I’m a fan of Left 4 Dead. Although I’m a casual gamer, L4D really fulfilled my love for cheap zombie movies. It had a cinematic feel and was simply a great cooperative game. It really made communication a central part of the gameplay experience. It has a lot going for it. However, Left 4 Dead 2 was announced today at E3. This announcement has upset a lot of gamers. The more I think about it, the more I think that Valve did everything right while still doing everything wrong. It amounts to a case of too little followed by too soon.When Left 4 Dead came out, it received rave reviews, a ton of press, and a great deal of grace. The game shipped obviously incomplete. I won’t bother talking about the numerous (and often game-breaking) bugs that were rapidly found (and less rapidly fixed). Bugs pop up. But, while the main game had 4 “movies” (read: stages), the versus mode only had 2 of them. Everyone (correctly) assumed that Valve was trying to meet a launch window and would add the other two levels later. They finally did (and added a new Survival mode) and released it for free. Everyone rejoiced. That update was less than two months ago.

Meanwhile, Valve promised that new content was coming. The survivors would have new campaigns that filled in some of the story and whatnot. In interviews, they promised more content for L4D. And then L4D2 was announced.

I’m not opposed to a sequel to L4D. I just was rather surprised that it came out so quickly. More bizarrely, it seems that Valve packaged up most of what people were asking for on the official L4D forums. A better Director AI (the Directory dynamically defines gameplay content), variable maps that force people to take different directions, melee weapons (especially chainsaws), new types of crescendo events that didn’t involve sitting in one place, and even the new boss Special Infected, the Charger, were taken straight off the forums.

Granted, there are some things that no one asked for: upgraded bullets (people were asking for more guns, not power-ups), new characters (that look much more like they were inspired by Team Fortress 2’s cartoony look rather than L4D’s realism), and a new region (which is a bit of a wash, but could provide a larger scope to the “story” behind the L4D universe). But since so much of the game appears to be directly from L4D and the rest taken from fans, it feels less like a full sequel and more like a “.5” update.

I’ll be the first to say that L4D2 probably can’t be a simple addition to L4D as some has proposed. I don’t think it’ll be a downloadable expansion. It’s a completely different game. New characters, textures, enemy AI, and a re-written Director are sizable enough to warrant a full disc distribution (or long downloading times via Steam for you PC gamers). However, L4D is not even a year old. There are still major bugs and no new downloadable content that people didn’t feel entitled to (Survivor mode was nice, but it wasn’t a new campaign). Gamers feel like they are being taken on a ride. People who purchased L4D over steam during a sale got a deal. Those who were there on day 1 paid full price and are being asked to do it again merely a year later. Furthermore, many stuck with Valve through the bugs and the shortage of content. L4D is not a particularly deep game nor a rewarding one. It’s fun for the bits of excitement that it can generate, but there’s no explicit story to follow and appreciate nor much variety to the gameplay. Early adopters felt entitled to the “Valve” treatment of a game receiving tons of updated content following the initial release. Team Fortress 2 was also a very light game with no story and little depth that has benefitted from a ton of additional content.

I don’t claim any entitlement. I purchased L4D without the expectation of additional content. I was, at first, rather dismayed at the missing content but glad to have it back. I really enjoyed it for a while, but have since moved on. I got my money’s worth but it’ll take a lot more to bring me back for another round. If L4D2 is merely L4D1.5, I’ve already been there. I’ve done that. And rather recently, too. I would have rather gone without any additional content for L4D and received a much more in-depth L4D2 next year. Hopefully Valve won’t forget about its loyal following and provide additional content for L4D while also pushing L4D2. I want to love the sequel as I loved the original, but I’m looking for a bit more fidelity from Valve before I even think about committing.