By Rob Bricken in
Nerdery, Video Games
Wednesday, Nov. 18 2009 @ 4:02PM
Do you want to play Left 4 Dead without the pesky fun, graphics and excitement? Then you'd best be on the look-out for this fan-made, 8-bit, NES-style Left 4 Dead game, supposedly coming available on PC in early January. I don't want to knock the guy for his work -- if this is his dream, then go for it -- but the thing Left 4 Dead has most going for it is the pure number of zombies that are attacking at any given time. Here, only a couple of zombies are even on screen at the same time in this version, and, well, it's boring. Look, 8-bit doesn't need to mean "easy" -- Contra and Ghosts n' Goblins are clear examples of that. This looks like a game you'd find at the dentist's waiting room, except you're shooting a gun at zombies instead of toothpaste and cavities. (Via GorillaMask)
12 comments
Comments
Paul said:
I gotta agree, it looks mighty dull. The boomer's vomit doesn't Call the Horde, the item drops appeared to be from specific enemies (my reasoning is the character waiting around on-screen at those times when items dropped), and there's no oppresive darkness. Typically in these types of games, it's a small circle of light around the character, but I'm sure you could set a cone based light system, and possibly have outlines appear nearby the character to account for nearby infected.
jacen said:
Killed enemies need to go 'BARF!' to make this game at all cool
Coconut Monkey said:
Do you guys not get the joke?
Enigma_2099 replied to Coconut Monkey:
You mean the game itself?
Gleeman said:
Haven't played L4D yet. $40 for a glorified mod? Uh, no thanks Valve. (Yeah I'm cheap!)
Beppo replied to Gleeman:
Except the original Left 4 Dead PC version is $17.99 at amazon.com. I don't know which bodily orifice you pulled the $40 figure out of but you probably should stuff it back in.
Farglesnarf said:
You know, back in the day when the NES was the shit, this would probably be M-rated material. =/
I think it needs a little more blood. A few splatters here and there in the background aren't enough for something based on an M-rated zombie game.
Gareth said:
I love this. I have a soft spot for 8-bit parodies of current gen games. And this is an actual game, not just a funny vid. The creator says he'll include all 5 special zombie types!
The only thing missing is a way to replicate the Horde at whatever interval. If not, that's okay I guess, as trying for four player co-op as well would be anachronistic for the feel it's supposed to recreate anyway.
James F said:
I can see where that game is trying to go, but it looks like it has a long way to get there. I've never played Left 4 Dead myself, but I know there's supposed to be a lot of frenetic action to the game that's not in this demake. There needs to be zombies crowding the player from almost all sides like a zombie version of Smash TV or Geometry Wars.
I also hope the multiplayer gets bumped up to four players in the finished project. Even if the game is trying to channel the feel of an 8-bit era game, the fact is that it's not on an 8-bit platform. Just because the NES could only display three sprites on screen without flicker doesn't mean you should slavishly recreate that.
This said:
Did anyone else get an intense, Pokemon R/B/Y flashback. That St. Anne cruise ship area just jumped out at me.
Mike said:
This is the stuff !
Looks and plays just like the old NES games...
Took me back twenty years and made my sides hurt..
Thanx ;)
Eric said:
You guys may want to actually watch the 2nd video.
