Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview - Infected Side
AUDIO
Audio cues and sound effects in multiplayer first person shooters are often times vital to playing your best, and in Left 4 Dead it is perhaps even more so. What makes Left 4 Dead stand out isn't only the sound effects, but the music. In other games, players usually have to either have no music for when they need to focus or they have to listen to their own music due to the lack of music in the game or the bad quality. This is not the case in Left 4 Dead. The developers have utilized the audio very well far and above what other games have offered.
Left 4 Dead has a dynamic music system. There isn't just a random set of songs that play no matter what is happening to you. In the first part of the preview we described the Director and how the game keeps track of your stress level. Using this same stress level indicator, the music system is able to fit appropriate music to your current situation. The Survivors don't always have the same stress level, so a really cool result of that is that each player has their own music playing to match their specific setting. If two Survivors are across the map fighting a Tank and two are lagging way behind where it's quiet, they'll be hearing different music. When nothing is happening the music will be quiet and eerie. When you are in the middle of a gigantic battle, fighting boss infected and dozens of the Horde, the music will fit and be very loud, fast and intense. Other games have music that scales with what is happening, but because this is a horror game the importance and overall effect is much higher. The result is music worth listening to. It adds to the mood and immersion factor and makes the game better, which says a lot about how they've implemented it.
Audio cues serve two purposes: to help players survive, and to make them very paranoid. Every time you hear the rumbling of the Tank's footsteps or the screeching of the Witch your heart rate will rise because you know you are about to have an experience. Each of the boss zombies have a distinct sound that the Survivors can usually hear when they are near. It is very important to keep alert and listening. In our playtime, being able to hear the Boomer or the Smoker allowed us to be that much more alert to thwart the incoming attacks. I can't really describe to you the sounds of each of the boss zombies, but we were able to easily distinguish between all of them after a short while.
Overall I don't think anyone will want to listen to anything but what is offered in the game. The audio system helps set the mood and alerts you to oncoming threats.. and let's not forget the amazing voice system that was explained in detail in the first part of the preview.
MODDING
A Left 4 Dead-specific update to the Source SDK will be released when L4D is. Mike explained to us that they wanted to make it as easy and painless as they could for modders to make playable maps. As has been stated previously, the Director doesn't require mappers to specify spawn points of zombies. In order to get your map to be functional you will have to make it first (of course), plop down the area where the players will play, plop down where the Survivors spawn and where the checkpoint is, any weapons or health kits you want to put down, where the finale is at and that's basically it. The Director handles all infected spawns automatically without any need for input. The downside to this, at least at the time of our asking is that there is no way to control spawns. If you were thinking of making your own map with specific spawns you will not be able to - it is all up to the Director.
NEXT: Developers and Conclusion >>
