Very Vague Impressions From My Trip to Valve
I had the unique pleasure of spending sometime after work today in Bellevue, Washington with Valve Software. It had been quite a while since the last time I was up, to playtest Half-Life 2: Episode 2, so I was excited to come back, this time to play the upcoming co-op shooter Left4Dead. This marked my seventh trip to Valve and unfortunately my first without my good friend Steve, who was out of town.
Without going into really any detail at all, I think Left4Dead is shaping up into a good game. I've never played an online co-op game in the past that has felt very engaging to me, so Valve is taking on a big challenge in creating a game that is going to live or die by the success of the online co-op experience. As always, Valve is putting a lot of time and effort into the details to make sure it is an experience worthy of the label. The game is certainly gorgeous (of course I was playing it on, like, the beefiest computer on the planet!) but Valve has never relied on its graphics to sell a game and this is no exception. They have so far crafted an experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat, ready to shoot anything that movies, while forcing you to rely on the help of your teammates to traverse through each map.
Aside from playing the game, the highlight of my trip was finally getting to meet Jess Cliffe, co-creator of the best multiplayer game in the history of gaming. I've had the chance to meet a lot of people at Valve who have been there since the early days, but I had never met Jess before. The fact that Jess is now working on Left4Dead shows that Valve is really pouring a lot of their top resources into making sure the game is as good as it can be. Thanks again to Valve for the opportunity to visit, I always enjoy it.
Comments
Man, I didn't know you went to Valve. That's awesome, I love CS.