Just a quick update to point out that everyone who hasn’t already figured this out needs to go and read Jason Brownlee’s piece on how the Left 4 Dead opening movie is a passive tutorial mode for the game. Everything you see in the opening movie is a depiction of how things work in-game. It’s so effective he didn’t even realize he already knew how to play the game the first time he started playing.
I hope it’s a trend that future games can use to entertain and educate players rather than forcing us through boring rote tutorial levels.
Also, it’s nice to see Brownlee writing about games again.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 J-Walk // Dec 1, 2008 at 10:31 pm
I have to agree, majority of times controls are so similiar to other games that there is no need for a mandatory tutorial at the begining of every game, unless the title is introducing a new dynamic, although I digress that majority of the time it would be better for the tutorial to be placed within the gameplay experience itself.
Although, L4D isn’t a very complicated game at its base at all, its one of the few games that other then looking at a control scheme needs no real tutorial on how to play.
2 Jimeee // Dec 15, 2008 at 7:13 am
Except Jason is grasping at straws.
These days most people heartily expect a trailer or FMV of a game to be loosely based (or VERY loosely based for some games) on the actual game/gameplay itself.
Because of this, this trailer can only be relied on as a tutorial to a certain extent.
-Yes I can use a pipe bomb like in the trailer
-Yes I can help up team-mates like in the trailer
-Etc
But a person new to the game won’t realise this until they have played the game - at which point the trailer’s ” tutorial intentions” would be realised too late.
Not to mention there are things in the trailer that can’t be performed in the game - What is the button to dive and jump onto an overhead ladder?
Yes we all know Valve are great developers - but enough of the needless ass kissing.
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