IGN Previews the Infected - 2/29/08

IGN has posted a new preview of Left 4 Dead featuring the boss infected side along with 14 new screenshots. The two page preview goes through each of the five boss infected describing their abilities and what they're like to play. Our favorite screenshot is the first high resolution shot of the Hunter:

The most interesting parts of the article to those of us who already know the basics of L4D are the changes in boss zombie powers. First off, the Hunter can no longer cloak/turn invisible. It used to be that as a Hunter you would have to stand still near a wall or large object for a short time, slowly cloaking, and then after you were cloaked you would be able to pounce onto a Survivor. To make up for no cloak, the Hunter is now able to pounce after crouching/crawling around:

Hunters' main ability is a pounce, something that charges while crouched. Valve is still working on the UI, but right now the charge meter is represented at the center of the screen as a small icon that slowly fills up. When full, the pounce can be triggered. You'll need to be careful, though, as a full icon also causes the hunter to emit a low growl audible to survivors, potentially giving away your position, and almost certainly making them more wary.

The IGN article states that the Boomer now causes splash damage and at the same time causes nearby Survivors to get "puke" on them, just like the usual Boomer vomit attack. We've been told the developers have been working on this aspect, and have even fiddled with not having any splash damage at all. This is a recent change, and while we understand how beneficial it could be to alleviate headaches, we would REALLY like to see splash damage in the higher difficulties. The Tank spawning system has changed so that a player can no longer pass on the opportunity to become one. Pictured below is the first ever glimpse of the Cornfield escape vehicle, a military flatbed truck packing a minigun on the back:

The preview also sheds some light on the boss zombie spawning system. As we understand it currently, an infected player spawns as a fast-moving "zombie ghost" right where the Survivors are located, and must move a certain distance away from the Survivors in order to spawn. IGN said the time between spawns is around a minute and felt a little long to them. The Cornfield scenario "takes the survivors through a series of abandoned warehouses, fields, rural mountain paths, and ends in a farmhouse standoff."

Finally, a quick note for online matches. Valve is setting it up so if a player drops out in the middle of a campaign, they'll immediately be taken over by an AI. Should another player join up afterwards, that they'll take the AI's place, ensuring a game will continue on even if a majority of the players leave the game.

This is perfect use of the Survivor AI and should help a team from getting screwed halfway through a scenario. If you haven't yet, check out the preview and then the new screenshots. The game's visuals are improving with every set of screenshots we see, and can only get better with the added support that the acquisition brought!