Left 4 Dead - Free 24h Trial.

Just a heads up. Thought someone here maybe interested.

Left 4 Dead, an excellent multiplayer zombie survival game (you can play singleplayer too) with different game modes is playable for free this Friday.

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2458/

Highly recommended. Just try it It's free, right?

Also, it is playable on pretty modest hardware. I can run AND play it on a cheap 380eur laptop I bought recently with a Sempon SI-40 (2ghz) and a Mobile HD3200 Video chip. It plays fine @ 1280x800 with low details.

On my Amd x2 5000+ gaming rig with a HD3850 videocard it runs at 1680x1050 with everything on high.

How big a d/l is it? I can only do 3gb per day.

Something like 4gb IIRC. But that's OK, just do 2 today (preload) and the other 2 tomorrow, right ? It shows the dl size before you begin download, so you can check it out…

I've got to download it through Steam?

Originally Posted by Zakhary
Something like 4gb IIRC.

So it's not really a demo then, but rather the full game that locks after 24 hours? I don't understand why they don't just release a small demo with 1 or 2 levels, so people can get a taste of what it's like.


Steam really pisses me off anyways. I recently downloaded the demo for Dawn of War 2, and then I realized I would have to install Steam just to play the frackin demo!

Originally Posted by JDR13
So it's not really a demo then, but rather the full game that locks after 24 hours? I don't understand why they don't just release a small demo with 1 or 2 levels, so people can get a taste of what it's like.


Steam really pisses me off anyways. I recently downloaded the demo for Dawn of War 2, and then I realized I would have to install Steam just to play the frackin demo!

None said anything about a demo. It's a trial, and yeah it works the way you said.
I prefer it this way. I wanna play the full game, not a demo. 24h… or even 1/3 of that is more than enough to make up your mind whether you like it or not. And… if you like it.. you just buy the key and start playing. And you get exactly the thing that you've already been playing all along. No additional installation/uninstallation or downloads, this is the way I prefer it anyway.

I gotta give it to you tho that i'm not very experienced with steam (yet), but with L4D and red orchestra it has been very useful and worked great. The story might be different with some other games of course.
But… you can always uninstall L4D or the whole steam, it's very easy. You always see (if you want to) where and what all your friends are playing and possibly join them with a click of a button. You can message them through steam and if they have the game overlay enabled they get the messages while they are playing.
You can also invite and receive invites to games with your friends.
There's the offfline mode too of course if you're not online for some reason.


Also, with a game like L4D, steam has worked like a dream. With the integrated friends functionality and game overlay windows - getting a bunch of friends to play at the same place and time has never been more convenient. Installation and uninstallation of games work very nicely too. And the steam software itself, is not as bad as it could be. It is fairly light and starts up in no time. And steam lets you install your games to any number of computers any number of times, this cannot be said about many of those other services. There are also very nice week end special offers on steam sometimes, which is another good reason to have it.

@Kostaz: yeah you need to download and play it thru steam, but after you try it once. You'll _WANT_ to play it thru steam.

And the steam client download.. is what? 500kb? Download & installation takes about 10 seconds. Uninstallation half of that. So no worries there.

Originally Posted by Zakhary
None said anything about a demo. It's a trial, and yeah it works the way you said.
I prefer it this way. I wanna play the full game, not a demo. 24h… or even 1/3 of that is more than enough to make up your mind whether you like it or not. And… if you like it.. you just buy the key and start playing. And you get exactly the thing that you've already been playing all along. No additional installation/uninstallation or downloads, this is the way I prefer it anyway

You're in the minority then. Most people don't want to have to download 4GB+ just to try something out. Not to mention being forced to have a client running just to play it.

Originally Posted by JDR13
You're in the minority then. Most people don't want to have to download 4GB+ just to try something out. Not to mention being forced to have a client running just to play it.

Yeah well there are those with limited bandwidth or otherwise limited connectivity, but other than that I don't see the problem. The demo would be something like a 1½-2gigs anyway.

Bandwidth or connectivity has nothing to do with it, 4GB+ is still a large chunk any way you look at it. A demo for Left 4 Dead wouldn't have to be anywhere near 2 GB, it uses the Source engine. I'm sure they could easily create a demo around the 800mb-1GB range if they wanted to.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Bandwidth or connectivity has nothing to do with it, 4GB+ is still a large chunk any way you look at it. A demo for Left 4 Dead wouldn't have to be anywhere near 2 GB, it uses the Source engine. I'm sure they could easily create a demo around the 800mb-1GB range if they wanted to.

Ok, ok But just try it! You'll come back here to this thread thanking me and glad that you already downloaded the full game so you can just start playing for real
Guaranteed!

Otherwise.. just uninstall the whole thingie… but don't come crying to me when you don't have the skills necessary to survive the zombie apocalypse once it finally arrives..

Originally Posted by Zakhary
Something like 4gb IIRC. But that's OK, just do 2 today (preload) and the other 2 tomorrow, right ? It shows the dl size before you begin download, so you can check it out…

If I d/l it now I have to wait for 24 hours for my connection to be "alive" again. That would leave only hour or two of time to play if that even. Too late for me.

I was just planning to get this though but I have to forget the demo. F-word. Playing res evil 4 demo co-op yesterday left a big hole for zombie-multiplayer games.

I think I'll try it.
The requirements seem pretty low and It's been a while since I played anything online.

Originally Posted by zakhal
Playing res evil 4 demo co-op yesterday left a big hole for zombie-multiplayer games.

You mean Resident Evil 5 right? Xbox 360 version?

Originally Posted by JDR13
You mean Resident Evil 5 right? Xbox 360 version?

Yup. Wrong number. Pretty hard game atleast the demo but very fun.

I've completed my pre-load but the free ride will be available in about 2 hours so I have to wait till it's 02:00 here

Allright, in addition to the free 24h trial, they released a small patch for L4D (which is always nice) and they are also offering the game at 40% off This weekend Only (this is one of those nice weekend offers I talked about earlier)

http://store.steampowered.com/news/2465/

"In addition to the 24-hour free trial that just started, Left 4 Dead is now on sale at 40% off until Monday May 4th. L4D includes the recently released Survival Pack DLC, which introduces a new multiplayer game mode and two additional Versus campaigns. Those who wish to give L4D and the Survival Pack a try now just need to start up Steam and click here to start downloading."

It's only 17,99eur now…. That's a ridiculous price for a game this good with a just released DLC pack.

Wow this games is a blast,I even think of buying it and I don't really love FPSs.
I guess all the praise it got wasn't for nothing.
Thanks Zakhary

I'm tempted to try it out (since it was first released), 'cause I'm pretty sure I would like it, but I still refuse to buy it because of the price. I'm just stubborn like that.

Dammit I checked my local store and they sell it for 35€ while on steam it's only 17€.
I guess I'll have to enjoy my free ride,just 3.6 hours left….

Ebay people…….Ebay