Complete a tiny trial version of the friv game at least ten times in a row - this has not happened for a long time! Almost without a fight, we gave the infected from the Left 4 Dead 2 demo a few hours of rest and put on the back burner the lion's share of unmatched hits - the rather controversial announcement intrigued us. And, of course, I had to feed the hungry dead three or four kilograms of the easily digestible brain of the survivors. And the zombies are full, and we mastered the episodes available in the demo on "Expert". And from the eleventh passage in a row, we could hardly resist, in order to share with you our first impressions of the demo version of the continuation of the best online action movie of 2008 on the eve of the release of the full version.
The first episode booted up quickly, and the friv game began without much preamble. We find ourselves in a small town in Georgia, USA. The level is unusually light and bright: the streets are illuminated by the rays of the sun, the walls of houses are orange and yellow, and in some places there are festive flags. Even crowds of zombies "bloomed". The "gray mass" of the infected from the first part gave way to a motley horde of the dead. We will not go into lengthy arguments about whether the atmosphere has suffered from the change in style. At least, other members of the forum shout in vain: “ Left 4 Dead- not the same! " The maps available in the demo are clearly not worse developed than in the original, but they look much better. And the enthusiasm from shooting enemies, on the contrary, increased - all thanks to the bright, cheerful colors in the style of Serious Sam.
Before starting the journey, we, as before, are allowed to choose equipment. The pistol can now be replaced with a melee weapon. The promised chainsaw was not in the demo, but the hotly anticipated frying pan is in place. Without thinking twice, we armed ourselves with it and rushed to beat the zombie's muzzles. After each blow, the Teflon miracle of technology issued a characteristic "bzdyn!", Which amused the whole team. In general, the use of weapons of a non-fire family is, of course, dubious, but the limbs are painfully chopped off with a blow with a machete or a guitar. And to cut open the skull of a ghoul with a spectacular blow with a frying pan in a jump is a sweet thing.
I am Still Alive! The first Left 4 Dead was rich in curious secrets and original references. And this time, the developers were not too lazy to leave an interesting Easter egg. Yes, so far only one - in the breakout of the continuation version. In the first episode of the Parish campaign, a jukebox can be found in a cafe. Among other songs there is also the famous composition Still Alive from the end credits of Portal. That's right GlaDOS sings: she really is "still alive" (as the title of the song is translated). Or maybe this is a hint of an imminent release of the continuation?
Having played enough with clubs and machetes, we again armed ourselves with shotguns and machine guns. Now "firearms" have become much more. It is difficult to say what other "trunks" will appear in the full version, but the copies available in the demo are just a beautifully packaged set of "eggs in profile". There is an assault rifle, a submachine gun, a shotgun and a rifle, each type of weapon has several representatives: among the machine guns, for example, M-16 and AK-47 are seen “Kalash” ?! ”). And, in general, the weapons of one "tribe" do not differ little from each other. But what's the catch, then? But it turns out that's what. This diversity brings a healthy dose of stuffiness, "shmotnyh" to online RPGs. We walked, for example, during one of the passage through the streets of an abandoned city, and then one of us ran to the side, came back and exclaimed happily: "Guys, look what you snatched !!!" The Screamer proudly pulled a brand new Magnum from its holster and fired several times into the air. Until the very end of the campaign, everyone else glanced with hatred at their "ladies' pistols" (as the lucky owner of the "Magnum" branded them) every time the newly minted Dirty Harry ran by. It's just that the chrome-plated body sparkles beautifully in the sun's rays to obscenity and this “Magnum” shoots loudly, solidly. when the newly minted Dirty Harry ran by. It's just that the chrome-plated body sparkles beautifully in the sun's rays to obscenity and this “Magnum” shoots loudly, solidly. when the newly minted Dirty Harry ran by. It's just that the chrome-plated body sparkles beautifully in the sun's rays to obscenity and this Magnum shoots loudly, solidly.
This is the whole point. Zombies, of course, and from being hit from any MP-5, die regularly. However, it is incomparably more pleasant to demolish the skull from a loud M-16 or a chrome shotgun. And yes, we already said, what a spectacular dismemberment here?
Of the promised seven new types of zombie bosses in the demo... all seven. Replenishment was made by Plevunya, Thug and Jockey. The first is the skinny (read: less visible) version of Fat Man. Spits vomit for a greater distance. In addition, her gastric juice is also caustic - on the "Expert", one has only to step into the seething slurry, the streak of life burns out at once. The thug is a live ram, most of all problems are delivered on the heights: if it hits with a running start, you will fly for a long time. Well, the Jockey is the meanest creep. As a rule, he pounces on the survivor from behind, “saddles” him and leads him away from the rest. These guys will diversify the passage pretty well. We have not yet said this about the Witch, who now walks, and does not sit, and about the zombie policeman in armor pierced only from behind.
The camp of people was not left without gifts. In addition to the expanded arsenal, new useful items have appeared. Among them are adrenaline, which increases the speed, a jar of Fat Man's vomit, and a defibrillator. All is good, but we fear the balance of Left 4 Dead 2 . A defibrillator, for example, can revivea deceased player. It is hard to imagine how difficult it will be for zombie bosses in the "Combat" mode. They scratched, beat, bit - finished off one, and then - bam! - and his comrades resurrected him. A jar of vomit is also capable of spoiling the blood of the infected: he threw one at Tank - and that's it, they "poured" it. The big man is already covered with angry zombies like flies, and while the giant is dealing with an annoying trifle, setting him on fire is a piece of cake. Of course, all this on condition that the jar with the nasty liquid and the defibrillator go into "Combat" mode.
As the developers promised, the climaxes have also changed. You can find out more about them in our preview... We will only add that the innovation had a positive effect on the dynamics of the friv game. Previously, almost always, a team of survivors without shame and conscience locked themselves in a room, and poor zombies could not get close to them. When someone suggested not to sit in the closet, but to rush to the shelter with the breeze, fighting off the zombies on the run, they supported this initiative either sluggishly, or not at all. Now the tactic of dashing through crowds of zombies is a must. Here is a street for you, at the end of it there is a switch. When you open the door, the siren will sound and will not be silent until you press the coveted button. All this time, endless waves of hyperactive corpses will flock to the sound. The impressions of such jerks are indescribable. Running to the music of the mine, dashingly demolishing the heads of the dead with a machete is a lot of fun and is clearly better than a boring sitting in a room.
Everything else that we were promised is either not available in the demo, or does not quite work. For example, AI Director 2.0 in the trial version was extremely reluctant to cope with its duties. The weather for all the time has not changed even once, and we never saw the vaunted tunable levels. Once, however, when we were going too briskly (everyone in the team had a full health bar), “Director” blocked the main passage for us. I had to go around the house on the other side, but it took a little time. That is, there is no noticeable difference in the passage yet. Well, the rest of the friv game modes ("Battle", "Gathering", "Survival") so far have only been marked with bright pictures in the main menu. When you try to select them, L4D 2 Demo shows a cookie and thickly hints to pre-order the full version.
These are our impressions of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo. And let the friv game so far resembles just a very good, almost perfect... but addition. However, we hope that a lot of tasty things are still waiting for us in the full version. In the meantime, we will go and run two short episodes again. And further.