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Added by Jeff on Oct. 28, 2008 28 comments

I still find the German box art to be totally silly. "ACHTUNG! NUMBER FOUR! BLOOD IST VERBOTEN! BRATWURST! (U TO USE)"

EA has announced that folks who pre-order Valve's upcoming zombie gun fest, Left 4 Dead, will also get early access to the game's demo. That early access will begin on November 6 and will cover 360 and PC retail pre-orders at participating stores, as well as Steam pre-orders of the PC version. The rest of you jokers will get access on November 11, which is still a full week before the game's actual release.

Now, I had to be the guy that has to bring this up, but demos are supposed to be the things that you play in order to decide if you're going to buy the game at all. If you're already sold on the game, wouldn't you want to wait for the full product instead of playing a small chunk of it ahead of time, and then replaying that same bit when you get the real deal?

Or are you so busy fiending for Left 4 Dead that you'll take what you can get, when you can get it? I suppose getting the demo in the hands of someone who's already on board gives them extra days to convince their friends to buy. Either way, it sure sounds like Valve is anxious to get the games into the hands of players. Take a look at this related quote!

“Every time someone plays Left 4 Dead, we witness the most overwhelmingly positive reaction that we’ve seen from any of our games,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “This gives us tremendous confidence in the product and why we’ve taken the game on the road, produced this pre-launch demo, and invested more advertising dollars on the title than any prior release from Valve.”

Weirdly enough, I've managed to not actually play any L4D yet, but I don't think I've heard one person say anything negative about it so far, though most of the people I've talked to about the game seemed to agree that you'll need to play it with a competent group of friends in order to truly enjoy it.

Filed under : Left 4 Dead, Xbox 360, PC

28 Comments

Drebin_893
on Oct. 28, 2008

I, straight up, have never seen gameplay of this product.

norton123
on Oct. 28, 2008

I totally agree.

Milkman
on Oct. 28, 2008

"Now, I had to be the guy that has to bring this up, but demos are supposed to be the things that you play in order to decide if you're going to buy the game at all. If you're already sold on the game, wouldn't you want to wait for the full product instead of playing a small chunk of it ahead of time, and then replaying that same bit when you get the real deal?"

Exactly. What a stupid pre-order bonus.

Gunner
on Oct. 28, 2008

Im still not excited for this game. A demo might have made me think about buying it.

Shadowsquire
on Oct. 28, 2008

Maybe I'm one of few? But I'm actually really excited for L4D. Gonna hopefully get a 360 this weekend and then get me and my friends set up with L4D to play together. I've never played a Valve game that I haven't enjoyed and I hope that won't be changing anytime soon. But yea, just a demo before the release sorta sucks. Maybe if they threw in a severed hand like on the cover I might be happy :P

Kontrapunkt
on Oct. 28, 2008

U to use indeed.

ThePhenomenal1
on Oct. 28, 2008

good thing i pre-purchased it the day it was available on steam.

TheGTAvaccine is online
on Oct. 28, 2008

"Or are you so busy fiending for Left 4 Dead that you'll take what you can get, when you can get it?"

This.

MasturbatingBear
on Oct. 28, 2008

I also do not know what this game is, like at all. Seriously, I have only heard its name mentioned sometimes. I am assuming its a shooter otherwise it wouldn't be so hyped?

High
on Oct. 28, 2008

Look it up on youtube there is a cumulative hour or so of recorded gameplay out there i'm sure. I will be getting it as not only does it look fun, but it's produced by valve, which has never gone wrong and has in fact turned out many, many innovative or at least highly enjoyable games.

Vigorousjammer
on Oct. 28, 2008

MasturbatingBear, it is a up to 4-player co-op zombie shooter made by Valve, the people who brought you Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal...
That line there pretty much sells the game itself, but if you're not convinced, go over to gametrailers.com and take a look at some gameplay footage, it's really cool looking stuff.

Stealthoneill
on Oct. 28, 2008

Most companies take no money from you until the game is shipped. You could preorder and wait for your demo a week early, then have 2 weeks to cancel instead of the regular 1 week. Strange 'bonus' to be shouting about.

The fact that the heritage of this game lies with Half Life and Portal gets me in this games corner, although not enough to preorder with all the other games coming out. I think I will wait until the GB review is up before deciding!

xruntime
on Oct. 28, 2008

I'm still not sold on this game. Shooting zombies that charge at you over and over? Is that really 'fun'?

YoungBuck
on Oct. 28, 2008

got my pre-order in

Chainblast
on Oct. 28, 2008

It's a stupid pre-order bonus. Actually I find I get screwed out of most of the bonuses I'm supposed to get to the point where I've stopped bothering with pre-orders altogether. I really do like the box art so I'm inclined to pick up the retail version instead of my typical Steam "strategy". So in a combination of not getting a bonus (LBP), shitty bonuses and ample supply of the product you want... what's the point?

Crono
on Oct. 28, 2008

Stoked for L4D. The demo is probably just to get the ol' "word-of-mouth" running around the internets.

Haimster
on Oct. 28, 2008

If Gabe really believes this then why did EA push back the release date, even though it meant missing the Halloween tie in? It sounded like they wanted (or needed?) more time. The game play videos I viewed are graphically unimpressive. Zombies rock and I want this game to be fantastic. COD4 may have jaded my expectations but this save $10 deal sounds like a Kane and Lynch get your money before you realize it sucks scam. I am waiting for a review from the men of Giantbomb.com before I make this or any video game purchase because everyone occasionally lays eggs.

cikame
on Oct. 29, 2008

I need to play the demo because right now, its a source mod, made some levels, made some zombies..................... thats pretty much it, no where near enough content for my money.

I might be wrong, there might be a story, there might even be alot of content that i'm not seeing and i hope this is the case, but i've got to imagine that i'm not the only one who feels like this and will avoid the game.

EDIT: especially now that call of duty world at war now has a zombie mode.

Scooper is online
on Oct. 29, 2008

I saw this last night on Steam and it almost pursuaded me to pre-order, but..... nahh, I'll wait 'til the game comes out so I can enjoy it fully. This is the most anticipated game this year for me, and I also can't wait 'til the initial rush is over for it so Valve can start throwing some damn teasers for Episode 3 which I'm so anxious to play.

killername
on Oct. 29, 2008

Haimster, for someone so passionate about giantbomb I am surprised that you did not bother to read the article properly (hope it was laziness and not inability) . If you did you would find out that it still comes out a week before the game ships.

In my opinion the game will be great as I have yet to buy anything not worth my money from Valve and everything that I have heard about the game has been positive.

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