Holy.... Left 4 Dead 2 is really violent!

[lvl9000_woot]

Yes, I know I am behind the times. very behind.
So, I don't have a PC any more, and I don't have XBL, so I never felt the need to look that much into L4D2.
But just now I saw a gameplay video in which the player was using a machete, and damn...
I have my limits with violence in video games, and I do not recall the original L4D crossing it.
L4D was designed in a very appealing, albeit morbid manner: Its dark, and things come running at you. You shoot them and make all the peoples fall down. Yes, there's blood, but there was never a particular need for the zombies to fall apart like this.
Part of this surprise is partly my fault; I had my own preconceptions, and shouldn't hold it against a developer to not be exactly what I was expecting.

Still, like cast-iron skillets as much as the next Southern girl, and I can understand the value of melee combat in a game.
Its just, Valve is apparently very good at making the mind go, "OK, that was most definitely a very human thing that just lost his arm there..." Just a little *too* good, for my taste. The hangup here for me is that this gore doesn't seem to add anything to the gameplay value, (being blinded by prolly bloodsplatter nonwithstanding) and it doesn't seem to add to the atmosphere, at least in my opinion.

I'm just wondering if I was the only one sitting here, a little surprised, after seeing the game in action for the first time.
And really, I'd love to be proven wrong, and I'm not hating on Valve. Part of the reason it is so jarring is because they implimented this so well.
Really, though, I have to ask yall: how do you feel about the level of violence?

[small]And no, I'm not gonna rally agianst this game; If you want to play it, by all means, go ahead. [/small]

Have you seen Borderlands?

I'm sure you'd think it's voilent too after having a maniac whip out a grenade and blow himself to pieces...

 

[Zelurien]

ZOMG!!!! LEFT 4 DEAD 2 IS VIOLENT, WHAT IS THE WORLD COMEING TOO!!!!!

And the spelling too. And the use of more than one exclamation mark. Not cool.

The point being made is relevant; at what point does violence and gore become too real. Does it ever?

I can't say the demo bothered me, but my girlfriend said it made her uncomfortable as everything seems so real. I can't wait for the real thing. They've done brilliantly with the marketing imho.

I've always fancied myself as a zombie killer. Apart from my cowardice, obviously.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

ZOMG!!!! LEFT 4 DEAD 2 IS VIOLENT, WHAT IS THE WORLD COMEING TOO!!!!!

A few things:

1) Caps are not cool. If anything, they make everyone immediately dislike you (unless it's in irony) and not care what you say.
2) Try to read the post before commenting so as not to make yourself look like an idiot. She didn't show surprise at the violence, but at the level of it.
3) Not contributing to the thread is called 'trolling', if you keep doing it, you will almost certainly get probation/suspension because people like the forums to be a friendly place.

A few answers

1) Cool is in the eye of the beholder (if you play DnD then the several eye's of the beholder), as is irony (which always seems a hit or a miss for me).
2) I did read the post before I posted my response.
3) while I did not contribute with my initial post neither did you.

So here is my contribution, gratuitous violence for violence sake is not for me. However the strategic placement of blood and gore can quite arguably enhance the experience. A good example of this (in my CAPS lock addicted opinion) is the gears of war series. In this case however I do not think it will enhance it much, I did not care for the first Left 4 Dead and I don't plan on even renting the second.

 

[Jonci]

I was a little taken back when I first saw intestines sliding out a zombie I just put down. Mostly because it was impressive looking. Hard not to admire good coding when you are a coder. Part of it was the added realism. They may be zombies, but they are still humans. If you are blasting holes in them or slicing them apart with a machette, things should get bloody and gory.

It's a nice graphical upgrade. Sure it doesn't add to the gameplay, but the only thing it could add would be tripping over the intestines and no one wants that. It just punches in a little more that these were people.

 

[Signa]

Yes, I know I am behind the times. very behind.
So, I don't have a PC any more, and I don't have XBL, so I never felt the need to look that much into L4D2.
But just now I saw a gameplay video in which the player was using a machete, and damn...
I have my limits with violence in video games, and I do not recall the original L4D crossing it.
L4D was designed in a very appealing, albeit morbid manner: Its dark, and things come running at you. You shoot them and make all the peoples fall down. Yes, there's blood, but there was never a particular need for the zombies to fall apart like this.
Part of this surprise is partly my fault; I had my own preconceptions, and shouldn't hold it against a developer to not be exactly what I was expecting.

