The Ramblings of a Moron: Left 4 Dead 2

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 25 Nov 2009, 17:23

Editorial contributions to the site by me, I file under the name "The Ramblings of a Moron" for naming continuity, and to warn of non-perfect editorial skills. (Not to mention the high probability of completely moronic things being said.) This is me trying to improve my written communications as well as contribute at the same time. Without further delay:

The Ramblings of a Moron, Articles by Cynagen
This post does not reflect the views, opinions, or stance of Widescreen Gaming Forum and it's staff. It is only of my own, so anything you have against it, PM me or comment.

"Hey Coach, maybe the rescue helicopter is made of chocolate." This is only a sample of the dry humorless wit that L4D2 drips with, and you get to sample it before you're even to the main menu. The selection of new special infected, uncommon infected, and melee weapons add little to this now well-flogged, dead horse.

Once again, you return to the world of which has all but ended entirely, you, a survivor of the mutation that has afflicted so many, many, maaaannnny, others. There's one thing this game is never without, and that is a compliment of zombies, unless you play on easy. The new special infected, while you see more of them, don't exactly inflict the same type of fear as the originals, which have now been given the shaft and relinquished to the dark recesses from whence they came. The uncommon infected, like the armored infected SWAT personnel are actually a treat, as it forces you to deal with zombie hordes just a bit differently depending on the uncommons in the group.

Returning to my opening comments, the poor dialog, and dry humorless wit, is in my opinion, a huge downfall. The comic relief you get from hearing Francis say he hates something, simply because it's a deterrent to his surviving, was a nice uplifting laugh in an otherwise maelstrom of zombie shit flying/binding/dragging/puking/smashing/clawing at you. There is an upside to not having so much comic relief... The walk to granny's house is now relatively easy as pie. On normal, with a group of 3 random public players, we managed to run through the complete Parish storyline in just under 40 minutes, with loading screens and having to restart the last map.

There's a reason I say this is a well-flogged, dead horse of a game. There's nothing to it, it's L4D Junior Edition. Even if you're a die-hard L4D fan like myself, you will be sorely disappointed in this title.

P.S. I abstained from using the demo to give this review and waited till I got some serious face-time with the full version, and well... it didn't help it score much better.

Scoring:
Graphics: 9/10 (Models for original specials are redone nicely, new special and uncommons also look good, levels are indeed detailed.)
Audio: 5/10 (I don't like the southern touch to the music so much, and the music department is pretty empty.)
Action: 8/10 (Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and games!)
Re-playability: 8/10 (The new AI Director 2.0 does change things up quite a bit on multiple fronts.)
Value to Cost: 7/10 (This really should have been an expansion to the original.)
Overall: 74% (... Let's just say this, there's a lot of room for improvement.)

Post by **CrackerJackMack** » 25 Nov 2009, 17:33

Nice :D What is your next one going to be ?

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 25 Nov 2009, 19:08

Even if you're a die-hard L4D fan like myself, you will be sorely disappointed in this title.

I completely disagree, I am a die-hard L4D fan and L4D2 is an improvement in almost every direction. I do agree the humor is somewhat lacking comparatively but I still enjoy it.

My name is Ellis, but some people call me El, but I don't really like being called El, because El sounds like a girl's name, so I prefer Ellis; but I guess you can call me El if you want.

I also agree that the music is a step down, but sound design as a whole is through the roof, weapons sound freaking amazing, and how about those clowns?

Aexrael · Post by **Aexrael** » 25 Nov 2009, 23:27

[quote]Even if you're a die-hard L4D fan like myself, you will be sorely disappointed in this title.

I completely disagree, I am a die-hard L4D fan and L4D2 is an improvement in almost every direction. I do agree the humor is somewhat lacking comparatively but I still enjoy it.

My name is Ellis, but some people call me El, but I don't really like being called El, because El sounds like a girl's name, so I prefer Ellis; but I guess you can call me El if you want.

I also agree that the music is a step down, but sound design as a whole is through the roof, weapons sound freaking amazing, and how about those clowns?

IMO weapons sound generally terrible. They have no "oomph" to them, which makes them sound like props or toys.

