Left 4 Dead 2 Message Board older than one year ago

The Achievement aficionados over at Xbox360Achievments.org have uncovered the Xbox 360 Achievements for Left 4 Dead 2. The Achievements offer some insane challenges -- "Survive a campaign on Expert skill with Realism mode enabled" -- and, if accurate, also confirm the recently uncovered "Dead Center" and "Hard Rain" campaigns. The Achievements also detail some new features and confirm other rumored features, most notably a defibrillator which can be used to revive teammates. Also mentioned is an adrenaline power-up to boost speed, deployable ammo upgrades and ... a bile bomb. We really hope that last one does what we think it does. Head over to X360A for the full list (warning: watch for spoilers ... and Tanks).

Dead Center and Hard Rain campaign scenarios confirmed.

Seems like Valve couldn't avoid the classic zombie mall scenario.

Seems like Valve couldn't avoid the classic zombie mall scenario.

It is with much necessary reservation that we bring you the two purported Left 4 Dead 2 campaign posters for "Dead Center" and "Hard Rain" that you see above, completing the set of five campaign missions. Found over on Taiwanese website GNN, we're highly skeptical of their veracity for the time being, but felt their quality at least bared mention -- if this isn't real thing, it's damn impressive. Being Danny Doubters though, we're still a bit thrown by consistency differences when compared to the game's other three posters. We've sent a note to Valve for comment, so until we hear back, the images will remain strictly in our "unconfirmed" pile. In the meantime, ponder this: "Dead Center" translated by Google from Mandarin Chinese is "Death Marketplace." Fact![Thanks, Lockwolf!]

VP Doug Lombardi discusses big goals and more flavor in Left 4 Dead 2.

Prey on the stupid humans who couldn't find a shopping mall for shelter!

Arm yourselves and prepare for the onslaught!

We're going to break this post down into three distinct (and clichéd!) categories: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. First, the Good: The suddenly puritanical Australian government -- by way of The Office of Film and Literature Classification -- has seen fit to grant the previously unclassified Left 4 Dead 2 an MA 15+ rating, paving the way for millions of impressionable minds to be programmed into zombie-killing machines. Next, the Bad: The version of Left 4 Dead 2 that the OFLC approved was an "edited version" that "no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment." In other words, it's nothing like the real zombie apocalypse. And when the inevitable human-vs-zombie war reaches Australia's isolated shores, her people will be ill prepared for what they encounter. "Gross, these zombie corpses don't disappear when you kill them! And, what's this? Blood?" Valve and publisher EA are still hoping to launch an unmodified version, pending the October 22 review by the OFLC board. Lastly, the Ugly: 1UP noticed a "special modifier" in its Scavenge Mode demo last night: "Realism mode." Valve's Doug Lombardi explained that it was for the serious player: "Take Portal for example: We had our best internal players who could blow through that game in about 30 minutes, but within weeks of launching it we had people on YouTube beating [the testers'] times by 10 minutes or more. Realism is for those players." In other words, it's training for the real zombie apocalypse. If our imagination is any indication, expect Realism mode to feature plenty of realistic pants crapping. Source - "Left 4 Dead 2 Secures Australian Release" [Edge Online] Source - Realism mode detailed [1UP]

click to Boomer-size Valve took the wraps off Left 4 Dead 2's brand-new competitive multiplayer game type, "Scavenge," at a press event in San Francisco this evening. According to the developer, this mode is built purely for "quick, more frantic gameplay." (Yes, L4D actually can be more frantic).Scavenge has the four survivor characters scrambling to collect gas cans from various spots in a confined location -- in this case a motel, pictured -- in order to fuel up a generator before a two-minute timer expires. There are 16 cans total and 20 seconds are added to the clock for each one that's successfully retrieved. Four other players, controlling Special Infected, must do their best to stop the cans from reaching the goal. The two new Special Infected, Spitters and Jockeys, really excel in this mode. The former can set dropped cans on fire, while the latter can leap onto the shoulders of a survivor, "steering" them away from their goal.These best two-out-of-three matches are broken up into three rounds, during the "half time" of which players switch sides. Valve confirmed that each of L4D2's campaigns has a unique Scavenge map, for a total of six shipping with the game on November 17.

