Hey all. This is a combination of my L4D1 and 2 videos into one. I've revamped the L4D1 video, correcting a few mistakes, expanding on some thoughts, and editing out a few of my MANY "as wells" since it was just ludicrous last time. I've also added in another mod campaign review for both games, among some other small changes. If you'd like to see me review a few other mod campaigns, I have a patreon exclusive video where I cover I Hate Mountains, Back to School, and Suicide Blitz, both versions of all of them. Support me on patreon: www.patreon.com/dorkaxe Otherwise, join the discord for talks and maybe L4D play sessions or Project Zomboid goofs. Dorkaxe discord link: discord.gg/rnmSP9FQQg Secondary channel where I post clips and highlights: www.youtube.com/@dorkaxeextra2584
always good to see games that are loved getting videos made about them. i do wish that valve updated the console versions of the games because PC players seem to have everything that matters; accurate hit detection, updates to make some maps more fair in terms of layout and design for the SI, the weapons from CS arent a big deal but nice to have, dlcs are actually playable since on console they always seem to crash, and custom maps for variety since i think that l4d2 dropped the ball w its maps compared to l4d; i love dead center dark carnival and parish, but hard rain and swamp fever just give me mixed feelings of love and hate whereas i can love all the l4d maps. great vid even if ive yet to complete watching it :D
"My buddy Keith lived in a graveyard once for a whole year. It wasn't a dare or nothin', he just got kicked out of his house. He said he NEVER saw a single ghost 'cept for this one time when a ghost stabbed him from behind and took all his money, and he might've just been a homeless guy, 'cause he had a robe on with two eyes cut out his face."
L4D fact Ellis never got to finish his stories since the other survivors were too focused on you guessed it survival And if Nick and Ellis happen to be the only survivors nick has a voice line about him apologizing/him telling him he didn’t mean it that he was joking someone pointed out that nick didn’t want the guy to die thinking he genuinely hated him
The best thing about Left 4 Dead's storytelling is that the environment actually shows how dire things are. Safehouse have limited supplies enough to cater all 4 of the survivors with limited weapon, every escape seems to lead to nowhere since you'll fight your way to another area after escaping the previous one and it's becoming more dangerous than the last and the characters seems to acknowledge the bleakness of their situation but learns to accept it with each passing time.
It is amazing to hear you say what every other player is thinking. Your presentation is great. I seek witches out. One shot from a shotgun. I leave light on and run to them. Louis is hilarious. Especially when he is getting killed. My youngest daughter bought me L4D1 on PC when it came out because I suck on Xbox. I have been gaming online for over 25 years. I still play a lot. Almost 500,000 kills. I only play with bots. People are mean and rude online. I am in my mid sixties by the way. Thank you for taking the time to create videos for us.
I'm so sorry about the rude people online. They've become so prevalent now since they hide behind their screens. They expect you to be perfect but blame other players for their shortcomings. Meanwhile, some of us just want to have fun.
I started playing this game to play with my 10 year old nephew. His baby brother was 3 and a half at the time and he would sit on his brother's bed and watch us play. He LOVED the Jockey and would often jump on my shoulders so naturally, I would play along and start walking left and right, complaining that I had a jockey on me. Nothing is as beautiful as hearing a child's laughter. One day, his mom messaged me and told me David wanted to play with me. I rolled my eyes at the idea of playing with a nearly 4 year old, knowing I would die repeatedly, but hey, it would make him happy. First map, after 2 chapters, we hear it. The moaning sound of a witch. He has the smallest machine gun, which is (by my opinion) the worse weapon of the game. I heard him say "I'll kill da witze" and I sighed, knowing I would have to rescue him. I ran toward him, heard three gunshot and I heard the dying moan of the witch. The little bugger killed the witch easier than I was able to and I'd been playing that game for months!!! He just turned 18 years old a few weeks ago. And this is one of my favorite memories with him
The charger in L4D2 has gained a reputation as well as "Karma Chargers" seem to be spawned in whenever you make a noteworthy mistake, betray a teammate, or just act selfishly in general. I love them
1:14:07 There's a mutation called 'Iron Man' that has realism activated; removes ammo piles, which forces you to change weapons; removes checkpoints, meaning that if everyone dies, the game will take you back to the main menu, which can be frustrating but it makes it all more tense and enjoyable for those that are looking for a challenge.
same. Its never been uninstalled since i bought this computer. And it never did on my old one till I wiped the hard drive to sell after i bought my recent one. It's TIMELESS
Man, hearing that Valve splash screen music gave me a huge blast of nostalgia, quickly followed by something like new hype, then finally the sad realization that it hit me so hard because its been missing and a comeback isn't looking likely.
@JustAJauneArc @joakimberg7897 @YourName-um6sb @@tumble8323 In L4D1, if you empty the mag of the autoshotgun completely, the reload takes longer because you have to manually chamber a round, rather than being able to keep shooting once all the shells are in.
TH-cam recommends me so many longform game reviewers with absolutely nothing of value to say that every time someone comes along who actually makes interesting points i immediately binge their content. I clicked subscribe very fast, great series of videos.
"My last life? District IT manager at Fischer Platt. Not good practice for zombie killing, you know?" This game OOZED personality even though it’s a very measured and rhythmic game, the small things you hear and pick up through hours of playing. I remember the day I got home from middle school and my stepfather was playing this on his Xbox 360 and I watched him play well into the morning the next day.
I used to amaturly mess around with source sdk for l4d2. I had a campaign idea that never came to full fruition where the survivors were tasked by the military to nuke a city in a 3 stage campaign. The first map would involve getting off a train that is carrying the nuke due to the rails needing to be manually diverted to a different track. Youd run through city streets and even climb a fire escape to ride a zipline across a river. The second map would involve the survivors "playing a game of payload" if you will. The military instructs them to push the nuke on the track to the center of the city then meet at a rendezvous point. The reason they give to not take the nuke by train is some bs that makes no sence but the survivors have no choice because they will be killed if they dont cooperate. The final map involves arming the nuke and running to the rendezvous in a crescendo event. The campaign ends with the survivors realizing they are abandoned and burning up in the blast. I had made a rough concept of the first map and an even more rough concept of the second before i got bored and moved on to playing valheim which had just come out that year. If any map maker sees this and wants to steal the idea feel free, I still check out the workshop from time to time and would love to play the campaign. I just realized i dont have the patience for game design.
I'm mad that your last L4D2 video didn't skyrocket. The fact that there was so much labor and absolute love into it and seeing ANOTHER video of a long length? You are blessing us with your passion. Thabk you so much 🥺💜
the thignt that probably impresses me the most is that left 4 dead came up with pretty much every zombie type that any zombie games uses nowadays except screamer
Screamers were a concept for both games and went as far as early alpha builds. Ultimately got cut mostly because they didnt fit the loop and the boomer already filled the role, as well as being the de facto "suicide" enemy that seems to be a legal requirement in zombie games.
I'd argue the L4D2 special infected actually added far more balance to the game than the original ones. For example, the charger is a disruption special and works to throw the group off or make them split apart to dodge the charge. If the charge lands on the group, one person is taken far away while the group is scattered into the air. The spitter also stops people from camping or holding angles too long. She forces you to engage the zombies directly. The jockey is a mix of the hunter and the smoker. Its low profile makes it hard as hell to see or hit in hordes, making it perfect for stealth pounces. And since it jumps just above you basic FOV (Unlike the hunter), it's harder to stun bash out of the air without directly looking up. Once it grabs you, it can easily move you away from your team if they aren't paying attention. The original specials work, but none served as a disruption to the group as much nor did any break camping a funnel/angle. Trust me, when you get good enough at these games, the original specials become quite the pushover majority of the time.
