Why I Love Left 4 Dead – A Rant

Note: This is a series of various stories as told by Versatile.  If you want to search for future experiences shared by Versatile, please search for tag “Stories”.

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Let’s face it.  Valve hit Left 4 Dead right on the spot.  Playing this game really makes co-op an awesome gaming experience. Talking about it in words gives you no justice, you simply have to play the game to be immersed in this incredible gaming atmosphere.

This is the way I see it and feel it when I play this game.  During online campaign mode, there are only 4 players maximum.  This is brilliant, as I feel that 4 people makes it just right.  If you have it too many, then the game is too easy.  Make it any less and the gameplay could be harder.  The best part of it all is this “No Person Left Behind” philosophy.  You have to work as a team in order to win each level, which is getting from point A to point B.

If your teammate falls down, it is your responsibility to help them get back onto your feet.  You never know, their presence could save your butt in a zombie fest.  There is nothing more satisfying to be struck down by a zombie, within seconds of your death only to be saved by your team.  It really is an exhilarating experience.

Now go online for versus, and it brings out the evil in people. *smirks*  Playing as infected zombies to take out the Survivor team is just awesome.  There is nothing more satisfying then being a boomer vomiting on people to get them blind, and then have a smoker rope a survivor through the trees on top of a building, while the last 2 hunters pounce on the remaining Survivor team members.  Something about being a zombie and dominating the human team is just satisfying.  Oh, but it gets better.  You take turns each round playing as the humans and the zombies.  This is your time to show your “what you got”.  Depending on how far you can make it in the level, you get the respective points for your time.

All in all, Left 4 Dead is just awesome for co-op play. I don’t think any FPS shooter for the PC has captured the intensity and teamwork like Left 4 Dead has in such a small scale setting. Already there are copy cats on the horizon, as “The Killing Field” is another zombie game which turns out to be a UT3 mod which allows  up to 6 co-op players.  Pretty soon the DLC content will be available making L4D even more fun with new gameplay mode and new maps.

Add in the SDK for user community maps and you got a fantastic game.

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I started off this post with an ingame screenshot of a hamachi game that I played last night.  Full house, 8 players, versus.  It was a boatload of fun.  If you are looking for some of the action, but don’t really want to play with strangers from other hamachi networks, then I encourage you to join my L4D networks.  If they are full, then send me an email and I can give you a temporary network so I can get you in.  I have 6 networks, and I am cleaning them out as necessary so people will always be online at night and that people will have a chance to play.

Surprisingly, ever since I started this underground L4D hamachi networks, I have met some fantastic game players.  We play almost all the time, and you sort of grow a bond with these other guys, and I only know them through hamachi and nowhere else.  It is sort of funny.  I have the ability to play on dedicated servers using Ogerlauncher, but its a bunch of russian people and europe players but it just doesn’t feel the same.  Perhaps because I don’t know these guys, and they just felt like strangers.

However, in my hamachi networks, I am highly recognized for my efforts and holistic approach.  I have lost track of how many people I have helped to fix their various L4D problems, let alone create special networks to help them learn how to host and connect.  I think this is what makes me and my blog stand out.  The other blogs out there don’t have very good guides, and if they do, they are just junk.  Did I mention I spent 4 days in a role trying to get to the bottom of the Class C error?  Well, I frickin’ did it and it felt great to find the solution and write a guide and VIDEO too about it.  The most popular L4D guide I have is [Cracked] Learn How To Update Left 4 Dead Without Steam – Hamachi, and that is a damn fine guide.  With the help of the community, I am able to update the page with the latest patch links, and I think hamachi players find it pretty cool to find a blog author playing games with them.  I take their feedback, and write it on the blog as necessary so I definitely value other people’s input. ;0

Which reminds me – I am looking for similar hamachi hosters.  If you own a hamachi network, and you play L4D, or perhaps other games, let me know.  I want to get to know people who are similar to my gaming ethics and perhaps together we can create a badass community.  Thanks!

[Personal shoutout to hamachi players include: Hail2King, Ray-Z, Anklebiter, EazyPickins, Platypus, Shizhawt]

Amazon.com Black Friday Madness.

(click for enlarged image)

As if Amazon.com couldn’t get any better, they’ve finally put down a wicked competition in the Black Friday madness this year.

They have a unique system where you, the consumer vote on what incredible deals you’ll get. There are 8 rounds, each of 3 items under a specific category. For example, the first round consists of the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 (40 GB model) and the new Xbox 360 Arcade system that is replacing the Core system. Each are sold at incredibly lower prices (over 50%!) but you’re only able to get that deal on the one you vote for, if you show up at a specified time and are offered that deal.

You can vote once in each round, careful though, you can’t change your vote. You have to be a registered user but it’s free and you only need your basic information until you buy the product. I would recommend setting up your account for one-click buying however as these deals are highly limited to about an average of 500-1,000 pieces of inventory per item.

Head over to this url to get started: [ http://promotions.amazon.com/gp/holiday/amazon-customers-vote ]

Happy shopping viewers of The Underground!