I think very few people will disagree with me when I say that Left 4 Dead is a great game. However, that’s not to say it wasn’t lacking in some departments. The most notable of these being story. This wasn’t Valve’s intention says Doug Lombardi, VP of Marketing. In an interview with G4TV at Comic-Con, Lombardi claims that they originally planned to have more of a story in the game but due to some interesting logistical problems they couldn’t. Now that they have core game play mechanics established by the first game, they can delve into the story of the universe in Left 4 Dead 2.
“Now that we feel that we have a good framework, or a good lexicon, for folks communicating about the game and the action, we can start layering in bits of story now, and having them comment more on things in the world, comment more about what they’re thinking…and that just gives the world a richer feel to it, rather than just a sort of zombie shooting gallery.” Said Lombardi
Additionally, Lombardi attempted to “clear the record” about Valve and their reputation for infrequent game releases. Since Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, they have put out Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2, Portal, Counter Strike: Source, Day Of Defeat: Source, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, and soon to be Left 4 Dead 2. Quite an impressive resume for just the last five years. Okay Doug, you win.
Lombardi went on to acknowledge the fact that Valve putting out a sequel a year later is very uncharacteristic of them. He attributes this to the “energy” and “passion” that the team has for the game right now. The backlash that they felt at E3 was a “surprise” to them. As if this hasn’t been made clear enough, Lombardi once again straightened the record that the release of Left 4 Dead 2 does not mean the end of support for Left 4 Dead.