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 25 Nov 2009, 23:54

[quote][quote]Even if you're a die-hard L4D fan like myself, you will be sorely disappointed in this title.

I completely disagree, I am a die-hard L4D fan and L4D2 is an improvement in almost every direction. I do agree the humor is somewhat lacking comparatively but I still enjoy it.

My name is Ellis, but some people call me El, but I don't really like being called El, because El sounds like a girl's name, so I prefer Ellis; but I guess you can call me El if you want.

I also agree that the music is a step down, but sound design as a whole is through the roof, weapons sound freaking amazing, and how about those clowns?

IMO weapons sound generally terrible. They have no "oomph" to them, which makes them sound like props or toys.

I COMPLETELY disagree, the reason I like the sounds so much is that they do sound like they have quite abit of oomph. They sound as I would expect them to sound.

Post by **MobsterOO7** » 26 Nov 2009, 01:56

I happen to like the dry humor. Don't misunderstand, I loved Francis too; but dry humor is awesome. When I saw the intro video and Nick said that, I couldn't stop laughing.

I don't think the weapons sound that bad either, especially the shotguns.

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 26 Nov 2009, 01:56

[quote][quote][quote]Even if you're a die-hard L4D fan like myself, you will be sorely disappointed in this title.

I completely disagree, I am a die-hard L4D fan and L4D2 is an improvement in almost every direction. I do agree the humor is somewhat lacking comparatively but I still enjoy it.

My name is Ellis, but some people call me El, but I don't really like being called El, because El sounds like a girl's name, so I prefer Ellis; but I guess you can call me El if you want.

I also agree that the music is a step down, but sound design as a whole is through the roof, weapons sound freaking amazing, and how about those clowns?

IMO weapons sound generally terrible. They have no "oomph" to them, which makes them sound like props or toys.

I COMPLETELY disagree, the reason I like the sounds so much is that they do sound like they have quite abit of oomph. They sound as I would expect them to sound.

They are a FAR cry from the real OOMPH you hear/feel from these weapons. You may or may not have fired any of these weapons in real life, but I have, and they do not sound real from first person view. Maybe 3rd person 100 feet away, but definitely not first person.

Post by **skipclarke** » 17 Dec 2009, 12:46

Put in Wiki, and posted on front page, Facebook and Twitter. What's next?

Stormwatcher · Post by **Stormwatcher** » 17 Dec 2009, 17:56

I honestly found this to be a terrible review. It's repetitive, shallow and just a random baseless opinion dump.
Even the "stream of consciousness" format doesn't excuse the glaring faults. I've read hundreds of average forum posts that were far superior to that so-called article. I don't see the point, or the value in it.

Post by **CrackerJackMack** » 17 Dec 2009, 18:16

I honestly found this to be a terrible review. It's repetitive, shallow and just a random baseless opinion dump.
Even the "stream of consciousness" format doesn't excuse the glaring faults. I've read hundreds of average forum posts that were far superior to that so-called article. I don't see the point, or the value in it.

That's too bad. You have any constructive criticism to add as well?

Post by **skipclarke** » 17 Dec 2009, 22:32

I honestly found this to be a terrible review. It's repetitive, shallow and just a random baseless opinion dump.
Even the "stream of consciousness" format doesn't excuse the glaring faults. I've read hundreds of average forum posts that were far superior to that so-called article. I don't see the point, or the value in it.

Then write a better review...

Anprionsa · Post by **Anprionsa** » 17 Dec 2009, 23:13

They are a FAR cry from the real OOMPH you hear/feel from these weapons. You may or may not have fired any of these weapons in real life, but I have, and they do not sound real from first person view. Maybe 3rd person 100 feet away, but definitely not first person.

I don't think the average person really knows what a gun sounds like (or for that matter a large array of guns).

StingingVelvet · Post by **StingingVelvet** » 18 Dec 2009, 01:16

It's interesting you call the game easy when I find it quite a bit harder than the original and many other reviews have actually knocked the game for being too hard. Also I think you let the humor bother you more than it should considering what percentage of the overall experience it is.

That said I agree with your overall score and most other comments. I find the game to lack some of the joy of the original for reasons I can't really state clearly. It's a little less moody, a little less polished, a little less fun. I like it, I have played it a good bit, but it is just not the amazing experience the original was for me on the whole.

