Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2
Written By Kyon

Intro
Only a year after Valve's successful game Left 4 Dead, they have already came out with a sequel. This was a major surprise to all fans of the game and especially the people at E3. Left 4 Dead 2 had a bumpy start because of the boycotts but the game's gameplay and additions say otherwise. These new additions consist of new special infected zombies, new maps (including daytime maps), weapons, etc. You will notice me a lot comparing the sequel to the original Left 4 Dead game as well. For now all I can say is that you won't be disappointed with this sequel if you had a lot of fun with the first one.

Story
Unlike the first game where there was almost no storyline, this one is chopped full of it in comparison. It tells you enough about the characters and what their goal in the game is but still giving you that feeling where you need to find out more about what is going on. The game's setting is set in the southern part of United States. So you'll see a lot of small towns and swamps. Same like the last game you have 4 different characters to play as. Rochelle who is from Ohio and use to work as a news reporter, Nick who is a con artist and likes to gamble, Coach who is obviously a coach at a local high school, and Ellis who works as a mechanic and has a epic southern accent. While playing the game you can sometimes notice them having side conversations. Ellis occasionally talks about his friend Keith or them introducing themselves in the beginning of the game. This definitely makes the game a lot more life like then just throwing them into a map and make you fight for your life. The cool thing about this game is that once you get on the rescue vehicle at the end of each campaign, instead of just starting the next campaign in some totally random map, you start off from where you were in the last campaign. Say I jumped onto a boat on the third campaign. I would start off the fourth campaign coming off a boat.

Gameplay
There almost no difference in the gameplay then the first one with some added features. But basically you are off fending you and your three other teammates from zombies. Fighting just regular zombies through the entire game is surely boring after a while but have no fear because Valve has definitely thought of this beforehand. They've added what are called "Special Infected" which have their own special abilities like pulling you with a tongue or pouncing on you and clawing you to death. This gives a much better challenge playing the game. Your main goal in the game is to get to the rescue vehicle at the end of the campaign which ends with a huge amount of zombie hoards coming at you all at once waiting for the vehicle to come get you. The levels are now designed much more creatively to where you may sometimes get lost in the area but if you would take out all the extra details in the maps it would just be a easy trail. If you haven’t figured it out yourself, this game is designed to be multiplayer. Considering the name is called Left "4" Dead. Either playing with real people or the AIs, you need teamwork to get through the zombies.

Graphics
The graphics are just amazing. Like I said in my "Left 4 Dead" review, Valve has the best physics engine. Everything is just so clear when you get a close up of it all. The special infected have gotten a new wardrobe. When far away it may be close to notice but serious players may quickly that the Smoker may of gotten some more tongues or that the Hunter changed into his summer outfit. There has been a slight graphics upgrade from the last game but there hasn't been too much of a change. One thing I really liked was the film grain you would see when playing the game. This gives it a movie like feel because this whole game is suppose to be like a movie. There are also additions since the last game such as blood splattering on your screen when killing off a zombie. As well as being able to chop off body parts now. The bodies even float in the waters of the swamps when they die. Never ceases to amaze me with their incredible physics engine.

Sound
Sounds are very important in the Left 4 Dead games. When there is a special infected nearby, the sounds they make give you a hint on how close they are who what they are so you can be prepared. Some special infected play music when they appear such as the Tank or Witch. I didn't like how most of these sounds were the same exactly sounds and music in the last game. They altered some of the main theme from the original game. Such as adding a banjo in the background to give it that swampy southern feel. They could of done the same with the sounds and music warnings when signaling special infected but they didn't.

Opening Main Menu Song - Hard Rain

Notable New Additions
New weapons were added such as the Combat Shotgun or a AK47. Even more pistol guns like a Desert Eagle. Let's not forget about the amazing melee weapon addition. Frying pans, crowbars, baseball bats, etc. Just more ways to kill off them zombies. I really liked the Boomer Bile Bomb they added. Where you can throw a jar of boomer vomit and zombies become attracted to it the same way if boomer vomit were to hit on you.

The new special infected that were added were interesting. They weren’t exactly "new" new but more like slight changed from the original special infected. They named these new zombies Spitters who can spit acid that damages the survivors the longer it stands in the acid, Jockys who can jump on you but they can control your movement as they claw at your skull, and Chargers who can be sort of a mini tank where they can charge at a person and pound their bodies into the ground doing massive amounts of damage. I mean the Jockys can relate to Hunters and Spitters to Boomers. They just tweaked them a little. They are however still very fun to play as.

The new mode "Scavenge" was added. In this mode you have to look for Diesel Cans and put them in a generator. These diesel cans were scattered around the map where you have to find them before either time runs out or you get killed by the infected team.

Overall
Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 10/10
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Replay Value - 10/10
Total - 9.2/10

Just another fantastic feat by Valve. I like to see the faces on the people who tried to boycott this game. I will easily rack up a few hundred of hours of gameplay on the game in no time. I recently read about a DLC coming out.. oh boy!