Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview - Survivor Side
X-RAY VISION
A feature I knew I would hate is being able to see through walls. In Left 4 Dead, survivors can see each other by a green outline when they are behind walls/in different rooms (in the picture below of frogopus playing you can sort of see it). It's very possible that even just the thought of this unrealistic and unnecessary feature sent a sharp pain throughout your body. It makes it too easy, right?!
I am here to deliver to you the most excellent news. Being able to immediately know where your teammates are in the huge, twisting levels of Left 4 Dead IS AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY. It has been said that the maps are fairly linear, which is right, but there are a TON of doors and rooms and stairways to get lost in. I don't know how good of a job I can do trying to convince you that it is great, so please just believe me when I say that it is a wonderful feature.
If you couldn't see a survivor in a closet through walls, it'd be near impossible to find them by sound alone (remember that the majority of people will only have two speakers, and true three directional sound is hard with a game). You have to remember with this feature that the entire time you're trying to navigate through buildings, you are STILL BEING ATTACKED. If every time your team got separated in a huge fight you had to spend however long trying to find each other, it would slow the game down and cause plenty of headaches.
FIRST PART WRAP-UP
That's the end of the first part of our hands-on preview. We still haven't even said a word about the other half of the game, the BOSS INFECTED side! Not only did we play the survivors, but we also had hours to mess with the more difficult and unique aspect of the game that really hasn't been talked about too much. Other topics to be covered are graphics, audio, modding, and more about the actual developers! Wondering about the mysterious Witch infected? All will be revealed! Stay tuned to Left 4 Dead 411 for when we release the second half of our extensive hands-on playtest!
If you have any questions about our trip or the game, ask on our new forums!
Below: Mike took some pictures of us playing. They are: Squerl using the flashlight and shotgun, Frogopus blasting a zombie, and Squerl in a dark room (complete with glare from the light in the room)
NEXT: Infected introduction >>