Except the Jockey fuck the Jockey having an instant latch on + move you until you die cause fuck you + they have way more hp than you think and small. I could probably balance the jockey better Like make the jockey only move you a few steps enough to go behind a corner then knock them down so its a mix of smoker and hunter and also reduce their hp to match how small they are, the hunters and smokers have less hp than the jockey currently
yes special infected in L4D2 only add to the gameplay i agree that some maps from first game are much harder - like charger grabbing you in last two maps of no mercy and running with you from the roof at the same time knocking everyone to deaths
and downed survivors actually aim the guns behind them oh the things we lost just because they made a game for consoles... always dead on arrival and downgraded platform
I love that clip you use at 2 min, I especially love that if anyone is gonna talk about half life or the goldengine in literally anyway, it's like a 85% chance that clip is gonna show. Just so emblematic of the real best part of half life, jank.
I admire the attention to detail that these first 2 games had. You can really appreciate just how ahead of its time they are, especially when comparing them to Back 4 Blood and most other games that come out nowadays
I tried to get the dlc on Xbox one for L4D2 and none of them work, except for ones that take me to the 360 store for some reason, although I don’t know if I add a card to my Xbox one account if that’ll work. Does anyone know if it will?
@@mr.l5071I bought both games an all the dlc a few months ago on 360 and everything seemed to work fine. I think I even bought the dlc on the main menu of the game itself while playing on my Series X. Some stuff might be slowly leaving the store ahead of its full closure in July.
l4d and l4d2 are like a film action when a horde and special infected come together to attack you suspense when its all quiet and a few zombies are appearing only to a holdout section to appear horror hearing the special infected spawn and the witch's crying and the fact that at the end of a campaign a end credits scene appear
I've been a huge fan of l4d since 2008 and i absolutley love both of them, i agree the first one has an unique charm that the second doesn't, but i still love l4d2 because is so much fun, this game is super important for me and makes me nostalgic, so seeing that is still alive and loved by the community makes me so happy, i love your video it was super entertaining and loved how well you were describing them, amazing job! I can't choose a favorite, i love both lol also i can't stop laughing because of the last clips lmfaoo
I used to play the crap out of these games when they came out. I was feeling nostalgic for them recently, and my bf has a 360 so I ordered hard copies of them both to revisit. He’s never played them before, so I’m excited for him to experience it!
@@YEETUSDAFEETUS He did! I was excited how much he likes playing them together, cuz it was such a staple of my childhood and teen years. He’s even been making some references outside of us playing which is so cool I think lol
@@JojoNicole sounds like you guys are going to be busy slaying hordes for a while I'm glad he liked em they're some of the best zombie games I've played
A very curious detail that I love of the 13:40 spanish version of Bill dialog it says: "that was just a skirmish, now comes the war" highlighting even more His characteristic military style
One of the reasons I love Old valve games so much is because of the obvious love and dedication put into them all. The music is always S tier (except for CS for some reason), I generally just think the source engine and the gritty, old-feeling but upholding graphics are a million times better than any modern “realistic” game with a battle pass, a shop, celebrities or pop culture characters as skins etc. ofc l4d2 has a very lively modding scene but even with every single model and weapon modded to hell to be different things it always feels like left 4 dead, no matter how many clusterfuck mods I have it’ll never not feel like left 4 dead and I love that about it
@@TheL1arL1ar yes!! I noticed the new game helldivers has classes like l4d and I wonder what else it has that’s similar. Wondering if maybe they got some of the magic from the game. They got boomers, chargers, hunters and I’m sure more that’s oddly similar. Super interesting
In defense of the l4d2 characters, we have Coach and Rochelle being more professional and community driven. Very much on the same page. We have Ellis being puerile and finding this whole situation to be badass with Nick being somewhat opposite as more harsh and more brutal in a refined way. Rochelle and Coach shutting down Nick’s bullshit and defending themselves against his ways is great. Rochelle gets the better of Nick at one point, cutting through his cynicism. The tunnel of love where Nick roughly says to Coach: Nick: “How many hamburgers and women did you have in the tunnel” Coach: *Kinda has a stumbling response” Rochelle immediately chimes in: “How many women did you have, Nick? 50, 25, 10? Did you even have 5?” Nick: “That’s uncalled for, Rochelle” This kinda parallels l4d1’s protagonists. Bill and Zoey have a lose father-daughter vibe and are survivalists at heart. Francis is cynical and aloof while Louis is upbeat and warm. Two characters that are receptive, and two that are opposite. I am not trying to convince anyone, just stating a few reasons why I believe they are a strong quadruple of protagonists. This analysis is entertaining and a joy to listen to. And while Swamp Fever is one or my more favorite campaigns, the wooden bridge lowering makes no sense.
Both of your Left 4 Dead retrospectives are probably the best analysis' of the series on youtube. Especially with how well you were able to articulate your thoughts on Left 4 Dead 2. I really look forward to what you put out in the future!
Typically if you walk into an area, you can sometimes see them fighting each other but they will stop when the player(s) are spotted. You can see some zombies fighting each other if you sit on certain main menu screens. It isnt common, but if you ever can, watch the zombies at a distance during the more open levels like parts of Dead Harvest & Dead Air (L4D1) and Swamp Fever & Dead Center (L4D2)
I used to bring my laptop to class and finish my work early to play L4D1, waiting for the class to end. Sadly, not many games that followed in its footprints.
This was a beautiful dissection of the series as a whole The good, the bad and the ugly I'm glad you were able to experience just about every aspect of the online co-op experience as possible when you tackled this. It's definitely not for everyone who are looking for a casual experience with friends only to have some matches broken down to "git gud or git lost". IF there was EVER a consideration to do a 3rd installment in the series, I truly hope they consider introducing dedicated hardcore "KWTD" lobbies for that kind of experience so others who aren't as experienced can enjoy the basics. Granted anyone will hop in casual lobbies just to stomp people lol, it will always happen regardless. And for the love of all that is unholy, SweetBabyInc gets burned to the ground and doesn't go anywhere NEAR it.
Still remember playing Left 4 Dead demo on xbox 360 with friends over and over everyday when it first came out. It was only the first level but everyone kept playing it. Was a blast.
Seems great. already watched both of them but will start and finish this one with a smile, even more if you say to have put more mod analysis into it. Thanks!
I’m only 20 minutes in but the style of the video reminds me of early matthewmatosis (another videogame essay TH-camr), which is pretty much the highest compliment I can give
This series is and always will be one of my favorites because of the friendships I have made playing it. Playing with random people can sometimes be a pain, but I have met some AMAZING people more than 10 years ago, who are still part of my life today, even though we haven't played together in years. I have played along with them and their children and I have watched them grow into beautiful adults inside and out. We have bonded while playing together (and against each other in versus mode) and this, even though we are more than a thousand miles apart and even not in the same country. I know I could reach out to anyone of them and they would respond in a second. So Jon, Kelsey, Bret, Angel, Tabitha, Ethan, Alex, Jonny, Anza, thank you for being there for me and letting me be a part of your life. Thank you for the laughter we shared and the memories we made. I wish we could just boot up the game and play together, right now.
I really wish CoD Extinction took more design concepts from L4D. I think a Director like system would've greatly improved the mode. It principally played more like that than the traditional CoD horde mode.
17:30 Long comment but, I got into playing left 4 dead around 9/10 yrs old and the sound design has got to be the biggest reason I fell for the game. As a kid I was garbage at surviving, obviously, BUT I could always point out what special infected were nearby and spawn points. Which always made my older brother and I a great team. He covered the shooting and strategy, I covered the atmosphere connected to gameplay. 😌
Just politely pointing out that Valve shouldn't be given all the credit for this. They published it and the dev was in a totally different office, they didn't want Valve being intrusive.
Why are you so adamant about spreading false information? Valve were not just the publishers, they brought in loads of their in-house developers and resources to make this game what it is. Do you get off on being an idiot and spreading misinformation?
