Left 4 Dead Survival Mode detailed

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 10th February 2009
Comments (19) Stumble
Left 4 Dead Survival Mode detailed

Valve has unveiled the Left 4 Dead Survival Mode, which is essentially an endurance-athon game type.

Valve has, as promised, given a brief unveiling of the new and recently announced Survival Pack add-on that should be coming to the PC and Xbox 360 soon.

The unveiling took place on Gametrailers TV (19 minutes into the episode, by the way), which has brief footage of the additions made to Versus Mode but not any of the new Survival Mode unfortunately.

The downloadable pack, which will also be released in stores by Electronic Arts, will allow players to finally try the Dead Air and Death Toll campaigns in Versus Mode, as well as opening a wholly new gameplay type; Survival.

Survival Mode will be, as expected, a never-ending gameplay type similar to Horde mode in Gears of War 2. Survival Mode will let up to four players to team up over twelve maps to see just how long they can survive constant zombie swarms. There'll be no safe rooms - just wave after wave of undead.

Valve has so far been keeping quiet about any further details about the new mode though, so we're still unsure if those 12 Survival Mode levels will be at all new, or just tweaked versions of levels from existing the campaigns. Probably the latter.

The Survival Mode pack will be released freely for all existing owners of Left 4 Dead, regardless of platform. So, if you've not picked up a copy yet then we suggest you read our full Left 4 Dead review for more info before letting us know what you think in the forums.
Quote overdosedelusion 10th February 2009, 13:49
Survival mode will be epic fail if it's just horde after horde with no real objective. The survivors will likely jump camp in a corner tapping RMB. *yawn*
Quote V3ctor 10th February 2009, 13:50
Keep them coming! I'll be ready... arrrgghhhh....
Quote V3ctor 10th February 2009, 13:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by overdosedelusion
The survivors will likely jump camp in a corner tapping RMB. *yawn*

I'll be doing that while I'm saying... "Oh... oh no!" with Louis :D It must have tanks, smokers... if it's just the horde is not enough
Quote Bauul 10th February 2009, 13:55
Quote:
Originally Posted by overdosedelusion
The survivors will likely jump camp in a corner tapping RMB. *yawn*

How effective does that actually work without an extremely well coordinated group of survivors now they've fixed the melee exploit? Plus, I imagine the special infected will be thrown in there to keep everyone on their toes.
Quote overdosedelusion 10th February 2009, 14:03
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
How effective does that actually work without an extremely well coordinated group of survivors now they've fixed the melee exploit? Plus, I imagine the special infected will be thrown in there to keep everyone on their toes.

I haven't noticed any fix with melee tbh, it's just as effective as it ever was. A tank would do the only real damage but if you have a good team, you should be able to survive for a very long time. Long enough to think "Bloody hell this is boring"
Quote Delphium 10th February 2009, 14:12
Typo in main article.
Quote:
"so we're still unsure if those 12 Survival Mode levels will be at all new, or just tweaked versions of levels from existing the campaigns."
fixed: from the existing campaigns ??


Interesting mode, should be a laugh if not most certainly very epic.
Who wants to go Akimbo Assassin ? :D hehe
Quote reflux 10th February 2009, 14:18
If this is being released in retail stores, then it looks like we're going to have to pay for it folks :(
Quote overdosedelusion 10th February 2009, 14:21
^ It was confirmed to be free for PC users.
Quote reflux 10th February 2009, 14:22
Really? Oh, win.
Quote chimaera 10th February 2009, 14:35
Quote:
Originally Posted by reflux
If this is being released in retail stores, then it looks like we're going to have to pay for it folks :(

"The Survival Mode pack will be released freely for all existing owners of Left 4 Dead, regardless of platform."

Also, GOTY and Directors Cuts of games are quite common, and generally just include a selection of popular (free) mods and addons - idea being that it saves the hassle of finding these things afterwards I guess.
Quote Bauul 10th February 2009, 14:52
Quote:
Originally Posted by overdosedelusion
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
How effective does that actually work without an extremely well coordinated group of survivors now they've fixed the melee exploit? Plus, I imagine the special infected will be thrown in there to keep everyone on their toes.

I haven't noticed any fix with melee tbh, it's just as effective as it ever was. A tank would do the only real damage but if you have a good team, you should be able to survive for a very long time. Long enough to think "Bloody hell this is boring"

I was refering to the resetting melee timer when you switch weapons. Although I have to ask, if you're playing in a way that makes you think "bloody hell this is boring", sorry to ask a really dumb question, but why are you playing like that? You can get mega rich in WOW by farming for gold, but it's boring so nobody chooses to do it. Just because you can sit in a corner meleeing doesn't mean you should. It's not like in Versus where you have anything to prove to anyone but yourself and your team mates.
Quote overdosedelusion 10th February 2009, 15:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
I was refering to the resetting melee timer when you switch weapons. Although I have to ask, if you're playing in a way that makes you think "bloody hell this is boring", sorry to ask a really dumb question, but why are you playing like that? You can get mega rich in WOW by farming for gold, but it's boring so nobody chooses to do it. Just because you can sit in a corner meleeing doesn't mean you should. It's not like in Versus where you have anything to prove to anyone but yourself and your team mates.

Well the thing about versus and campaign expert is the challenge involved, even a good team can come unstuck in versus or expert campaign and it's fun to play. Our clan insist on fair play + no camping, but in a mode with no goal other than surviving for long periods of time, there is no point in moving at all. If there was some sort of objective and you were forced to move then it could be fun. I predict that every pub server will be rife with people insistent on camping.
Quote badders 10th February 2009, 15:34
It depends whether it's how long you can survive, or how far through the maps you can survive.
Quote pimonserry 10th February 2009, 16:23
I can't wait :D

About time something rekindled L4D tbh. Doing the same campaigns over and over can get a bit bothersome.
Quote harveypooka 10th February 2009, 16:58
Expansions are great, but I really feel that Valve need to implement some sort of rating system for players and sort out the crappy servers that don't let you join or crash.

I play with a group of friends and without being arrogant, we usually beat the other team. Sometimes it's on the first or second map, they score 200 (we got 4 once) and we get over 1000. What happens is we either get called "fags" or "cheaters" or they rage quit.

Sometimes this happens toward the end of the Versus campaign and it spoils the game.

I know a rating system would be open to abuse and people who are genuinely disconnected will suffer, but something must be done!

I've already made a group on Steam called 'Stay 4 Dead' that only has members that know more words than "fag" and actually stay to the end of a campaign, even if they are beaten to a pulp!
Quote StephenK 10th February 2009, 21:03
I've always enjoyed DT and DA on versus will be nice to be able to just select them in the lobby :)
Quote r4tch3t 11th February 2009, 02:52
Does anyone know how the mod will be affected? Do we have to re-install or just delete the maps?
Quote bahgger 11th February 2009, 03:18
Where in that GTV episode is there any mention about Survival mode? I'm confused
Quote OWNED66 11th February 2009, 07:36
EPIC
i found some moded servers with unlimited bullets no reload = fun
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