Tuesday, November 17th saw the release of two new entries in two separate franchises. Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. Aside from a major difference in genre, the one key attribute that separated these games was the amount of time passed since their predecessors released. Or so it seems.

Ever since the E3 announcement Valve has been trying to convince gamers that there is enough content to warrant sixty bucks. They claim it’s more than an expansion and that it could not have been done as DLC. Yet standing next to a game like Assassin’s Creed 2, their arguments tend to seem pretty weak. That is, unless you look at it in the right light.

You see, while both games have more content than their predecessor, Assassin’s Creed 2 also has one key factor that is lacking from the new Left 4 Dead. Improvements. The engine as well as basic design choices have been modified. Combat has the same bone structure, but the muscle and tissue develops into a completely different creature. Behavior of guards have been completely modified, especially in tandem with the new notoriety system. In short, Assassin’s Creed 2 offered more than just new weapons, enemies, maps and characters. It completely modified the experience from the first game.

Definitely worth sixty bucks.

So in comparison, Left 4 Dead 2 certainly looks cheap. It is pretty much the first game with new weapons, maps and monsters. Oh, and a couple of new game modes. However, the essential experience hasn’t been modified at all. It’s still Left 4 Dead. So it’s clearly not worth sixty bucks and most of the content would have been better off as DLC.

Only would you really have been paying less if it were DLC?

First, let’s analyze what has been released in Left 4 Dead 2 and what it would have been like as DLC.

Five new campaigns. While there are more than the first iteration of the series, that doesn’t mean the maps still couldn’t have been done as downloadable content. However, let’s consider the recent Crash Course map pack. It cost seven bucks on Xbox Live just because it came with new achievements (screw you Microsoft), and it was at best half a real campaign long. So let’s take five full blown campaigns and price them at $14 each. The total we get is $70. Wow.

Even if they were priced at, say, $10 each, you’d still be paying $50 total. You may as well buy another game for new maps.

Now let’s consider new weapons. Those could also have been DLC pretty easily, but let’s imagine they would have either released alone or as part of the maps. You’d either be paying $1-5 for a single weapon pack or factoring it into the $50-$70 set of maps. No money saved there.

I could go on to reference the new characters and game modes, but all that would happen is a greater sum of cost. At minimum you’re looking at $50 spent over a year on Xbox Live for brand new content. Granted at the very least players could then pick and choose what it is they wanted, so if you wanted new maps without new weapons or characters then you could just pick the maps. Of course, this would make online match-making much more difficult.

Yet does this justify Left 4 Dead 2 as a full blown sequel?

Now we get into an area similar to Gears of War 2. See, with the second iteration in the saga of muscle bound marines, we essentially had the same issue. New maps, new weapons, new voice acting and even some new characters, but the experience overall was the same. I myself referred to it as Gears of War: Part Two because it didn’t feel like a sequel. It felt more akin to The Two Towers after The Fellowship of the Ring.

Meanwhile, in comes Assassin’s Creed 2 with its massively modified gameplay in addition to new maps, characters and items. It’s like Empire Strikes Back to A New Hope. What are we to think when comparing these games together? Should a new story and setting be enough to justify a sequel or is the current system of sequels broken? Is it right that people were ready to drop the cash for Gears 2 while complaining about Left 4 Dead 2?

Either way, I only know one thing for certain. I don’t like the idea of paying $60 for Left 4 Dead 2 either, but it’s not like I’d be saving money if it were downloadable content. I’m just being forced to wonder what constitutes a sequel or not.

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