Im glad you point out that one of the core mechanics is team work and sticking together, because there seems to be some players that dont get this and then tell you to get better at the game when they run ahead and dont stick with the team.
they had this feature that no one seems to talk about which was pretty good. so if you were a good player the game would recognize it and be hard but if you sucked and miss shots and stuff they would have less Z's and less aggressive
I remember playing this game again with a custom map with a friend not knowing that map supported 8 player support.. we were confused asf, i love this game and the community made maps. It's a truly special game that alot of people should play with friends
two of my favorite details with the Hunter and Charger specifically are 2 of their Alt Animations, sometimes when being shoved off Hunters will Backflip instead of stumbling and Chargers when having a roof above them while slamming a survivor will throw the survivor upward batting them into the ceiling
Having a campaign called "no mercy" in the game always was interesting to me because where i live Mercy Hospitals are real. They are an actual hospital brand/company thing.
Aight. I know I’ve commented a few times, but I just can’t help it LOL Bots. Oh boy, the bots. So your video got me inspired to play some L4D. I started some No Mercy and lawd I shut that off after two deaths from the bots incompetency. The first wipe was during the Crescendo event on the aforementioned ladder level where you have to raise the thing to walk up to the second floor of that building before dropping into the hole in the floor. Tell me WHY one of the bots managed to fall out of the window in that building back to the ground floor on the wrong side straight into a hunter pounce which caused both of the other two bots to jump out the same window to save him ONLY FOR ME TO GET GRABBED BY A SMOKER BEFORE I COULD FOLLOW. I watched the bots take their sweet time, and they didn’t even try to shoot him through any window or gap. Second death was LITERALLY that ladder LOL low health but I have to go up cuz the bots don’t go first. I get swarmed by a horde of infected who spawned there, became completely surrounding such that I couldn’t move, and they just never came up the ladder to help. I 100% would have never thought this game was fun had I not had 3 other friends to play with back in the 8th grade. Best zombie game hands down with a full team of real people.
@@Dorkaxe Gonna have to try it. I haven’t talked to my L4D friends since… uh… 2010? So the chances of me finding my four man squad that cleared Expert is about 0.0001%. LOL
@@m0002856 Otherwise, feel free to join my discord! We run L4D2 now and then, I have a dedicated thread for L4D2! We just played some versus on Tuesday, actually.
The way all the bots turned and looked at you fed up when Francis was saying how he hated everything was the icing on the cake. They were all just chillin in the elevator and got annoyed with Francis
The reason of why the pacing is different between the 2 games Is because that the left 4 dead 2 campaigns are stories told in a different perspective in comparison with the first left 4 dead. L4d campaigns are all about a group of people who's around probably since sometime close of the start of the apocalypse and tries getting into theyr objective by playing it safe and not being wreckless (probably a consequence of Bill's war experience Influencing how they act as a group. Since he is theyr leader.) l4d2 campaigns are about 4 people who literally just met and are trying to get out of a bad situation using offensive means by reaching safety. This group being composed by a young (and probably neurodivergent) car mechanic, a reporter, someone with violent crimes into it's criminal history and a football coach as theyr implied leader. In the first l4d, the team strenght lies in the coordination brought by bill's experiences and there's not really any significant character flaw that impacts in a visible way into how those characters are acting to the situation (possible exceptions: the sacrifice) In l4d2, the team's strenght is also tied to the characters flaws. They are talking the offensive probably not only in contrast of coach's experience as a football coach (a sport rooted in violence and all about being agressive against your opponent and being proactive), but also because (besides Rochelle), every single characters has a chaotic/destructive personality to lean upon. Nick is a convicted criminal that has killed once and still has violent tendencies (in one of the first character interactions bro literally threats badly hurt ellis at the start of dead center for calling the helicopter a random term ellis invented.). Ellis is wreckless and impulsive and coach although being self contained, it's clearly someone who probably is enjoying bashing some zombies skulls a little bit and doesnt mind getting a bit violent as response to a personal attack (you can see this when in the intro when coach bashes against a jockey and says "this used to be a nice neighborhood" in a loud and clear tone of someone expressing being discontented of seeing how something or somewhere he used to like being around is destroyed due to current Events) The reason of why the passing happened is because Ellis refused leaving jimmy gibbs car behind instead of just crossing the bridge on foot and finding another random car in the other side that they could just fill up with gas and continue theyr journey to new orleans. Dark carnival happens because of a road blockade and coach's nostalgia, the finale also being motivated by Coach and Ellis previous experiences with the midnight riders pyrotechnics. The dead center finale was due to Ellis urge to drive jimmy gibbs jr's car, hard rain finale being reasoned by coach's love for burger tank and due to nick not picking up the flares to sign to vergil when they get the gas for the boat. The events of l4d2 are driven by the characters themselves, not just because they want to survive, not like the first L4d are just ways to finnish of campaings so the characters can escape to survive another day (except by the sacrifice). The l4d2 campaings are about how those individuals are able to adapt and overcome current situations according to theyr needs due to theyr chaotic nature and how theyr flaws enhance the story telling and theyr ultimate goal. I ain't gonna lie: It's fine not being too fond of this approach (everyone has theyr own narrative preferences after all), but i really don't think that makes the game less enjoyable. Tho i do agree that the current amount weapons feels a bit overwelming sometimes And for that i think that the best approach were to remove some weapons and let the ones with more impact in the gameplay to stay Almost all the melees are the same with not many things impactfully changing among them (except the knife and chainsaw) so i think that it's okay to let them all coexist But the Firearms tho... I think it's fair to remove everything but -some of the sniper rifles -the ak-47 -the scar -the m-16 -the desert eagle -the auto shotguns And the tier 1 weapons Everyone has theyr favorite due to how it feels to use them, so i don't think that it's really needed to remove those, since theyr impact on the gameplay is visible The excessive ammo piles through the compaings isn't really a problem with the map designs but more like a director AI problem that should be propperly adjusted Besides that, i think that, great videos :)
A fantastic video mate!! Though that’s not surprising!! L4D is a wonderful franchise and I do hope we one day get a third game made by the proper Valve
I remember getting kicked from a versus match back in the day, I got to be the tank and punched a car at the survivors. Hits and incapacitated all four of them at once because they were clustered together. Had that happen to me again later in L4D2 when I used a charger to slam the survivors off the ledge in hard rain when they come back up the elevator from the sugar field. The kick player because they’re good ability made me hate playing the game with randoms just because I could spend a half hour getting a match together and then get kicked for the stupidest of things. I
I'll say that melee weapons fit into the mix because they're useless against special infected in terms of damage. Also you could see ranged infected like spitters, smokers and not be able to target them at all. You're trading the ability to carve your way through the common infected with little trouble to weakening yourself against special infected. This weakness is covered however if you have good teamwork and can cover each other's weakpoints
The passing with l4d1 survivors isn’t contrived at all, the sacrifice comic explains everything perfectly Louis is hurt so they will just stay up there until he heals enough to return to the boat, which is excactly what they did
I can't explain the happiness i got from these games playing with my friend. I was going through a lot at that age, and i found laughter and joy in these games where i could not find elswhere.
Its crazy to think about playing just a dozen campaigns over and over again for years and never getting bored on consoles but these 2 games were a huge part of my teenage years spent gaming online. I got back into L4D2 but this time on PC during the lockdown of 2020 and fell back in love with this series all over again just trying out modded weapons and campaigns to various results good or bad.
I love that everything in Left 4 Dead is designed to enhance gameplay, whereas nowadays, a lot of systems implemented in the game are tied to selling you microtransactions.
I got Minecraft as a 5th grade graduation gift in 2011, I played MC religiously for years. Thru all of its updates until it finally started falling off for me around 18-19. But I never, never ever read those credits after killing the ender dragon. I won’t even lie…those words really struck something right at my soul for just a moment. I’m typing this comment as the ending montage plays and I just really needed to hear/read those ending credits. The rush of melancholy, sadness, regret, happiness, and hope I felt in just a few minutes.
Love this video. I find it very interesting you didn’t mention how toxic the players can be specially on versus mode. It’s imo one of the worst things about the game and a reason many new players are not trying new things or the game at all.
