makes fun of its most recognizable traits.
So, again, what's the big problem? Well, to put it bluntly, I agree with Zero Punctuation's old review; the game is way too damn short. I've gotten so tired of it that I'll ONLY play it at these short intervals. There's only so much you can replay the game before it loses all its novelty. Why don't we have more serious, in-depth zombie games?
I guess everything I have said in here amounts to the same shit that's been said over and over again about this little gem. But for some reason, the message can't be stressed enough; WE WANT A GOOD, DEEP, ZOMBIE GAME. A decent game company could make a lot of money if they'd just come up with such a game. Instead, we keep getting a constant flow of cash-in games or spin-offs. Games like Left 4 Dead are a great step in the right direction, but what will it take for developers to nail it on the head? I'm still waiting for that game.
...
P.S. I will probably play L4D2 when it comes out, but my expectations are not high. You'd be a fool to simply think that it'd be THAT much different from its predecessor. Not that it's a bad thing....
So, here's something everyone cares about:
I can't exactly remember what was running through my mind when I first heard about this game. I do know that when I found out about it, though, I was busy trying to find a half-decent zombie game that fit a certain criteria I had invented in my head. While I admit now that the expectations I had invented in my head were rather high, I thought perhaps a multiplayer, sandbox RPG/FPS zombie game wouldn't be so far-fetched. It wasn't until later that it occurred to me why the game Dead Rising was so popular, but even that game didn't really fulfill my dreams. I became rather put out by the idea of there ever being a truly great zombie game. Then Left 4 Dead came out...
... and proved my point.
Now, do NOT get me wrong. Left 4 Dead is a great game. I still enjoy getting on every once in a while to play it. However, it doesn't really take me that long ranting about it for people to understand me when I say that it is a VERY SHALLOW GAME. You can jump in, play maybe 30 min., and then you've experienced the majority of the gameplay. Now, there is CERTAINLY more to it than that... but you have to know what you're looking for from it. If what you want is a captivating, super-intensive game, then you'll do better with Resident Evil. But if you just want some simple, zombie-based fun, then this game does it.
The premise is simple, and everyone has heard about. Four people (Francis, Zoey, Louis, and Bill) are the most unlucky zombie-apocalypse survivors on the planet, and they have to try and escape multiple scenarios which they keep falling into by reaching the end of a 10-20 min. linear pathway at what is invariably called the "safe room". They continue this pattern until the massive zombie orgy at the end of 5 or so of these, at which time they make an escape on one of a few various escape vehicles. Cool.
There are a total of 6 guns in the game, 2 throw-able bombs, and 2 healing items. And a melee attack. That's it, and they function very well. The game rarely suffers from balancing issues because of this. And yet, here is where some of my problems arise. First off, for a game that's been made by Valve, that happens to be a very short list of weaponry. It's not like they're well known for packing characters up to the proverbial brim (*cough*), but what's up? Can't there be a BIT more variety?
Then there are the enemy types. There's 6 basic enemies in the game:
1. Infected - Basic drone
2. Witch - Insta-kill deathtrap
3. Tank - Playable "tank" zombie built like the Hulk.
4. Hunter - Playable "hunter" who can leap extreme heights and distances
5. Smoker - Playable "licker" whose tongue works like a long-distance grapple weapon.
6. Boomer - Playable "bomb" who's barf is a zombie-wave bait.
...which is perfectly fine for a game if you want to play AS the zombies. However, all my fantasies involve shooting them to death. If I'm playing a game where it's more enjoyable to BE the zombie, have I really found what I'm looking for? Yet, that's more a personal objection. So...
What about the environments? Well, I actually can't complain at ALL about the game environments. The levels are well thought-out, despite being obscenely linear, and the detail put into each part is a pleasure to behold. I especially loved finding some graffiti by other survivors, because the majority of it is quite humorous. The game takes on quite an air of humor, by the way, which is one of its more enjoyable traits. I love a game that makes fun of its most recognizable traits.
So, again, what's the big problem? Well, to put it bluntly, I agree with Zero Punctuation's old review; the game is way too damn short. I've gotten so tired of it that I'll ONLY play it at these short intervals. There's only so much you can replay the game before it loses all its novelty. Why don't we have more serious, in-depth zombie games?
I guess everything I have said in here amounts to the same shit that's been said over and over again about this little gem. But for some reason, the message can't be stressed enough; WE WANT A GOOD, DEEP, ZOMBIE GAME. A decent game company could make a lot of money if they'd just come up with such a game. Instead, we keep getting a constant flow of cash-in games or spin-offs. Games like Left 4 Dead are a great step in the right direction, but what will it take for developers to nail it on the head? I'm still waiting for that game.
...
P.S. I will probably play L4D2 when it comes out, but my expectations are not high. You'd be a fool to simply think that it'd be THAT much different from its predecessor. Not that it's a bad thing....
