Review: Left 4 Dead 2

When Valve announced a sequel to Left 4 Dead mere months after the first game’s release, a lot of fans cried foul. We were looking forward to Valve supporting the game for a while and also, maybe working on Half-Life 3. But fast forward to November 2009 and I think a lot of those folks are going to love this game.

Valve could have rested on its zombie laurels and released a game that was just a reskinned L4D, but instead they’ve updated the gameplay that makes it even more fun to put down the zombie hoards. We have not tired of zombie killing, we relish it.

The Story

Again, it’s four survivors against the world. And that’s all you need to know. There’s graffiti that alludes to government agency incompetence and a flu hoax. It’s up to you to make your own narrative but we’re really not here for story, are we folks?

Nor are we here for character development. Ellis, Rochelle, Coach, and Nick are competent zombie killers but I miss the ol’ gang from L4D. The new guys, while I’m sure I’ll grow to love them, have yet to say anything quotable like “I call zombie bullshit” or chatter about the zombie uprising in the ’60s.

The Gameplay

It hasn’t changed. You still kill zombies, and lots of them. The AI Director can still throw mad hordes of zombies at you, but it can also alter level design, placements of walls, and even the weather. So if the game is too easy, expect some special Infected to come at you. L4D2 also features three new Infected: the Jockey, which can jump on your back and controls your movement, the Spitter which upchucks pools of acid, and the Charger, a zombie who runs at you and can possibly throw you against the wall. All the Infected from the previous game are here although the Witch now wanders about during the daylight. So it’s even easier for her to rip out your ribcage and wear it as a hat.

There’s also been some change to gameplay elements: the crescendo events and the finales. Crescendo events in the last L4D only lasted for a minute or two. Once the bridge had lowered or the door opened, and you had survived the horde, you could move on. Now, Valve has made it a lot harder. You’ll trigger an alarm but that alarm does not turn off–you must turn it off or the zombies keep coming like it’s a free all-you-can-eat viscera buffet.

All the Jockey wants is a nice piggyback ride

This happened in the third level of The Parish: You’re trapped in a trailer and when you open the door, you trigger an alarm tower. So you and your teammates have to make it through a chainlink maze to eventually climb up the tower and turn off the zombie wave pool. It’s a good change of pace. Usually, I take it slow through the game but, to turn the alarm off and stop the zombies from swarming, I had to run through them which was scary and exhilarating. It’s times like these when your new adrenaline shots come in handy. It was awesome to just run through the zombie horde, guns a blazing.

As for the finales, it’s no longer just survive until the vehicle arrives. Sometimes an objective must be completed before moving on. In Dead Centre, set in a mall, the foursome had to collect enough gas to drive a race car. It’s certainly different, but I’m not partial to it. One of my favourite moments in L4D was trying to survive long enough to make it onto the helicopter or troop transport. In the sequel, the dramatic tension is lacking when you just have to collect gas.

To counter the increased special zombies, there are way more guns scattered throughout the world. The top-tier guns show up quicker than the previous game and you’ll need them. You can also add laser sights onto your gun to increase accuracy. There are more melee weapons so you’ll be seeing the cricket bat (a nice nod to Shaun of the Dead), crowbar, chainsaw, katana, and machete. My favourite was the cast-iron skillet which makes a pleasing sound as you crack it against the undeads’ heads. There are also vials of boomer bile to throw, adrenaline shots to speed you up, and a defibrilator to revive downed teammates. But you still only get one slot for each category.

The Gameplay Modes

You still have the co-op story missions (offline and online), playing infected versus humans, and Survivor where you try to survive wave after wave of undead.

Clown zombies: double the horror, twice the killing satisfaction

There are two new modes. In Scavenger, you collect gas cans while (surprise!) zombies come after you. And if you find that the game is not at all challenging, you can turn on Realism which disables survivors’ silhouettes through walls and makes the Witch a one-hit killing machine. Realism is available for all four gameplay modes.

The Graphics

When your screen is not covered in gore and blood (it can be dialed down, but why would you?), it’s a decent looking game. A lot of detail was put into the environment and the characters. At one point, I had chainsawed my way through a zombie and for a moment I could see not only its ribcage, but also through its ribcage. Way more of the game takes place during the day which is a bold choice. In darker settings more mistakes could be hidden.

While all the important things look correct, I’m always impressed by the little touches Valve includes. Weapons can have laser sights and often you can see all four laser sights in the environment. When it’s dark and your flashlight lights up the zombies eyes, it’s super creepy and creates great atmosphere.

The Bottom Line
If you have friends who loved L4D and they’ve already bought L4D2, chances are they will badger you to buy it. And, you know what? Valve did an excellent job with the sequel. There weren’t arbitrary changes to ensure the game was different. Alterations that were made have (for the most part) enhanced the gameplay. I’m looking forward to conking the undead with my cast-iron skillet all holiday season long.

No shoving, there's plenty of bullets for everyone

The Good
More melee weapons
Zombie-killing mayhem still intact
Updated crescendo events

The Bad
Where’s Half-Life 3?
Characters are kinda bland