Alright, I FINALLY got Left 4 Dead. This is in spite of all the complaints about L4D2 being made up of all the “content updates” that were promised for L4D. I just decided it was worth trying out especially because I picked it up cheap during a discount weekend on Steam. Anyway, on to the actual review.
The first thing I noticed was the lack of weapon selection. I thought maybe you would find new things as you went or something but I guess I was wrong. You do get some “upgrades” but they are basically the same weapons with faster reload/rounds per second, etc. This was really disappointing.
Graphically the game blows me away though. I love the dismemberment of zombies and the excellent job they did with the lighting. This is truly the first showcasing of a “movie video game” in my opinion. If they had gone all out this might have revolutionized a new genre.
Anyway, overall I think it was worth the purchase even with L4D2 coming out so soon. I’m amazed people complain so much when this is still a very complete game. I imagine it’s because it’s Valve so people always expect more from them or something.
The Nintendo Wii is seriously lacking games that will attract so called “hardcore gamers.” This is causing them to miss out on a huge share of the video game market. However, they’ve almost created an entirely new untapped market of casual gamers and fitness nuts. I can’t even remember how many older people I’ve heard tell me they’re getting a Wii for Wii Fit. It’s really surprising to me that so many people are willing to invest around $300 for something they could easily do without any electronics at all. In fact, you could probably get a better workout by NOT using the Wii Fit than you can with it.
Lately I’ve been noticing a lot more girls playing video games. While this could simply be due to voice chat becoming more popular making it possible to know who is a girl I think it’s more than that. Games like World of Warcraft, TF2, Rock Band, etc are focusing more on topics that girls find fun or interesting. It’s becoming apparent to me that girls do not like war simulators that try to mimic reality. It might be that girls have never been into video games as much because the game genres or topics have always been male focused as that was the percieved “primary market.”
The UGA (Ultimate Game Association) Accidentals is a new website offering reviews, previews, and insights into gaming culture at large. Our focus is usually on video games but we do discuss other games or sports occasionally. I hope you enjoy the site and the information you can find here.
