by Manio

Plot
The plot of Left 4 Dead 2 is pretty much the same as the first game. You are one of four survivors and are left alone, and have to survive an entire world of zombies. However, this game takes place in the areas surrounding New Orleans.

Left 4 Dead 2 introduces four new characters, Coach who is a highschool football coach, Rochelle who is a news reporter, Ellis who is a mechanic and Nick who is a conman/gambler. What I really liked about the plot in this game was that it was an arc, unlike Left 4 Dead where there was no significant plot, just people running around and killing shit. Left 4 Dead 2 fixed that and gave us a plot to play out, and follow each campaign and watch as it lead right into the next.

Each campaign seemed really interesting and served some purpose to flow into the next.

Another cool thing is the introduction of NPC’s into the plot. For example when you have to grab this guy a case of cola just so he can make a path for you. The first one didn’t really have NPC integration into the plot, and I’m glad this game did something like that.

Overall the plot is fairly well done considering it to be more of a zombie killing game, than a story driven game. Definitely a huge improvement over the first game.

Gameplay
This is the part of the game that truly destroys the first game, and improves greatly on the gameplay.

In L4D2 you have new weapons, new special infected and some new, fun shit. First off, I’ve already mentioned the story arc throughout the campaigns. The first new thing I noticed was the numerous amounts of melee weapons.

The game added melee weapons, something L4D1 didn’t have, thus making the gameplay in this game more intense, and seemingly more fun. There’s nothing like running through a horde of zombies with a chainsaw, and seeing bits of flesh fly everywhere.

The melee weapons work wonders if you’re cornered by a horde and need to reload. It can really help in this hard survival situations and also take out more than one zombie in a single swing. The melee weapons do have their disadvantages, and that is that they are extremely over-powered.

You can pretty much take out zombies in one hit or so with a frying pan, or a crowbar. Not to mention I was playing on Normal and took out a Charger with one swing from my baseball bat. Sometimes it can ruin the pacing of the game with how easy they can be used, but it still keeps a fun aspect when you decapitate something with a fire axe.

What I found great about this melee weapons is how some are slower than others, thus making some not as over-powered and more challenging to use in the horde situations. The heavier weapons being swung slower, and the smaller can be swung fast. Size does matter, and you don’t want to get mauled by some zombies using a rather slow fire-axe right?

This is one of the special infected, The Charger.

The game also introduces the player to three new special infected, which make the survival situations all that more difficult. The Jockey is similar to the Hunter as it jumps on the shoulders of survivors and can steer them around for a limited amount of time, it’s interesting at how they implemented the Jockey into the game. Playing Campaign and seeing a Jockey steer you into fire, or Spitter acid is very cool, and also very frantic.

The Spitter sort of plays like a Boomer, but doesn’t explode when you shoot her. She basically spits acid puddles on the ground and it can deal some serious damage to survivors, especially when they’re downed or a Jockey is running them through the puddle. She can also be quite the pain in the ass in the Scavenge mode as she can spit on the dropped gas cans and cause them to basically catch fire, and become useless. Whe she dies, all the acid in her body spills out in a puddle around her body, and sometimes trapping the Survivors in places, and leaving them to the mercy of the horde.

And finally we have the Charger. This guy is basically a mini Tank. He has one arm which is extremely large, and the other is limp and useless at his side. This infected’s tactic is that he charges into a player and carries them for a quite a distance, or until he hits a solid object. Then he begins to slam, and pummel the survivor into the ground. He does a lot of damage, and can be a force to be reckoned with.

I’m really glad that Valve made some interesting Special Infected, that can make the gameplay differ every minute, and make it that more exciting. My only complaint about the new infected is that they are extremely easy to kill, but in Versus their health is boosted, which makes Versus that much more exciting.

Not only do we have new special infected, but we also have somethings called Uncommon Infected. The uncommon infected are part of the Horde, but have their own mini-tactics that can help the infected, and sometimes wipe out the Survivors. For example the Clown infected has squeaky shoes and can draw the horde that way, and wherever he goes, zombies follow. There are a total of 5-6 uncommon infected in the game, and each have their own tactics. Whether it be running under water, and mauling you so mud flies on your screen, or wearing armor and being unaffected by bullets, these guys can truly alter the gameplay, and that’s something that made me love this game.

There’s so many new items in the game, and it just makes the Survivors have so many tactics, and makes their survival that much greater than the first game.

Remember the Health Kits in L4D? Well, now they have a new thing called the Defibrillator, which allows a survivor to bring back a dead survivor by shocking their body. It proves useful especially in the Survival, and Scavenge game mode. It’s also a very cool idea that can totally change the flow of gameplay.

Not to mention the two new types of ammunition. Flare Rounds which cause your gun to shoot bullets, that when shot at zombie cause them to engulf in flames, which is marvelous and handy when the Horde is rushing you. The other bullet type are called Frag Rounds which are seemingly explosive rounds that make zombies fly into pieces. I was so excited by these rounds that I always grab a pack of them when I see them, they can totally turn the tide for the survivors and give them a chance if they’re getting walloped and swarmed.

A look at the Scavenge Mode, where Survivors collect gas cans without being killed.

Two new gametypes also grace L4D2. First we have Scavenge, a gametype where there are two teams similar to Versus. In this gametype the Survivor’s goal is grab as many gas cans as they can and fill up a set item before time runs out, or they die. Whenever they pour a gas can in they get more time, and this means time to grab more gas cans.

The Special Infected’s goal is to basically stop the Survivor’s from gathering gas, and/or cause them to drop the cans and get the Spitter to destroy them. This gametype really needs teamwork to be essential when you play, or you’re gonna lose rather fast. I loved playing with some of the NooBtooBer’s and talking and planning before going to grab the gas, it helped us grab our 15 gas cans, which is 1 away from gathering all gas cans and winning. It really shows what teamwork can do in this game, and that’s good that Valve put such a heavy emphasis on that, congrats.

The final gametype or mode is called Realism. Basically, the zombies are more resistant to body shots, and headshots usually make the kill. Think of the zombie films where they can only die by being shot in the head, and you have Realism Mode. It’s an interesting turn on the game, and makes it that more exciting, and difficult.

Not only does this game improve L4D1’s gamestyle, it totally blows it out of the water. I had mixed opinions on whether to get this game or not, thinking it’d be the same as L4D. I was wrong, it definitely feels like a whole new game.

Graphics And Sounds
The graphics are well done once again, as it is a Valve game. They’ve done a great job trying to replicate the swampy areas of New Orleans, and just make everything seem to look like as it were in real life.

The characters look astounding, and it’s cool to watch their facial features change when you’re playing, depending on the situation. Not only do the graphics look nice, but they also look creepy. For example, in the Hard Rain campaign when the rain begins to pour down hard you can barely see five feet in front of you, and the level begins to flood.

Boom! Look at that juice!

I liked that way the level began to change not only graphic wise, but also gameplay changed as well.

The sounds are nesecarily the same as Left 4 Dead, you have the Horde approaching sounds, and the special infected sounds so players can distinguish what’s about to happen. A cool thing that Valve did with sound was in Realism Mode. Player’s really rely on the sound indications of an approaching Tank or Horde, but in Realism there isn’t any sounds like that. It’s like real life.

Conclusion
I believe Valve outdone their self with L4D2, and totally improved everything that made me dislike Left 4 Dead. If you hated L4D, and though that this would be the same, it isn’t. I highly recommend anybody who hated L4D, or loved it, grab this game. It gets a huge thumbs up from me.