Left 4 Dead’s engine was ‘broken,’ ex-Valve employer recalls

It’s such a shame Back 4 Blood couldn’t quite scratch that Left 4 Dead itch. It was, after all, supposed to be a spiritual successor to Valve’s iconic zombie co-op series. Sadly, ’twas not to be. However, with the original L4D turning 15 recently, one of the OG developers reflects on the game.

In a recent interview with Game Developer, former Valve creative lead Chet Faliszek waxes lyrical about the development of what would become an absolute classic in the FPS genre. With the idea being in development since 2005, it’s interesting to learn that Left 4 Dead originally offered up just the versus campaign.

Fortunately, after playtesting from the team and words from Gabe Newell, some tweaking later led us to the product we know and love today. However, Faliszek admits that the game is pretty unstable:

I don’t think outside people can appreciate how broken the Left 4 Dead engine was but still shipped…It loaded each map two or three times in the background

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Faliszek also recalls how he was put in charge of the project, adding that “no one ever told me I’m running it.”

As many of you already know, Left 4 Dead was originally going to be an offshoot of Counter-Strike (called Terror) before it became its own thing. What I do like is that it was ex-Valve writer Marc Laidlaw who thought to change it from “for” to “4.”

To get a bit gooey about the past myself, I have very fond memories of playing the game on Xbox 360 during my time at university. Ah, to be young and full of scrumpy cider at 3AM. Such heady days.

Anyway, it’s sad that we’ve yet to receive a Left 4 Dead 3. Or any threequel from Valve, really. But the original lives on. I almost feel like redownloading it and rekindling those innocent years. Oh god, I’m getting ever so old.