Valve Announces Left 4 Dead 2

I stumbled across this image today on the Web, which is the first example of anything that I've seen so far from Left 4 Dead 2. I'm not sure what the marketing strategy is behind this one but it seems to me like Left 4 Dead 2 will be nothing more than a retexturing of Left 4 Dead 1. Sure, there might be a couple more zombie types and supposedly there is going to be a golden bat for those who preorder the game but I'm sure that the motions will be all the same as the first one--which can be summed up basically in the phrase: "You're here; you need to get there; kill zombies as a team in order to get there." It's a winning formula but there's not much you can add to it, unless you want to end up with a mess.


One thing that blew me away so much about the first Left 4 Dead was the opening sequence. I don't generally tend to follow CG sequences--at least not as trailers--because they colour your expectations and are often of glorified scenarios that can never be achieved in the actual game (if you've seen the trailer for KotOR 3, then you know what I'm talking about); but in Left 4 Dead's trailer, you get the feeling that the actions performed by the characters can really be achieved--and they can. The development team chose a video that would demonstrate almost all of the gameplay elements to the viewer before they were dropped into the action; that way the game wouldn't be bogged down by tutorial missions and your heart would be racing with anticipation by the time you started the first chapter. It was a great decision and complimented the gameplay well, as well as being new and exciting.


So far, the only hype I can imagine is surrounding Left 4 Dead 2 is: "The game is like Left 4 Dead 1 but with a bit of extra content." And if that's the case, Valve should release it as an expansion pack, rather than expecting gamers to fork out full-price for a remake.