Valve are constantly surrounded by rumors, especially when it comes to “Half-Life 3” – but their other popular titles are also not safe from the constant speculating of the crowds, and we’ve recently been hearing some interesting things about “Left 4 Dead 3”, another game that has been the subject of many rumors over the last few months.
It was believed that we’re not going to see “Left 4 Dead 3” anytime soon as the game was put on hold after being used to develop the “Source 2” engine, which is now being used on “Dota 2” and its brand new version. There were strong indications that Valve were developing the game and even testing it actively as there were entries for it in their bug tracking database, however afterwards it was claimed that it was not in fact in development and Valve have put it on an indefinite hold.
Lately, the rumors have started up again, and there are claims that not only is “Left 4 Dead 3” in development, but it’s actually the main reason behind the huge delay with “Half-Life 3” right now. Apparently, Valve are actively focused on the latest installment in the zombie shooter franchise and have put their most iconic game on hold because of that.
Along with those rumors, we’ve learned various possible developments in both the storyline as well as gameplay of the new “Left 4 Dead”, and if those rumors are true it seems like Valve really are putting a lot of effort into reviving this franchise and giving their fans a great reason to pick up those machineguns yet again.
There will be new survivors, new maps and a completely new story, and the game is going to actually take its story through different points in the timeline of the zombie disaster, with parts of it showing what exactly happened on day 1 when the zombies started roaming the streets.
On the other hand, it’s going to be set quite close to the incident as a whole, so it will have a somewhat different tone than the other games in the series. It might be a bit darker, as the situation will surely look more depressing and hopeless so close to the major disaster, and we wouldn’t be surprised if Valve have some plans for this game that will make its storyline truly grim and macabre.
There are also rumors that the game is going to revisit at least one of the original campaigns with a high-definition remake, and that was already hinted previously when we saw a preview of the new “Source 2” engine and its new capabilities. A slideshow had pictures of a classic “Left 4 Dead” level reimagined through the new engine, so it’s certainly possible that Valve are remaking some of the old levels in order to give their fans some sense of familiarity and ease them into the new game in a smoother way.
Gameplay might change as well, according to reports – for example, survivors will now have an increased carrying capacity, but this will come at the cost of movement speed. That is, the more items one carries, the more slowly they’re going to move. In addition to that, survivors will be limited in the types of weapons that they can use, putting more emphasis on character selection and requiring players to coordinate more effectively.