Still, like cast-iron skillets as much as the next Southern girl, and I can understand the value of melee combat in a game.
Its just, Valve is apparently very good at making the mind go, "OK, that was most definitely a very human thing that just lost his arm there..." Just a little *too* good, for my taste. The hangup here for me is that this gore doesn't seem to add anything to the gameplay value, (being blinded by prolly bloodsplatter nonwithstanding) and it doesn't seem to add to the atmosphere, at least in my opinion.

I'm just wondering if I was the only one sitting here, a little surprised, after seeing the game in action for the first time.
And really, I'd love to be proven wrong, and I'm not hating on Valve. Part of the reason it is so jarring is because they implimented this so well.
Really, though, I have to ask yall: how do you feel about the level of violence?

[small]And no, I'm not gonna rally agianst this game; If you want to play it, by all means, go ahead. [/small]

Have you seen Borderlands?

I'm sure you'd think it's voilent too after having a maniac whip out a grenade and blow himself to pieces...

The thing about borderlands is that it's cartoony, and there aren't much giblets to speak of, just blood mist. I haven't played L4D2 (the box is in the mail), but I get what Erana is saying. I had a similar reaction when watching GTA:SA and the extra swearing they put in that game. It felt forced and unnecessary, all for the sake of being more offensive to the people who hate GTA.

I too felt that L4D1 had the perfect level of violence as it was still gory, but it wasn't over the top or necessarily realistic. I think for me there is an uncanny valley when it comes to violence. The more graphic it is, the cooler it is until it reaches perfect realism. Then it gets awesome when they go over the top and have geysers of blood everywhere when you stab some one with a toothpick. I'll reserve judgment for when I actually play L4D2, but some of the stuff I've heard concerns me that the violence may detract from the experience for me.

 

[Kaltazraza]

played the demo and i think its awesome violent with melee weapons ftw yay

 

[Stabber1010]

It's not the gore that freaks me out. I'd say I'm fascinated with it more than anything.
It's the noises! Cause you know something bad is going to happen when you hear...them.

 

[Woodsey]

Try playing it, it's so fast paced you won't notice anything.

And please, limitations on violence? If you swiped a machete across the neck of someone you'd expect something to pop off... It's not exactly subtle but neither is it gratuitous.

 

[lvl9000_woot]

Yes, I know I am behind the times. very behind.
So, I don't have a PC any more, and I don't have XBL, so I never felt the need to look that much into L4D2.
But just now I saw a gameplay video in which the player was using a machete, and damn...
I have my limits with violence in video games, and I do not recall the original L4D crossing it.
L4D was designed in a very appealing, albeit morbid manner: Its dark, and things come running at you. You shoot them and make all the peoples fall down. Yes, there's blood, but there was never a particular need for the zombies to fall apart like this.
Part of this surprise is partly my fault; I had my own preconceptions, and shouldn't hold it against a developer to not be exactly what I was expecting.

Still, like cast-iron skillets as much as the next Southern girl, and I can understand the value of melee combat in a game.
Its just, Valve is apparently very good at making the mind go, "OK, that was most definitely a very human thing that just lost his arm there..." Just a little *too* good, for my taste. The hangup here for me is that this gore doesn't seem to add anything to the gameplay value, (being blinded by prolly bloodsplatter nonwithstanding) and it doesn't seem to add to the atmosphere, at least in my opinion.

I'm just wondering if I was the only one sitting here, a little surprised, after seeing the game in action for the first time.
And really, I'd love to be proven wrong, and I'm not hating on Valve. Part of the reason it is so jarring is because they implimented this so well.
Really, though, I have to ask yall: how do you feel about the level of violence?

[small]And no, I'm not gonna rally agianst this game; If you want to play it, by all means, go ahead. [/small]

Have you seen Borderlands?

I'm sure you'd think it's voilent too after having a maniac whip out a grenade and blow himself to pieces...

