Games "similar" to L4D2.

[OvercookedSushi]

I am working on a project right now, one of its biggest components being an absolute understanding of the whole "coop horde shooter" genre.

I've been working on a defined, objective definition on what truly defines the games in the genre, as well as which games are truly similar and if there ever was a "successor" to L4D2.
I have a rather large list of games I need to check out and do further research on, gathered from various forums, articles, and hear say... but I need help to ensure I am being a thorough as possible.

Not all the games in this list are good. Quality is subjective, and failures have just as much to teach and those that succeeded. But all games on this list, so far, have similarities "enough"... or were suggested by others:
Vermintide 1 and 2
Darktide
Payday 1, 2, and 3
Raid: WW2
Killing Floor 1 and 2
Zombie Army 1~4
Strange Brigade
World War Z
Deep Rock Galactic
GTFO
No More Room in Hell 1 and 2
Contagion
Dead Island 1, Riptide, 2, and Escape from Dead Island
Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City
Space Hulk: Death Wing
Alien Strike Team
Alien Swarm
Earthfall
The Anacrusis
Zombie Master
Hunt Showdown
Call of Duty Zombies (All of them)
Risk of Rain 2
Back 4 Blood
Red Fall
Dying Light 1 and 2
Rainbow Six Extraction
EDF (All of them)
TF2's MVM
HellBreach Vegas (Will probably be cut for being a COD Zombies clone)
Lethal Company
Crime Boss: Rockay City
Den of Wolves and Killing Floor 3 (When released)
Ready or Not
Cry of Fear
Space Marines 2
Dead Rising (All of them)
SCP: 5k
Dead Effect

I have only gotten to a handful of these, I know some will be removed, but is there any I am missing?

(Overkill's The Walking Dead is excluded entirely unless I can find a copy that isn't over 1k eur)

[Evil]

Zombie Panic! Source could go on there

[Mina]

turtle rocks failed evolve game for xbox

[OvercookedSushi]

Zombie Panic Source is added, Don't know how I missed that one.

Evolve I would more classify under the Asymmetrical PVP, but I can still see some connections that can justify a few talking points.

Also added Helldivers 2, Starship Troopers: Extermination, Dead Nation, Hyper Charged Unboxed, Salmon Run from Splatoon 3, Mordhau's Demon Horde mode, and Devil Daggers (Specifically as an example that possess some of the needed criteria while missing one of the core components... coop)

[Geebanger0]

Not sure if this is the sort you're looking for, but I guess in a way it's kind of a horde shooter? Doesn't release for a couple more weeks though

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1801520/Zombieville_USA_3D/


As for the main point behind your post, if you're looking for a true successor to L4D2, you might wanna revise your list, since many of them have close to nothing in common with L4D2, and a true successor would at least have a largely similar feel to it.

A horde shooter, based on what L4D2 is, has these qualities
- Players work as a team to progress from the start of a map to the end, saving their progress at a checkpoint
- Along the way, they will have to fight a large number of 'generic' enemies which can be killed in any way they wish, with a smaller number of 'specific' enemies that require different strategies to defeat
- At certain points throughout the level, players have to stop and compete a task whilst fighting off a large number of enemies
- Players will find a variety of progressively stronger items as they progress, to help them fight the enemies

But if you're specifically looking for a successor, you need to consider the things people like about L4D2
- Unique and likeable cast of characters
- Designs of the special infected
- Story, lore, and environmental details
- Carefully designed levels and setpieces
- Simple gameplay and mechanics
- The general feel and player interactions that occur when you have a game from 2009 played by people who have stuck with it for a decade and a half

I've played a few games you listed, so I can give you some tips as to which ones are worth checking out for your project.

Payday 1 has a lot of similar aspects to L4D2 but it places a much stronger emphasis on completing tasks and there's ways you can progress without having to fight.

