Left 4 Dead

[Flawless]

Q&A - First Details
Turtle Rock Studios is working on a new game powered by Half-Life 2's Source engine. We get the first details.

You might not think about team-based online multiplayer going hand-in-hand with "survival horror" games--games like the Resident Evil series that give you only limited resources while pitting you against legions of horrible monsters, often in cramped confines. After all, classic survival horror games are usually single-player experiences because they're about your character being all alone in a hostile, zombie-filled world. But Turtle Rock Studios, a developer with credits that include Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and the Xbox version of Counter-Strike, is doing just that with Left 4 Dead. This new team-based game for the PC and Xbox 360 pits small teams of humans against "the infected," which are hordes of ordinary people transformed into mindless killing machines by a mysterious virus that has spread throughout the game's various environments. We sat down with Turtle Rock's Michael Booth to get the first details.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/left4dead/news.html?sid=6163983&tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&click=topslot

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Turtle Rock Studios Website

"By leveraging its industry-leading AI technology and years of Counter-Strike development experience, Turtle Rock is building upon the elements that make Counter-Strike successful and applying them to Left 4 Dead," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. "What Counter-Strike did for multiplayer action games, Left 4 Dead will do for co-op games."

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Q&A - First Details
Turtle Rock Studios is working on a new game powered by Half-Life 2's Source engine. We get the first details.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/left4dead/news.html?sid=6163983&tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&click=topslot

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Turtle Rock Studios Website

I just finished reading the Q&A, this game is going to be sweet. I can't wait for this title to release.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Neat concept. Sounds fun if they can add a nice scare factor to it.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Eurogamer Impressions

When a company like Valve tells you it thinks it has the next Counter-Strike on its hands, you pay attention. Counter-Strike was - and is - an incredibly long-lived global online gaming phenomenon, despite originating as a shoestring amateur mod of the original Half-Life. Valve turns championing the little man into big business, so when the Seattle super-developer invited us to visit and play the fruits of its collaboration with Turtle Rock Studios - a tiny team responsible for AI bots and map design in recent versions of Counter-Strike - we jumped at the chance.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Massive Hands-On Preview

1up Video Preview


This game sounds and looks incredible.

[Holic]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Is this PC only?

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Is this PC only?

PC and 360. It sounds like the 360 version will come a few months after the PC version though.

[countryboy]

Re: Left 4 Dead

PC and 360. It sounds like the 360 version will come a few months after the PC version though.

No PS3!!

That stinks.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Shacknews: Left 4 Dead Preview

Occasionally, that sense of teamplay is necessarily thrown out the window. Upon reaching the end of the scenario, we were forced to survive on a large crate-strewn helicopter pad until the airborne rescue team arrived. Of course, during that nervewracking waiting period, the AI director spawned an absolutely massive, seemingly neverending zombie offensive, complete with numerous bosses and countless zombies. After a while, I found myself the only surviving member of the team, with no practical way to bring my teammates back.

This resulted in one of the most stressful gameplay experiences I have had in recent memory. It was stressful on a whole different level than being overwhelmed in a single-player game, because I knew my three dead teammates were watching me in spectator mode. Valve's Doug Lombardi aptly compared it to being the last remaining member of a team in a game of Counter-Strike. Wolpaw added, "On your end, a lot of that intensity was driven by all those people watching you." Eventually, I was unable to hold back the horde alone and was overwhelmed, though I did pull off some extremely thrilling feats of temporary survival.

After reading all the previews, this has unseated BioShock as my most anticipated game this year.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Footage from QuakeCon

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/90556.html

Some more footage from an event last month. Skip to 4:25 in this video, because that's when it starts showing the game in full view.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/81032.html

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

New videos from QuakeCon.

Gamespy

Gamespot


Impressions

Anyone walking down the exhibitor area at QuakeCon this year will notice a large group of attendees crowded around one specific booth. Each of these gamers is waiting patiently in line to play the upcoming co-op first-person shooter, Left 4 Dead. Our first exposure to this game left us craving more and we got our wish today. We didn't have to play for long for us to remember why this game impressed us so much the first time we saw it. The hordes of infected humans, the frenetic gameplay, and fantastic premise all work together to create the kind of "zombie" game that zombie fans have been dreaming about for ages.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/turtle-rock.../810544p1.html


So awesome. Coming out early next year.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Left 4 Dead

IGN Preview

Hands-on Left 4 Dead
Four survivors against all odds. New impressions and direct-feed included.

I can't wait for this game, being a big zombie fan I've been waiting for a really good FPS with zombies. Ever since City of the Dead was cancelled on the PC, we finally have something good coming out. While Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green was ok, it could have been better.

Even though there are a few things I dislike with L4D, I can't wait for this.

[CaptainZombie]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview - INDEX

This is the first Left 4 Dead fansite which has extensive coverage of the game + they went to Valve/Turtle Rock Studios to also get a hands on. This game is going to be intense.

I tried to mod LOTD:Fiddler's Green when released, but that engine was a pain to work with. I really hope that since this is running on Counterstrike Source that it will be easier to work with.

[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

Gametrailers put up some videos.

City Survival Cam Gameplay

Zombie Onslaught Cam Gameplay

Subway Slaughter Cam Gameplay

Underground Outbreak Cam Gameplay

City Streets Rampage Cam Gameplay

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Eurogamer: Left 4 Dead Interview

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[Flawless]

Re: Left 4 Dead

New videos:

Gametrailers - Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3 - Video 4

Gamespot - Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3 - Video 4


Hands-On Update

Frankly, we had a blast playing through most of the demo we got to try in Left 4 Dead. We say "most" because we didn't quite make it to the end; we were cut down to two then quickly to none, early in the fifth and last segment of the scenario. And that was just on the "easy" setting. Valve says that even in its office, few teams (or even individual players) can manage to finish a scenario on the normal setting. So we figure if there aren't a lot of individual scenarios on offer when released, you'll be playing those scenarios for quite some time before you master them. Better yet, Turtle Rock and Valve are committed to supporting the game after release with additional content.