I never liked versus and haven’t played much but any time I have I’ve been ridiculed in VC for not doing exactly what the players on my team want or just not had fun because everyone who plays it plays nothing else and it’s impossible to enjoy when you can’t do anything and you’re getting yelled at at the same time
@@CallofFreaky yes it’s hard not to get kicked out of a versus game even for an experienced player. Easily one of the most toxic gaming communities which is a shame.
It wasn't too hard to find a decent lobby, but the problem became finding a group of survivors who all had the same idea on how to play each level and butting heads, and that could easily derail any campaign. But I had a lot of really, really great times with random groups in that game. More than most games I can think of.
@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control agreed 100%. It’s like he said in the video. The games where the teams are balanced and not toxic are easily some of the most fun there is to have in a video game. Top tier gaming that.
Holy moly, something about the song that plays when a campaign is nearing its end has always triggered an adrenaline response in me to haul ass so hearing it at 2:26:00 come outta nowhere, I couldn't help but smile at my increasing heart rate. I'll always love the music of these games
Valve and the original Turtle Rock Studios used actual physiatrists and whatnot to get the music just right to fit what role it needed. Scary, foreboding, exciting, doomed, triumphant, hopeful.
25:01 The first time I played left for dead it was with my buddy, and we was close to the top in the like open construction area of no mercy chapter 5. The Tank showed up there, I watched the Tank hit Zoey off the side; watching her go flying before killing coach, grabbing my buddy and jumping off with him. It was one of the most chaotic and awesome things I had ever seen in gaming.
Custom ammo not getting its own inventory slot probably has more to do with console D-Pads only having 4 buttons. And it does balance it against L4D1 as the new characters are "just as strong" as old characters.
Gonna be 19 this year I played them throughout my whole childhood hood with my siblings we used to put batteries in freezer and stay up all night playing it missing school that was the days man
The entire point behind Spitters, Jockeys and Chargers in L4D2 was to prevent corner camping strats from 1, which can constantly be seen in the recorded gameplay footage.
im happy Helldivers 2 is arguably a successor of the genre amalgamating form the titles its heavily inspired from. they coudlve went w/ casually making a game third person, but they make it on their own way to add mechanics/detail close to MGSV
1:39:30 NGL, you probably didn't read the comic that explains why they're there. Its because they needed to raise the bridge to get a boat across. Durring that time, supposedly they met the L4D2 survivors, though its weird why they didn't tell them that Ceda almost killed them after Blood Harvest.
Love the discussion on the Director in the L4D1 portion. Totally accurate, and great on Valve to develop basically an AI antagonist that doesn't feel like it's solvable. People say a lot of negative things about AI when it comes to creative avenues like video games, but I think the Director position is perfect. It's probably not something akin to modern AI by any means, but it still has the heart and soul of a Dungeons and Dragons DM. Doing well at the moment? Let's throw a little challenge your way. Struggling to survive? I'll go ahead and back the heat down a little bit to give you some time to recover- but only a LITTLE time to recover. I mean, I think that really is the heart and soul of these two games- They invented a series of campaign maps for you to play, and then invented their own Dungeon Master AI program to randomly decide how to populate the maps with enemies and items. It's like sure maybe we played on the Morgoth Swamp map before in DnD so we all know the layout, but the DM has changed where things are a little bit. There's a rock over here cutting off the path you used last time. There's different item and enemy spawns. Pretty cool idea, especially for all the way back then.
@@Dorkaxe Hey, technically it was your video that made me realize this for the very first time. :) Jus the way you were describing things made me think about it like that. Valve is the parent company who produces the game, the Director is their AI DM that comes packaged with the game but cannot cheat. They, like any player DM, has to abide by the rules that Valve set in the game- things like stats, weapons, pick ups, enemies, damage values, etc. are all designed by Valve but executed by the Director akin to how a DM would handle a game of DnD. And we are the humble survivors. The players tasked with overcoming the obstacles chosen by the DM in accordance with the rules designed by Valve. It’s a GENIUS idea the more I think about it. More games should do this. There’s a reason DnD has existed for as long as it has. Somehow, games seem more interesting when there’s a middle man between the company making the rules and the players. Things can happen that the devs never thought of, but that keeps it fun and interesting, right?
1:56:13 this entire exchange between the in game survivors and their voicelines sums up perfectly how it feels when the bots stand confused as to what action they should take. God damn man, it shouldn’t be that hard to make the bots start pathing towards the player that’s snared while shooting at the smoker, then making the bots switch priorities immediately when they are in range to shove you free if they can’t kill the smoker before they reach you. I felt vindicated whenever you mentioned that dumbing the bots down was an intentional choice but it feels all the more horrible since you know they could have done better but decided, for a very *very* arbitrary reason, against it.
Hey all. This is a combination of my L4D1 and 2 videos into one. I've revamped the L4D1 video, correcting a few mistakes, expanding on some thoughts, and editing out a few of my MANY "as wells" since it was just ludicrous last time. I've also added in another mod campaign review for both games, among some other small changes.
If you'd like to see me review a few other mod campaigns, I have a patreon exclusive video where I cover I Hate Mountains, Back to School, and Suicide Blitz, both versions of all of them.
Support me on patreon: www.patreon.com/dorkaxe
Otherwise, join the discord for talks and maybe L4D play sessions or Project Zomboid goofs.
Dorkaxe discord link: discord.gg/rnmSP9FQQg
Secondary channel where I post clips and highlights: www.youtube.com/@dorkaxeextra2584
always good to see games that are loved getting videos made about them. i do wish that valve updated the console versions of the games because PC players seem to have everything that matters; accurate hit detection, updates to make some maps more fair in terms of layout and design for the SI, the weapons from CS arent a big deal but nice to have, dlcs are actually playable since on console they always seem to crash, and custom maps for variety since i think that l4d2 dropped the ball w its maps compared to l4d; i love dead center dark carnival and parish, but hard rain and swamp fever just give me mixed feelings of love and hate whereas i can love all the l4d maps. great vid even if ive yet to complete watching it :D
I literally watched both of your videos on L4D today HOURS before you uploaded this wtf 😂
ah! I was gonna say "déjà vu"...
happy new year, Dorkaxe
1:40:39 someone didn't read the sacrifice comic
😊
"My buddy Keith lived in a graveyard once for a whole year. It wasn't a dare or nothin', he just got kicked out of his house. He said he NEVER saw a single ghost 'cept for this one time when a ghost stabbed him from behind and took all his money, and he might've just been a homeless guy, 'cause he had a robe on with two eyes cut out his face."
“Wow really? Glad you shared that Ellis”
i now just realised it was a kkk member
L4D fact Ellis never got to finish his stories since the other survivors were too focused on you guessed it survival
And if Nick and Ellis happen to be the only survivors nick has a voice line about him apologizing/him telling him he didn’t mean it that he was joking someone pointed out that nick didn’t want the guy to die thinking he genuinely hated him
The best thing about Left 4 Dead's storytelling is that the environment actually shows how dire things are. Safehouse have limited supplies enough to cater all 4 of the survivors with limited weapon, every escape seems to lead to nowhere since you'll fight your way to another area after escaping the previous one and it's becoming more dangerous than the last and the characters seems to acknowledge the bleakness of their situation but learns to accept it with each passing time.
It is amazing to hear you say what every other player is thinking. Your presentation is great.
I seek witches out. One shot from a shotgun. I leave light on and run to them.
Louis is hilarious. Especially when he is getting killed.
My youngest daughter bought me L4D1 on PC when it came out because I suck on Xbox. I have been gaming online for over 25 years. I still play a lot. Almost 500,000 kills.
I only play with bots. People are mean and rude online.
I am in my mid sixties by the way.
Thank you for taking the time to create videos for us.
I'm so sorry about the rude people online. They've become so prevalent now since they hide behind their screens. They expect you to be perfect but blame other players for their shortcomings. Meanwhile, some of us just want to have fun.
I started playing this game to play with my 10 year old nephew. His baby brother was 3 and a half at the time and he would sit on his brother's bed and watch us play. He LOVED the Jockey and would often jump on my shoulders so naturally, I would play along and start walking left and right, complaining that I had a jockey on me. Nothing is as beautiful as hearing a child's laughter.
