Exclusive Left 4 Dead Screenshot Shows New Design

I upgraded my PC for Crysis, but this is the game that'll have made it worth it.

Louis, manager at a chain retail electronics store? Dress shirt and tie?

Why, awesome! I work at a chain retail electronics store. And I too wear the exact same attire. Time to go buy a red tie.

biker now looks like bruce willis and the vet guy looks like that french commander dude from apocalypse now

I REALLY, REALLY don't like Zoey's new Patty Hurst type look. If someone from Valve is listening, please change it back or at least get rid of the head band and go back to the original hair style.

The new biker is okay but I think the grizzly beard worked better.

blackface

I like both (original models moreso), but why not provide them all? Even as a download?

Also, the dude in a white shirt and red tie is very Shaun of the Dead.

I like the new look so there.

I don't like the changes. Loved the old ones though.

:/

I think I liked the old art better. The new Francis art is the worst change, in my eyes. He went from a biker to a super generic-looking action hero kind of guy. While the old biker-style art wasn't exactly amazing or super-original, it had some style at least. It seems to me the silhouette (based on the art here anyway) for the old Francis would be easier to distinguish as well.

Anyone know if they're going to do a series of "Meet the ________" for this?

3 main thoughts are that

A. I hope the old versions are unlockable... I mean yeah I know what valve wants to do sounds right but I hope they make that default and the older type and unlockable.

B. I really like the new concept art. The artist has a really great touch with that square brush and I think it gives it kind of a surreal/dreamy look, as opposed to the very very FASA/classic Shadowrun gritty/cartoonish look of the original.

C. The black dude is now Gunn from Angel. That's awesome, I'm just going to play him and harang tomservo about how we're supposed to be killing vampires.

They lost a lot of personality and originality, and become pretty slate. Less survivor of a zombie outbreak, and more run-of-the-mill teenage horror movie.

So, bad decision in my eyes.

Hahaha the new Vietnam vet looks like Michael Douglas... or his dad.

The shacknews video of the footage doesn't work from july 16th. Can someone look into that, never got to see it.

Do we have a model of the new Zoey? I saw a sreenshot posted here not long ago and I assumed that was final. She looked good. However that new artwork......it just doesn't look right.

Preferred the old look, by far. Especially the girl.

Louis looks like Dulé Hill (West Wing, Psych)

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3009778176/nm0384211

I agree with a lot of the posts. The concept art looks a lot better then most of the models. The new models lack depth and character. They look too clean and generic.

If you look at the gallery, the concept art fot the bigger guy had a very decent amount of character. On the other hand the model of him just gives a stero-typical 'Jim Raynor' bad ass look. The same goes for all the characters. They look too much like recycled cliche sterotypes, rather then the average joe who is fighting for their life (in which everyone comes in all shapes and sizes).

Average girl out of school picks up a gun -> hippie with machine guns
Vietnam vet -> battle hardened retired general
Motorcycle bad ass (who is bad ass anyway) -> Jim Raynor (You don't see people like him anywhere in normal life)
Gang member or maybe homeless guy -> doctor or office executive who now kills things

IMHO these changes suck.

Valve, keep the old designs in, but have the new designs on by default. Or possibly include multiple get-ups/templates for each character. EIther way my vote is keep the old designs in just for extra content... OR better yet UNLOCKABLE CONTENT!

I have no idea why I don't like the new designs, they feel a lot less Unique than the old characters.

He looks a little too clean. I hope when you shoot zombies you get blood all over your character. This guy's shirt is already too white for having survived an apparent zombie apocalypse.

I can see what Valve are trying to do with the new designs. They're okay, but they're just too clean and generic.

The old ones had so much more charm and character, and I don't really see quickly identifiable silhouettes being that important in this kind of game.

What's your favorite character from the game that's been unveiled so far? Mine is the businessman (last picture in the gallery).

I'd like to know how much time has passed since Z-Day. The old characters look tired and battle tested, as though they've been fighting for at least a few weeks. The new characters look like the zombie invasion started just this morning: the black guy is still wearing a tie around his neck loose enough to totally get grabbed onto. He's going to die and those beautiful wool pin stripe pants are going to be shredded to bits :(

I'm just disappointed in the art direction.

Also, I wonder if the characters in Left 4 Dead's story have seen or heard of a zombie in a fictional setting, or if they are like the protagonists in nearly all zombie movies who are completely unaware. But who would believe the news if they started spouting off reports of zombie attacks?

I love all of them except for the biker. He needs the beard. Right now his face is too ordinary.

it would be impressive if the longer you survived the more worn and dirty your character becomes.

I like the new looks. they look like the random survivors they're supposed to be and aren't dressed ultra-tough (or alternately, ultra-hip).

I don't mind the other 3, but the changes to Francis are terrible IMO. I think the old one fit the setting well and looked more like an authentic biker.

Hopefully someone will convince Valve to release the old models if they aren't in the forthcoming SDK.

I might even think it to be a bad idea to show the comparison between old and new concepts.
"Hey everyone, remember those old concepts of our characters? No?.... uh, great!" Oh well. Either way we get what they give us, and it will undoubtedly be quality work.
I saw in one of the videos Gabe was standing in front of a slide show that seemed to be demonstrating the reasons why they updated the characters (as learned from their great TF2 character designs) but never saw much else. Are those slides available anywhere?

Don't let them fool you, they did it for a movie down the road. Allot of the new looking chars look allot like some actors..

I liked the old look. Should just toss em all in there and let the player choose the look.