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Here's how long it will take you to finish Left 4 Dead
In an interview with Random Hardware Site #4562, Valve producer Chet Faliszek fields the following question about Left 4 Dead, the upcoming multiplayer zombie game.OCMS: Roughly how long is the game—
Wait, wait, stop right there. Does this frequently asked question bug you as much as it bugs me? I know developers are sick of having to answer it. The length of time it takes to play a game is dependent upon factors like whether you feel like exploring, what difficulty level you're playing at, whether there are collectibles, where you can save, how much you suck at it, and if your friends are going to take a turn. Then there's multiplayer, which effectively adds infinity to any game's playing time. This is the sort of question Larry King would ask if he wrote about games.
To his credit, Faliszek manages to provide a pretty definitive answer....as long as people have been playing de-dust in Counter-Strike...
This is shorthand for "forever, stupid".
By budgethero at 10:26 AM ON 10/22/08
i couldn't agree more. to me the play time in game reviews always seemed like fake substance to me. i look at my playing timer in my game and at how long it took a reviewer, and it's never the same. and i know, we're two different people. i mean i WALK in rpg's (i'm serious).plus the reviewer needs to hurry up and finish the game to write the review and get it online. how much time does that take off compared to someone who can sit, enjoy, and explore their butt off? but if i'm different from the reviewer and the rest of his/her readers, why put the reviewer's play time? maybe it could be a reference point. but isnt it possible that it would only be a good reference point for the type of gamer the reviewer is?
By Gordon Cameron at 4:13 PM ON 10/22/08
I don't think it hurts to know how long the single player or "campaign" portion of a game will be. It's a given that multiplayer lasts an arbitrarily long time. Y'know, some shooters are awful short, and I like to know if there's a bit of meat there or not.
By kol kant at 2:01 PM ON 10/23/08
Sounds more like he's being defensive. If you can run through all the maps 4 times (twice per side) in under 15 hours I'd say that was a problem.
P.S. I've personally played about 2 hours of dust and maybe 4 more of dust2. Wouldn't pay $50 for that...
By mateo519 at 12:56 AM ON 11/09/08
Its not hard for devs to answer a simple question on roughly how long it takes to play through a game. That's why they have testers playing every part of the game. Then the devs take feedback and info relaying it to the public, it's their job ffs!(if they want the game to be successful) Its pretty common sense to any gamer when someone asks this question they are referring to the story mode of said game.
By FabledFoe at 7:21 AM ON 11/22/08
Y'know, I was just getting to like you until you called people "stupid". That was pretty "stupid".
Ciao
FabledFoe:
Y'know, I was just getting to like you until you called people "stupid". That was pretty "stupid". Ciao...More »