Left 4 Dead a 2-3 hour game?

[Lutheran]

From Voodoo Extreme

Left 4 Dead is Roughly a 1.5 - 2.5 Hour Game

Oct 18, 2008 at 5:46 PM - Robert "Apache" Howarth - 2 Comments

One nugget OCModShop uncovered via a recent interview with Valve is that Left 4 Dead is roughly a 1.5 - 2.5 hour game when played in co-op mode (with 4 others, I'd assume).
OCMS: Roughly how long is the game and how many new maps will players get for multiplayer?
Chet Faliszek: Left 4 Dead was created to be replayable, so in that sense it is as long as people have been playing de-dust in Counter-Strike. Each campaign takes from one to two and half hours to play in co-op mode. In versus a campaign can take hours to complete as each side plays through the campaign.

[Suave Peanut]

With the amount of replay value, I don't mind this at all. If every playthrough is a different experience, at least. In fact, I kind of like it that the game can be completed with your group in one sitting.

[pseudopseudo]

From Voodoo Extreme

Left 4 Dead is Roughly a 1.5 - 2.5 Hour Game

Oct 18, 2008 at 5:46 PM - Robert "Apache" Howarth - 2 Comments

One nugget OCModShop uncovered via a recent interview with Valve is that Left 4 Dead is roughly a 1.5 - 2.5 hour game when played in co-op mode (with 4 others, I'd assume).
OCMS: Roughly how long is the game and how many new maps will players get for multiplayer?
Chet Faliszek: Left 4 Dead was created to be replayable, so in that sense it is as long as people have been playing de-dust in Counter-Strike. Each campaign takes from one to two and half hours to play in co-op mode. In versus a campaign can take hours to complete as each side plays through the campaign.

"Each campaign." Did the author of this article not take into account that the game more than likely has multiple campaigns, or am I missing something somewhere that said the game only has one?

[bapenguin]

I'm pretty sure the game has 4 campaigns broken up into multiple sections.

Yup - here we go.

http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-information#Q12

Nice research there by VE3D:rolleyes:

[Dukefrukem]

I played and watched this game being played at Quakecon. And I stood in line for over 2 hours watching the GameInformer asses play through the entire game. This could be accurate.

[AbeLincoln]

My guess is that's on purpose. Goes with the whole playable horror movie aspect. You and friends can sit down and in one night get through a campaign relatively easily.

Also this makes it possible to do online with a random group. If you had to save and quit cause it took too long, how would you ever get through a game with random matchmaking?

[JayK47]

Its not the length that matters, but how you use it. Come on guys, you know this.

[Libuke]

I was going to say 2-3 hours per campaign as some people stated and to me that sounds like a good amount of time so you and friends can sit down a play for a play a get whole "story" done. If the AI director is as good as the say it is the campaigns should take some time before they become boring and I am sure valve will release more and other people will make their ones for PC people.

[Evewalker]

I'm not surprised, but I was always under the impression that the multiplayer was the big selling point for it anyway.

I think Valve also realizes that with the success of Portal, the 2 to 3 hour game is not out of the question.

[Lint of Death]

Wow. The main game-modes lasts a really long time! That's a little intimidating, like going back to the play-times of games like Age of Kings.

[pseudopseudo]

I'm pretty sure the game has 4 campaigns broken up into multiple sections.

Yup - here we go.

http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-information#Q12

Nice research there by VE3D:rolleyes:

Seeing the majority of responses since this post... is no one READING threads anymore? Heh.

[maharahaj]

I'm pretty sure the game has 4 campaigns broken up into multiple sections.

Yup - here we go.

http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-information#Q12

Nice research there by VE3D:rolleyes:

3-6 hours of gameplay! That's pretty weak. Too bad for my wallet, as I'm going to want to get it right away to play coop with my friends while they are in the mood to play it when its fresh.

[I've bought $60 hand jobs that last longer.]

[KingGorilla]

It is a multiplayer game. You could boil TF2 down to launching with a half hour of gameplay based on the maps and time to complete.

[pomeroy]

[I've bought $60 hand jobs that last longer.]

A handjob that lasted that long?

She's doing it wrong (and you are chafing).

[DoctorFinger]

Yeah, I almost posted this as news until I read the 'per campaign' thing. That means the co-op single player mode is longer than CoD4's

[KingGorilla]

Yeah, I almost posted this as news until I read the 'per campaign' thing. That means the co-op single player mode is longer than CoD4's

Longer than most shooters and games I have seen recently. And while I am not a big fan of "playing through with a different character is a new experience" the idea of being a zombie in each campaign as well adds a lot to the package too.

[Hotcod]

It's also exactly why they've spent so much time and money creating the AI director which could be one of the most initiative and interesting game play mechanics ever. A program that sets out to dynamically create a different experience each time you play a map based on giving you high and lows and adapting to how your playing. Trying that out is going to be worth the price alone for me at lest beacuse it just such a fascinating idea. It brings the dynamic flow of online play in to single player in a controlled and regulated way still providing elements you'd expect form the static preplanned pacing you normally get. If it works well as people are saying it dose then there is a huge raft of possibilities that open up... imagine have segments of a single player game that are controlled by an AI director, dynamic and interesting battles with generated set piece based on what your doing? half life 3 is going to be even more awesome heh

[maharahaj]

How long will maps last, and how many campaigns? - There will be four campaigns with around 5 maps each. The Hospital campaign being shown lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half, and the other 3 are similar.

They way I am reading this, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that each of the four campaigns is comprised of 5 maps each. But each of the four campaigns only takes around an hour to play on average. Is coop mode different than single player? I always thought it was the same thing, (unlike Resistance 2 having a separate coop campaign) as the article also says one person can play with 7 AI bot survivors and other players can jump in and out at random.

[KingGorilla]

It is the same and different, when you add in human controlled elite zombies to the mix, very different.

[Telefrog]

They way I am reading this, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that each of the four campaigns is comprised of 5 maps each. But each of the four campaigns only takes around an hour to play on average. Is coop mode different than single player? I always thought it was the same thing, (unlike Resistance 2 having a separate coop campaign) as the article also says one person can play with 7 AI bot survivors and other players can jump in and out at random.

There's no difference between singleplayer and multiplayer except the intelligence of your team. (I would hope your buddies put up a better play experience than the bots.) Each game should be pretty different though, thanks to the Director that can vary the pace of each map tremendously.