Valve is working two angles to get Left 4 Dead 2 on Australian consoles and PCs, following the Aussie ratings board's refusal to classify the zombie shooter. One version of L4D2 making its way through the OFLC is an "Australia specific" (i.e. edited) take on the game, while the other is the gore-lovin' original, which Valve currently has on appeal. Gamespot spoke with Valve's Gabe Newell, who explained that the next step for the unedited version won't occur until October 22, which means the timing gets tight in terms of manufacturing and other hurdles before a November 17 launch. Valve project manager Erik Johnson finds the OFLC's issues with the sequel to be "inconsistent" because of Left 4 Dead's unedited release in the region. We wish Valve (and the gamers of Australia) all the best in working out those Michael Atkinson issues. Source -- Valve to resubmit two versions L4D2 (Gamespot) Source -- Newell discusses ban on video (Gamespot)

We've got bad news for boycotters out there, you're going to be seeing a lot of Left 4 Dead 2 in the coming months. Developer Valve is preparing a massive advertising push for the game, planning to spend $25 million on the campaign, a significant increase over the $10 million spent on the original Left 4 Dead. According to Valve boss man Gabe Newell, the sequel has "consistently run at 300% of Left 4 Dead's numbers," with Doug Lombardi noting that the game is already the most pre-ordered title in the company's history. US zombie killers can expect to see ads during Monday Night Football and UFC bouts and also plastered on billboards, magazines and websites. European undead slayers will also bear witness to televised ads "during sports and lifestyle programming," some online marketing and traditional print and outdoor ads too. Joystiq & Sons Advertising would like to offer the following marketing proposal to Valve: Door-to-door Zombie-grams. It's a lot like a candy-gram, except the delivery zombie eats the customer's brains.

Valve is offering a number of enticing pre-order offers for their upcoming zombicidal action title, Left 4 Dead 2. For the impatient among us, dropping a reservation on the game garners early access to the demo (which is set to drop October 27). For the thrifty among us, pre-ordering the game through Steam (or other participating digital distributors), knocks 10 percent off the total price of the game. However, for the truly patriotic among us, Valve is offering a singularly thrilling bonus: An in-game "American baseball bat." We've contacted Valve to find out exactly what this means -- is pre-ordering the game really the only way to get our hands on this implement of the Great American Pastime? Or is it just a special "American" skin for the bat, which was previously confirmed to be one of the title's brand new melee weapons? We hope it's the latter, if only so we can sing "Courtesy of the Red, White And Blue" during our undead massacres.

New weapons, new AI, new mechanics, even new weather!

Australia has a long, sordid history when it comes to banning the sale of mature games. Titles which exceed the limits of the Office of Film and Literature Classification's MA15+ rating are refused classification, preventing them from being sold in the Land Down Under. Following such a ban on Valve's Left 4 Dead 2, the introduction of an R18+ rating has been feverishly debated by the nation's officials -- however, a South Australian attorney general named Michael Atkinson is holding up the proceedings by vehemently opposing the adoption of the mature rating. Atkinson told Australian news outlet News.com.au that he's uncomfortable with the interactive nature of the medium. "People are participating and 'acting-out' violence and criminal behaviour when they are playing a video game," he explained, later adding, "it certainly does restrict choice to a small degree, but that is the price of keeping this material from children and vulnerable adults. In my view, the small sacrifice is worth it." Rarely can governmental actions be attributed to just one person, but the OFLC's refusal to rate mature titles is a direct result of Atkinson's opposition. Remember, this is the same guy who tried to censor a public document which canvassed Australians on the issue in an attempt to better advise the nation's ratings officials. He censored the study on censorship. Consider our mind truly boggled. [Via GamesIndustry]

In the wake of its Australian "banning," Valve has seen fit to send out an update of Left 4 Dead 2's ratings across this zombie smorgasbord we call a planet. We knew that Valve was "bummed" about the ban, but the letter that the company sent out could be interpreted as it saying, "Hey, wait up, places like Germany and Japan gave us '18+' ratings ... and you know how sensitive they are about violence." Valve is still awaiting a rating in the UK (BBFC) and New Zealand, and submitted its appeal regarding Left 4 Dead 2's non-classified status in the land down under on September 23. With any luck, Aussies will be able to play the game -- with some edits, perhaps -- when the zombie sequel launches November 17.

Think you can make it to the safehouse? Good luck!

Overwhelmed and outnumbered: these are the constant odds of a zombie apocalypse.

The Zombie Apocalypse has spread from the Gulf of Mexico to the land of the rising sun.