This summer Valve announced they were making a Left 4 Dead 2 and it would be out this November. Well this got the community in a uproar regarding lack of updates for Left 4 Dead and how Valve forgot their promise to release more content for the first games. Others thought it should of been an expansion either cheaper to free to Left 4 Dead. Personally I was excited I loved Left 4 Dead had many hours playing the 4 campaigns killing zombies. Let me say Valve didn't leave their fans hanging either. Left 4 Dead 2 is its own game and should remain so.
About the only thing that carried over from Left 4 Dead are zombies and lots of zombies. The playable characters changed, new zombies were discovered along with new weapons to kill all the zombies. The game setting is in the south around New Orleans, and you are playing one of four survivors who for some reason got left behind and you are trying to make it the Army safe zone. Of course this isn't easy as the whole way you have to fight hordes of zombies. Thankfully you are not alone and have plenty of ways of clearing the zombies from your path. Left 4 Dead 2 added a bunch of new weapons including melee weapons. From frying pans to swords, baseball bats and chainsaws. So you too can redo the Evil Dead series in all of its cheesiness gore! Though I still perfer my duel pistols over a melee weapon but the katana does rock. At first I though the game really didn't need more rehashed versions of the guns but playing the game it was surprizing that the new guns added something to it. There is enough varity that it just didn't feel like a new model on an existing gun.
Of course more guns means more zombies. This version has you fighting more zombies than before. If you thought the hordes were big before wait until your first horde. Of course with more zombies come more special zombies and different standard zombies. We all know about the new special infected zombies as they were released little by little as the game came closer to release. What wasn't know was there are new normal zombies. Like ones wearing bullet proof vests and others wearing protected gear that allows them to walk through fire without harm. These require you to pay attention more and use different tactics to bring them down. The special infected add more to the game. It breaks up what would just be a boring game they also can more easily break up a group than before. Team work is need much more than in L4D.
The game engine also got updates. The AI director got smarter as well. The new engine allows for bigger maps and more zombies running at you. The bigger maps take away the one true path we got used to in Left 4 Dead and now opens up different paths to make it to the safe house. With these new maps the director has more chances of getting zombies coming at you from different directions. Don't think just because you cleared an area doesn't mean zombies won't come from there. Though I do wish the new AI Director would pace it a bit better sometimes its just non-stop action and while its not bad but 45 minutes of it can be a bit much. The new engine also brought better graphics to the mix. You can inflict localized damage to zombies and it shows. If you shoot a leg you can blow the leg off. I know Left 4 Dead had some of this but Left 4 Dead 2 make it a lot better.
L4D2 comes with 5 campaigns and they are much larger than before. As before they really should be played in order for the story to be fully understood. You start with Dead Center which ends in an awesome mall level. The final event is different as well. Next is Dark Carnival which takes place at some sort of amusement park. Next is Swamp Fever, which of course the name gives it away I think. Hard Rain has you fighting in a rural town and a sugar mill with a large storm overhead for the final parts of the campaign, and finally The Parish which is located right in New Orleans, which anyone who has played the demo would know about. All of the campaigns are very well done and I liked how they flow from one to the other. I loved how I just started with a pistol and had to find weapons along the way while its does suck it did make the game a bit more interesting.
Okay we all know about the campaign, versus and survival modes, but Valve didn't stop there they added two new game modes for us L4D fans. There is Scavenge game mode with is a versus mode game where the survivors need to collect gas cans from all around the map while the special infected tries to stop them. The team with the most gas cans collected will win. If its a tie its the team who did it faster. The last game play mode is Realism mode. This mode is playing the campaigns over again but with different rules. First items and teammates will not be highlighted. Voice communications only work if you are near other teammates. Zombies taking bodies shots won't die as easy but headshots will take them out quicker. The biggest change is a witch will one shot you making them even more dangerous.
This game is one you need to add to you collection. Nothing better than a well thought out zombie game to pass an hour or two. Valve did an outstanding job creating this game and it shows that a lot of thought went into the game. With luck Valve will be updating this game well into the future for even better zombie killin'. Remember the Zombieland rules when playing this game they do help!
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
