Don't get me wrong. I love me some L4D2. It's one of the my top played games. But in my opinion, Left 4 Dead 2 is simply a great game, instead of the amazing piece of art (Yes, Ebert, I said art) that Left 4 Dead was.
Why? Here are the reasons:
1. Atmosphere. This is the main reason. The first Left 4 Dead gave us 4 (and a half) amazing campaigns, in which the gritty feel of a Zombie film was everywhere. Dark corridors, fighting through a hospital filled with the infected, sneaking through the woods, walking down abandoned poorly lit streets with only the infected around, fighting waves on a rooftop waiting for a helicopter to arrive... It goes on and on. In Left 4 Dead 2, however, it's daytime during many of the campaigns, and even when it's dark it just doesn't feel scary. The graphics are still on the same level, but everything, including the characters, is painted much brighter. It's like they thought, hmmmm, people loved the first one's dark horror feel. So let's take out the horror and just try to make it feel Southern, even though no one asked for it. Though the newest campaign, the Passing, did manage to recapture some of the gritty feel.
Also, it felt like L4D2 had very few "movie" moments. You know what I mean. Getting to the safe room, holding the door open for a friend with a horde on his heels, slamming the door shut just as he crosses the doorway in the face of the infected. Or when the helicopter finally arrived in No Mercy, and it's just you and one friend left, you limping along to reach it while he pulls ahead, horde closing in behind you, when suddenly you get pounced by a hunter. Your friend turns to you to save you, and you yell "Leave me! LEAVE ME!" over the mic, caught up in the moment as you try to make sure at least someone survives. (You can do these in Left 4 Dead 2, but for some reason it just doesn't come naturally.)
Also, Left 4 Dead 1's campaigns were unconnected (except for when they released crash course and connected the first two, a mistake in my opinion), something I loved. It was up to our imaginations to decide what happened to the survivors between the campaign. Maybe they were rescued but their military rescue camp was overrun. Maybe the military sent them out to find more survivors. Maybe the campaigns are just 4 potential situations that could face these 4 survivors, and each one let us try a potential one. In L4D2, however, nothing is left to our imagination. We know what happens between each campaign.
2. Characters. Another big reason.
Left 4 Dead's characters were fun, witty, and had layers and more than 1 dimension.
You had Francis, the tough, rough biker who hated everything, yet clearly had a sensitive spot deep down and cared about his teammates.
Bill, the grizzled war veteran forced out of war by the war ending and by age, suddenly forced back into an adrenalin pumping fight for survival against a horde of enemies unlike any he's ever faced. A bit cynical, but he could make some funny wisecracks, and I am sad that they killed him off in the Passing.
Zoey, the college student horror film lover, suddenly finding herself in one of her horror flicks, fighting for her life, yet managing to keep fighting. Never one to hide her feelings, she provided a lot of hilarious lines to the story and was my favorite character.
Louis, the timid IT worker trying to build up his courage to quit his job when suddenly its taken away, along with everything else. Now he's the groups optimist, trying to keep everyone's spirits up during times of danger
But in Left 4 Dead 2, we have:
The fat black guy. (No racism intended)
The uninteresting black chick. (Again, above)
The con artist/gambler who never actually mentioned anything about his gambling and cons.
And the Southern guy, who was actually slightly more developed than his friends. (Southern, ADHD, a fixation with his probably dead best friend Keith and the ways in which Keith managed to harm himself).
Basically, the characters can make the game, and Left 4 Dead 2's characters left something wanting.
3. The bugs. Left 4 Dead 2 had a lot of bugs. A lot of these were fixed, but a lot still exist. Zombies spawning right behind you, special infected managing to grab you from impossible distances, and game crashes, among others.
4. The new infected.
I was so excited about the new infected. The Chargers "Half tank" description got me pumped, the Jocky sounded neat, and the Spitter sounded like a great comeback for survivor molotovs. But the Charger ended up being a less mobile version of the hunter with more health, and while the spitter was a good addition, her model looks wierd and out of place, and her spit could have been designed to look a lot better.
And the Jockey. Don't get me started on the Jockey. I HATE that little bastard. I hate fightin against him, I hate playing as him, I hate everything about him.
