Left 4 Dead 2 Review
As one of the most controversial games of the year, Left 4 Dead 2 is now in the public’s hands and perhaps even those who once boycotted it. But is Left 4 Dead 2 worth full price? Does its contents match that of a simple expansion? Find out in our review of the highly anticipated sequel to Valve’s co-op zombie shooter.
Left 4 Dead 2 brings many new elements to the table that the original Left 4 Dead should have had, such as melee weapons, more paths in maps, a wider variety of weapons and different times of day. Unfortunately it also carries some of the original’s problems. Left 4 Dead 2 is a great improvement over the original but with annoying issues such as collision detection problems, A.I rape healing you and just not so great A.I. overall. These things are very minor but they do detract from some of the amazing fun that is to be had. Collision detection issues seem to rise when infected are far off and then in your face. The game seems to have to realize that they are in front of you and it sometimes takes 1-2 seconds for close up shots to register. This is most noticeable when downed. The “Rape Healing” has been around since the original Left 4 Dead and it seems like something so easy to fix but I just can’t get my head around why it’s still in the game. A simple pull away from the heal would be fine, but we are stuck with shooting our team member who’s intentions are good but their timing couldn’t be any worse.
The first thing people will notice when they start this game is that the original survivor cast is gone, and replaced by a new group of four. Nick (Douche), Coach (Uncle Phil), Ellis (Idiot), and Rochelle (Girl who talks like shes 60.) Left 4 Dead 1 is only a year old and it’s too soon for nostalgia but this cast just didn’t stick with me as much as the original. Why? I really just can’t put my finger on it. The original four just seemed more…iconic? Whatever my quarrels are with the cast, their dialogue and relationship is top notch. Ellis rambles on with his stories about his friend Keith and his misfortunes and they always end with someone telling him to shut it. Pretty humorous if you ask me. Rochelle sounds like she should be a bit older with granny-esque words. Coach is a large and in charge man who has a striking resemblance to The Fresh Prince of Bel air’s Uncle Phil. Coach seems the toughest of the four but is still likeable. Now Nick, he’s my favorite character — a cynical self loathing douche. His quips always make me snicker.
The dark and gray city where most of the original Left 4 Dead took place is is now replaced by southern locals. From Savannah to the swamps, Left 4 Dead 2 brightens up the maps (literally) with more diverse structures and areas. The night no longer cast its darkness on the maps for now the sun shines upon the land as zombies run to feast under it. Weather also makes an appearance now. Heavy Rain, as you guessed it gets a bit wet. The effect is cool but doesn’t live up to the promises that weather would change according to the A.I director. It’s very well scripted. The A.I director 2.0 does offer some variation to maps but again it’s not very drastic. A door may be the next leading area or just a window. It was a bit disheartening to see the maps pretty much the same every play through. The new maps also come with some very creative crescendo events and finales. The Parish’s finale was the most frantic moment of the game. Crossing a bridge while endless waves of infected pour in was a frantic and frightening part of the game that will remain unforgettable.
Melee weapons are one of the biggest changes to gameplay in Left 4 Dead 2. Machetes, katanas, frying pans, guitars, cricket and baseball bats (baseball bats are unique to people who preordered the game at Gamestop, but are still accessible to those who didn’t if they are in the presence of someone who did), and a few others are now useable as zombie killing tools. The variety is pretty good but the edged weapons just take priority once you familiarize yourself with how each of the weapons work. Blunts mostly do instant kills but bladed are always instant. There are also a few more guns in the mix as well. The standard three are still in play. A shotgun, machine gun and a sniper are the three categories with multiple versions with different damage levels. A grenade launcher is also in the game. It’s a great gun, but don’t expect whoring it by using ammo stashes. They won’t replenish grenade ammo. New ammo types add a bit of extra oomph to your weapons. Incendiary and explosive ammo set foes on fire or pop off chunks with ease. An unexpected addition, but a very much appreciated.
New projectiles and health items are added to liven up the game as well. Boomer Bile is pretty much a pipe bomb without the boom but does come in handy when you want zombies to fight zombies instead of yourself. Adrenaline gives temporary health and an added bonus of super charged actions. Melee weapons cause more damage and your running speed increases. Then there are defibrillators. Instead of holding a health pack to heal the living, the defibrillator will bring back dead survivors and replenish about half of their health. This helps keep things in motion rather than waiting around for your friends to magically appear in a bathroom or closet.
Left 4 Dead 2 packs six modes; (five if you count single player and co-op as one mode) survivor mode is now on the disc. Featuring pretty much the same as before, survivor mode pits you against endless waves of infected as a timer runs counting how long you can survive. New to Left 4 Dead 2 is Scavenge. Scavenge is a four-on-four verses game where the survivors must fill up a machine with more gasoline than the previous team every round all the while trying to fend off human controlled Special Infected. Scavenge is frantic, strategic and a hell of a time. Also new to the game is a “Realism” mode with no glowing outlines, no revives in map, and a bigger emphasis on killing zombies the old fashion way contribute to making the game a bit harder. Communication is much more pertinent when your teammates cannot see your location. Expert difficulty plus Realism is as close to a real zombie apocalypse as you can get. It did seem a bit odd to give Realism it’s own menu icon when it could have easily just been a setting, but that’s how Valve did it. Versus is pretty much the same as before but with three more Special Infected types. The Spitter spits acid at her enemies feet, The Jockey rides enemies where ever they please, and The Charger rams into (or through) his foes and proceeds to beat them into the ground. These new specials add a much needed variety boost to versus.
To conclude, Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game that surpasses the original in every way, despite bringing along some of it’s faults with it. Valve loves it’s community and the game is bound to only get better with DLC and updates. This is no expansion guys, it’s a must buy sequel.
+More variety in “Common” infected.
+Great new additions.
+New modes ad some variety to gameplay.
-Some problems crossed over from the first game.
