14 DAY TRIAL // Valve is a company that has gotten us used to seeing a game each year. It really broke the mold with The Orange Box in 2007 when it released three new titles, but in 2008, Left 4 Dead was the main project at the developer and publisher of video games.
Now, a lot of people speculated that Half Life 2: Episode 3 would be unveiled at E3, but Valve had a different trick prepared and, during Microsoft's E3 keynote speech, it revealed that Left 4 Dead 2 would be available at the end of the year.
“A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008's top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.”
Left 4 Dead 2 will be scheduled to appear on November 17 exclusively for the Xbox 360 and PC, and will bring with it a variety of new features, mechanics and, most important, weapons. The game will be set in about the same time frame as the first title, but in the Southern United States, with four new survivors struggling to escape the Infected horde in locations such as Savannah, Georgia to the bayou and reaching New Orleans' French Quarter.
An important part in this new game will be the 2.0 version of the AI Director, which will have even more possibilities to make the whole experience much more dynamic. Asides from the switching of ammo dumps, the difficulty or the frequency of special infected, this new system will now be able to change the weather, the world objects and even the pathways available to the player. This means that zombie fighting during the day will be possible.
Set to bring out-of-the-box Survivor mode and new Versus mode maps and multiplayer options, melee fighting will be very important this time around. No more shoving zombies with the back of your rifle, as chainsaws, axes, baseball bats and even frying pans will be available to the survivors.
“Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original.”
Overall, Left 4 Dead 2 is looking very good. Check out this teaser trailer revealed by Valve.
