Firstly, there is a boycott on Left 4 Dead 2 by current L4D owners, claiming L4D2 risks ignoring present Left 4 Dead players. Some of you may already be aware of this. It is located at http://steamcommunity.com/groups/L4D2boycott
By looking at my sig, one should pretty easily be able to tell that I am not a member of this movement.
However, I sympathize. I agree that more content should be available for Left 4 Dead, and that L4D2 DOES threaten to end that support for us.
Coincidentally (and this really IS a coincidence), I had an idea for additional Left 4 Dead gameplay content. We're talking multiple new stages, a COMPLETE The Last Stand campaign, and TWO new gameplay modes.
Please, read on.
Anybody firing up a copy of Left 4 Dead will quickly notice that the fifth campaign is very different from the others. First, it only consists of a single level. And secondly, it only is playable in a single gameplay mode. There is no Versus, there is no Campaign mode for The Last Stand.
There is only Survival, and it is only the Lighthouse stage.
Where is the rest? Where are the other Last Stand stages, and where are the other game modes?
The rest of The Last Stand consists of preceding stages to The Lighthouse. In these stages, the Survivors are in a situation where they can successfully hold out for the Zombie infestation to die off. However, the stages must first be secured against the Infected. There are a number of "weak points" that Survivors must secure. Until they secure these points, Infected can enter through them. I motion that a new gameplay mode (or even two) be introduced, vaguely akin to Survival, for these stages.
In the first, there is only enough supplies in these "strongholds" for a single survivor to wait out the zombie infestation. Only one can survive. Do the Survivors work together to secure the weak points, then duke it out afterwards against each other? Or do they take each other out early on and try their luck against the Infected? This mode is more to satisfy more "traditional" FPS gamers, it's sort-of a "Left 4 Dead" meets "Half-Life Deathmatch" mode. Perhaps we can call it "Free-for-All" or "Deathmatch"?
In the other mode, there is more hope. There are more supplies, so all four are capable of surviving together. Here, the Infected are much more numerous, and more Special Infected also will attack. Now the four MUST work together (as in traditional L4D gameplay), and they MUST secure the stages against the Infected. But all the while, they are being attacked by Infected, and if they don't fully secure a weak point, the Infected will tear it back apart. They MUST hold back the Infected, and they MUST fully secure these points. Perhaps this mode is more akin to "Left 4 Dead" meets "Team Fortress". Perhaps it can be called "Fortress" mode?
Additionally, there are some stages in the currently existing campaigns that fit the bill for these two gameplay modes. They also should be altered to be playable in this. Of course, some stages - such as the ones in Death Harvest - are nearly impossible to convert. Personally, I'm okay with that.
Finally, all the new stages to be added to the Last Stand campaign should be designed in such a way that they can be connected together and played like a traditional Campaign mode, finishing at the Lighthouse. Now, since this ISN'T Survival mode, the way this finishes is going to have to be different. Rather than just fighting until they're eliminated, like in Survival mode, because they have no hope for final survival...
...instead, they fight until the Infected come no more. They have eliminated the last of the Zombie Hordes, and the attacks no longer will come. They have made their Last Stand, and they have risen victorious.
Naturally, as Left 4 Dead 2 shows, other regions of the world are still very much infested with swarms of Infected, but at least the region where Louis, Zoey, Bill, and Francis reside is basically clean at the culmination of their story.
This would wrap up their story completely, but there is no saying that would actually complete the content available FROM the original Left 4 Dead. More to come... is possible?
Thoughts?
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