Left 4 Dead 2 review
There was understandable outrage when Valve announced a sequel to Left 4 Dead, to be released only a year after the original game, giving a hint that it might be a yearly series, something very untrue to the Valve spirit (which is quite the opposite: quality delays). Is there merit to the criticism and concerns? Has Left 4 Dead 2 too little to offer compared to last year? In short, yes, in long: yes, but it’s still a heck of a lot of fun.
The story in Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D 2) followed the same type of story and gameplay as its predecessor, the main campaign follows four survivors, played via online co-op with three other players, where the point is to escape through a maze and myriad of zombies of all kinds. It’s a style of gameplay where teamwork absolutely counts, in L4D 2, it counts even more. Don’t even think about going solo — you’ll be picked to your bones very quickly. The new campaign follows four new survivors, this time they seem to be more varied with better personality, however the AI is still lacking a bit behind, where they’ll often run in front of you, despite that it’s very clear that you’re shooting a very big gun right next to them. But this, of course, is gone when you play co-op — which you should, that’s the whole point, anyways.
The campaign spans around 5 diverse maps, which are are now part of the same overall story, in style of classic survivor zombie movies, music and games, this time, set in the South. Good stuff, really. On top of that, there’s a 2 player split screen mode, which also works online, so you can team up with a friend in your living room, and join two other players online.
The new game modes include Realism, which, as the name suggests, offer a lot more pain-in-the-ass-tense action that the regular mode, something L4D junkies will certainly enjoy. There’s a ton of new weapons too, which include melee weapons as well, but with the exception of melee weapons, the guns available don’t have a good feeling to them, often come across as toy guns, both in looks, sound and feels. Valve has made Half Life, Counter Strike Source and Day of Defeat; all of which had weapons that were pretty solid. But not Left 4 Dead and L4d 2, unfortunately. It also brings us to another area where the game lacks: visuals. The Source Engine, while doing great in Episode 2 (over two years ago), seems to be far less advanced in L4D 2, the textures are bland, the visuals treats are rarely there and the effects have also taken a step back. This might have something to do with the fact that it’s a co-op multiplayer game and the maps are large, but still, it feels very 2004-ish.
The new content in L4D 2 is good enough to justify a $50 purchase for the die hard fans, but for everyone else, there’s isn’t much new in addition to the original game. If you haven’t tried to survival horror co-op shooter, you might as well pick up the first game, which is sold at around half the price. The gameplay is 99% the same, actually 100% but I’m sure Valve has changed one bit somewhere. Probably.
The Good:
Still fun gameplay
Interesting campaign
Nice audio and soundtrack
The Bad:
Looks dated
Some AI issues
No gameplay improvements
Overall score: 8/10