GameSetWatch just posted my latest article. It’s called “Interplay in Left 4 Dead,” and it’s about how the various kinds of enemies in that game interact to become stronger than the sum of their individual strengths.
L4D is such an astonishingly complex game. So much more can be said about it, and I expect to get at least one more post out about how the weapons all work together. This is a game that, like Portal, has clearly been fine-tuned and adjusted to a glossy finish. But while Portal was cut down and simplified to make it a smooth, well-crafted ride, L4D was cut down to a tangled knot of gameplay interactions, making it this chaotic, complicated, minute-to-learn-and-lifetime-to-master enigma of a game.
Have you seen anything on Left 4 Dead 2? They are introducing at least one new Special Infected, the Charger, that is designed to rush at a compact group of survivors and split them up (think Tank, but easier to kill). No specific word on changes to the Director or the other new enemies, but it should be interesting to see how the other enemies use the additions.
I’ve seen all the stuff they’ve released, and it looks quite interesting… but it’s not yet enough to decide what I think about the additions. Especially since they haven’t announced all the new stuff yet. I’ll have to wait and see.