Killing Floor is more akin to a wave based version of L4D2s survival mode rather than the core gameplay. Not a terrible choice for comparison by any means, but just keep in mind that it has a very different feel to it.

I've played Zombie Army trilogy, this is a great choice for comparisons since it's pretty much just L4D2 in WW2 in third person and with slower pacing. It even has the L4D survivors in it as characters.

Deep Rock Galactic is a good choice, it has a lot of similar aspects in addition to the mining and exploration elements.

COD Zombies is a bit, ehhh... . Most of my experience is with Black Ops 2, where all you can really do is camp a small area and see how many waves you survive for. The later games might be different, they're probably your best bet to check out.

B4B is a perfect choice, despite the fact it failed it's really just a modernised L4D2. If you do check it out, make sure you only look at it on a gameplay level, and don't focus on things like marketing and such in terms of why it didn't work as a successor.

TF2 MvM is a wave based shooter, and it doesn't have much in common with L4D2 outside of "shooting a lot of the same enemy type".

I've watched a few of my friends play Lethal Company back when it was fairly new, it's likely changed a lot since then but from what I saw it's a horror-exploration game rather than a horde shooter.

Dead Rising is not a horde shooter. There are hordes of zombies, and you can shoot them, but it's not a horde shooter. The main focus is always on the story, completing cases, rescuing survivors and fighting psychopaths. The game is at its worst when you treat it like a horde shooter and just go around killing zombies. Examples: earning the Z Genocide achievement, every moment from the point the military shows up in DR2, the final hours in DR1 when you just have to wait for the next case to start and all you can do is kill zombies. It's boring, bland, and lacks any of the excitement that L4D2 has.



With all that said, I think the answer to your question is no, there is no successor to L4D2. A successor would've been L4D3, released in 2010/11, and it would've just been L4D2 with new/more content and some technical improvements. Just going by your list, there's not a lot that truly recreates the good parts of L4D2, and those that try often add extra mechanics or elements that aren't what L4D2 players want.

[OvercookedSushi]

L4D2's "successor" is more of a side question to answer.
The main goal is to define what this genre is, to understand what does and doesn't work, and to be able to define the boundaries and how flexible the genre is. Have a large bag of games of varying levels of similarities to help find where the line in the sand is basically~

As for the suggested game?... Is a bit tricky. I would need to play it obviously to know for sure, but twin stick isometric games start to hit that outer circle where I have to start drawing a line.
Suppose that means I just need to keep refining my definition~

[Art//An]

BrainBread 2, Codename CURE, KFMod 1.0-2.53

[JI06CT3P]

DeadHunt
Grim Dawn (you can play it like a 3d person shooter)
House of the dead

[Demo]

Honestly I think your list is complete enough. That should be a more than adequate roster to start examining.

[Enoff]

Counter-Strike: Source where you play as a terrorist and add 31 other bots on the counter-terrorist team and they all only use the knife

[Defeye]

It's a game that captures some kind of lost 80s freestyle america in 2008; absent of any lawyers.
That makes it unique.

[JI06CT3P]

Originally posted by Defeye:

It's a game that captures some kind of lost 80s freestyle america in 2008; absent of any lawyers.
That makes it unique.

what game?

[76561199545365453]

thanks

[Ｊａｋｉｙ]

The thing that I love doing in the past was Counter Strike with 32 bots (16 vs 15+you) and only allow them to use knife and allow go rogue. It makes the gameplay feel more dynamic and chaotic and more fun of course. Sometimes I even join the spectator and watch how expert bots play until certain rounds. It gives the sense of 20 T-rexs vs 200 lions simulator for example. I love when the game allow us to do this. Basically if you want to make a L4D2 successor, you have to keep what's good about it and adding what could be improved from the workshop. Mostly focusing on highly replayable elements.

[OvercookedSushi]

I have 65 items on the list. I will add more if I find more, but this probably find enough to get the idea.

I appreciate the responses all~

[プロエニックス]

thanks dude