5. The little touches.
Being able to see my feet in L4D1 gave a touch more immersion to the game, especially when you could actually see yourself limping when on low health. When your body ragdolled when you died, it gave the realistic feeling that you're just another body, now that you're dead, the rest just have to keep on.
I honestly hate the "archangel" pose the new characters give in L4d2, stuck in the same default position no matter what surface they're on, leading to some floating corpses sometimes. Yes, I know both of these issues have something to do with the defibrillator, but honestly, I rarely if ever use it, and generally having to use one means we screwed up an dare about to get destroyed.
Another thing is the loading screens. In Left 4 Dead 1, the loading screen is a poster of the movie the campaign is. In 2, the poster doesn't have the names on it, ruining the effect somewhat. Also, the poster appears to be pasted on a wall that seems to be in the campaign itself, giving a WTF feel to me. How is a poster of the situation on wall IN the actual setting?
Also, the witch cries were a bit more sobby in 2, and I really liked the chilling moans they had in 1.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some things that Left 4 Dead 2 did better than 1.
First of all: The gore. Oh, how I love you. The ridiculous amount of ways you can mutilate a zombie. Slice em, explode em, behead them, partially behead them in different ways, cut them up in dozens of ways, entrails trailing as they ran sometimes. (I know I'm far too enthusiastic about the ways in which we could maim infected...)
The melee weapons were a nice touch, but aside from the chainsaw, they were all really the same thing. I wish they could vary more between the weapons (greater difference in range, speed, and other things.)
The bride Witch in the Passing at the altar. So chilling. Loved that part. And while I'm pissed they killed off Bill, and not one of the uninteresting new guys, at least they did it in a cool way, just showing his corpse, now move on, you guys have to survive and there's no time to mourn.
I tried really hard to like Left 4 Dead 2 as much, if not more than, 1, but I couldn't. I was disappointed a little. As my friend said, the game is half-baked. It needed more time to be worked on. 11 months after the first game was released is not a time to release a sequel. The graphics were on the same level, the gritty horror feel was diluted greatly, the characters sucked, the bugs were annoying, and the little touches were gone.
While Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game, it left a lot to be desired, and in the end disappointed me a little.
(Sorry if I got a bit carried away. Left 4 Dead was one of my favorite games, and I just wanted to get this off my chest.)
Why? Here are the reasons:
1. Atmosphere. This is the main reason. The first Left 4 Dead gave us 4 (and a half) amazing campaigns, in which the gritty feel of a Zombie film was everywhere. Dark corridors, fighting through a hospital filled with the infected, sneaking through the woods, walking down abandoned poorly lit streets with only the infected around, fighting waves on a rooftop waiting for a helicopter to arrive... It goes on and on. In Left 4 Dead 2, however, it's daytime during many of the campaigns, and even when it's dark it just doesn't feel scary. The graphics are still on the same level, but everything, including the characters, is painted much brighter. It's like they thought, hmmmm, people loved the first one's dark horror feel. So let's take out the horror and just try to make it feel Southern, even though no one asked for it. Though the newest campaign, the Passing, did manage to recapture some of the gritty feel.
Also, it felt like L4D2 had very few "movie" moments. You know what I mean. Getting to the safe room, holding the door open for a friend with a horde on his heels, slamming the door shut just as he crosses the doorway in the face of the infected. Or when the helicopter finally arrived in No Mercy, and it's just you and one friend left, you limping along to reach it while he pulls ahead, horde closing in behind you, when suddenly you get pounced by a hunter. Your friend turns to you to save you, and you yell "Leave me! LEAVE ME!" over the mic, caught up in the moment as you try to make sure at least someone survives. (You can do these in Left 4 Dead 2, but for some reason it just doesn't come naturally.)
Also, Left 4 Dead 1's campaigns were unconnected (except for when they released crash course and connected the first two, a mistake in my opinion), something I loved. It was up to our imaginations to decide what happened to the survivors between the campaign. Maybe they were rescued but their military rescue camp was overrun. Maybe the military sent them out to find more survivors. Maybe the campaigns are just 4 potential situations that could face these 4 survivors, and each one let us try a potential one. In L4D2, however, nothing is left to our imagination. We know what happens between each campaign.
2. Characters. Another big reason.
Left 4 Dead's characters were fun, witty, and had layers and more than 1 dimension.
