My dad once told me that the most important thing in life is not having a good education, a well paid/fun job or marrying a great woman. No, the most important thing was having a good zombie plan. That I wasn’t part of his zombie plan (atleast not in a live state) didn’t surprise me nor did the fact that he got arrested for trying to smack a police officer on the head with his golfclub. While six policemen desperately tried to save their fellow officer by trying to subdue my father (who was only wearing his underwear) with pepperspray and nightsticks, he kept screaming to me to; “spin them around and hit them in the back”. I however had gone back to bed instead (I wasn’t in the mood to riot in the morning about a parking ticket). I started thinking of what I should do when the inevitable zombie apocalypse would begin. It seems I need a zombie plan; I need to play Left 4 Dead 2!





Meet and hear the (new) team

Gamers who haven’t played the first L4D shouldn’t worry about a so-called “story”. The zombie apocalypse has begun! Some kind of infection has turned the braindead American population into brain hungering zombies, The few Survivors who for some reason are immune to this disease group up (usual into packs of four) and head towards lesser zombie infested paradises. What follows is a delicious amount of brianz, blood, limbs and (dead) zombies.

Left 4 Dead 2 is set in the southern part of the States and our new (un)lucky Survivors are Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle. Nick is a gambler who travels from state to state to scam tourists and if he gets the chance, naïve locals. However it seems Nick took the wrong turn at Albuquerque and now finds himself stranded in a zombie infested city. Ellis is a young mechanic who is born and raised in Georgia with the stereotypical Southern accent present in his vocal cords. Rochelle is a journalist who is looking for the story of her life and she seems to have literally found it. Last but not least is Coach, a watered down footballcoach who clearly hasn’t tossed a ball around since he was 16 and now sees how his beloved home is turning into a feasting ground for zombies. It is with these characters the players must attempt to get from Georgia to New Orleans where (hopefully) rescue will be awaiting them. All of them however aren’t afraid to show these zombies what “Southern hospitality” really means.



However unlike in the last game this installment really shows that the four Survivors don’t know each other and are forced to cooperate with each other because of the current (zombie)situation. There is also no real leader present in the group (in the last game Bill was kind of the leader of the pack) and the cold and careless way the Survivors sometimes respond to each other really helps build up a “every-man-for-himself” feeling. When you use your healthkit to heal a fellow teammate your character will always whine how he/she should save it for themselves. These kinds of details make the group feeling harsher but also a lot more realistic looking at what is going in the world around them.

I also must say that the voice acting is very good. The sporadic conversations between the Survivors, their warnings, screams and taunts are very varied and of great composition. Especially Ellis with his accent and funny comments will often make you laugh. When he starts telling stories about his friend Keith you just can’t deny that Valve has done a great job at finding good voice actors. The soundtracks are mostly based on those of the first game but tweaked into a more southern music style, which especially gives a great feeling when fighting hordes of zombies.

Stick to the movie plan people!

The atmosphere in the game is great and it really breathes a B-movie horror theme. This is really sets a great mood when playing the game, because who doesn’t want to be the big hero during a zombie apocalypse? The same greatness can be found in the five new campaigns; again these campaigns play like crazy horror movies.

In Dead Center, the first campaign, our heroes are just on time to see their rescue fly away. They decide to team up and head towards the next rescue center which, conveniently, is located in an abandoned mall center. It is there that they will try to gas up a race car and drive off to safer heavens. The first thing you notice however is that this campaign is set during broad daylight. Zombies aren’t vampires (and certainly not the sparkly kind) so they aren’t scared of light. If you think this makes the game any easier then you will see within five seconds that this is all but true. You will feel their undead stink just as much as during night time.



The game also tries to separate the Survivors a lot more. Many gamers who played the original memorized one golden rule into their brianz: “Stick together!” L4D2 does very well to kick you out of your comfort zone and it gives a great feeling when you and your mates find a strategy that seems to work.

Say no to AI’s and kids

Once you and your team race out of the mall and cross a bridge (with a bit of help from the original Survivors) the fuel runs out and you have to continue on foot. The campaigns fit together a lot better now and although a lot of time passes between one mission and the other they are still written nicely into each other, which greatly improves the experience.

In Dark Carnival the Survivors enter a theme park after their car runs out of fuel and try to attract the attention of a rescue chopper by playing a rock concert with fireworks and a lot of music. Meanwhile they have to hold off incoming zombie fans who are gasping for a taste of their new idols.

Luckily there are a lot of new weapons and gadgets for the Survivors to use. Like a Magnum pistol, new shotguns, machineguns (some with silencers), sniper rifles, an AK-47 and even a grenade launcher. As if that wasn’t enough there are also laser sights that improve your aim and explosive and inferno ammo that make zombie killing a real fun thing to do. Biggest newcomers are the melee weapons. These include axes, katana’s, frying pans and the pwns0me chainsaw! Lots of players however still seem to think that using guns is better than having a melee. But when surrounded by zombies it’s better to use an axe to dismember multiple zombies at once and stun a large portion of the rest of them. Melee weapons do a lot more damage against large groups and they never run out of ammo! And thanks to a new physics engine the limbs and blood will fly and squirt happily into the air. That alone is enough reason to carry a melee weapon around.



