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Do games like L4D & L4D2 prove that gamer's aren't patient?

Note: There was probably a post similar to this I didn't read or remember, and if I "copied" it, I apologize.

I must confess: I love killing zombies. The sheer satisfaction of red hot bullets tearing through the zombies' flesh and empty cranium. I loved all the Resident Evil series (except for the travesty that was RE5, and yes, I enjoyed RE: Outbreak 1 and File#2). I've watched a countless number of zombie flicks from oldies, to remakes; but ultimately, I was waiting for the ultimate zombie game.

Enter L4D. When Valve announced it back in 2006, I was more than excited. I was ecstatic. Valve was a respectable developer, catering for PC gamers. It promised to emulate the feeling of being in a zombie apocalypse. I knew this game was going to rock. A few frustrating (and I mean VERY frustrating) delays later, I had my copy. I was trembling with excitement. I fired the game up, and the opening cut scene blew me away. I told myself "This game is going to be AWESOME!!!"

A few lag issues and another few annoying players were in the way, but I was having fun. but something kept irking me. I didn't have that overwhelming feeling I though I would have when I dreamed of this game's release. Instead, I kept thinking things like "What if they added..." or "What if they did this instead of..." In short, I personally felt there was a lack of content. To show you what I had expected or wanted, I provided a list:

*Sprint option
*Aiming down the sights
*Melee weapons (L4D2 provided this, however); and more dynamic melee weapon differences (i.e. attack speed, damage, swing radius, reach)
*"Crawl" option when a player is down. (Additionally, another player can "drag" the downed player; the downed player can use his/her weapon, while the other can only use a pistol while he is dragging the player.)
*Scavenging items
*NPC interaction.
*Bloodier survivor deaths
*More spontaneous gameplay, instead of going from Safe Room A to Safe room B
*More engaging story

But while I was conjuring these thoughts, I was thinking, "They must have left these out on purpose!"

Now (Sorry for taking too long) is the question I want an opinion on: Are gamers not patient? Adding more features meant a deeper learning curve. A lot of individuals hate steep learning curves, so something simple is what caters to them. I realized L4D is more of a pick up and play, rather than being immersed inside it.

L4D, for me, was a like a unfinished hamburger; the core ingredients were there (the hamburger and hamburger buns) but the other, important ingredients that compliment it and make it even better were missing (the cheese, tomato, lettuce, pickles, etc). It was good, but it was missing VARIETY. It costs more to make a more extravagant hamburger and people might even not like the additional ingredients, so the makers (or developers) stick to what is simple and what works: Sausage and buns.

I am not bashing L4D or L4D2. I still have a lot of fun with it. I was not one of the boy cotters, nor was I planning to be one. L4D, simply, did not meet my high expectations.

So, I want to ask the readers (if you read this) of your opinion. Should developers make a more game diverse, or do you believe in the "if it's not broken, don't fix it" idea? Should gamers be more patient?

And finally: Was there a game you were so excited about but ended being a disappointment? What features would you have added/removed to this game? If there was a sequel to this particular game, did you find it better, or worse, than it's predecessor?

Thanks for reading!

EDIT: Forgot to touch up on the versus aspect of the game. It seems that many gamers' competitive nature makes the versus mode so popular, but leaves the other players (the co-op lovers like me) out in the cold. I do enjoy versus, however, I enjoy working as a team to accomplish one goal. This may also attribute to the fact that I personally find versus more frustrating; there are times when I need to be absolutely precise. There was this instance where I know I smoked someone, but I couldn't snag them. Or since playing as the survivors in versus is equivalent to the difficulty in normal, I witness so many players going Rambo with an auto-shotgun.

ZombieAssassin5680d ago

I prefer a more diverse game, I liked L4D and L4D2 but I felt it could of used more story and a lot more weapons (especially the first). It was basically a copy and paste of some of the zombie mods for Counter Strike Source just prettied up. I'm hoping for L4D3 they allow mods on consoles because I get bored playing the same levels over and over (which is why I own the first on PC).

Kingdom Come5679d ago

Valve wanted to create a fast, ferocious, bloody title well suited for fans of survival horror and shooter genre titles. The fast pace of the game makes the gamer think on your feet. In fact, when playing a's the infected, on most occasions patience is the only option when approaching situations (For example, in one match on L4D2, whilst playing a's the Charger, I waited for a small group of enemies to walk across the outer window on the first mission, once three stepped on, I charged, knocking 2 off, killing them, proving as a beneficial kill for the team)...

70°

Microsoft Gaming Revenue Drops 7% Year-on-Year, Content and Services Down 5%, Xbox Hardware Down 33%

Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.

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simulationdaily.com
Jin_Sakai2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.

dveio2d ago

To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.

Jingsing2d ago

The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.

Tanktopmaster922d ago

Once they re-evaluate exclusive all will be fine….

S2Killinit2d ago

Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.

Jingsing2d ago

15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.

Tanktopmaster922d ago

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse

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40°

Games Done Quick is coming to Europe for the first time with 3 days of Gamescom speedruns

The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.

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Report: Injustice 3 in Development at NetherRealm Studios

Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.