The thing about borderlands is that it's cartoony, and there aren't much giblets to speak of, just blood mist. I haven't played L4D2 (the box is in the mail), but I get what Erana is saying. I had a similar reaction when watching GTA:SA and the extra swearing they put in that game. It felt forced and unnecessary, all for the sake of being more offensive to the people who hate GTA.

I too felt that L4D1 had the perfect level of violence as it was still gory, but it wasn't over the top or necessarily realistic. I think for me there is an uncanny valley when it comes to violence. The more graphic it is, the cooler it is until it reaches perfect realism. Then it gets awesome when they go over the top and have geysers of blood everywhere when you stab some one with a toothpick. I'll reserve judgment for when I actually play L4D2, but some of the stuff I've heard concerns me that the violence may detract from the experience for me.

I think I'll wait too.

 

[DayDark]

I would say that the gore is so realistic helps the game, one of the disturbing things about zombies are that they are a shell of former fellow humans. One of the top dilemma's of decease/zombie themes, is that what if your suddenly standing in front of a deceased relative. Fact of the matter is that you're defending yourself against dead or fatally infected humans, and the more that is portrayed the better. Sometimes struggling for survival is messy.

 

[Ariosona]

I admit the amount of gore turns it from being a survival horror to being a bit like a roflknife sliecsliecsliec fest, which is fun, but not what l4d is about. I never thought id say it but i wish there was a few less airborne limbs.

Then again, i suppose i'll be using the pistols mostly, due to the melee weapons not being very decent for special infected, except maybe the jockey or hunter when its already pounced someone.

Each to his own i guess and we can just see how it all plays out. The demo, to me, was everything i expected + more gore, and we'll probably all get used to it eventually so i'm expecting a full awesome game

 

[orangebandguy]

Yeah the gore is ridiculous, I flew a hole through the face of a zombie with the AK 47, the head didn't explode it was just missing a face and you could see through the other side.

 

[Jerich0]

well it certainly adds to the realism, and i can certainly understand that... and i see where you're coming from, but my question with l4d was 'why do their heads explode, but the rest of their bodies sort of just soak up bullets?

it's sort of sad that I think first of continuity then of gorealism (yeah, its a mash-up of gore and realism, who wants some, cmon!)

 

[The Hairminator]

Well, what would you expect from cutting zombies with machetes? That they would drop on the ground and fade away without any blood? And since the zombie-movie genre is mostly splatter I can't see why zombie-gaming genre shouldn't.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

I've not played it yet because my PC is being an asshole right now but I will soon.

 

[jesse.]

i saw it uncensored it isnt bad, and I live in aus too........

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I know, isn't it great?

I love gory films myself and not only is Left 4 Dead 2 gory, it's up close gory!

The machete and chrome shotgun are my choices of mutilation.

RIGHT HERE

zombie games should stay true to the romero aesthetics. and if you don't think it adds to the atmosphere, you don't know what you're lookin at because the l4d2 demo is just like playing thru dawn/day of the dead. very bleak, very realistic, very very gory!

btw op have you tried going to settings and setting the gore level to 'low'?

Is there a way to do that?

I just want to see what it looks like without it.

on my xbox live demo it was right there in the settings menu

 

[ma55ter_fett]

ZOMG!!!! LEFT 4 DEAD 2 IS VIOLENT, WHAT IS THE WORLD COMEING TOO!!!!!

And the spelling too. And the use of more than one exclamation mark. Not cool.

The point being made is relevant; at what point does violence and gore become too real. Does it ever?

I can't say the demo bothered me, but my girlfriend said it made her uncomfortable as everything seems so real. I can't wait for the real thing. They've done brilliantly with the marketing imho.

I've always fancied myself as a zombie killer. Apart from my cowardice, obviously.

"Cool" is up to individual to decide, for my part I am sorry that no one appreciated my regrettable attempt at humor. As for the spelling I assume you refering to "zomg" I must then ask, what does "imho" mean?

The OT never asked the question "at what point does violence and gore become too real"

We were merely asked what we thought of the violence in Left 4 Dead 2? We know that Australia refused it classification, and while I do not agree with their rating system I must admit they have a point.

Often as in the case of Left 4 Dead 2 the violence no longer adds anything and in fact detracts from the experience in significant ways. The benchmark for this is when people (such as your significant other) can no longer watch or participate in the game.