One of the more notable post-E3 stories is the backlash that Valve has felt from it’s community in regards to the announcement of a sequel to the massively successful Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead 2 is slated for a November 17, 2009 release date, just one year after it’s predecessor. Is this really enough time to warrant a full fledged sequel? Hit the read link to find out more.

Shortly following the game’s revealing at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, a Steam community group named “L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2)” was formed. This group, which now has over 25,000 members, is refusing to purchase Left 4 Dead 2. Their reasoning? The changes being made to Left 4 Dead 2 are not enough to warrant an entirely new game. This, along with the promise of more DLC for Left 4 Dead has the community dumb founded as to why Valve is releasing an entirely new game. The boycott group states that by not releasing this new content as a downloadable addition to the original game, Valve will cause a schism among Left 4 Dead community members, potentially hurting both games.

Valve is a company that prides itself in constantly supporting and updating their games long after being released (Team Fortress 2 has received many free updates since it’s 2007 release). They are also a company that is not known for their timely releases of sequels. Half-Life 2 was released six years after the original and Team Fortress 2 was released nearly 8 years after Team Fortress Classic. So why are they leaving the original Left 4 Dead in the dust so quickly? Some critics believe it is a get rich quick scheme, claiming Valve is trying to bank in on this franchise’s popularity as quickly as possible.

Valve has promptly responded to the wave of negative feedback surrounding the game’s announcement. Chet Faliszek, writer for Left 4 Dead 2, is asking gamers to trust Valve, assuring that there is just too much new content for a downloadable update. Left 4 Dead 2 will now feature melee weapons. Baseballs bats, axes, frying pans, and chainsaws will now all be available to assist you in decimating hordes of zombies. To compliment this new slew of melee weapons, there is now zombie dismemberment. So for example if you were to chop a Common infected in the arm with an axe then it’s arm would come off. This particular feature makes Left 4 Dead 2 a lot gorier than it’s predecessor. For a full briefing on all the new aspects of the game, watch this interview with Valve’s Chet Faliszek below.

With all these new features, combined with the core game play that made the original so popular, is Left 4 Dead 2 worth the price of admission? At this point it seems a little unfair to make a judgement either way. Not all the details about the game have been revealed yet. No one is afraid that Left 4 Dead 2 will be a bad game. In fact, with an industry that’s currently over saturated with crappy Wii games and generic, space marine first person shooters, Left 4 Dead 2 will likely stand out as one of the better games to come out in 2009. However, ultimately it is up to you, the consumer, to purchase or not purchase the game. Valve isn’t holding a gun to your head, at least not yet anyway.