The last decade of gaming has been jampacked with Zombie games. From a litany of Resident Evil titles, to the Last of Us, and even the Walking Dead being reimagined as a Telltale game, zombie fans have certainly had their pick of the litter. In the barrage of so many record breaking zombie-related titles it🅘 can be easy to forget who started this trend at the end of the 2000's.
Developed by Valve, the Left 4 Dead franchise continues to be one of the most recognizable and influential games in the zombie sub-genre, and all of gaming for that matter, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:eve🐭n a decade after it's most recent release. Here are 10 facts most fans didn't know abo🔯ut the series.
10 ܫ AI Director
The Left 4 Dead games have been noted for their 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:dynamic and ever changing gameplay, the games are able to🗹 accomplish this by utilizing an algorithmic based program dubbed the "AI Director".
This director is able to automaticall🌳y analyze factors such as how much damage the player has taken, how many enemies they have taken, how often they have to heal, etc. The director then creates a gameplay flow that Valve insists provides players with ideal intervals between moments of action and re𝄹laxation.
9 Bio Feedback Experiment ♚
Valve has a reputation of being a developer that enjoys pushing developmental capabilities and utilizing the most a♔dvanced techꦓ available. Valve demonstrated that bio-feedback, such as sweat, facial reactions, and brain signals, could be input into their AI Director to make even more player specifi♋c changes to live matches and game🍌s. This technology has yet to be widely used, however when it does, Valve can be considered a trailblazer.
8 🍬 Release Marked Half-Life's 10 Year Anniversary
The release of the franchises first installment marked the 10 year anniversary of the release of the game that would make Valve a respected gaming company, Half-Life. Half-Life is universally𒁃 considered to be one of the most popular and best gaming𒀰 franchises to ever be developed, this release date massively increased the expectations for Left 4 Dead.
7 Left 4 Dead 2 Release Controversy ꦫ
168澳洲♔幸运5开奖网:Controversy🍃 is extremely common in gaming. The prerelease period of Left 4 Dead 2 was filled with controversy. Players felt the release, shortly a year after the original, was too soon. Fans felt that Valve was releasing what could just be DLC or free update🌳 content in the form of a fully packaged game to increase company profits. This outrage led to the creation of the the "L4D2 Boycott" group fighting to blacklist the game.
6 Receptive♎ To Fanཧs
It is unfortunate that the Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott controversy is forgotten today, as Valve truly set the golden standard on how developers should c🎃ommunicatཧe with fans. Instead of investing millions in counter ad campaigns, Valve actually listened to the boycott community. Going so far as to fly out prominent detractors to test play the sequel and receive their blessing before the games release.
5 Cover Art ⛦Controversy
Valve had to spend a lot of time in the editing house to appease different coun🍃tries game ratings and decency organizations regarding the second installments cover art. In the United States the ESRB forced the change to the cover as it looked too close to the .
In the UK Valve had to flip the hand to face inwards as an index and middle finger together are considered an insult in Great Britai𝐆n. Finally in Germany and Japan thꦚe detached thumb was also censored for being perceived as too gory.
4 Accusations Of Ra🐠cism 💎
Racism has been a prevalent issue in the gaming🔯 industry, while it has gotten much better in recent years, the history is still there. That being said, some critics do tend to be overly sensitive. Left 4 Dead 2 and the racial controversy sur🧜rounding it's release is a prime example.
felt that Left 4 Dead 2 contained a bit too manyꦫ black zombies. Something that would be extremely problematic considering zombies are hunted and mowed down by players. However this was not the case, the zombies, and human characters, were simply racially diverse and a reflection of the demographics of New Orleans, the 🌳game's setting.
3 Bann𓄧ed And ꦓCensored Internationally
Left 4 Dead 2 provides an extremely intꦚeresting case study into the tricky concepts of video game censorship and boycotting. It still today maintains heavy censorship in Australia, and it's original version is outright . While this may be an 11 year old game, it is noಌt an 11 year old issue, videogame censorship is still very real, and it is a fight gamers are waging everyday.
2 Valve Sponsored Com🦄munity Update
While Left 4 Dead ♒has not received a new installment in almost 12 years, L4D2 continues to be well maintained and supported by Valve. The company even went so far to sponsor a community made update that contained over 20 maps this year, 2020, maintaining the games relevancy 💦more then a decade on. Valve truly sets a prime example when it comes to developer-fan relations.
1 Left 4 Dead 3 ꧅
Valve is a company that has become notorious for canceling or delaying production on highly demanded sequels. A potential Left 4 Dead 3 unfortunately is one of those sequels. . The company instead placed most of it's focus on finishing the development of Half-Life: Alyx. A grave loss for gaming indeed.