Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Nova Prospekt
Nicky Grimes' Review of Nova Prospekt: Functional
This wouldn't be my first time playing through the prison level as I've played through Half Life 2 before. This would be my first time playing an actual port to Left 4 Dead 2.

First level
- There's very few missing textures here and there. It was difficult to know which were the buttons or not.
- Navigation is okay at most. This is geared towards those who are used to exploring nooks and crannies as there's not a lot of environmental help on telling players where to go. I found it confusing after passing the Witch on the stairs, then up to the room where you push the button.
- Second half of the first level, I died to a Spitter and Charger setup. The bots didn't come to rescue me (no bot mods installed), and they didn't aim their sights towards the Special Infected.
- Some spaces were too small to go through during a horde.

- Tier 1 guns aren't available from the get-go. There was only one melee weapon and maybe very few pistols available. The weapons could be available from the beginning as it'd help even out the horde during a panic event. Quite ironic to see the guns available at the saferoom at the end of the level.

Second level
- Lots of ERROR signs and Missing Textures everywhere. I'm in the room where you usually have to hold out with the turrets in HL2, but for this L4D2 port, I have no idea what I should be doing here. There's no indication on where players need to go and such.
- Behind the doors of where the Special Infected and the Common Infected spawn, you can see the models through the invisible door(?). I just had a Charger spawn behind the door, but it's not able to break through. There's no button at this door to make the infected be released for fair play.
UPDATE: They're actually two doors that you can press USE+ to open and close.
- Very last half of the level. It wasn't difficult to reach the control room (with noclip). That was when I was able to see that the doors fell apart for the next saferoom to be available.

Third Level
- While on the second floor, a Smoker grabbed me. I was dangling, but the bots didn't come to rescue me again. Nick and Rochelle stood still while Ellis was the only one to rescue me.
- Coach's line of "I keep hoping we find an open Burger Tank" being triggered with the saferoom door opening and closing is really funny.
- With the switch that needs to be activated to open the door on the top floor, follow the cable line on the ceiling back to the control room. Navigation tip for those who aren't sure of what to do next once they reach the top.
I've only now released that we're still in the second chapter of the entire campaign.

Fourth Level
- Checked the campaign tab again, and this would be the second chapter.
- Ended up quitting this stage by warping myself to the saferoom as it started to feel redundant with the previous two stages.

Fifth Level
- Nice environment change with the rain and storm.
- Upon leaving the saferoom, the bots stayed behind. They didn't leave the saferoom to fight off the hordes, nor if I was incapacitated by a Special Infected.
- Upon coming to the Fire Exit with the common infected waiting, there's a defect where you can see the common infected. This is prior to setting off the alarm.
- There's still a lot of missing textures and models everywhere.
- Follow the cable again to find the control room and the button needed to activate the panic event. It would be nice if there was some sound feedback when the button is pushed (alarm, sound confirming the button was pressed, etc.) The only indicator we had was the horde being summoned. No sound on the door either, so there was no audible cue of whether it was opened or not.
- Waited the horde out to see if the door would open, and it hasn't. There's a riot zombie at the door but when pressing the button at the Fire Exit itself - you can hear a door being opened and closing. No idea of how to pass through this fairly, so I used noclip again to kill the zombie so the door would open.
- There's a defect where if you were on the opposite side of the Fire Exit, then you would see the outside of the map (void) rather seeing just the walls and door of where you currently are. Author might've left the skybox texture visible on both ends or used the brush incorrectly.
- Doors are invisible once again, and you can shoot the zombies through them. You have to kill the zombies on the other side as the doors only open ONE way rather than both ways. Unfortunately, noclipping to the other side worked again.

2nd half of the fifth level
- We're at the part where you have to stay inside the human pod. I pressed the button to make the pod come? Because the light showed green? Nothing happened except for the panic event you can trigger.
- Nothing happened, so I teleported myself into the saferoom.
- Still lots of missing textures throughout this entire stage and the multitude of invisible areas that blocks off players - Not very happy with this one. Ended up warping to the saferoom again.

[b[Finale[/b]
- Ended up triggering the finale's rescue early. Didn't say that long to want to hold out.

Conclusion
- Environment - One of the very fewest campaigns to hold a candle in keeping the rain and fog consistent throughout the second half. I do appreciate that.
- Navigation - Okay at best if you're not playing with Game Instructor enabled. Without Game Instructor, you'll need to look for the cables that connects to any switch that needs to be triggered. Not a lot of signs pointing to where the saferoom is unless you're at the very end of the level.
- Bot Help - Not awesome. :( I ended up having to warp them to me a lot when I was incapacitated, or when they stayed in place after leaving the saferoom.
- Audible and Visual cues - Not awesome :(. When pressing some buttons to activate the opening and closing of the alarms, there wasn't a lot of sound cues to let me know when a process was done or not. There was maybe one cue of the prop falling off in the beginning to run to the first saferoom. Then the doors itself had an opening and closing.
- Finale - Okay at most. The bots got stuck when I jumped behind the machine gun to exit the level. There wasn't a lot of supplies to help you hold out longer.
- Items - Items such as Tier 2 weapons, incendiary/explosive ammo, and medkits weren't available in a lot of nooks and crannies for exploring. Throwables were little to non-existent. I found this to be disappointing as going to the saferoom was unbalanced if you're always surrounded by the horde.

Overall, this campaign would've been okay to play if the missing textures and models were present. If everything else I mentioned above was improved, MAYBE I'll give it a second try. This is a mirror of Valve's previous map making experience (poor navigation and redundant levels), and of my own learning in mapping. For the time being, I won't be playing this campaign again. :(
Last edited by Nicky Grimes; 7 Apr, 2023 @ 6:45am