One day, his mom messaged me and told me David wanted to play with me. I rolled my eyes at the idea of playing with a nearly 4 year old, knowing I would die repeatedly, but hey, it would make him happy.
First map, after 2 chapters, we hear it. The moaning sound of a witch. He has the smallest machine gun, which is (by my opinion) the worse weapon of the game. I heard him say "I'll kill da witze" and I sighed, knowing I would have to rescue him. I ran toward him, heard three gunshot and I heard the dying moan of the witch.
The little bugger killed the witch easier than I was able to and I'd been playing that game for months!!!
He just turned 18 years old a few weeks ago. And this is one of my favorite memories with him
I would play with you, soldier. No animosity, no mean or rude!
@@lordhawkridge4116 me too!
The charger in L4D2 has gained a reputation as well as "Karma Chargers" seem to be spawned in whenever you make a noteworthy mistake, betray a teammate, or just act selfishly in general. I love them
1:14:07
There's a mutation called 'Iron Man' that has realism activated; removes ammo piles, which forces you to change weapons; removes checkpoints, meaning that if everyone dies, the game will take you back to the main menu, which can be frustrating but it makes it all more tense and enjoyable for those that are looking for a challenge.
Jesus
The L4D series kicks so much ass that I still play them
@Graves-81_69 bro l4d will never die no lie
@@djsafieg25 you’ve got that right. I even liked Back 4 Blood even though it was way different from the original recipe
@@Graves-81_69 Back 4 Blood pales in comparison. I'll stick with the well-rounded experience that is L4D/2
@@Syfrox I hear that. I play B4B from time to time but like you said L4D is where it’s at
same. Its never been uninstalled since i bought this computer. And it never did on my old one till I wiped the hard drive to sell after i bought my recent one. It's TIMELESS
Man, hearing that Valve splash screen music gave me a huge blast of nostalgia, quickly followed by something like new hype, then finally the sad realization that it hit me so hard because its been missing and a comeback isn't looking likely.
Same dude.
Fun fact, The voice actor for the church guy is also the same voice actor for scout for TF2
In the german version the church guy has Ellis voice
Fact, the coach and zoey have a same voice actor
@@ImagineMonkey not sure about that, but coach’s voice actor is the actor for Tyrese in the walking dead, which I think is cool
JERMA985⁉️⁉️
The reload changes and how the shotguns works on the second game are the biggest differences to me between the 2 games.
Really? What are the differences? Im not the most observant, so I never noticed anything honestly
Whats the difference?
We need to know about these differences man lives are at stake here
seriously what are the differences
@JustAJauneArc @joakimberg7897 @YourName-um6sb @@tumble8323 In L4D1, if you empty the mag of the autoshotgun completely, the reload takes longer because you have to manually chamber a round, rather than being able to keep shooting once all the shells are in.
My friends call me Coach
Ellis: KIDDYLAND
I guess yall can do the same
Goddamnit.
Ha ha Coach
”Was coach his real name?”
1:40:47 The Sacrifice comic actually answers this. Once Louis recovers, they do end up taking the boat to the island.
TH-cam recommends me so many longform game reviewers with absolutely nothing of value to say that every time someone comes along who actually makes interesting points i immediately binge their content. I clicked subscribe very fast, great series of videos.
"My last life? District IT manager at Fischer Platt. Not good practice for zombie killing, you know?" This game OOZED personality even though it’s a very measured and rhythmic game, the small things you hear and pick up through hours of playing. I remember the day I got home from middle school and my stepfather was playing this on his Xbox 360 and I watched him play well into the morning the next day.
I used to amaturly mess around with source sdk for l4d2. I had a campaign idea that never came to full fruition where the survivors were tasked by the military to nuke a city in a 3 stage campaign. The first map would involve getting off a train that is carrying the nuke due to the rails needing to be manually diverted to a different track. Youd run through city streets and even climb a fire escape to ride a zipline across a river. The second map would involve the survivors "playing a game of payload" if you will. The military instructs them to push the nuke on the track to the center of the city then meet at a rendezvous point. The reason they give to not take the nuke by train is some bs that makes no sence but the survivors have no choice because they will be killed if they dont cooperate. The final map involves arming the nuke and running to the rendezvous in a crescendo event. The campaign ends with the survivors realizing they are abandoned and burning up in the blast. I had made a rough concept of the first map and an even more rough concept of the second before i got bored and moved on to playing valheim which had just come out that year. If any map maker sees this and wants to steal the idea feel free, I still check out the workshop from time to time and would love to play the campaign. I just realized i dont have the patience for game design.
😢
You should make that
Id download that off the workshop
I'm mad that your last L4D2 video didn't skyrocket. The fact that there was so much labor and absolute love into it and seeing ANOTHER video of a long length? You are blessing us with your passion. Thabk you so much 🥺💜
Thank you! No worries, I let the algorithm do its thing. It's not doing terribly by any means, but yeah, more/higher numbers is nice.
@@Dorkaxethe algorithm did, in fact, do it's thing because I'm here now and enjoying this video so far
TH-cam Algorithm am I right?
the thignt that probably impresses me the most is that left 4 dead came up with pretty much every zombie type that any zombie games uses nowadays except screamer
Screamers were a concept for both games and went as far as early alpha builds. Ultimately got cut mostly because they didnt fit the loop and the boomer already filled the role, as well as being the de facto "suicide" enemy that seems to be a legal requirement in zombie games.
I'd argue the L4D2 special infected actually added far more balance to the game than the original ones. For example, the charger is a disruption special and works to throw the group off or make them split apart to dodge the charge. If the charge lands on the group, one person is taken far away while the group is scattered into the air. The spitter also stops people from camping or holding angles too long. She forces you to engage the zombies directly. The jockey is a mix of the hunter and the smoker. Its low profile makes it hard as hell to see or hit in hordes, making it perfect for stealth pounces. And since it jumps just above you basic FOV (Unlike the hunter), it's harder to stun bash out of the air without directly looking up. Once it grabs you, it can easily move you away from your team if they aren't paying attention. The original specials work, but none served as a disruption to the group as much nor did any break camping a funnel/angle. Trust me, when you get good enough at these games, the original specials become quite the pushover majority of the time.
Yep I always felt the originals are more cherished to fans and with nostalgia but the second ones are better crafted wrench into a teams machinery
Except the Jockey fuck the Jockey having an instant latch on + move you until you die cause fuck you + they have way more hp than you think and small. I could probably balance the jockey better
Like make the jockey only move you a few steps enough to go behind a corner then knock them down so its a mix of smoker and hunter and also reduce their hp to match how small they are, the hunters and smokers have less hp than the jockey currently
@@reimuhakurei2123 This is true but the jockey also does piss damage. compare the jockeys 5 dps to the hunters 10 dps.
@@defaultface7273 wtf dps dosent even matter to what the Jockey DOES what are you on about
yes special infected in L4D2 only add to the gameplay
i agree that some maps from first game are much harder - like charger grabbing you in last two maps of no mercy and running with you from the roof at the same time knocking everyone to deaths
Another difference between Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 is you can see your legs and torso when looking down, where you can't in 2.
Thank goodness you can mod back your legs into Left 4 Dead 2.
and downed survivors actually aim the guns behind them
oh the things we lost just because they made a game for consoles... always dead on arrival and downgraded platform
@@ryszakowy Bro it was literally 2009
@@The_Soda_Manthe new leg mods cause fps drops since the mod just doubles the model's bottom half.
The last stand broke all real leg mods.
I love that clip you use at 2 min, I especially love that if anyone is gonna talk about half life or the goldengine in literally anyway, it's like a 85% chance that clip is gonna show. Just so emblematic of the real best part of half life, jank.
Restarting the generator in The Sacrifice as Bill is one of my favorite moments in gaming.
