In November 2008, Valve released Left 4 dead to much critical acclaim. However, it soon became apparent that the title lacked in a few areas, but fans held out for the expected downloadable content that Valve has so commonly released. Valve had different plans and announced in June that they would be releasing a sequel to the popular title, Left 4 Dead 2. The day has finally come for gamers to see what has been added to the Left 4 Dead series, but should they expect this title to just be expansion on the original or is it worthy of being called a sequel?

Gameplay

Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) takes four survivors and places them into the southern United States after the outbreak of an infection that creates a variety of zombies. As in the original, players assume the role of one of the survivors as they make their way through a variety of settings that will ultimately have them escaping via car, helicopter, etc. To achieve this goal, players must work alongside their teammates to clear the path to the safe house where you can load the next map in the series in safety. Valve has implemented a variety of weapons, much to my pleasure, that you can use to blow away an assortment of zombies in a spray of blood.  All of this further adds to the cooperative gameplay that gamers have experienced in the original, but has been improved in L4D2.

The best feature of L4D2, much like the original, is the replayability of the campaign mode. One of the biggest complaints about the first game in the series was the small amount of maps that were included at release. Valve has taken this into consideration and provided gamers with an expanded campaign mode that feels much more random, thanks to the AI improvements. Having a random gameplay experience just about every time you play makes each play through unique and interesting.  Your experience will only be even further advanced by the players who have joined you in your quest to reach the evacuation zone.

Valve has not only improved on the campaign mode but they have also coupled L4D2 with the scavenge, survival, versus and realism modes all of which are either new or have been expanded. Survival mode, one of my particular favorites, consists of a timed onslaught against an unending horde of zombies in one of several maps. The goal is to stay alive for as long as possible with an arsenal at your disposal. This may sound easy enough, but when you’re facing dozens of zombies at any given moment it can become very hectic very quickly. Realism mode, which is also new to the series, ups the ante by removing many of the indicators that show you where items are and makes zombies less susceptible to body shots. The addition of these two modes coupled with versus and campaign play have added even more of what gamers love and allows for further use of the expanded weapons library.
One of the biggest complaints I had with the original Left 4 Dead was the lack of weaponry. Within any given game, you were limited to a select few weapons. Once again, the developers have improved upon the original and added an even greater variety of melee weapons, items and guns in general. Some of the more satisfying experiences come from having to chainsaw your way through a group of zombies that have had the sad misfortune of choosing to surround you. Despite all of the additions, L4D2 still has its issues.

The most notable issue I had with L4D2 was the lack of intelligent teammate AI. While this won’t be an issue for most of your online gameplay, there are still times when the AI will take over and do a terrible job at keeping your team afloat. Certainly with all of the work that was put into the Director, Valve could have spent a little extra time making your teammates more useful especially for those of you that wish to play the single player campaign.

Graphics

L4D2 has taken the graphics of the original and enhanced them ever so slightly. The new improvements add even more gore and environmental effects that create the sense that you are in a barren, zombie infested southern United States. Add to this the modest system requirements and you have an excellent graphical experience that helps to further pull you into the action, but not tax your aging PC.

Sound

Although the musical score is sometimes the most ignored aspect of video game development, the atmosphere in L4D2 that is created by the in-game score is impeccable. Clearly the developers have put a lot of time and effort into ensuring that the sound effects further enhance your gameplay experience instead of detracting from it. Immersion was clearly key when choosing the sound effects and musical score when L4D2 was under development.

Plasmafactor

One of my biggest gripes with the original game is, as stated before, the lack of weaponry. Valve has added some fantastically fun melee weapons that give you the feeling that you are in a zombie comedy to the likes of Shaun of the Dead. There is nothing more hilarious then watching as your teammate takes a samurai sword, frying pan, baseball bat or chainsaw and cuts their way out of a group of zombies.

Conclusion

While many gamers may have been skeptical of a sequel so closely following the original Left 4 Dead, they need not worry with this release. L4D2 takes many of the same exciting and fun gameplay modes and added several more to greatly enhance your zombie killing experience. The increased difficulty of realism mode and the frenzy of scavenge sets a new standard for how a zombie apocalypse should be portrayed in the video game world. With the added atmosphere created by the games improved graphics and in-game score, gamers are sure to have a replayable experience that will keep them busy for quite some time to come.