L4D2 mutation becomes permanent

By Robert Purchese Published 10 May, 2010

Plus: Follow the Liter to try this week.

Left 4 Dead 2 mutation "Realism Versus" has become a permanent fixture for the game.

The variant removes glows around survivors and items, makes zombies tougher and witches instantly lethal. A considerable 68 per cent of voters said Realism Versus should stick around, forever.

The next mutation will be Follow the Liter. The idea here is for survivors to follow and scavenge a trail of gas cans, spawned one at a time. Survivors will have an easy route to follow, as will the Infected.

Mutations are game mode variants being trialled on a week-by-week basis. Valve will hold a poll every month for you to pick your favourite.

The mutations will cover different game modes and be available across all campaigns.

The Left 4 Dead 2 blog can tell you more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • PrivateFloyd #1 2 years ago

    i was one of the ones who voted for it not to return : o

    Everyone who plays in the L4D group knows i love L4D but i really didnt like Realism Versus, this does not bode well for me playing regularly.

    :'(

    I know the game's premise is that the Survivors should feel like they are against insurmountable odds but when you are playing with 8 organised players the usual game mode provides enough of a challenge without feeling like (on RV) that you.will.not.win.

    My opinion of course, i know most in the L4D group loved it.
    Edited by 1 at 10/05/10 @ 09:17

  • Spekingur #2 2 years ago

    Good mutations will become permanent fixtures. Which is awesome! :D

  • PlugMonkey #3 2 years ago

    I loved it. It really cranked up the tension. Personally, I don't mind feeling like you.will.not.win. That's how I always feel when playing L4D. If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you've got the difficulty set too low!

    Also, I don't think I would ever vote for a mode not to return. More is good. Leave stuff in there for the 20% who like it. Games of L4D don't require many people compared to CounterStrike or Team Fortress or COD or Battlefield, so I don't think you're ever going to be in a situation where you are unable to find a game of whatever you want to play.

  • sanctusmortis #4 2 years ago

    Follow the Liter's not bad, but I heard it screwed up some people's Mutation count.

  • Jay-ITFC #5 2 years ago

    I'd vote yes to any new game mode that's free and doesn't mean the removal of others. It offers choice and keeps things fresh. Win win!
    Edited by 2 at 10/05/10 @ 09:51

  • Retroid #6 2 years ago

    Liter.

    Liter, FFS.

    Dey cant haz spellchek?

  • PlugMonkey #7 2 years ago

    That's how they spell litre.

    But then, I can't imagine many Americans know what a litre is anyway, so the pun may be lost on them. :)

  • Eraysor #8 2 years ago

    Reading "liter" makes me feel ill.

  • ignatiusjreilly #9 2 years ago

    It's "litre", not "lighter", so nothing wrong with the spelling.

  • Metalfish #10 2 years ago

    Normally I wouldn't have too much of a problem with American spelling, but that is rather stupid. Measurements are a bit more important than replacing every "s" you can with a "zed" (or indeed, a "zee" whatever one of those is";). Getting the names of units wrong can have quite serious implications in science, especially involving computers. A meter and a metre are different things for a start.

    Oh, er, L4D? Yeah, erm, that's a good game. Yeah.

  • ignatiusjreilly #11 2 years ago

    Most other non-English speaking countries don't call it a litre either so I don't think it's a massive problem. Off-hand I know that in German it is called a "liter" also. OK I'll stop now.

  • sneetch #12 2 years ago

    @PrivateFloyd

    Standard Versus will remain an option so it shouldn't be a problem that they add another mode.

    Personally, I think it's a good thing, it's a bit soft on survivors at the moment with health kits and defibs scattered about the place and as a result your performance as infected has bugger all effect on the campaign score. Not sure about the witch insta-kill but at them moment she's not even a threat for the most part (when she's wandering around you damn near have to melee her before she aggros) so it's probably for the best.
    Edited by 1 at 10/05/10 @ 12:22

  • HoriZon #13 2 years ago

    Vs realisum only games all the time, sweet awesomness!

  • ben---neb #14 2 years ago

    I had a picture in my head of following a huge bed carried by twenty zombies with a zombie queen resting on the velvet pillows....And then I found out it was just a stupid Americanised spelling. :(