I love how its an unspoken rule also, whoever is Bill, must make the sacrifice
@@noxcurenot really, I usually host the game so even if i play as bill, you still have to go down there if I say
@@GTZ7bro u are not him😭
@GTZ7 you're so cool 🤣🤣 goofy ass
I admire the attention to detail that these first 2 games had. You can really appreciate just how ahead of its time they are, especially when comparing them to Back 4 Blood and most other games that come out nowadays
I tried to get the dlc on Xbox one for L4D2 and none of them work, except for ones that take me to the 360 store for some reason, although I don’t know if I add a card to my Xbox one account if that’ll work. Does anyone know if it will?
@@mr.l5071it’s supposed to take you to the 360 store it is an Xbox 360 game. If you buy it through there it should still work entirely
@@mr.l5071I'm also having the same problem as well and the only solution I see is that you pay for it on a 360
@@notnormal419 oh man the dlc doesn’t show up on my 360 despite searching for it, that’s very strange.
@@mr.l5071I bought both games an all the dlc a few months ago on 360 and everything seemed to work fine. I think I even bought the dlc on the main menu of the game itself while playing on my Series X. Some stuff might be slowly leaving the store ahead of its full closure in July.
as a huge wrestling nerd i gotta say the completely random and triple niche Curtis Axel reference went so hard its insane
this guy is such a legend I truly do hope he gets more recognition because he definitely deserves it he always gives amazing retrospectives
l4d and l4d2 are like a film
action when a horde and special infected come together to attack you
suspense when its all quiet and a few zombies are appearing only to a holdout section to appear
horror hearing the special infected spawn and the witch's crying
and the fact that at the end of a campaign a end credits scene appear
I've been a huge fan of l4d since 2008 and i absolutley love both of them, i agree the first one has an unique charm that the second doesn't, but i still love l4d2 because is so much fun, this game is super important for me and makes me nostalgic, so seeing that is still alive and loved by the community makes me so happy, i love your video it was super entertaining and loved how well you were describing them, amazing job!
I can't choose a favorite, i love both lol
also i can't stop laughing because of the last clips lmfaoo
I used to play the crap out of these games when they came out. I was feeling nostalgic for them recently, and my bf has a 360 so I ordered hard copies of them both to revisit. He’s never played them before, so I’m excited for him to experience it!
U win
I could use a GF like you... *le' sigh'
im nostalgic for them too. Always played on PC though.. bought both games day 1. im 40 now. feel so old. :(
did he enjoy them?
@@YEETUSDAFEETUS He did! I was excited how much he likes playing them together, cuz it was such a staple of my childhood and teen years. He’s even been making some references outside of us playing which is so cool I think lol
@@JojoNicole sounds like you guys are going to be busy slaying hordes for a while I'm glad he liked em they're some of the best zombie games I've played
I got lfd and lfd2 on my 9th birthday and they are what blossomed my interest in video games.
A very curious detail that I love of the 13:40 spanish version of Bill dialog it says: "that was just a skirmish, now comes the war" highlighting even more His characteristic military style
One of the reasons I love Old valve games so much is because of the obvious love and dedication put into them all. The music is always S tier (except for CS for some reason), I generally just think the source engine and the gritty, old-feeling but upholding graphics are a million times better than any modern “realistic” game with a battle pass, a shop, celebrities or pop culture characters as skins etc. ofc l4d2 has a very lively modding scene but even with every single model and weapon modded to hell to be different things it always feels like left 4 dead, no matter how many clusterfuck mods I have it’ll never not feel like left 4 dead and I love that about it
One of the most replayable games of all time imo, very few games manage to capture that feeling of a totally different experience each time you play
It was my most played Steam game and my account is from 2009, only to be dethroned by elden ring just recently 😅.
@@TheL1arL1ar yes!! I noticed the new game helldivers has classes like l4d and I wonder what else it has that’s similar. Wondering if maybe they got some of the magic from the game. They got boomers, chargers, hunters and I’m sure more that’s oddly similar. Super interesting
The L4D AI director should have been how MW3 zombie city should have been made
Dorkaxe out here just dropping bangers, love your content man
In defense of the l4d2 characters, we have Coach and Rochelle being more professional and community driven. Very much on the same page. We have Ellis being puerile and finding this whole situation to be badass with Nick being somewhat opposite as more harsh and more brutal in a refined way. Rochelle and Coach shutting down Nick’s bullshit and defending themselves against his ways is great.
Rochelle gets the better of Nick at one point, cutting through his cynicism. The tunnel of love where Nick roughly says to Coach:
Nick: “How many hamburgers and women did you have in the tunnel”
Coach: *Kinda has a stumbling response”
Rochelle immediately chimes in: “How many women did you have, Nick? 50, 25, 10? Did you even have 5?”
Nick: “That’s uncalled for, Rochelle”
This kinda parallels l4d1’s protagonists. Bill and Zoey have a lose father-daughter vibe and are survivalists at heart. Francis is cynical and aloof while Louis is upbeat and warm. Two characters that are receptive, and two that are opposite.
I am not trying to convince anyone, just stating a few reasons why I believe they are a strong quadruple of protagonists.
This analysis is entertaining and a joy to listen to. And while Swamp Fever is one or my more favorite campaigns, the wooden bridge lowering makes no sense.
Watch out.
-Coach
Both of your Left 4 Dead retrospectives are probably the best analysis' of the series on youtube. Especially with how well you were able to articulate your thoughts on Left 4 Dead 2. I really look forward to what you put out in the future!
This is without a doubt one of the best Left 4 Dead videos on TH-cam.
I’ve never seen two infected get offended with another and just throw hands.
sometimes they do
Typically if you walk into an area, you can sometimes see them fighting each other but they will stop when the player(s) are spotted. You can see some zombies fighting each other if you sit on certain main menu screens. It isnt common, but if you ever can, watch the zombies at a distance during the more open levels like parts of Dead Harvest & Dead Air (L4D1) and Swamp Fever & Dead Center (L4D2)
I used to bring my laptop to class and finish my work early to play L4D1, waiting for the class to end. Sadly, not many games that followed in its footprints.
I know this is a mix of two videos but GOD DAMM is this a banger to learn about your channel from
This was a beautiful dissection of the series as a whole
The good, the bad and the ugly
I'm glad you were able to experience just about every aspect of the online co-op experience as possible when you tackled this. It's definitely not for everyone who are looking for a casual experience with friends only to have some matches broken down to "git gud or git lost".
IF there was EVER a consideration to do a 3rd installment in the series, I truly hope they consider introducing dedicated hardcore "KWTD" lobbies for that kind of experience so others who aren't as experienced can enjoy the basics.
Granted anyone will hop in casual lobbies just to stomp people lol, it will always happen regardless.
And for the love of all that is unholy, SweetBabyInc gets burned to the ground and doesn't go anywhere NEAR it.
Still remember playing Left 4 Dead demo on xbox 360 with friends over and over everyday when it first came out. It was only the first level but everyone kept playing it. Was a blast.
Seems great. already watched both of them but will start and finish this one with a smile, even more if you say to have put more mod analysis into it.
Thanks!
I’m only 20 minutes in but the style of the video reminds me of early matthewmatosis (another videogame essay TH-camr), which is pretty much the highest compliment I can give
I never noticed the musical cues for special infected, really cool
This series is and always will be one of my favorites because of the friendships I have made playing it. Playing with random people can sometimes be a pain, but I have met some AMAZING people more than 10 years ago, who are still part of my life today, even though we haven't played together in years. I have played along with them and their children and I have watched them grow into beautiful adults inside and out. We have bonded while playing together (and against each other in versus mode) and this, even though we are more than a thousand miles apart and even not in the same country. I know I could reach out to anyone of them and they would respond in a second. So Jon, Kelsey, Bret, Angel, Tabitha, Ethan, Alex, Jonny, Anza, thank you for being there for me and letting me be a part of your life. Thank you for the laughter we shared and the memories we made. I wish we could just boot up the game and play together, right now.
