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Left 4 Dead puts players in a world overrun with zombies, also known as the infected, and encourages them to work together to stay alive. While the game can be played solo, it’s best enjoyed with multiple players and I like its simplicity. You run around areas blowing away zombies and that’s basically all there is to it. It’s action-packed, fast-paced, can enjoyed with others, and it’s a lot of fun. It was a successful title and a year after it released came the sequel. Developed and published by Valve, Left 4 Dead 2 was released for PC and Xbox 360 in November, 2009. For this review, I played the PC version. Left 4 Dead 2 builds upon the ideas established in Left 4 Dead and aims to be bigger and better. Moreover, it features all of the campaigns from its predecessor but this review will primarily focus on the new content.
There is a story and just like the first game, most of it is conveyed through dialogue during gameplay and visual worldbuilding. Set in the southern United States during the aftermath of a viral outbreak which transforms humans into zombie-like creatures, referred to as the “infected”, Left 4 Dead 2 introduces four new survivors. They must stick together to stay alive and escape areas overrun with infected. The game conveys a somewhat grim and dark tone and atmosphere lightened up with some of the dialogue and banter between characters. Ultimately, it’s a simple premise which makes a great setup for the gameplay and Left 4 Dead 2 does flesh out the world a bit more than its predecessor.
To put it bluntly, Left 4 Dead 2 is basically more of the same but with new content. New survivors, new setting, new campaigns, new levels, new game modes, new weapons, and new infected types along with all of the campaigns from Left 4 Dead. Plus, you can enjoy with them with the new content introduced in Left 4 Dead 2. So it’s basically two games in one package. Just like its predecessor, the campaigns can be played solo but are best enjoyed with up to four players. Left 4 Dead 2 is a first-person shooter with an emphasis on cooperative play. It takes the basic concept of zombies and makes a simple and fun shooter out of it. It’s easy to pick up and play and understand and when everyone communicates and works together, it’s a real blast.
Left 4 Dead 2 comes with numerous game modes including Campaign, Realism, Versus, Survival, Versus Survival, and Scavenge. As expected, Campaign is the mode where four players can team up to complete the game’s numerous campaigns. Realism is a variant of the Campaign mode that aims to make things more realistic. For example, the survivor auras are removed, weapons and pickups are no longer highlighted, body shots do less damage than headshots, and it encourages players to be more cautious and careful. There’s also a realism variant of the Versus game mode. Versus pits two teams against each other, Survivors and Infected. The goal of Survival is for players to try and hold out for as long as possible and in Versus Survival, the Survivor team must try and hold out as long as possible against the Infected team who must try to kill the survivors as quickly as possible. The only mode I couldn’t check out was Scavenge because I couldn’t find any matches or get any going, myself.
Left 4 Dead 2 introduces Mutations which are gameplay modifiers that can be applied to the different game modes. New Mutations were added weekly by Valve for a while and from what I understand, they were initially only available for a week before being retired and replaced by another but eventually, all of them were made available. Needless to say, Left 4 Dead 2 comes with plenty of content to keep players occupied.
I spent most of my time in the Campaign mode and as of this review, Left 4 Dead 2 does have an active multiplayer scene so finding others to play with was never a problem. The mechanics are the same as before and the goal of most levels is to simply get to the saferoom so you can proceed to the next level. The last level of a campaign typically has you fending off hordes of infected until rescue arrives. There are plenty of weapons in the game including melee weapons, pistols, submachine guns, a heavy machine gun, grenade launcher, shotguns, and rifles. You can lob molotovs and pipe bombs and Left 4 Dead 2 introduces a new throwable type, Bile Jars which contain bile that will attract infected. There’s also new pickups. In addition to medkits and pain pills are defibrillators to revive dead survivors and adrenaline which speeds up your movement and actions, and laser sights and explosive and incendiary ammo for your weapons.