The finals are a lot harder now in L4D2 than in its predecessor. When the chopper lands you run like hell towards it. Finishing off a few more zombies is not a good idea because the game stars spamming them like crazy. The finals just filled with chaotic action that will ask all your skills to bear. Not only finals but the rest of the game has also gotten harder. Gamers who finished L4D on Expert might want to try this one on Advanced first. And if you play the campaign with AI buddies then you’d better not try to go above Normal, because the AI is dumb as hell. Sure they do their job well but they aren’t the ones you should be looking at when you’re trying to think of a strategy. However the same goes for some real players online (especially after school hours). Playing with youngsters is not a good idea in this game.

These folks don’t look so friendly

After Dark Carnival comes the campaign called Swamp Fever and Hard Rain. In Swamp Fever you have to try to reach a ferry and in Hard Rain get to a gas station to pick up fuel for the ferry (and go back ofcourse). Hard Rain has the same levels but are different as you come pass them again. When you first start out the sun is shining and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, however upon your way back a storm has settled in, making it impossible for you to see more than a few meters. Try fighting against zombies then!

As if that wasn’t enough there are also new Special Infected. These infected are more powerful then regular zombies and can cause pain and havoc amongst the Survivors. The Spitter is a hideous monster that spits acid on the floor. The Charger is a kind of mini Tank that can charge into a survivor and pound him into the ground with his large arm (how did he get such an arm?). Last is a midget on steroids called the Jockey. He jumps onto Survivors and “steer” them into any direction he wants. But it seems like the zombies thought they need more manpower so they called in the Special Infected from the original L4D, so don’t be surprised to see Boomers, Hunters, Smokers and Tanks running around. The Witch decided it was time for a vacation and also went to the South. Better not make her notice you.



Amongst all that there are also “uncommon” infected zombies who are slightly different from the normal zombies. Like clowns who attract the attention of other zombies towards you with their noisy shoes or infected cops who wear body armor. Taking out these uncommon zombies first during a battle isn’t a bad idea.


Are you my friends?!

It’s obvious that L4D2 is (again) a game to play with your friends in co-op. This co-op gameplay is again of very high standards and there are also new game modes amongst the original ones. Like in the first one you can play the campaigns with your friends. There is also the Versus mode where 4 players take on the role of Survivors who try to complete the campaign and 4 players who take on the role of Special Infected and try to stop them. Getting trough in one piece is a real challenge for the Survivors if the Infected players know how to use teamwork (and vice versa). In Survivor mode you are attacked by endless amounts of zombies and just try to hold out as long as possible.

A new mode is called Realism. In this mode various helping tools for the Survivors are removed and zombies are smarter and tougher. You really need to shoot him in the head if you don’t want to waste ammo. In Scavenger mode the Survivors try to collect as much fuel as possible and the Infected try to hold them back. All of these new modes are perfect to play with friends as you try to perfect your strategy on all of them. Especially in Scavenger mode where you need to find the right balance between speed and risk.





So in the end, was it all worth this?

L4D2 has really preceded the reputation of the original L4D. It has lots of action which you just can’t get enough of. Valve had all the right to put a two behind this title. They have achieved their goals; the enemies are more fun, the gameplay has been improved and they have added new weapons and items for players to use. Valve also added more options and customizations for modders.

However the core of the game is still the same. Gamers who played the first one will immediately know what to do in this new game. The core element is the same and this makes me feel sorry for two kinds of gamers.
First of all I feel sorry for the ones who bought the first L4D for 50 bucks and believed the promise Valve made to give them lots of free DLC’s. In the end they only got 2 minor DLC’s that don’t really fill in that promise very well. Second of all I feel sorry for the people who paid 50 bucks for L4D2 and expected a totally different style of gameplay. The games are almost identical to each other.
If this were a review a few days after release I would say wait till the price has dropped. But since it isn’t and since the price has already dropped to a level which I find is right for this game I can only say that this game is worth getting and if your buddies also get it you will have a great time together (unless they get some weird D3D error which prohibits them from playing) and in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Score:
Gameplay: 50/60
Graphics: 16/20
Sound: 16/20

Total: 82/100

Positive:
- Great gameplay
- Fantastic Co-op
- New weapons and items

Negative:
- Dumb AI
- No big gameplay changes

Baggy sayz: Great zombie game, it has it all, it gives it all and you can get it for a fair price now. Get it, love it, you won’t regret it.

Please read/comment/vote so I know what you guys think. Don't move to FragFriday or Videogames.

>> Graphics: 16/20

i hate this game on expert lol

Good review, but i'm pissed that Valve has ye to respond to my email on why both my L4D games decided to randomly stop working.

Great review, Bag.


I've only played this game twice at my cousins, and I found it extremely fun.

and shit graphics fit into the gameplay because....

The Graphics aren't shit, they are of that quality for the reason that the game needs to be able to spawn masses of zombies without causing perfomance and connection lag. So giving it a more high end graphx wouldn't benefit the game. Aside from that this game wouldn't be fun if it had high quality graphx. This is a game about killing zombies we are talking about. The amount of gore and blood put in it would exceed the level of fun if it were more detailed and just disgust people.

i refuse to buy this game on 2 principles:
1) i have to use a fraudulent account to play the non-playschool version
2) my DoWII key stopped workjng again, and steamsupport is calling me a pirate, even after i took a picture of the back of the manual

Lol, there's always one bad rating.