Left 4 Dead 2

O Lords is I in Heaven?

Not really no, however life on earth has certainly been made more interesting with the recent release of Left 4 Dead 2. To the untrained eye it appears to be a simple rehash, but a close look reveals the amount of work was put in to make this game greater than the previous. First, let’s talk about characters. A new game brings new people to fight the infection and I believe that the developers at Valve did a great job. The characters seem more like normal people this time around, from Ellis’s (a typical southern car mechanic) random stories to Coach’s (a high school football coach. Obvious, ain’t it?) angry shouts of wanting armor these small voice sequences really add to the game.

Of course there has been a lot of talk about the new infected and they don’t disappoint in game play. The interesting addition of “Uncommon” infected (variants on standard hoard infected) is a real twist. Nothing was more annoying than seeing a riot officer in full armor as my bullets bounced off. While the first game taught players how good it was to stick together, the new special infected present a new challenge to new and old players. Mostly their offensive capabilities are made to drive a spike in the party. For example, the Jockey (an insane midget that jumps on survivors and can start to move them) will force players away from each other and by proxy, safety. Another great one is the Charger (a massive critter built like the Tank) smashes into the group, forcing a rethink on the idea of camping for safety.

While talking of camping, Valve has come up with interesting strategies to combat this tried and true gaming habit with more changes to the norm. Climax Events are no longer about simply holing up till the zombies stop coming, some events require the group to run to an objective. For example, opening an alarmed door then racing to shut it off. Ideas like this keep the fighting of the infected fresh and fun.

New items and weapons continue the innovation of the zombie outbreak. Melee weapons are great simply because they require no ammo (except the chainsaw…sadness) and new firearms make more combinations within a group of heroes. Guns are now semi-upgradeable with special ammo and laser sights, these lasers are a godsend for stopping friendly fire. New items, how about new modes too? With the scavenger mode players must gather supplies while playing against infected players who are trying to stop them, more outside the box thinking.

Overall this is a great game for anybody who liked the first and anybody thinking of playing it. Maybe I just think too much but the little details of the game really made it a great experience for me. If I am to have one complaint it is the AI is still rather… sub par the computer survivors don’t really stay close and are prone to walking off cliffs, as I found out, but this won’t stop me from getting together with my friends and playing (as they still walk off cliffs…Maybe it is accurate of human behavior) Left 4 Dead 2 Gets my full support

B. Kielian