Left 4 Dead Patch Makes Zombies Deadlier, Survivors Deader

[Apoptosis]

Left 4 Dead Patch Makes Zombies Deadlier, Survivors Deader - http://news.gotgame.com/left-4-dead-pat ... der/24329/

A new patch for Left 4 Dead has gone live (maybe not the best choice of words, but no matter). Apparently, Valve thought the Survivors had it too easy, because most of the updates beef up the undead while plugging up loopholes the living were exploiting.

For starters, infected players now have a HUD to keep track of how allies are faring. And as a late Christmas gift to Team Zombie, all the Special Infected get some goodies. (Except for the Boomer. I think he just got a plate of cookies or something. I mean, look at the guy…)

The new patch makes Smokers downright lethal: their tongues are now faster, tougher, and more accurate. Additionally, the Smoker’s slobbery weapon of choice now puts the hurt on Survivors while dragging them, and doesn’t let go until either the tongue or the zombie it’s attached to are blown to bits.

Hunters get a boost to their already savage jumping skills, making it easier to pin an foe who’s trying to club them with the non-business end of a firearm.

The Tank and the Witch also get some upgrades. They both spawn more often, and in locations Survivors need to pass through, putting the humans between a rock and a hard place. (Or in the case of these two undead juggernauts, between an unstoppable mass of muscle and a face-scratchy place.)
Thank God the regular, roving legions of the living dead didn't get buffed up as well. The new Special Infected bonuses are painful enough for Survivors.

Thank God the regular, roving legions of the living dead didn't get buffed up as well. The new Special Infected bonuses are painful enough for Survivors.

And to even up Versus Mode a tad, the Tank and the Witch both spawn in the same place for either team. This should prevent one team from making better progress just because the Tank showed at the onset of one round, but couldn’t be bothered to make an appearance until the tail end of the next.

Finally, the Tank has a whole bunch of presents to call his very own. Any objects he can uproot with an lumbering swing of his fist are outlined in red, and he takes less damage from auto shotgun rounds.

In addition to making the Special Infected even more of a threat (as if intelligent, superpowered zombies were ever to be taken lightly), the patch fixes a bunch of bugs, speeds up load times, improves matchmaking issues and balances Versus Mode even further. Players can only switch teams once per map, and can’t defect to the other side while other people are still stuck at the loading screen.

PC gamers can download the patch via Steam right now, but the patch for the Xbox 360 won’t be out for a few weeks. A list of everything the patch changes is available on Steam’s website.

[Apoptosis]

When I tried to play the game STEAM updated and gave this as the update news:

Left 4 Dead

Fixed an exploit with melee where swapping weapons ignored the intended delay between swings.
In Versus mode, the Tanks' health now reflects the damage he takes from burning.
Fixed an exploit related to the "joinclass" command

[FZ1]

Cool, I won't be on tonight though.

[vicaphit]

I had heard about a balance issue for VS where people could change the difficulty to make it even harder for the infected, I wonder if that has already been fixed.

[geokilla]

Now I really wanna get L4D. Guess it's time to make my own acc and get the game...But damn. $40 >.<.

What does the L4D package from Steam or Best Buy, Future Shop, etc. come with?

[vicaphit]

Save yourself the trip and just get it from Steam. The DVD just came with a card that had the unlock code.

[Talendra]

I'm not sure if it's just me, but I always found Left 4 Dead fairly balanced, and probly more in the zombies favour than anything. I have not played the patched version yet as I have capped internet, however on the Aus servers, it was quite rare for the survivors to make it to the safe room.
Sure if you dont work together zombies are quite useless, and I hope people trying to solo and dieing is not the reason for this patch, I always found it quite easy to take out the survivors with a little strategy and teamwork.
This patch did worry me a little when I heard about it, however my worries are probly unfound, it is Valve after all, one of the few companies I trust to make a good patch.
I do look foward to testing the patch however, I just hope the game has not gone too much in the zombies favour.

[DMB2000uk]

If this is the update that was launched on the 14th (and it sounds like it) then it hasn't really upset gameplay balance too much.

It's still fun to play as both sides.

Dan

[martini161]

If this is the update that was launched on the 14th (and it sounds like it) then it hasn't really upset gameplay balance too much.

It's still fun to play as both sides.

Dan

unless your me

[Dragon_Cooler]

Yeah, I love the new patch, its great!!! I still suck as the hunter though!! Need to work on it.


However, even though its a nice patch, THEY STILL NEED MORE MAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vicaphit]

They need to release the SDK so people can make maps. I hear that a bunch of people have already made maps for the game, but they have to wait for the SDK to compile the maps and make them playable. I don't know why they are holding it back.

[FZ1]

Yeah, the current maps are aging fast.

[Kougar]

Yeah, that patch was badly needed, some very good balancing on both sides of the game were done. They also fixed a ton of exploits that were getting out of control and ruining the game.

About the maps... TF2 only had five maps for months after it launched. But I agree, 2 versus maps has just gotten really old

[InFuZiOn]

I kinda like the new update because at first versus mode was way one-sided and even still I think the melee attack for survivors is a little too fast. I'm definitely hooked on the game now though. Apop add me on steam friends under ri0t.bs and lets play sometime.