Late last year when the game Left 4 Dead was released by Valve for X-Box 360, our friend (and occasional writer here at CH) Joshx0rfz wanted to post a short and sweet review of it saying simply, “It’s as fun as a shotgun blast to the face!” We probably should have posted it at the time, but thankfully we made up for that by featuring the game in our 2008 Holiday Gift Guide. Not too long ago Dave wisely suggested the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, in our 2009 Holiday Gift Guide but today I’d like to discuss it in detail and address some of the concerns I had about the game, specifically about a full sequel being released barely over a year after the first game.
The first Left 4 Dead game almost instantly became my favorite multiplayer game, probably of all time, finally nudging out GoldenEye (I know, blasphemy, right?) from the position it held for many years. Left 4 Dead 2 is a big improvement over the first game. It has fixed several of the problems the first game had while adding a large amount of new content that makes it worth buying. There is still a large issue that much of that new content seems like it could have been added to the first game in expansions and add-ons without the need to purchase a whole new game. However, when you factor in the length of the five new campaigns added to the game, the new scavenger mode, changes in weapons / adding melee weapons, and the new types of infected that can be played in multiplayer mode you would probably end up with enough downloadable content to equal the $40-$60 price tag of the sequel.
In essence I’m still torn on the issue. I now own both games and am a bit disappointed that many of my friends made the smart decision to trade in the first to make the second game more affordable so I feel that the first game has effectively become useless or not worth playing anymore. Much of my feelings on the matter are probably inspired by that disappointment, but putting them aside the second game takes everything I loved about the first and adds on to it with even more content and options that take the game further than I believe just DLC would have done.
The new mode for play, Scavenge Mode, puts a team of survivors against a team of infected (supported by AI common infected as usual) in a race for resources. The survivors must rush around a small map and collect up to 16 gas tanks, return to their base, and pour them into either a large tank or a vehicle there. The infected objective is to prevent the surviviors from collecting the gas tanks, naturally, which involves forcing players to drop gas tanks or lighting unattended tanks on fire in addition to the usual tactics of attacking and singling out the survivors. This mode has a very unique feel from the others present in the game, and requires extremely good teamwork to master, making it one of the best additions to the game. Even better is the fact that some of the new campaigns have scavange rounds incorporated into them that creates a great varity of play styles in a single match.
The five new campaigns make the first game’s campaigns look simple and bland, which is a pretty big feat considering how fun and original the first game was. Also, if played in order, the campaigns create a compelling story of four survivors making their way to safety through various environments and dangerous situations. Nothing beats collecting as many gas cans as you can to fill up a car in one campaign and then starting the next with that car stalled on the road and feeling like maybe you should have worked harder to gather more gas for it or to fight off the infected for just a little bit longer.
Speaking of infected, the new types of special infected are another highlight of this game. The first included the quick and agile Hunter that pounces on a survivor to incapacitate them, the long ranged Smoker that chokes a survivor, and the Boomer that pukes on targets to blind them and lure more infected to the survivors. Left 4 Dead 2 adds three new types to the mix: the Jockey is a small and quick infected that jumps on a survivor and steers them around and stops them from acting on their own, the Spitter is a long ranged infected that can spit a large area of very damaging acid onto the ground, and finally the Charger is a large and damaging infected that can charge and pummel a single survivor. The great balance of all the infected is very interesting, as every round is at most a 4 versus 4 game there will almost always be a boomer or a spitter meaning that one survivor should always be free to move around and save their teamates. The new types of infected add another level of interaction with the survivors, allowing teamwork in moving around and strategically attacking the opposing players.
Despite my early hesitation and sour feelings about a whole new game so soon after the first, Left 4 Dead 2 has completely won me over and it is now easily my favorite game to play with friends. We’ve gotten quite a few games together with a few of us on a team together and the feeling of cooperating successfully with friends online cannot be beat by any other game that I’ve played. If you have the game and are on X-Box Live often, feel free to send me a message, my gamertag is the same as my name on this site!
Just to add a bit to Bartoneus’ review, the whole feel of the game is different. There is always a sense of urgency and motivation to keep moving whereas in the first it was very easy to hunker down and fend off a horde, hop forward to the next defensible area and hunker down, etc.
They have redesigned campaign flow to encourage a more active style of gameplay and the new special infected mechanics also further this idea. While the game has become significantly harder for survivors (a friend and I could easily beat expert campaigns with just the two of us in L4D1) it is also ultimately more rewarding.
I think it’s worth the price of admission.