Join the party, Join the survivors club!

So (damn I can't help starting posts with that word (is that a word?)) I've been delving real deep into Left 4 Dead after work. Its hard to not get into it. With all its incredible features, I think one thing that hasn't really been stated about L4D is its ability to act like an on-going party. Initially it was sort of like a WoW raid/instance - everyone get together and had to be dedicated to finishing the whole campaign. "What time will you be playing?" was a question I got asked a lot. So in the beggining it was a very dedicated experience. While this is a lot of fun, the obligation starts to become something that weighed me down when I was thinking about starting a game or joining a game. It was looking to become the same damn problem I had with WoW. I simply don't like being tied to a game by force. Last night it kind of dawned on me that I did not have to treat the game like this. In fact, treating it like this would just take away from it. So I started treating it like a drop-in-drop-out game and encouraging my friends to do that same.

L4D has two major functions that support this: AI teammates and friends lobby. Anytime during the game, you can just hit pause, and select "Take a Break" which will have the computer control you so that the team can keep going. Now the AI teammates are no real replacement for a person but they can perform basic tasks and the part where they excel is saving people from hunters and smokers as well as healing others. They do fail when it comes to performing specific strategies during the "Last Stand" finale levels at the end of each campaign. Now the Friends Lobby is not something revolutionary but is a constant reminder of how damn polished this game is. From the main menu, you can go to a special lobby that shows all of the games your friends are playing in and if they can be joined. You can also create games that are friends only so your they can come and leave as much as they would like. The benefit of this? When you want to play, make a game, and start moving through it on your own. If your friends come online, they can just hop in - no fuss, no muss. In fact this weekend, I am just gonna keep starting matches to move through the game and let people keep coming in and out.

L4D is truly a party that never stops. Just keep the guns filled, grab those pain pills, and look out...cause the ground just started shaking...that means zombie hulk is coming.....