New Left 4 Dead DLC Coming Next Month

Valve said yesterday that they're working on a new campaign for Left 4 Dead, and they plan to release it in September. It's called Crash Course, and while it will be free for owners of the PC version, Xbox 360 users will need to purchase it. The new campaign "bridges the gap between the end of the 'No Mercy' campaign and the beginning of 'Death Toll' in the original game, expanding the game universe with new locations, new dialogue from the original cast, and an explosive finale." Crash Course isn't as long as the other campaigns, a deliberate decision by Valve to enable players to finish a Versus-mode game in about 30 minutes. A preview of the new content on Destructoid notes, "Since we've got a shorter campaign, much more has been packed into a smaller space. Lucky players who know where to look can upgrade to second-tier weaponry almost straight away. However, they'll have their work cut out for them, because there's a chance to get swamped by the horde right from the very beginning."

Re:L4D

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps Valve should reconsider the idea of releasing low-content games with the promise of providing much content later on and go back to footing the development bill for a full sized game and waiting for the income to roll in on release like pretty much all other companies do.

I don't know what else to say. There's no good answer to this, other than to tell you to stop patronizing Valve if you so thoroughly disapprove of their business practices.

I can't complain about L4D, but I paid for it what I thought it was worth - $20, for PC. I feel like I've gotten at least that much out of it; it's not like Valve didn't have an established track record for putting out more free DLC for the PC than the 360 going into it.

And on top of that, L4D was a heavily marketed title from a AAA studio. There were tons and tons of reviews, almost all of them lamenting the amount of content. The deepest discounts all came within two months of release. There was a public beta AND a demo out for months before the release.

At some point, you're going to run out of excuses for paying "full price" for something that many reviewers said wasn't worth full price, even before it came out. Nobody forces you to buy games the day, week or month they come out, or to buy it only from stores that charge the most for it. And as long as people continue to pay $40-$60 to buy the game on the release date, Valve sure as hell won't stop doing it.

If L4D2 looks like it's not worth $60, or this DLC doesn't look like it's worth the MSP ... then don't buy it. But don't expect Valve to do anything differently as long as they're making money - and more money in less time in this franchise than I'll wager they've made on any other.

Re:Valve are more evil than EA.

[BassMan449]

You may call Steam the most restrictive DRM on the market and I would agree. However it is the only DRM system I've ever used I can honestly say I like. Yes it is used to restrict piracy, but they provide a great value through that service. Updates happen automatically, I can redownload any time I need to, and they integrate fairly well with their community offerings.

Re:Valve are more evil than EA.

[$1uck]

I don't mind shelling out the money. I'm irked at MS for basically forcing valve's hand on this, but I will buy the DLC.

Re:How about fixing L4D first?

[Clay Pigeon -TPF-VS-]

Ive seen some of gp's problems, but not all of them.

Valve should fix its shit AND deliver the content missing at launch before trying to stuff a sequel down our throats for 50 bucks.

Re:There are already HQ Custom campagins

[icsx]

None of these are made by actual fucking professional level designers. The custom campaigns, especially the first ones are usually full of shit with few exceptions that you just listed. I'm amazed that almost after a year since the game was released, there has been only ONE actual content update, the new survival map lighthouse. If this game would have been CS Source or TF2, there would have been lots of downloadable content aka NEW MAPS.

They threw us the developers tools - make your own maps but only after 6 months when everyone was already tired of the same old maps and to the whole game. If the tools would have been given 6 months prior from the day they went beta, there would have been a lot more quality custom campaigns already out.

Death Aboard is the most promising one yet - but it has issues. One of them is the low fps. My eyes bleed when i have to look that twitching screen. It is also far too easy to play trough.