Confirmed - the Left 4 Dead demo is awesome! Features one level, with two 'checkpoints' (or safe rooms) - about 30-40 minutes gameplay, which you can play with AI or online.
The game is so tense, you've got to have fast reactions (and a trusty mouse) or you'll be quickly facing a rabid zombie up close and personal. The level design is made so that you can never be entirely sure you've got all angles covered. And they
will break through doors with their arms! The way the zombies recoil is great too, flinching and falling dead in dozens of different ways depending on where you shoot them. The headshots are particularly nice.
Its not as unforgiving or unreasonable as I thought from the vids - the zombie rushes come fairly infrequently and you have a fair amount of health, which only depletes quickly if you get surrounded/mauled. The guns are nice and effective, and some are pretty accurate. A lot of the time you'll just be
expecting a zombie horde, on the verge of crying from tension. Then when you least expect it, there'll be one of the zombie bosses.
The zombie bosses aren't hard either, however they mix up the action, and they are made to react in different ways to the zombie hordes, doing something independent to them, coming from behind or waiting until you think you've killed em all, then snatching away your team-mate. And you can usually hear their distinct sound shuffling around where you can't see them yet.
The lighting is brilliant. So are the character models and facial expressions. There are some nice details like Francis has some nice tattoos. The game runs incredibly well and smooth even on max settings, and really squeezes the most out of the old engine.
The whole game is really well balanced in terms of weapons, ammo, level design and the way the AI director piles on the pressure when you're just about ready for it. And the AI controlled characters are pretty intelligent too, not getting stuck, sticking together etc. (You can also walk through them, so them getting in the way isn't a problem)
The only problem I've had so far is starting a quick match online - I can get into a lobby, but most of the servers seem to kick me out before I can get in for some reason. Might be a problem my end though. Will keep you posted.
<message edited by choupolo on Nov 07, 2008 23:22>