Save Yourselves!: A Left 4 Dead Multiplayer Diary
12/8/2008 6:49 PM | 6 Comments | Page 1 of 10
Contributors: Scott Alexander, Russ Fischer, Scott Jones, Kyle Orland
Don't let this poster mislead you. There were problems all right...
I've played so much
Left 4 Dead since release that I understand what the zombie gibberish means: "Hey, this isn't so bad. Sure, my wiener fell off, but I don't have to go to work tomorrow. Or pay taxes. I'm so damn hungry all the time, though! There's Bob from Accounting. He sure seems to be enjoying those brains..."
As Crispy's own
Russ Fischer said in his
Left 4 Dead review, Valve's first-person shooter really stands out as a multiplayer title. I decided to round up a few Game Trusters in a Versus mode session and see how we did pitting ourselves against each other. Once all the shooting and barfing stopped, we'd reflect on our shared experience. Let's call this an experiment to see how our attention-addled gamer brains process gameplay.
Pre-game
David Thomas -- I like to call him the Mile High Marvel -- can't join us because of broadband problems.
Jones: I personally think he got scared.
Only later will I realize what an omen this turns out to be. There's lots of chatter in the lobby -- no real trash-talking, but meaningful conversation in a game lobby is like trying to recite the "Pledge of Allegiance" at a Metallica concert: People recognize some words, but they don't really hear enough to understand what you're saying.
Jones: As we also discussed in the lobby, no one sounds like himself over Xbox Live; Scott Alexander, for example, sounds exactly like a 400-pound transvestite for some inexplicable reason.
After I choose the level, the assembled players pick sides. Once I yell really loudly into my headset, the game starts.
Fischer: Downside of Live's party system: We had a full lobby; some were in a party Evan had started, others weren't. The two groups couldn't communicate. Being in the same lobby, that's just silly. Also: I'm chastised for choosing Louis. What can I say? I dig his "Shaun of the Dead" style. He's got the best, most desperate "reloading!" cry.
