Game Info
Game Name: Left 4 Dead 2
Developer(s): Valve
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Platform(s): Xbox 360/PC
Genre(s): First Person Shooter
Release Date(s): November 17, 2009
ESRB Rating: M
We’re still Left 4 Dead…2….
The horror continues. As a zombie plague sweeps the world, Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle are fighting to get to safety. The zombies are continuing to mutate and joining the Boomers, the Hunters, the Smokers, the Tanks, and the Witches are Chargers, Jockeys, and Spitters…plus the standard attacking hordes. Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle will have to work together if they hope to survive.
Left 4 Dead 2 was the follow-up sequel to the hit award winning 2008 game Left 4 Dead. Much like its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2 was widely acclaimed and the winner of many industry awards. The game can be played in solo play or can be played with multiple players online or locally. There was also some controversy due to claims of racism (some felt that the zombies all looked African-American).
I love Southern fried zombies!!!
Left 4 Dead 2 took a lot of what made Left 4 Dead a great game and improved on it…but it also slipped in some spots. The game is made up of four missions (“Dead Center”, “Dark Carnival”, Swamp Fever”, and “The Parish”) in the campaign mode which have about an hour or so playtime a piece (plus two downloadable content missions “The Sacrifice” and “The Passing”), and like the previous entry, it is mostly made up of running and gunning with friends or the help of AI players.
What Left 4 Dead 2 did was design some great levels. The swamps, the amusement park (with concert stage), the hard rain, and New Orleans make for great settings. The only problem with the new level designs is “assignments”. Collecting fuel and stuff really slows down the gameplay. I just like to shoot. Collecting things is for different styles of games…not Left 4 Dead and first person shooters.
Cricket anyone?
A great addition to the game is melee weapons. It was a frustrating aspect of the first game to have just multiple types of gun when the idea of a machete or chainsaw would have been great. Here you get to use those melee weapons so you can channel your inner Ash by chopping up zombies with a chainsaw or be Shaun of the Dead by sporting a cricket bat.
The new zombies are also fun. I find the jockeys terrifying and when they quickly jump and scurry toward you. Spitters are ok (but I still think Smokers are more threatening). I think Chargers are just wimpy Tanks and would have preferred some other different zombie…flying zombies?
Hey, doesn’t a zombie have a right to a nice weekend and some nice Cajun food…made of Cajuns…
A big draw to the Left 4 Dead series continues to be the multiplayer function and Left 4 Dead 2 doesn’t disappoint. The game has team play for the individual campaign missions, survivors vs. zombies, and endless horde survival. I generally don’t play online and still find the game has enough interest for single player (although the usually smart AI characters sometimes do start to test you).
Left 4 Dead 2 is a short, but great game. It has tons of replay ability. The game really isn’t about finishing it, but having fun, and it is fun. It is a bit unfortunate that they decided to introduce these side missions that slow up the game play. Despite the game’s success, as of now, there are no solid plans for Left 4 Dead 3.
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Very good game.