Zero Punctuation: Left 4 Dead 2 & New Super Mario Bros Wii

[KazNecro]

Wow! Yahtzee pretty much summed up everything I was thinking when I heard (and saw) the NEW Super Mario Wii. What a waste of space that is! If I wanted to feel nostalgia, I'll grab an emulator and play the old Mario games.

And co-op play is not a great selling point in my mind. I've noticed that more friendships have been strained or ruined by co-op play games than any other reason. Even playing with strangers online is a major test in patience.

 

[Casual Shinji]

ZP should do more of these double-bill reviews.

 

[wooty]

Grr, god damn video wont load, sounds like a good one too

Shit, no videos are loading at all, great timing

 

[obisean]

The little comic strip cartoon at the end was by far the funniest part of this. I guess mostly cause I wasn't expecting it.

 

[nafriel]

Great episode as always.

Not surprised to hear that L4D2(insert random words and numbers here) is basically the same as the first one

It isn't. If you actually play it (at least on the PC... that's the only one I've tried), it definitely deserves it's own pretty box on the shelf with its own price tag. They would have been seriously cheating their developers if they had just released it as DLC.

 

[Zefar]

I can't agree any more. L4D2 is just an L4D expansion, nothing more. Its just a a bunch of new maps, a few useless melee weapons and thats it.

I'm amazed how you missed the new infected, new crescendo event, new healing items, Grenade launcher and the new uncommon common infected. Oh and a new game mode that is actually pretty fun.

L4D2 is no where near expansion pack. It has more content wise than the first game had. It refined the things that was bad in L4D.

I don't agree with his opinion about L4D2, for me it sounds like someone is able to accept Gears of War 2 as a sequel but L4D2 which doubles the content and refine it gets classed "Expansion". Bull I say.

 

[therandombear]

Actually Mario would win, becuase when Bowser wins Mario will come and give him a good old trashing.

Also liked the Shawshank Redemption reference^^

 

[sooperman]

I do agree that New Super Mario Bros. Wii having two players play as toads is very stupid. Ya couldn't have picked anything at least a little more interesting, Nintendo?

No, because Nintendon't is too damn lazy to write a simple physics program.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95541-Skirt-Kept-Peach-Out-of-New-Super-Mario-Brothers

They wouldn't have had to make a new engine. Just use the existing engine and have it accept the skirt as a seprate object. I'm not a programer, but it is simple logic.

 

[TheZaius]

This site is acting funny.

ANYWAY...

I bet deep down inside, Yahtzee really loves his New Super Mario Bros. Wii. ^^-^^_^^-^^

 

[geldonyetich]

Cool beans, we got a double header this time.

So, in summary: both games are more of the same. L4D2 an expansion pack more than a game (thereby thoroughly justifying my choice not to buy it until it comes down to $20) and NSMBW being a throwback to ancient 2D Mario days while forcing 4 players on a screen that was never really built to accommodate it.

Oh well, at least we got to remind Valve they're supposed to be making Episode 3. At this rate, there'll be a L4D-XII before we see it.

 

[nick2150]

Damn right about HL ep3 Valve are really starting to PISS ME OFF with this. Looks like Black Messa Source will be done before Valve, and these guys have done it for free! and it looks really sweet.

hell I wouldnt be surprised if Diablo 3 and the third part of StarCraft is out by the time we even get a Teaser

Ok, Rant over.

 

[Jonci]

I like Left 4 Dead 2, although I have admittingly never played the original. Are they really that much alike?

Well in the sense that you are four people killing hordes of zombies in post zombie apocolypse world that has turned many areas into mazes, yes. However, the new characters, voices, weapons, zombies, maps, and improved zombie AI (because the survivor AI is still shit), make the game fresh, new, and much more fun to play. I say "fuck you" to anyone that thinks those changes aren't all that important. I love carrying a sword and cutting down the zombies hordes that apparently tripled in number since L4D1.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Oh yes and Yahtzee complaining about Episode 3 surprised me. Doesn't he hate it when companies just rush to get a new sequel onto the market? So shouldn't he be tolerant of the time it takes for Valve to make Episode 3?

I think it's got more to do with calling Valve on their promise that episodic games would be released in a shorter time period. And it's been 2 years since Ep 2.

 

[Mandalore_15]

I'm glad Yahtzee called Valve out on the whole not getting down to Half-Life 2: Episode 3 thing, because I've been thinking it for ages now. They keep updating games like Team Fortress 2 with superfluous crap (Holy shit, HATS!!! ¬_¬) and never get down to the one game they've made that I still give a damn about. Seriously guys, stop procrastinating and get it done!

 

[JeanLuc761]

Oh yes and Yahtzee complaining about Episode 3 surprised me. Doesn't he hate it when companies just rush to get a new sequel onto the market? So shouldn't he be tolerant of the time it takes for Valve to make Episode 3?

The key word here is "episodic." Each episode, thus far, has been 4-6 hours maximum. It's been 2 years since the release of the last one and we haven't even seen a screenshot of the third. That's not how episodic gameplay works!

 

[Moose112]

Bowser would own the tank, cause he could GET TO THE CHOPPA!!

 

[Rickmanguy]

Good to hear his voice back to normal.

I thought this was a pretty funny review, but I doubt NSMBWii is as bad as he makes it out to be.

Also Bowser would clearly survive against a Tank.

 

[Ickorus]

Super Mario is just another Nintendo cash cow.

In fact, i see so few (decent)new nintendo titles im beginning to wonder what they're doing with all of it.

 

[brazuca]

Yhatzee show me a game that is better than hookers and I shall buy two copies. One for me and the other form me.

 

[Eruanno]

...Oh my god he DOES look like Dr Phil!