I really wish CoD Extinction took more design concepts from L4D. I think a Director like system would've greatly improved the mode. It principally played more like that than the traditional CoD horde mode.
35:09
You are shooting guns. Without suppressor. In the middle of a city.
My favorite genre of video is 2+hour long valve videos
I watched this whole retrospective video in one sitting and I totally agree with everything. Great vid
17:30 Long comment but, I got into playing left 4 dead around 9/10 yrs old and the sound design has got to be the biggest reason I fell for the game. As a kid I was garbage at surviving, obviously, BUT I could always point out what special infected were nearby and spawn points. Which always made my older brother and I a great team. He covered the shooting and strategy, I covered the atmosphere connected to gameplay. 😌
Just politely pointing out that Valve shouldn't be given all the credit for this. They published it and the dev was in a totally different office, they didn't want Valve being intrusive.
Why are you so adamant about spreading false information? Valve were not just the publishers, they brought in loads of their in-house developers and resources to make this game what it is.
Do you get off on being an idiot and spreading misinformation?
“Tightly designed “ is so accurate. First ballot hall of fame multiplayer game.
Im glad you point out that one of the core mechanics is team work and sticking together, because there seems to be some players that dont get this and then tell you to get better at the game when they run ahead and dont stick with the team.
they had this feature that no one seems to talk about which was pretty good. so if you were a good player the game would recognize it and be hard but if you sucked and miss shots and stuff they would have less Z's and less aggressive
I remember playing this game again with a custom map with a friend not knowing that map supported 8 player support.. we were confused asf, i love this game and the community made maps. It's a truly special game that alot of people should play with friends
This would be sick as a movie, if done right
ong! id do it if i had the talent and money lols.
two of my favorite details with the Hunter and Charger specifically are 2 of their Alt Animations, sometimes when being shoved off Hunters will Backflip instead of stumbling and Chargers when having a roof above them while slamming a survivor will throw the survivor upward batting them into the ceiling
Having a campaign called "no mercy" in the game always was interesting to me because where i live Mercy Hospitals are real. They are an actual hospital brand/company thing.
Aight. I know I’ve commented a few times, but I just can’t help it LOL
Bots. Oh boy, the bots.
So your video got me inspired to play some L4D. I started some No Mercy and lawd I shut that off after two deaths from the bots incompetency.
The first wipe was during the Crescendo event on the aforementioned ladder level where you have to raise the thing to walk up to the second floor of that building before dropping into the hole in the floor.
Tell me WHY one of the bots managed to fall out of the window in that building back to the ground floor on the wrong side straight into a hunter pounce which caused both of the other two bots to jump out the same window to save him ONLY FOR ME TO GET GRABBED BY A SMOKER BEFORE I COULD FOLLOW.
I watched the bots take their sweet time, and they didn’t even try to shoot him through any window or gap.
Second death was LITERALLY that ladder LOL low health but I have to go up cuz the bots don’t go first. I get swarmed by a horde of infected who spawned there, became completely surrounding such that I couldn’t move, and they just never came up the ladder to help.
I 100% would have never thought this game was fun had I not had 3 other friends to play with back in the 8th grade. Best zombie game hands down with a full team of real people.
Better bots workshop mod for L4D2 makes them a lot better. Smokers still get them in trouble, but most else they're good enough for non-expert runs.
@@Dorkaxe
Gonna have to try it. I haven’t talked to my L4D friends since… uh… 2010? So the chances of me finding my four man squad that cleared Expert is about 0.0001%. LOL
@@m0002856 Otherwise, feel free to join my discord! We run L4D2 now and then, I have a dedicated thread for L4D2! We just played some versus on Tuesday, actually.
The way all the bots turned and looked at you fed up when Francis was saying how he hated everything was the icing on the cake. They were all just chillin in the elevator and got annoyed with Francis
"Game over man... Game over!"
Everybody laughing. Best part of the games
You have encouraged me to update my game and binge.
Thanks.
The reason of why the pacing is different between the 2 games Is because that the left 4 dead 2 campaigns are stories told in a different perspective in comparison with the first left 4 dead.
L4d campaigns are all about a group of people who's around probably since sometime close of the start of the apocalypse and tries getting into theyr objective by playing it safe and not being wreckless (probably a consequence of Bill's war experience Influencing how they act as a group. Since he is theyr leader.)
l4d2 campaigns are about 4 people who literally just met and are trying to get out of a bad situation using offensive means by reaching safety. This group being composed by a young (and probably neurodivergent) car mechanic, a reporter, someone with violent crimes into it's criminal history and a football coach as theyr implied leader.
In the first l4d, the team strenght lies in the coordination brought by bill's experiences and there's not really any significant character flaw that impacts in a visible way into how those characters are acting to the situation (possible exceptions: the sacrifice)
In l4d2, the team's strenght is also tied to the characters flaws.
They are talking the offensive probably not only in contrast of coach's experience as a football coach (a sport rooted in violence and all about being agressive against your opponent and being proactive), but also because (besides Rochelle), every single characters has a chaotic/destructive personality to lean upon. Nick is a convicted criminal that has killed once and still has violent tendencies (in one of the first character interactions bro literally threats badly hurt ellis at the start of dead center for calling the helicopter a random term ellis invented.). Ellis is wreckless and impulsive and coach although being self contained, it's clearly someone who probably is enjoying bashing some zombies skulls a little bit and doesnt mind getting a bit violent as response to a personal attack (you can see this when in the intro when coach bashes against a jockey and says "this used to be a nice neighborhood" in a loud and clear tone of someone expressing being discontented of seeing how something or somewhere he used to like being around is destroyed due to current Events)
The reason of why the passing happened is because Ellis refused leaving jimmy gibbs car behind instead of just crossing the bridge on foot and finding another random car in the other side that they could just fill up with gas and continue theyr journey to new orleans. Dark carnival happens because of a road blockade and coach's nostalgia, the finale also being motivated by Coach and Ellis previous experiences with the midnight riders pyrotechnics.
The dead center finale was due to Ellis urge to drive jimmy gibbs jr's car, hard rain finale being reasoned by coach's love for burger tank and due to nick not picking up the flares to sign to vergil when they get the gas for the boat.
The events of l4d2 are driven by the characters themselves, not just because they want to survive, not like the first L4d are just ways to finnish of campaings so the characters can escape to survive another day (except by the sacrifice).
The l4d2 campaings are about how those individuals are able to adapt and overcome current situations according to theyr needs due to theyr chaotic nature and how theyr flaws enhance the story telling and theyr ultimate goal.
I ain't gonna lie:
It's fine not being too fond of this approach (everyone has theyr own narrative preferences after all), but i really don't think that makes the game less enjoyable.
Tho i do agree that the current amount weapons feels a bit overwelming sometimes
And for that i think that the best approach were to remove some weapons and let the ones with more impact in the gameplay to stay
Almost all the melees are the same with not many things impactfully changing among them (except the knife and chainsaw) so i think that it's okay to let them all coexist
But the Firearms tho...
I think it's fair to remove everything but
-some of the sniper rifles
-the ak-47
-the scar
-the m-16
-the desert eagle
-the auto shotguns
And the tier 1 weapons
Everyone has theyr favorite due to how it feels to use them, so i don't think that it's really needed to remove those, since theyr impact on the gameplay is visible
The excessive ammo piles through the compaings isn't really a problem with the map designs but more like a director AI problem that should be propperly adjusted
Besides that, i think that, great videos :)
Good Video So Far Can't Wait to finish it !
A fantastic video mate!! Though that’s not surprising!! L4D is a wonderful franchise and I do hope we one day get a third game made by the proper Valve
I loved your take on both games. These are my absolute fave zombie games to date! This vid definitely earned you a new sub!
I remember getting kicked from a versus match back in the day, I got to be the tank and punched a car at the survivors. Hits and incapacitated all four of them at once because they were clustered together. Had that happen to me again later in L4D2 when I used a charger to slam the survivors off the ledge in hard rain when they come back up the elevator from the sugar field.