You had Francis, the tough, rough biker who hated everything, yet clearly had a sensitive spot deep down and cared about his teammates.
Bill, the grizzled war veteran forced out of war by the war ending and by age, suddenly forced back into an adrenalin pumping fight for survival against a horde of enemies unlike any he's ever faced. A bit cynical, but he could make some funny wisecracks, and I am sad that they killed him off in the Passing.
Zoey, the college student horror film lover, suddenly finding herself in one of her horror flicks, fighting for her life, yet managing to keep fighting. Never one to hide her feelings, she provided a lot of hilarious lines to the story and was my favorite character.
Louis, the timid IT worker trying to build up his courage to quit his job when suddenly its taken away, along with everything else. Now he's the groups optimist, trying to keep everyone's spirits up during times of danger
But in Left 4 Dead 2, we have:
The fat black guy. (No racism intended)
The uninteresting black chick. (Again, above)
The con artist/gambler who never actually mentioned anything about his gambling and cons.
And the Southern guy, who was actually slightly more developed than his friends. (Southern, ADHD, a fixation with his probably dead best friend Keith and the ways in which Keith managed to harm himself).
Basically, the characters can make the game, and Left 4 Dead 2's characters left something wanting.
3. The bugs. Left 4 Dead 2 had a lot of bugs. A lot of these were fixed, but a lot still exist. Zombies spawning right behind you, special infected managing to grab you from impossible distances, and game crashes, among others.
4. The new infected.
I was so excited about the new infected. The Chargers "Half tank" description got me pumped, the Jocky sounded neat, and the Spitter sounded like a great comeback for survivor molotovs. But the Charger ended up being a less mobile version of the hunter with more health, and while the spitter was a good addition, her model looks wierd and out of place, and her spit could have been designed to look a lot better.
And the Jockey. Don't get me started on the Jockey. I HATE that little bastard. I hate fightin against him, I hate playing as him, I hate everything about him.
5. The little touches.
Being able to see my feet in L4D1 gave a touch more immersion to the game, especially when you could actually see yourself limping when on low health. When your body ragdolled when you died, it gave the realistic feeling that you're just another body, now that you're dead, the rest just have to keep on.
I honestly hate the "archangel" pose the new characters give in L4d2, stuck in the same default position no matter what surface they're on, leading to some floating corpses sometimes. Yes, I know both of these issues have something to do with the defibrillator, but honestly, I rarely if ever use it, and generally having to use one means we screwed up an dare about to get destroyed.
Another thing is the loading screens. In Left 4 Dead 1, the loading screen is a poster of the movie the campaign is. In 2, the poster doesn't have the names on it, ruining the effect somewhat. Also, the poster appears to be pasted on a wall that seems to be in the campaign itself, giving a WTF feel to me. How is a poster of the situation on wall IN the actual setting?
Also, the witch cries were a bit more sobby in 2, and I really liked the chilling moans they had in 1.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention some things that Left 4 Dead 2 did better than 1.
First of all: The gore. Oh, how I love you. The ridiculous amount of ways you can mutilate a zombie. Slice em, explode em, behead them, partially behead them in different ways, cut them up in dozens of ways, entrails trailing as they ran sometimes. (I know I'm far too enthusiastic about the ways in which we could maim infected...)
The melee weapons were a nice touch, but aside from the chainsaw, they were all really the same thing. I wish they could vary more between the weapons (greater difference in range, speed, and other things.)
The bride Witch in the Passing at the altar. So chilling. Loved that part. And while I'm pissed they killed off Bill, and not one of the uninteresting new guys, at least they did it in a cool way, just showing his corpse, now move on, you guys have to survive and there's no time to mourn.
I tried really hard to like Left 4 Dead 2 as much, if not more than, 1, but I couldn't. I was disappointed a little. As my friend said, the game is half-baked. It needed more time to be worked on. 11 months after the first game was released is not a time to release a sequel. The graphics were on the same level, the gritty horror feel was diluted greatly, the characters sucked, the bugs were annoying, and the little touches were gone.
While Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game, it left a lot to be desired, and in the end disappointed me a little.
(Sorry if I got a bit carried away. Left 4 Dead was one of my favorite games, and I just wanted to get this off my chest.)
