Left 4 Dead 2 Demo: Is the Sequel Ready for Primetime?

The zombie apocalypse is back, and I finally had the chance to play Valve's demo for the much anticipated and much maligned Left 4 Dead 2.  I had to wait longer as I was not among those who got to play it earlier because of a preorder. 

Aside form the uselessness of get an early demo of a game you've essentially already bought, it seems like this is Valve's chance to surprise it's die-hard fans.  I can at least say that I'm glad I don't ever preorder games.

Plenty of Left 4 Dead Goodness Abound

First up, Valve's pre-rendered introduction to Left 4 Dead 2 has been "leaked", as usual. The video is a good 3 minutes and provides a full overview of the character, infected, locals, guns, and basic plot. By the looks of the trailer, L4D2 will actually have a plot to provide continuity to the five campaigns.

Left 4 Dead DLC on "Course" to XBL, Steam

Valve has released the announced Crash Course campaign for Left 4 Dead today, making it their second DLC. Unlike the Survival Pack, Crash Course adds an entirely new campaign, and this time it will cost Xbox 360 users 560 Microsoft Points ($7.00/free for PC). Crash Course is meant to connect the No Mercy and Death Toll campaigns, giving it a sense of continuity. We'll see how that works (or doesn't work). The content is supposed to deliver "a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes." So, this might be perfect for a quick game.

Left 4 Dead Poster Template

Speaking of Left 4 Dead content, I was referred (a while back) to this excellent template that you can use to make your own campaign posters. The PSD file has everything you need to get started making some official-looking campaign posters.

Personally, I find the hardest part to be coming up with tag lines for new campaigns. I'll be sure to post the ones that I've been working on.

All you need to do is download this file.  More on the template here.

[UPDATE] My three campaign posters are now up for your viewing pleasure in my flickr page and in my deviantart gallery. 

Left 4 Dead DLC

For those of you who have been anticipating it (not for very long, considering it's Valve), the Left 4 Dead DLC has been dated.
Microsoft has confirmed that the ‘Survival Pack’ for Left 4 Dead will be releasing on April 21st on the Xbox 360, free of charge (w00t). This pack introduces a new 'Survival' multiplayer game mode and support for Dead Air and Death Toll in Versus. While Valve has said that they wished to release the content simultaneously, no word yet on the PC release date.

Get your shotguns ready.

For more info on Survival Mode, see the IGN preview.

[Source]