Stormwatcher · Post by **Stormwatcher** » 19 Dec 2009, 00:40

[quote]I honestly found this to be a terrible review. It's repetitive, shallow and just a random baseless opinion dump.
Even the "stream of consciousness" format doesn't excuse the glaring faults. I've read hundreds of average forum posts that were far superior to that so-called article. I don't see the point, or the value in it.

Then write a better review...

Hummm... That's like saying that the reviewer should develop a better game, if he didn't like L4D2? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 19 Dec 2009, 12:34

No, Cynagen makes it plain that this is not a review in the traditional sense, so it shouldn't have to adhere to 'traditional' review styling. It's nice to have a take on the game that isn't "ZOMG! Awesome!" or "Iz teh suckzors!" that are the two extremes taken by most reviewers. It's a break for most people who read it from the classical 'review'.

Anyway, more user content is always welcomed - if you want to write a review for L4D2, do so. :) Just don't make it personal by writing "In response to Cynagens..." ;)

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 21 Dec 2009, 15:46

[quote][quote]I honestly found this to be a terrible review. It's repetitive, shallow and just a random baseless opinion dump.
Even the "stream of consciousness" format doesn't excuse the glaring faults. I've read hundreds of average forum posts that were far superior to that so-called article. I don't see the point, or the value in it.

Then write a better review...

Hummm... That's like saying that the reviewer should develop a better game, if he didn't like L4D2? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Stormwatcher: I welcome all criticism and user-reviews posted to compliment my own. Also, these are my own opinions (see: Disclaimer), don't let them taint your view of the WSGF (again, see: Disclaimer), they just get published because, well, I don't know why. I just sat down and wrote the review for L4D1 and a couple weeks later, I was featured, so I continued doing them. This is a community, and the atmosphere is to be one of a community, therefore, my Ramblings are just that, ramblings, my thoughts just leaking out into the keyboard. Take them how you want to, they're not magazine reviews and were never meant to be, so if you were looking for one, sorry to disappoint. It's great to see that you at least spoke your disapproval, and I would really enjoy a rebuttal to my review, I'd like to hear your take on the game.

StingingVelvet: I think I may be able to put the finger on what is making L4D2 feel so much worse than L4D1.
It's Pokémon: Zombies Edition, give the originals a new look, add a couple more creatures, same basic story, slap a new label on it, sell for premium price, ???, profit!

Post by **MobsterOO7** » 21 Dec 2009, 15:51

It's Pokémon: Zombies Edition, give the originals a new look, add a couple more creatures, same basic story, slap a new label on it, sell for premium price, ???, profit!

At least there is something new in it. We could have been stuck with "Roster Update '09"

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 21 Dec 2009, 15:55

At least there is something new in it. We could have been stuck with "Roster Update '09"

:lol: :cheers :lol: Thanks for the good laugh man.

Post by **skipclarke** » 21 Dec 2009, 16:01

Hummm... That's like saying that the reviewer should develop a better game, if he didn't like L4D2? :shock: :shock: :shock:

Not really. Cynagen hasn't shown any potential skill or talent in designing or coding games. I bet he could successfully give his opinions to the developers in the form of design documents or critique if asked to do so. But, he hasn't shown the skillset needed to code or develop an actual game.

You on the other hand have shown the skills needed to post a game review. One, you have an opinion and know how to express it. Two, you can type. Three, by posting in the forum you show that you know how to put that opinion on display for the public to see.

Unknownsock · Post by **Unknownsock** » 22 Dec 2009, 11:55

Sorry but i completely disagree with alot of points there, i havnt played this enough to come to a complete conclusion but the audio within the game is amazing, when i say audio i mean sound effects.
It's been a while since ive heard these sfx to this magnitude. Its a weird point to make but something i do notice :roll:

Also in terms of the difficulty, id say this is alot harder, obviously this is more based on the tonne of zombies rather than hunters every corner. And correct me if im wrong but your able to run through every level in under 40 minutes.

Personally i think this game surpasse's the original by far. When i played the demo i thought this should have just been an expansion but the more detail, weaponry etc, you can see why this is its own game.

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