The kick player because they’re good ability made me hate playing the game with randoms just because I could spend a half hour getting a match together and then get kicked for the stupidest of things. I
I get what you mean. Consider letting the weaker players win from time to time. This is how you game. Goes for every game you dominate at.
1:15:50 IT. IS. A. MAGAZINE.
I'll say that melee weapons fit into the mix because they're useless against special infected in terms of damage. Also you could see ranged infected like spitters, smokers and not be able to target them at all. You're trading the ability to carve your way through the common infected with little trouble to weakening yourself against special infected. This weakness is covered however if you have good teamwork and can cover each other's weakpoints
The passing with l4d1 survivors isn’t contrived at all, the sacrifice comic explains everything perfectly
Louis is hurt so they will just stay up there until he heals enough to return to the boat, which is excactly what they did
I can't explain the happiness i got from these games playing with my friend. I was going through a lot at that age, and i found laughter and joy in these games where i could not find elswhere.
Hell yeah perfect time for you to drop this
Its crazy to think about playing just a dozen campaigns over and over again for years and never getting bored on consoles but these 2 games were a huge part of my teenage years spent gaming online. I got back into L4D2 but this time on PC during the lockdown of 2020 and fell back in love with this series all over again just trying out modded weapons and campaigns to various results good or bad.
I love that everything in Left 4 Dead is designed to enhance gameplay, whereas nowadays, a lot of systems implemented in the game are tied to selling you microtransactions.
the audio glitch at 1:11:56 scared the shit out of me 😭
I got Minecraft as a 5th grade graduation gift in 2011, I played MC religiously for years. Thru all of its updates until it finally started falling off for me around 18-19. But I never, never ever read those credits after killing the ender dragon. I won’t even lie…those words really struck something right at my soul for just a moment. I’m typing this comment as the ending montage plays and I just really needed to hear/read those ending credits. The rush of melancholy, sadness, regret, happiness, and hope I felt in just a few minutes.
Left 4 Dead in Source 2 Engine. This is something I want to see.
No Zombie is safe from Chicago Ted!
Love this video. I find it very interesting you didn’t mention how toxic the players can be specially on versus mode. It’s imo one of the worst things about the game and a reason many new players are not trying new things or the game at all.
I never liked versus and haven’t played much but any time I have I’ve been ridiculed in VC for not doing exactly what the players on my team want or just not had fun because everyone who plays it plays nothing else and it’s impossible to enjoy when you can’t do anything and you’re getting yelled at at the same time
@@CallofFreaky yes it’s hard not to get kicked out of a versus game even for an experienced player. Easily one of the most toxic gaming communities which is a shame.
It wasn't too hard to find a decent lobby, but the problem became finding a group of survivors who all had the same idea on how to play each level and butting heads, and that could easily derail any campaign. But I had a lot of really, really great times with random groups in that game. More than most games I can think of.
@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control agreed 100%. It’s like he said in the video. The games where the teams are balanced and not toxic are easily some of the most fun there is to have in a video game. Top tier gaming that.
@@gamehelper2Thats why i start my own servers where i can ban toxic players who dosen't let the casuals play.
If anyone is wondering, there are still daily Scavenge Xbox lobbies. Hop on and play.
Holy moly, something about the song that plays when a campaign is nearing its end has always triggered an adrenaline response in me to haul ass so hearing it at 2:26:00 come outta nowhere, I couldn't help but smile at my increasing heart rate. I'll always love the music of these games
Valve and the original Turtle Rock Studios used actual physiatrists and whatnot to get the music just right to fit what role it needed. Scary, foreboding, exciting, doomed, triumphant, hopeful.
So many great campaigns made by the community. SO MANY! 🎊🥳🎉
Left for dead 2 is definitely the best zombie game ever!!!
6:05 2 players shove a boomer back and forth.
And then they both got the vomit on anyway
25:01 The first time I played left for dead it was with my buddy, and we was close to the top in the like open construction area of no mercy chapter 5. The Tank showed up there, I watched the Tank hit Zoey off the side; watching her go flying before killing coach, grabbing my buddy and jumping off with him. It was one of the most chaotic and awesome things I had ever seen in gaming.
Custom ammo not getting its own inventory slot probably has more to do with console D-Pads only having 4 buttons.
And it does balance it against L4D1 as the new characters are "just as strong" as old characters.
17:42 whenever I’m the last man standing or one of the last 2 people I play “im still standing” it feels SO COOL
I grew up on this game man. A TIMELESS classic. I still play to this day and it doesn’t get old for me. New games just can’t capture this. Sigh.
Gonna be 19 this year I played them throughout my whole childhood hood with my siblings we used to put batteries in freezer and stay up all night playing it missing school that was the days man
The entire point behind Spitters, Jockeys and Chargers in L4D2 was to prevent corner camping strats from 1, which can constantly be seen in the recorded gameplay footage.
the smoker at 29:21 got the achievement for stopping a player who went to sacrifice themselves
im happy Helldivers 2 is arguably a successor of the genre amalgamating form the titles its heavily inspired from. they coudlve went w/ casually making a game third person, but they make it on their own way to add mechanics/detail close to MGSV
I remember playing this all the time with my friend good times really miss those days
1:39:30 NGL, you probably didn't read the comic that explains why they're there. Its because they needed to raise the bridge to get a boat across. Durring that time, supposedly they met the L4D2 survivors, though its weird why they didn't tell them that Ceda almost killed them after Blood Harvest.
The infected do not react to the flashlight
they will always be my favorite childhood games of all times, including cod waw, favorite cod oat aswell honestly.
L4D1&2 truly belong in the hall of fame for greatest games in human history
Love the discussion on the Director in the L4D1 portion.
Totally accurate, and great on Valve to develop basically an AI antagonist that doesn't feel like it's solvable. People say a lot of negative things about AI when it comes to creative avenues like video games, but I think the Director position is perfect. It's probably not something akin to modern AI by any means, but it still has the heart and soul of a Dungeons and Dragons DM. Doing well at the moment? Let's throw a little challenge your way. Struggling to survive? I'll go ahead and back the heat down a little bit to give you some time to recover- but only a LITTLE time to recover.
I mean, I think that really is the heart and soul of these two games- They invented a series of campaign maps for you to play, and then invented their own Dungeon Master AI program to randomly decide how to populate the maps with enemies and items. It's like sure maybe we played on the Morgoth Swamp map before in DnD so we all know the layout, but the DM has changed where things are a little bit. There's a rock over here cutting off the path you used last time. There's different item and enemy spawns. Pretty cool idea, especially for all the way back then.
Ooo, equating it to a dungeon master is a really cool analogy. I should have used that, nice!
@@Dorkaxe
Hey, technically it was your video that made me realize this for the very first time. :)
Jus the way you were describing things made me think about it like that. Valve is the parent company who produces the game, the Director is their AI DM that comes packaged with the game but cannot cheat. They, like any player DM, has to abide by the rules that Valve set in the game- things like stats, weapons, pick ups, enemies, damage values, etc. are all designed by Valve but executed by the Director akin to how a DM would handle a game of DnD.
And we are the humble survivors. The players tasked with overcoming the obstacles chosen by the DM in accordance with the rules designed by Valve.
It’s a GENIUS idea the more I think about it. More games should do this. There’s a reason DnD has existed for as long as it has. Somehow, games seem more interesting when there’s a middle man between the company making the rules and the players. Things can happen that the devs never thought of, but that keeps it fun and interesting, right?
1:56:13 this entire exchange between the in game survivors and their voicelines sums up perfectly how it feels when the bots stand confused as to what action they should take.
God damn man, it shouldn’t be that hard to make the bots start pathing towards the player that’s snared while shooting at the smoker, then making the bots switch priorities immediately when they are in range to shove you free if they can’t kill the smoker before they reach you. I felt vindicated whenever you mentioned that dumbing the bots down was an intentional choice but it feels all the more horrible since you know they could have done better but decided, for a very *very* arbitrary reason, against it.