Left 4 Dead 2, Valve?s much anticipated and somewhat controversial sequel to the award winning Left 4 Dead hit shelves about a week ago.
This game is classes as a ?co-op survival horror? just like the original. There?re still 4 survivors, just like the original. Your goal is still to get from point A to point B while hordes of Infected (I guess they?re not technically zombies...) try to get a nibble on your bum, just like the original. Sounds like not much has changed, right? Not really, the framework is the same but a lot of the details have changed.
The Special Infected have been updated, there are also new Special Infected. For those of you who have been living under a rock, the Special Infected are exactly what they sound like. They?re infected characters that have special abilities with which to harm you. You can also play these characters in Versus mode and in the new game mode Scavenge.
They?ve also updated ?climax? or ?Crescendo? events, now instead of hunkering down in a corner, you have to get from point A to point B or you?re toast because the Zombies just won?t stop coming. The new infected compliment this nicely.
In the last game, you had three special infected characters: Smoker, Boomer and Hunter. Alternatively: The one that pukes on you, the one that wants to tongue you and the one that jumps on you and pulls off your shirt.
They?ve added three more to the stable this time around. Charger, Spitter and Jockey. Alternatively, the one that tackles you the one that rides you and the one that (surprise, surprise) spits on you. Let?s talk about these changes for just a minute. One of the biggest complaints people had with Left 4 Dead was the lack of weapons and Special Infected. This concern was definitely addressed in the sequel. The variety is extremely welcome and in Versus mode, it no longer requires precision timing and a goddamned playbook to bring the opposing team down. This is because of the utility of the new SI, nothing does stupid amounts of damage, but it makes it easier to cause moderate amounts of damage and disrupt the other team. All in all, it balances out the survivors quite nicely. I think it is still possible to do something for the original; however I do not see any of the new infected ?fitting in? with the atmosphere of L4D which was a much creepier game.
There?s also ?uncommon-common? now. These are Infected that are not as powerful as the specials, but have some sort of special ability or resistance. Hazmat Uncommon are fire proof, Riot Cop infected are bullet proof in the front and Clowns cause common infected to follow them around. With the exception of Riot Cop infected, they are not much tougher than common infected, but they add another level of play and welcome complexity to the game.
Now, a word on the weapons: The new weapons are nice, the variety is nice. It is good to have the option of taking different weapons, even if the only difference is a slightly wider or narrower spread or just a different sound effect. Sounds crazy, but it keeps things fresh and far less monotonous. The big difference is in how weapons and items are handled. For starters, you can now replace your starting pistol with a melee weapon or a Magnum handgun, if you so choose. Some people complain that the melee weapons are overpowered and in some cases unrealistic. What these folks forget is that the melee weapons only work in a pretty narrow radius they?re powerful right up close and personal, they can?t do anything beyond that couple of feet. The chainsaw, perhaps the most overpowered weapon in the whole game has a limited supply of gas, so you can only use it for so long. Similarly, the Grenade Launcher, the ?Tier 3? weapon, has a very finite ammo supply. 30 grenades sounds like a lot, but it is not really; Especially when it has a dead zone of a few yards where the user takes damage if they shoot too close. There?s also Incendiary and Explosive ammo upgrades. These could be called overpowered if it weren?t for the fact that they are so severely limited. You have exactly one clip of explosive or incendiary ammo. Explosive ammo is even limited to a single slug with the shotguns.
Similarly, the ?Defibrillator? item is called overpowered as it allows the survivors to revive a dead comrade. This takes a few seconds and leaves the user entirely vulnerable, anybody who has played L4D on versus *knows* how bad a situation that is: Only two survivors who can effectively fight, one who is vulnerable and one who is dead? A decent team could cause good damage, if not kill all 3 pretty quickly.
The graphical improvements, specifically the gore models, are one of the big and noticeable changes. You have to compare L4D2 to its predecessor here: in L4D the model dismemberment was pretty straight forward: Cause enough damage to a leg, an arm or the head and it drops off or pops.
In L4D2 they have taken this model dismemberment or ?gore? to a whole new level. You shoot something in the chest at close range with a shotgun and half the chest blows apart. Shoot them in the face with a magnum? Parts of the head can disappear, not necessarily all of it. The groin shots will now literally blow their balls off. Maybe I?m possessed of a sick mind, but running up to a zombie and shooting it in the face with a Magnum is satisfying in ways I should probably talk to a therapist about. This also lends itself well to some ?oh shit!? moments. You see, unlike L4D, blowing an arm off, or even taking a chunk of torso or abdomen is not enough to kill zombies outright, especially on the harder difficulty settings. Sometimes you will shoot holes in a zombie and move on to the next target only to have the first one up in your face and swinging seconds later. This has to be one of the best changes that has been made.
I do have to say, overall, the game feels brighter and more colourful than L4D. Probably because some of the maps occur in daylight or around sunset. Sometimes it feels like a bad horror movie, but then again... isn?t that what they?re shooting for, to get some Zombie Movie into your co-op game?
In closing: This is a true sequel to L4D in name and spirit. It is different from the first in both feel and appearance. Just like the original, there is a plot, but it is very much a take it or leave it thing. You can read the safe room messages and listen to the dialogue between the survivors and it will fall together, but the plot isn?t being jammed down your throat either.
If I had to give it a rating, I?d give it an 83/100.
