Left 2 Rot? Will Left 4 Dead really die?

Left 4 Dead 2 is now finally with us and it looks as though the mass exodus from the original game has begun in earnest, with barely a few thousand players playing the game at the time of writing compared to the sequel which has ten times that amount after only its first full day on release.

Left 4 Dead 2 is certainly a worthy sequel and whilst our review is on its way I will say this for now, the game adds to the original in virtually every single way.

I disagreed with many of the fears held by the so called Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group; in particular that Valve would not add enough new content or features to Left 4 Dead 2 to justify its status as a sequel as opposed to being released as DLC for the original game. But whilst those fears have been well and truly quashed the fears of a community splitting were perhaps relevant, just not in a way the group perhaps anticipated.

At the moment it seems that everyone is migrating to the sequel and the general consensus we’ve seen is that that people are finding they prefer the sequel in just about every single way. So whilst Valve may continue to support Left 4 Dead 1 as they did promise the fans, will there actually be anybody left actually even playing it?

I think Valve will at some point  in the future massively discount the first game to tempt in new players; using the original as a kind of feeder for the second game.  Given the current situation only 24 hours after the sequels release, it does seem hard to imagine Valve really supporting Left 4 Dead when the player base has shifted so much.   

Imagine the uproar now if content were released for L4D1 with no updates made to L4D2?  There’d probably be some kind of boycott!  Joking aside it will be interesting to observe.  My hope is that we will see some kind of integration of the first game (campaigns, characters, maps etc) into the first and I think this would be a masterstroke on Valves part if they could indeed pull it off.

So as Left 4 Dead makes its Last Stand, I’ll leave you with this great video entitled Grapevine Fires which recently surfaced over at the Steam forums as a kind of tribute to the original game. Farewell my friend, it’s been bloody and painful, but your legacy won’t be forgotten.

Left 4 Dead

November 17th 2008 to November 17th 2009.

“Game Over Man! Game Over!”

 

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