Game Review: Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 Review:

Left 4 Dead 2 is a 4 player co-op survival zombie horror first person shooter game developed by VALVE and released on November 17 2009 and the sequel to the original Left 4 Dead 1. It reprises the same maps from the 1^st game but with additional story maps and new characters that the players can play. It also features an entire new arsenal such as the minigun and the chainsaw as well as different zombie types like the Spitter and Charger. This game also features multiplayer content allowing players to set up their own dedicated servers and play as zombies to beat the enemy team.

Simple would be the perfect word to describe this game. The team must make it from point A to point B, while this sounds simple, the complicated part of it is making it through with a crap loads of zombie running towards you and the element of teamwork and communication is very important. Players start off at a safe house or at a designated locations where various starting weapons and items appear. Players take weapons and items of their choice before heading off to their destination, some items can include health kits, adrenaline and pain pills. All players must efficiently utilise their items and weapon ammo to ensure that they reach their destination with minimal waste of resources. Players traverse through 4 safehouse before they reach the “Finale” where they must defend their position long enough to be rescued by a event such as a helicopter or a ship.

One aspect I’m amazed of the game is the level design, not too long yet not too short, enough room for players to traverse through their environment. Just blowing off a zombie’s head feels amazing and just running and gunning down them with your friends over skype is something that will never get boring. The artificial intelligence of the zombie play out different scenarios extremely well, even working together effectively to outplay the human players. Special infected use their abilities to not only harm the players but to initiate an attack and prevent progression.  There are also 4 difficulties that the players can choose from, ranging from Easy to Expert with expert being extremely difficulty and requires the best of teamwork, map knowledge and communication.

There are 8 different types of special infected:

Hunter: Medium to high HP, their special ability is their leap which they can leap around very quickly making them a very difficult target to hit. They pounce on a player rendering him/her useless unless another teammate helps them.

Smoker: Around Low to medium hp, they use their tongue to snare their prey and deal damage to them, usually they hide around rooftops or places that are generally hard to see so players cannot make out their presence.

Boomer: A fat zombie that doesn’t do any damage but initiates a horde attack through their bile vomit. When vomited on a player, it will blind the player and stun them for a few seconds attracting a horde of zombies and opening up a chance for other special infected to attack the enemy.

Charger: High HP zombie, these guys charge straight at a player and if caught, will continuously slam them to the ground until dead, they are difficult to play because it is easy to dodge their charge.

Spitter: Uses acidic spit to create an area of effect puddle that damages all humans that walk on it. The longer they stay on it, the more damage it does. Spit can be strategically placed to block off a door and prevent humans from progressing the map for a short amount of time.

Jockey: A small like creature that rides on the head of players, in this moment, they are given a small control of players dictating their movement to wherever the jockey pleases.

Tank: The big boss of them all, they usually appear randomly once in a level, these are heavy muscle zombies that are extremely tough to take down and can seriously do some damage if caught. They 

can use their environment to their advantages such as hitting cars towards players which is an instant death if caught, they also can through large boulders at players which is also devastating. However their weakness is their speed, so players can utilise its weakness to take it down.

Witch: Also appearing randomly every level, these witch are usually harmless but if disrupted by players become extremely dangerous. No matter what difficulty the game is on, it will always one hit ko a player, if played on expert, it will kill the player in one hit. They are generally best avoided in the game.

With over 5 valve-created maps, there is always fun to play no matter where you are, the new user interface has made it so that players in one click of a button can find an online multiplayer server and play with other players. Different game modes such as versus allows players to also play zombies which pits in actual strategy to defeat each other. For a game that costs $20, it should be a bang for your buck. The music and ambient have been well created and give off an eerie feeling every time you play a level.