First of all, where do you get off calling a game something like "Left Fore Dead" when it has nothing to do with golf! If it did, I probably wouldn't be playing it. Golf games suck. Hell, sports games in general suck, so any game about a game that claims to be a sport is guaranteed to suck. So, I guess I'm glad Left Fore Dead's not a golf game, but they could've used a better title. Maybe something like Left Four Dead, because four people are left behind in a zombie apocalyptic world and if they don't do something fast, they're all gonna die. What? Oh, it is called Left Four Dead? Oh, Left 4 Dead? 4 means four? Not fore? I never was very good at spelling.
Still, there are a few things I'd like to see Valve improve upon to make this game better than the awesome it already is. Here's a bullet-point list.
- Team swapping. This game's all about teamwork. But, for some reason, Versus mode has a tendency to randomly swap players from team to team. I'd guess it's some sort of auto-balance thing like they have in CounterStrike, but at least there they warn you first with a big "auto balancing next round" message. But, with Left 4 Dead, team swapping really screws things up. Versus mode is all about getting a higher score than the other team. It's kind of hard to do that when you're responsible for half the points the other team has since you swapped to the team you're on now at the beginning of this round. Take the team swapping out.
- Match-making. Again, this is a game that's all about teamwork. It's more fun when you play on a team with three other people you actually know and love (I'm assuming my readers aren't friendless. Wishful thinking, but who knows?) The match-making system in this game isn't the best for that, though. Sure, you can find your friends through the Play with Friends option, but the best you can hope for there is either a 4v4 match with seven of your buddies, or a 4v4 match with three friends and four random people. There's no middle ground. I'd like to see some sort of match-making system that allows a pre-made group of four go up against another pre-made group of four you've never met before. You could introduce a whole ranking system through that, it'd be awesome. Besides the fact that match-making is lacking, you have to enter in the console command to view the old server list that's a staple in all the other Valve games. So, to avoid the match-making system, you kind of have to go out of your way. I don't mind a good Quick Match function, but that's basically all Left 4 Dead has right now. Give us some variety.
- More maps. The basic campaigns are fun, and the replay-ability is pretty big, but seriously? Two versus campaigns? Four regular campaigns? Come on! I'd been through it all once already within 6 hours played. I know they're counting on the mod community to come out with stuff, but the SDK tool modders use to make maps isn't even out yet. Not to mention the fact that any maps people have managed to develop for Left 4 Dead still aren't playable on any server because any time you try to load one up, it defaults back to the same crap we had to begin with. The game's been out for almost a month, and people are getting bored with the lack of content. Do something.
- Loading times. It's inconsistent between players that have quality machines and people with equipment they should've thrown out in 1999. This isn't a huge problem, but it takes away meaningless achievements from people if they don't load fast enough, and it gives players with better systems a big advantage in Versus mode, especially if they start off as Survivors. Would it be too much to ask for a simple "Waiting for other players..." like Warcraft III has? Only when you're loading up a new map, obviously; let the late-comers suffer the consequences, but don't punish people just because their PC sucks.
- Weapon variety. Right now, there's a total of 5 guns in the game. 6 if you count pistols, 7 if you count duallies separately. Adding in molatovs and pipe bombs, you bring the total weapon count to a whopping 9 weapons, and that's being generous. I can think of plenty more ways to kill a zombie than 9. Can we get some more options?
- Specials aren't special enough. You've got to do something to balance out all the new weapons you're going to add, so make the Special Infected a little specialer. Start off with the cloud of smoke you get when a Smoker dies. It doesn't do anything. I'm told it stops in-game voice chat, but who uses that, anyway? Disable the computer's sound card instead, that'll really screw with people. No more Ventrilo, no more Team Speak, and because of the sound of the explosion, you won't be able to hear your teammates' cries for help or the Hunter that's lurking around the corner waiting to pounce. On top of that, give it a small damage counter, due to choking gases in the smoke or something. Smoker's just aren't useful enough as it is. Tank's aren't imba enough, either. It's way to easy to get kited around. Those arms are long, give their hits a little more reach. And Hunters are hard to make use of, too. Pounce damage is cool, but it's tough to land a blow on a Survivor from a distance. Maybe you could add in a little target thing that tells you where you'll land if you pounce from where you are in the direction you're facing. I don't know, though, that may be too much of an easy mode.
- Dedicated servers. As a general rule, they all suck. Host a game locally, or don't play at all. The biggest problem with dedicated servers right now is that they seem to be running a different version of the game. Get used to playing locally, and things will seem weird to you when you switch to a dedicated server. The "too close to survivors to spawn" radius is too big, the cooldown on a Smoker's tongue is the same on a miss as it is on a hit, and... well, I guess that's it. Still, that's enough to drive you crazy.
- Spawning in finales. This is some messed up #$%@. Why are Infected allowed to choose where they spawn until the finale event starts? Is it because the finale is hard enough as it is? Screw that, if you know what you're doing as a Survivor, you should be able to defend against Infected wherever they come from. Mainly, the reason I'm pissed about this one is last night I got to play as the first tank and I spawned in fire. Game over right there. I'd say a better handicap would be to make the "too close to spawn here" radius bigger during the finale. That way, they don't spawn so close it's "unfair," but they still get a choice, rather than throwing a Boomer in the middle of the level right in front of the minigun on top of Mercy Hospital.
- Finally, more story. The most we've got is one single epic intro movie. We know nothing about who these four people are or why armageddon's hitting them in the face with a shovel. Add some more campaigns or cinematics so we can get a little more background on the situation. While you're at it, try making the different campaigns we've already got tie together. It bothers me that the same four people have to escape the zombie apocalypse four times in completely different places.
Fix it, Valve. Fix it long and fix it hard. Left 4 Dead's pretty awesome, but let's take it to the next level.
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