First Left 4 Dead 2 Add-On Announced - The Passing

Sierra Oscar

I was not expecting this announcement so soon . . .

December 14, 2009 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first game add-on for its co-operative zombie thriller, Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), is in development and targeted for release in early 2010.

Dubbed "The Passing," the first game add-on for L4D2 brings the original Left 4 Dead (L4D1) Survivors down south for a meeting with the L4D2 cast, while delivering new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay for the PC and Xbox 360.

Targeted for release in early spring, "The Passing" takes place just after the Dead Center campaign of L4D2. Set in a small town in rural Georgia, players assume the role of the L4D2 Survivors as they meet with the L4D1 characters.

In addition to the new co-operative campaign and associated narrative, "The Passing" will include new arenas for Survival, Versus and Scavenge mode and introduce a new co-operative challenge mode of play. The Passing will also include a new "uncommon common" zombie class, melee weapon, and firearm.

"The Passing will become the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign," said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. "It will also be a huge offering of new gameplay content, with something new for every game mode plus a new uncommon common and weaponry."

Exclusively available for the Xbox 360 and PC, L4D2 sets a new benchmark for co-operative action games. The title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more.

With the AI Director 2.0, L4D's dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.

Finally, with new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original, featuring more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, new Survival maps, and the new competitive game mode, Scavenge.

Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing is targeted for release in early spring for the PC and Xbox 360. Pricing will be announced closer to launch.

Genghiz Cohen

"Pricing will be announced closer to launch."

O_0

Kiith

Have Valve been bought out by Activision without anyone knowing about it?

dreamers75

woot something new to boycott

PogMoThoin

Dlc free on pc?

Sierra Oscar

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Dlc free on pc?

Plenty of people are assuming so, but Im not too sure about that . . . as I would have thought it would have been clarified in the PR.

No doubt there will be a clarification soon.

pixelburp

Have I missed something in that press release or is this going to be 8 players for the Survivors' side? If they're merging the two teams I presume that's how it'll work ...

Davidius

I should hope that the pricing will only apply to 360 if it exists. Valve already set a precedent with the free TF2 updates and I don't think many will stand for it.

Of course we've all seen how fickle boycotters can be. Even so, the DLC would want to make up for the €50 price tag they're charging.

Atlas_IRL

Great news i always prefered the first cast but the second game is so more balanced. Cant wait to hear what the new infected is like

0ubliette

Unless its set at night, and lets you play as the survivors from L4D1, i couldnt care less. L4D2 has been a pretty massive disappointment for me so far.

Jumpy

pixelburp wrote: »

Have I missed something in that press release or is this going to be 8 players for the Survivors' side? If they're merging the two teams I presume that's how it'll work ...

I would say you get to choose 4 of the 8 in a team.

L31mr0d

Jumpy wrote: »

I would say you get to choose 4 of the 8 in a team.

Would be nice if you can play as 2 teams of 4 moving towards a point where you all meet up and hold a point for the finale. Could be that the finale automatically triggers so that if 1 team is delayed the other that got there earlier is going to have to hold out for a longer.

If they just unlock the ability to choose from all 8 characters it will be pretty lame. 8 player coop would be excellent. 8 v 8 in versus would also be mental.

nix

If they put a price tag on the pc release ill be giving up on this game altogether, the small amount of stuff they add isnt worth a price tag.

Team fortress 2 releases more content, more frequently and for free, and its alot better :rolleyes:

Mr. K

Haven't picked up L4D2 yet, but this DLC sounds pretty cool; much more substantial than the Crash Course DLC for the first game.

Maximilian

I can't see them doing this any differently to before ie. free on the PC and paid for on the xbox, seeing as MS won't allow them to release it free.

I still expect the brass tubes to explode in the meantime.

hooradiation

Kiith wrote: »

Have Valve been bought out by Activision without anyone knowing about it?

Damn games companies making games! What a bunch of jerks.

Seifer

nix wrote: »

Team fortress 2 releases more content, more frequently and for free, and its alot better :rolleyes:

Yeah, I mean everyone wants to collect crap and make other crap with it in an fps.
Sometimes I'm thankful that Valve have TF2 to get all their "creative" urges out.

Nick_oliveri

I had a feeling they would introduce paid DLC for the PC version a few weeks ago. If you right click L4D2 in your games list on steam and click "View Downloadable content" you are presented with this:

The "Acquisition Method" is a dead giveaway for future paid DLC IMHO.

ProjectColossus

Well spotted. For the moment at least, looks like it's free. But that could easliy change from complimentary.

