L4D Plus Two: A Six Player Experience in Left 4 Dead

I was playing Left 4 Dead earlier today with Idoliside and a few others when we decided to make a six player game on a custom server. As it was our first time experimenting with such a thing, we went through a certain amount of trial and error before making sure that things worked out.

The game was extremely hectic at first started. As we were playing the game in expert difficulty, paying for our mistakes was harsh, with hilarious but deadly results. It was a complete blast when it finally got rolling, but we always incurred plenty of friendly fire. Tanks remained a constant challenge despite our superior numbers and at least one of us got taken down each time one the sadistic AI Director decided to spawn one of the big nasties in its sordid attempts to remove us from existence so the game felt no less tense.

There were never any times when we moved as tactical units, divided into roles or elements. Without the adequate training or the tactical aptitude, the only thing that applied was flock dynamics. Our numerical superiority gave us the only edge we had against the horde of the running dead and made up for our tactical ineptitude.

The caveat is that even though Left 4 Dead was enjoyable with six players, it never felt as intense as the regular four player experience. It was a fun but hectic experience. That said, it would be very interesting to see 5-8 player survivor modes being produced by the community once the SDK is released, assuming that it's possible.

All said and done, the experience in L4D reminds me of how having five or more players in a party in Diablo II often detracted from the gameplay due to the fact that it gave players the ability to simply rush through the game with reckless abandon. Even though the difficulty ramped up with the number of players within the game, it was never quite as good an experience as a four player game.

With the success of Left 4 Dead, and the difficulty that comes with playing the game with so many players, it's very easy to see why Diablo III will be restricted to four player games. Nobody wants a classic cluster****.