And with what some *other* developers have been doing? Yeah... Valve deserves some props for actually supporting their PC community from launch this time.
This game is classes as a ?co-op survival horror? just like the original. There?re still 4 survivors, just like the original. Your goal is still to get from point A to point B while hordes of Infected (I guess they?re not technically zombies...) try to get a nibble on your bum, just like the original. Sounds like not much has changed, right? Not really, the framework is the same but a lot of the details have changed.
The Special Infected have been updated, there are also new Special Infected. For those of you who have been living under a rock, the Special Infected are exactly what they sound like. They?re infected characters that have special abilities with which to harm you. You can also play these characters in Versus mode and in the new game mode Scavenge.
They?ve also updated ?climax? or ?Crescendo? events, now instead of hunkering down in a corner, you have to get from point A to point B or you?re toast because the Zombies just won?t stop coming. The new infected compliment this nicely.
In the last game, you had three special infected characters: Smoker, Boomer and Hunter. Alternatively: The one that pukes on you, the one that wants to tongue you and the one that jumps on you and pulls off your shirt.
They?ve added three more to the stable this time around. Charger, Spitter and Jockey. Alternatively, the one that tackles you the one that rides you and the one that (surprise, surprise) spits on you. Let?s talk about these changes for just a minute. One of the biggest complaints people had with Left 4 Dead was the lack of weapons and Special Infected. This concern was definitely addressed in the sequel. The variety is extremely welcome and in Versus mode, it no longer requires precision timing and a goddamned playbook to bring the opposing team down. This is because of the utility of the new SI, nothing does stupid amounts of damage, but it makes it easier to cause moderate amounts of damage and disrupt the other team. All in all, it balances out the survivors quite nicely. I think it is still possible to do something for the original; however I do not see any of the new infected ?fitting in? with the atmosphere of L4D which was a much creepier game.
There?s also ?uncommon-common? now. These are Infected that are not as powerful as the specials, but have some sort of special ability or resistance. Hazmat Uncommon are fire proof, Riot Cop infected are bullet proof in the front and Clowns cause common infected to follow them around. With the exception of Riot Cop infected, they are not much tougher than common infected, but they add another level of play and welcome complexity to the game.
Now, a word on the weapons: The new weapons are nice, the variety is nice. It is good to have the option of taking different weapons, even if the only difference is a slightly wider or narrower spread or just a different sound effect. Sounds crazy, but it keeps things fresh and far less monotonous. The big difference is in how weapons and items are handled. For starters, you can now replace your starting pistol with a melee weapon or a Magnum handgun, if you so choose. Some people complain that the melee weapons are overpowered and in some cases unrealistic. What these folks forget is that the melee weapons only work in a pretty narrow radius they?re powerful right up close and personal, they can?t do anything beyond that couple of feet. The chainsaw, perhaps the most overpowered weapon in the whole game has a limited supply of gas, so you can only use it for so long. Similarly, the Grenade Launcher, the ?Tier 3? weapon, has a very finite ammo supply. 30 grenades sounds like a lot, but it is not really; Especially when it has a dead zone of a few yards where the user takes damage if they shoot too close. There?s also Incendiary and Explosive ammo upgrades. These could be called overpowered if it weren?t for the fact that they are so severely limited. You have exactly one clip of explosive or incendiary ammo. Explosive ammo is even limited to a single slug with the shotguns.
Similarly, the ?Defibrillator? item is called overpowered as it allows the survivors to revive a dead comrade. This takes a few seconds and leaves the user entirely vulnerable, anybody who has played L4D on versus *knows* how bad a situation that is: Only two survivors who can effectively fight, one who is vulnerable and one who is dead? A decent team could cause good damage, if not kill all 3 pretty quickly.
The graphical improvements, specifically the gore models, are one of the big and noticeable changes. You have to compare L4D2 to its predecessor here: in L4D the model dismemberment was pretty straight forward: Cause enough damage to a leg, an arm or the head and it drops off or pops.
In L4D2 they have taken this model dismemberment or ?gore? to a whole new level. You shoot something in the chest at close range with a shotgun and half the chest blows apart. Shoot them in the face with a magnum? Parts of the head can disappear, not necessarily all of it. The groin shots will now literally blow their balls off. Maybe I?m possessed of a sick mind, but running up to a zombie and shooting it in the face with a Magnum is satisfying in ways I should probably talk to a therapist about. This also lends itself well to some ?oh shit!? moments. You see, unlike L4D, blowing an arm off, or even taking a chunk of torso or abdomen is not enough to kill zombies outright, especially on the harder difficulty settings. Sometimes you will shoot holes in a zombie and move on to the next target only to have the first one up in your face and swinging seconds later. This has to be one of the best changes that has been made.
I do have to say, overall, the game feels brighter and more colourful than L4D. Probably because some of the maps occur in daylight or around sunset. Sometimes it feels like a bad horror movie, but then again... isn?t that what they?re shooting for, to get some Zombie Movie into your co-op game?
In closing: This is a true sequel to L4D in name and spirit. It is different from the first in both feel and appearance. Just like the original, there is a plot, but it is very much a take it or leave it thing. You can read the safe room messages and listen to the dialogue between the survivors and it will fall together, but the plot isn?t being jammed down your throat either.
If I had to give it a rating, I?d give it an 83/100.
And with what some *other* developers have been doing? Yeah... Valve deserves some props for actually supporting their PC community from launch this time.
