L4D is great, but what it really needs is...

FrankManik · 11-22-2008, 05:19 PM

Well? What does it really need?

I want to see:

Alternate pistol options, such as G18c/93r with weaker ammo and automatic fire, a .45 or .357 revolver with less ammo that hits harder, a double barrel shotgun, because it's a double barrel shotgun and this is a zombie flick, and maybe a machete/pistol combo, because meleeing zombies is fun. and maybe a match pistol, for no real reason.

Melee weapons, that would take up a pistol slot, like a machete, cleaver, fire axe, base ball bat, and cavalry saber. I spend a lot of time shooting my pistols and whacking Zs to keep them off my teammates, it'd be nice to contribute a little damage while I'm at it.

Also, I wouldn't mind being able to mix and match pistols and melee weapons, so you could, say, have a G18c in one hand and a cleaver in the other, or a double barrel shotgun for smacking groups and a .45 for reaching out and touching someone.

A third tier of weapons. Namely, an M79 or MGL140 grenade launcher specifically for killing tanks, a .700 Nitro elephant gun, for killing tanks, an M249/M240b light machinegun, so I can kill tanks, and maybe, if they're feeling nuts, a USAS-12, because I really bloody well hate tanks and I want them to suffer.

Claymore mines, or at the very least duct tape and string, so that you could set trip traps with your pipe bombs. It would be quiet useful in the standoff portion of each map.

More Zombies. Because... More Zombies!

DaBrit · 11-22-2008, 06:05 PM

I agree that wider variation in weapons would be a bonus, although maybe not that many more. There would definitely have to be limits to any tank-busters, as tanks are supposed to be a tough challenge requiring significant teamwork (or at least skill at running away from your team-mates).

I would love to see more involved traps above and beyond gas cans / propane tanks / O2 tanks that you can shoot. Trip mines, remote mines, proxy mines, any of that stuff would be pretty sweet.

I would also love to see more in the way of melee weapons. What zombie flick didn't have a scene involving beating down zombies with a golf club or cricket back or kitchen knife?

I think part of the low weapons selection is to make the player appreciate that this is the zombie apocalypse and you happened to be in a random city / rural area when it occurred, so many of these more advanced weapons might not be available (then again, why are there m16's and m4's lying around? And who came up with the z-nip pipe bombs appear to be coated in?)

I would also like to have seen a slightly more interactive environment. The doors / gas stations / random explosives are awesome, but I wish I could chuck computer monitors or chairs at zombies, or more easily maneuver those big boxes in front of doorways to block them off (rather than having to melee them which risks breaking them). Maybe even knock over tables to use as better cover. Sometimes I see things that the dev's purposely put into the game (like the entire gas station you can blow literally sky-high in No Mercy) but it's hard to know when something in the environment is going to respond appropriately. More of this sort of rewarding experimentation would be amazing.

All that said, I haven't played a game like Left 4 Dead before, and that is certainly a major bonus. I am having an absolute blast playing through the campaigns, even repeating certain campaigns. I can't wait to see more levels, especially more versus levels. On the subject of levels, though, I usually feel a little bit constrained. There only ever seems to be one right path to the next safe house. Maybe if they gave us a map to counter the disorientation that springs from having to navigate within an open video game (what if it took up your entire screen to use the map, but didn't pause the game. That way when a team consults the map, they have to pick one person to do it and the other 3 have to protect them?)

All told, though, L4D is a solid 9/10 for me, these improvements would just serve to make it one of the best games I've played in a very long time.

MbP_01 · 11-22-2008, 08:52 PM

Both posts = what I think as well.

The new post by XMaster that confirms the custom map from DotD makes me even happier about the game. I think we could be seeing some awesome content in the future! (/crosses fingers)

-Badger

FrankManik · 11-22-2008, 09:21 PM

I wouldn't mind seeing more use of physics in the game. I was in Dead Harvest a few hours ago, cursing that I couldn't knock over a bureau to block more entrances to the house. Night of the Living Dead had a good portion of the film devoted to fortifying their hold out by boarding up windows and doors, moving furniture in front of things, and so forth. It likely wouldn't be too hard to set up something like that.

I feel that the stand offs at the end are lacking in 'fortification'. Part of almost any zombie movie is when they fortify some kind of base for a last stand, from Night of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead. In L4D you can't do much to fortify your 'base', and regardless Zombies can still pour in from every direction, including right over the concertina wire. Having a little more environmental control over the final area would be nice.

More variety would be nice. I wouldn't mind seeing some kind of vehicle level ala HL2, perhaps centered around finding fuel for the car as you move along, with a horde of zombies chasing you out of the city to keep you on your toes.

More realistically, having a campaign where, instead of trying to escape, you're trying to scavenge supplies for your holdout would be a nice change of pace. Since the director can apparently place items at random, you could have this mission start with your group bolting out from their base, then roaming a fairly large, open set of maps until they find the item they need, be it food, medicine, fuel, or ammo. One of the players would then have to carry the loot back to base while the others cover him.

**Pokerface** · 11-22-2008, 10:23 PM

Needs more trebuchets.

**Kebab-Kastike** · 11-23-2008, 02:21 AM

More weapons and more maps! *drool*
Yeah and they ought to unlock the other campagins to state where you could play them with versus.

**Potshot** · 11-23-2008, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankManik

I wouldn't mind seeing more use of physics in the game. I was in Dead Harvest a few hours ago, cursing that I couldn't knock over a bureau to block more entrances to the house. Night of the Living Dead had a good portion of the film devoted to fortifying their hold out by boarding up windows and doors, moving furniture in front of things, and so forth. It likely wouldn't be too hard to set up something like that.

I feel that the stand offs at the end are lacking in 'fortification'. Part of almost any zombie movie is when they fortify some kind of base for a last stand, from Night of the Living Dead to Shaun of the Dead. In L4D you can't do much to fortify your 'base', and regardless Zombies can still pour in from every direction, including right over the concertina wire. Having a little more environmental control over the final area would be nice.

More variety would be nice. I wouldn't mind seeing some kind of vehicle level ala HL2, perhaps centered around finding fuel for the car as you move along, with a horde of zombies chasing you out of the city to keep you on your toes.

More realistically, having a campaign where, instead of trying to escape, you're trying to scavenge supplies for your holdout would be a nice change of pace. Since the director can apparently place items at random, you could have this mission start with your group bolting out from their base, then roaming a fairly large, open set of maps until they find the item they need, be it food, medicine, fuel, or ammo. One of the players would then have to carry the loot back to base while the others cover him.

This. Very much this. The last stand is really easiest when you crowd into a closet, meleeing everything until the tank comes. You kill it, and repeat. It should instead be a actually be a last stand, where you can't just back off into a bathroom. Maybe even add a bunch of npc players holding out as well, to give it a movie feel. Think about getting up onto the roof of the hospital, hearing guns spinning and when you get closer, you notice they are fighting off a horde, or just finishing a tank. Obviously, the difficulty would be set so that if everything goes according to the plan, only the players would survive, unless you really are owning.