Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Written by: Adam Tewkesbury Posted: 20th November 2009

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Left 4 Dead 2 Details:

	First Person Shooter
	PC/Xbox 360
	Valve
	EA Games

18+

Out Now

1-4

Zombies are absolutely the most satisfying bad guys in the history of anything. I can think of no movie, book, video game or social event that wouldn't be spiced up by the introduction of a crowd of dribbling undead, ripe for dismemberment. A zombie apocalypse is such a compelling scenario as well - as long as you're heavily armed and in good company, the opportunities are endless.

There has been plenty of coverage of the discontent aired by fans of the first L4D, understandably not best pleased that the full-price sequel was announced some 7 or 8 months after the release of the original, but this shouldn’t (and doesn’t) detract from the experience. This is a sequel, as a sequel should be- bigger, brasher, with an extra sheen and polish, but retaining the important elements that made the L4D1 a classic.

The number of scenarios has been upped from 4 to 5, and a new group of plucky survivors are introduced - another selection of everyday folk unexpectedly transformed into tasty treats for the recently deceased. The main additions to Left 4 Dead 2 are the new special infected, however, along with the necessary new tools with which to batter them. Three new specials are introduced - the Spitter, who gobs health-depleting acid at you, the Charger, who grabs hold of you with his one outsized arm and then pummels you into the pavement, and the Jockey, who vaults onto your shoulders and simultaneously bites your ears and tries to steer you into other hazards. The previous specials are all present and correct too, with a few tweaks; you now get flabby female Boomers, for example, and Witches can wander forlornly around environments before frantically scratching your eyes out. This increased roster, augmented by the ‘unspecial special infected’ (including riot cops, circus clowns and hazmat suited scientists) provides the horde, and the new and improved AI director, with many more options to cause maximum pain to your would-be survivors.

More bad guys require more firepower, and here Valve have moved things forward considerably from the limited original selection. Whilst the basic classes of firearms remain similar - pistol, shotguns, rifles, automatics - there is now a choice of models within each class offering slight variations between them. There are also a few entirely new toys, notably a beefed up magnum side-arm with which to blow fist-size chunks out of your antagonists even when you’re incapacitated, and a grenade launcher, which needs little explanation. New thrown weapons include Boomer bile bombs, which cause zombies to turn on each other, whilst your medical repertoire has improved thanks to adrenaline shots (giving you a burst of speed and quicker use of objects) and a defibrillator to resurrect dead comrades (at the cost of your health pack slot). Selection in every area has grown - not to the degree that things get confusing, but enough to provide a richer and more varied experience.

The innovation that made most headlines was the introduction of melee weapons, which replace your pistol and provide opportunities for some face-to-face zombie negotiation. The selections (bats, blades, frying pans and a chainsaw) are entertaining, and are a big help when you inevitably get surrounded, but I don’t think they work quite as well as the guns. FPS hand-to-hand combat in general can feel a bit floaty and collision detection remains slightly vague. This doesn’t mean they aren’t entertaining (and gory), and they do change the way you play the game, so remain a worthy addition.

The new environments are more varied than those of Left 4 Dead, incorporating daytime levels and new environmental effects such as billowing smoke to reduce your visibility and murky water in which nasties can hide. Some look better than others (I can’t confirm whether the visual quality varies between PC and Xbox as I’ve only spent time with the console version) but as with the previous game all feel authentic and do a good job of funnelling play through the level without feeling too restrictive. Crescendo events still punctuate the action, and involve more variety and interaction than simply surviving - now you might need to refuel a vehicle, for example, or disable an alarm to calm the horde down. There is also a wider selection of modes away from the main scenarios providing a quick fix for those without the time to play through a full level, including team matches where players can play as the special infected.

Inevitably there are a few flies in the ointment. I personally haven’t warmed to the player characters as much as the original quartet - having become accustomed to my role as Louis I would have preferred to continue his story rather than starting a new one. The magic of Left 4 Dead is also notably diluted for the lone player; not game-breakingly so, but when your companions are as automated as the horde it is much harder to care whether they survive. That said, the games characters are intentionally a group of strangers thrown together by circumstance and a shared dislike of all things reanimated, so limiting online play to your friends list is possibly misguided - playing with a group of unknowns online arguably provides the most authentic experience. Who said videogames were antisocial?

The bottom line is fun - with a friend or 3 in tow, L4D2 is an absolute blast. None of the moral posturing or emotional ambiguity that has become something of a trend of late, the objective is survival, and this simple premise is captivating in a way few other games manage to get near. Add in the new game modes to accompany the main scenarios and this is multiplayer nirvana, social gaming at its best - Forget Modern Warfare 2 and it’s po-faced ‘ho-rah’ military nonsense; zombies are where it’s at, and they’ve never been more entertaining.