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Written by Adam Johnson
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21 February 2009 09:48 |
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We like Valve. We absolutely love Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Portal, the list goes on! And, we love Left 4 Dead. BUT... it's not all that. Before I begin, I want to clarify that this article pertains to the Xbox 360 version of the game.
For starters, it's much too short. You can finish the entire game in 4 hours (about 1 hour for each of the 4 episodes). Now, it's very likely that you'll re-play the levels because they're a lot of fun, but this doesn't change the fact that the game is too short. Asking people to shell out $60 for what is essentially a 4 hour game (remember, not everyone wants to re-play the same game over and over), should not be accepted. You're only guaranteed 4 hours out of the box. Most people are going to have to re-play the game several times to get their money's worth. Now comes the other reason. It is this reviewer's opinion that L4D is meant to be nothing more than a cash cow for Valve. Nothing wrong with making money, but let's not kid ourselves. Think about how many additional "episodes" they can sell to us for 800 points ($10) each. And people will buy them, a lot of people. We know that Valve is releasing some content for free (how big of them!), but it's not "real" content. No additional episodes will be free, I can guarantee you that. They're throwing out a little bone, free of charge, to shut up the naysayers such as myself. Don't get me wrong - it's great they're giving you something for free, but let's not be fooled into thinking they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They're not. It's a marketing ploy. So, as much as I love Left 4 Dead, it is not a perfect game. Maybe eventually an "ultimate" version will be released, which will include all the subsequent episodes that Valve releases. |