Just like the previous game, the star of Left 4 Dead 2 is the Director, or in this case, the AI Director 2.0. It ensures every playthrough is unique by dictating enemy spawns, pickups, effects, and music, all based upon the status of players. It’s a dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing and difficulty and is not to be confused with the teammate AI which is still awful. They do the basics like run around and shoot infected, heal you and each other, and on the Normal difficulty, I found that if I stuck close to them, they performed well enough that I could complete levels relatively easily. Mainly because they help keep infected at bay and will help you up if you go down. But they don’t attempt to complete objectives or throw anything or do anything super sophisticated. Ultimately, the campaigns are fun solo but as mentioned before, they’re best enjoyed with other players.
Left 4 Dead 2’s action is fast-paced and frenetic with satisfying gunplay. Muzzle flashes illuminate dark areas, you can blow off enemy heads and limbs, splatter their blood all over the environments, and weapons have good audiovisual feedback. The same standard and special infected from the previous game are present here along with a new form, Uncommon Infected and new special types. Uncommon infected have unique properties like armored types, clowns, and mud men for example, and they are slightly more dangerous than common infected but are still pretty easy to take down, at least in my experience. It’s the special infected you have to watch out for. New special types include the Jockey, Charger, and Spitter. The Jockey will cling to survivors and ride them. As the name implies, the Charger will charge into survivors and if it manages to grab a hold of one, it will repeatedly slam them. The Spitter will spit acid which can expand into a large puddle and damage any survivors standing in it.
Basically, all the new infected types equate to more threats, more chances for you to be immobilized, and more challenging gameplay. I can’t say Left 4 Dead 2 is significantly more difficult than its predecessor, at least not in my experience, but there are more dangers to be mindful of and the new weapons and pickups do help balance it out.
The environments are linear but often contain multiple ways to get through areas and because of the Director, it’s wise to explore every nook and cranny for pickups should you or your teammates need them. While a room in one playthrough may have nothing of interest, it could include pickups in another. Left 4 Dead 2’s campaigns do feature more interesting events and throw more hordes at you. Several levels feature objectives like scavenging for fuel cans or interacting with something and then waiting for something to happen so you can progress. There are many situations where something is activated or triggered like an alarm and you have to fight through hordes to deactivate it. You’ll fight your way through a mall, swamp, sewers, hotel, woods, and many more in addition to the locations from the first game. All of them look like something terrible passed through and do a good job at conveying a sense of dread and horror.
Visually, Left 4 Dead 2 still holds up pretty well. Each campaign features a distinct set of levels and the addition of the first game’s campaigns only add to the environmental diversity as a whole. I love the visual and gore effects and the weapon, character, and enemy models look good, too. Plus, I love the infected animations and reactions to gunshots. Intense tunes kick in at certain points, helping to elevate tension and, overall, the audio work is very well done. Weapons fire sounds powerful, explosions are booming and the infected make all kinds of disgusting noises. On the technical side, the game ran great and I encountered no major issues.
I love Left 4 Dead 2. I think it’s better than its predecessor and kind of renders it obsolete. Only because all the content is included in Left 4 Dead 2. Left 4 Dead 2 takes what was great about the first game and expands upon it. It maintains the simple concept of zombies and gives you more. The Director ensures no two playthroughs are ever the same so every experience is unique. Add in all the game modes and Mutations and there’s a ridiculous amount of replay value here. Furthermore, the game supports mods and Steam Workshop and there’s plenty of fan-created content out there. Left 4 Dead 2 is easily my favorite zombie game. I like that it’s easy to pick up and play and get into and it’s always a lot of fun. The run and gun action is satisfying as is fending off hordes with other players. When everyone works together, it’s one of the most enjoyable cooperative experiences in all of video games.
I absolutely recommend Left 4 Dead 2. If you’re looking to get into the series, I would say just start here. Unless you’re a collector, are curious about the first game, or must play the games in order, I don’t see any reason to start with the first game since all of its campaigns have been ported to Left 4 Dead 2. It’s got everything that made the first game so much fun and gives you more. If you like the idea of a fast-paced action game that simply lets you run around and blow away zombies, and even do it with friends, then Left 4 Dead 2 is the game for you and should keep you coming back for a while. Definitely check it out.