Is it possible that this system is in place for all DLC? I don't have any other games with standard DLC. If someone has FEAR2 or Red Alert 3 on Steam they might be able to tell? I can't think of any other examples but there probably are a few.

Jumpy

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

I had a feeling they would introduce paid DLC for the PC version a few weeks ago. If you right click L4D2 in your games list on steam and click "View Downloadable content" you are presented with this:

The "Acquisition Method" is a dead giveaway for future paid DLC IMHO.

It says "Steam Store" for me.

nix

Seifer wrote: »

Yeah, I mean everyone wants to collect crap and make other crap with it in an fps.
Sometimes I'm thankful that Valve have TF2 to get all their "creative" urges out.

meh i care not for the hats etc, some of the weapons are cool, new maps keep the game fresh.

One cant complain if its free

You get alot less from other deveolpers and you have to pay for it

ProjectColossus

Jumpy wrote: »

It says "Steam Store" for me.

Interesting. Did you pre-order the game or get it after launch? I have a pre-order copy..

Jumpy

ProjectColossus wrote: »

Interesting. Did you pre-order the game or get it after launch? I have a pre-order copy..

As do I. Everything else is exactly the same. Just says "Steam Store" there instead.

Did you buy one of the 4 packs?

ProjectColossus

Jumpy wrote: »

As do I. Everything else is exactly the same. Just says "Steam Store" there instead.

Did you buy one of the 4 packs?

Yeah I did, it was gifted to me as part of a 4 pack. That's probably it. Perhaps this actually has nothing to do with the announced DLC.

NotorietyH

Jumpy wrote: »

I would say you get to choose 4 of the 8 in a team.

They didn't say anywhere that the L4D1 Survivors were still survivors, they could be infected by now.

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

Cant wait to hear what the new infected is like

It's only new uncommon common zombies lke the clowns or CEDA agents, not a special infected.

L31mr0d

NotorietyH wrote: »

They didn't say anywhere that the L4D1 Survivors were still survivors, they could be infected by now.

Not going to happen. The survivors are either carriers of the virus (alluded to on numerous occasions in L4D2), or they are immune. My opinion is that the cast from L4D2 are carriers, which explains the helicopter pilot suddenly becoming infected, whereas the guys from L4D1 are simply immune (as well as the boat captain Virgil from L4D2)

cableguy.ie

Maximilian wrote: »

I can't see them doing this any differently to before ie. free on the PC and paid for on the xbox, seeing as MS won't allow them to release it free.



Sorry if this is a stupid question but MS wont allow them to release it for free. Why??

Nick_oliveri

cableguy.ie wrote: »

Sorry if this is a stupid question but MS wont allow them to release it for free. Why??

The services Microsoft offer on live are paid services. They don't like the word free. It was the same with the "DLC" for left4dead1. PC owners got it for free whereas Live subscribers had to pay for it.

Sierra Oscar

Nick_oliveri wrote: »

I had a feeling they would introduce paid DLC for the PC version a few weeks ago. If you right click L4D2 in your games list on steam and click "View Downloadable content" you are presented with this:

The "Acquisition Method" is a dead giveaway for future paid DLC IMHO.

The complimentary tag has been around since 2004, I have plenty of older games tagged as complimentary.



If you check your Steam store account you will see that Steam itself is tagged as complimentary . . .

Nick_oliveri

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

If you check your Steam store account you will see that Steam itself is tagged as complimentary . . .

Fair enough. Thats good to know actually. I'll think twice before stating rumors the next time :P.

Maximilian

cableguy.ie wrote: »

Maximilian wrote: »

I can't see them doing this any differently to before ie. free on the PC and paid for on the xbox, seeing as MS won't allow them to release it free.



Sorry if this is a stupid question but MS wont allow them to release it for free. Why??

I imagine because they get a cut out of sales and that's their policy. The consoles are sold at a loss or discount and the money is made on software. I think however that Valve managed to get some kind a DLC for L4D1 released for free on the 360 - I think it was the patch that added versus mode. That was probably free on the basis that it was something that should have been in the game at launch or something.

5uspect

Maximilian wrote: »

I imagine because they get a cut out of sales and that's their policy. The consoles are sold at a loss or discount and the money is made on software. I think however that Valve managed to get some kind a DLC for L4D1 released for free on the 360 - I think it was the patch that added versus mode. That was probably free on the basis that it was something that should have been in the game at launch or something.

It was the Survival mode update I think. Crash Course was something like 600 MS points.