Review: Left 4 Dead 2

The zombie apocalypse, new and improved.

Read Full Article

I still say "I Still Can't Believe You Assholes Ditched Me Here!" would have made a better title.

My Xbox got E74 due to this game, so I'm gonna lay off it for a while.

Hard Rain = awesome though.

Come December 25th I will be able to wade in and join the L$D2 fight, untill then I best get back to L4D1 to blast through No Mercy for the upteenth time.

I agree with most points, the game is a huge improvement from L4D. The melee weapons, the maps, the run-like-hell crescendo events, the gore is awesome and small details like the safe room music is very cool as well.

The only thing I didn't really enjoy that much were the characters. I find them bland. Rochelle and Nick have no personality whatsoever, and Coach could have been a lot better.

Also, the game is way more difficult than its predecessor.

It bored the life out of me, im glad i didnt buy it. Nice review though, Funk always gives a full coverage and is only slightly bias :P

Jaranja:
It gets old really quickly. It's far too easy. It's monotonous.

Really? The general consensus among the people who played the first game (who I've talked to, anyway) seems to be that the game is a lot harder than the first one. Special infected come in waves of three at a time, the Director 2.0 doesn't go as easy on you as in the first game.

No broom? Alas.

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

I'm as disappointed as you are, Shamus.

Distorted Stu:
It bored the life out of me, im glad i didnt buy it. Nice review though, Funk always gives a full coverage and is only slightly bias :P

Bias is a noun. Biased is an adjective.

Plus, I am boycotting this game due to its lack of broom. I mean, cricket bats are cool, and all, but come on.

CantFaketheFunk:

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

I'm as disappointed as you are, Shamus.

Perhaps that's the rumoured DLC.

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

Don't fear The Reaper.

Laura.:
I agree with most points, the game is a huge improvement from L4D. The melee weapons, the maps, the run-like-hell crescendo events, the gore is awesome and small details like the safe room music is very cool as well.

The only thing I didn't really enjoy that much were the characters. I find them bland. Rochelle and Nick have no personality whatsoever, and Coach could have been a lot better.

Also, the game is way more difficult than its predecessor.

One thing I miss is the interaction between characters from L4D1. That game was almost worth playing alone for the elevator dialog in No Mercy, and for Francis's constant griping. Ellis is a hoot, but I hoped for more than a one-man show.

As for the difficulty, I remember getting through L4D1 campaigns on Easy in 15 minutes -- Expert would take up to two hours. I've gone through all the campaigns in L4D2 on Easy so far, and I think my shortest time so far has been 45 minutes. It's no cakewalk, that's for sure.

It was a big shock from the demo, which seemed to have the difficulty turned way down. I had to turn it up to Advanced before I could even see a spitter or jockey for more than a half second, and even then the tanks would go down very very quickly. They sucker you in with the easy demo, and then gang up on you for the real game. ;)

Hm. I bought L4D earlier this month after playing the demo of L4D2. The melee weapons seem overpowered though, either that or the survivors have manly muscles in their arms. I might buy L4D2, but probably not this month or this year.

CyberKnight:

One thing I miss is the interaction between characters from L4D1. That game was almost worth playing alone for the elevator dialog in No Mercy, and for Francis's constant griping. Ellis is a hoot, but I hoped for more than a one-man show.

I guess to each their own, but I've loved the interaction between the characters here, too. All of the characters have had their little moments. Like "Oh hey, Whispering Oaks! I used to go there all the time when I was a kid!" "Great. So we can die there as adults. Sounds like fun."

Coach and Nick have some really funny back-and-forths. I like Nick's sense of snark in general.

There is still funny back and forth between the new characters but I think it doesnt seem as funny because I got attached to the characters from L4D, they saw me through many a zombie appocalypse and im just not ready to let go yet. L4D2 however is awesome, enough new stuff to stand out and keep my attention but the basics havnt changed so its not a confusing sequel.

Jaranja:

CantFaketheFunk:

Jaranja:
It gets old really quickly. It's far too easy. It's monotonous.

Really? The general consensus among the people who played the first game (who I've talked to, anyway) seems to be that the game is a lot harder than the first one. Special infected come in waves of three at a time, the Director 2.0 doesn't go as easy on you as in the first game.

I'll admit, this game is harder than it's predecessor but it's still an easy game. I find that the special infected often get huddled into the rest of the rabble and just die along with them.

Well the ultimate challenge will always be Versus mode, I suppose.
I think for the most part it is harder, but you seem to get more supplies than you did in L4D.

I really hope valve make it easy to port over L4D custom maps, because the L4D community was just hitting its stride. And I'd like to see L4D2 bolster the L4D community, not destroy it.

CantFaketheFunk:

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

I'm as disappointed as you are, Shamus.

Probably a balancing issue. I mean, how do you balance the reaper? Give the zombies miniguns?

Doug:

CantFaketheFunk:

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

I'm as disappointed as you are, Shamus.

Probably a balancing issue. I mean, how do you balance the reaper? Give the zombies miniguns?

Touché

Jaranja:
It gets old really quickly. It's far too easy. It's monotonous.

Too easy? I think you're full of shit. This game is easily twice as hard as the first. Killing zombies never gets old and the whole point of constantly killing zombies is the POINT, not monotonous.

Jiraiya72:

Jaranja:
It gets old really quickly. It's far too easy. It's monotonous.

Too easy? I think you're full of shit. This game is easily twice as hard as the first. Killing zombies never gets old and the whole point of constantly killing zombies is the POINT, not monotonous.

I have to agree. The only way it could be "too easy" is if you only play on Easy or Normal mode.

Thing I want to know is - when can I preorder L4D3? :P

Shamus Young:
No broom? Alas.

hehe has any one done a broom patch yet??

Laura.:
I agree with most points, the game is a huge improvement from L4D. The melee weapons, the maps, the run-like-hell crescendo events, the gore is awesome and small details like the safe room music is very cool as well.

The only thing I didn't really enjoy that much were the characters. I find them bland. Rochelle and Nick have no personality whatsoever, and Coach could have been a lot better.

Also, the game is way more difficult than its predecessor.

This.

I really loved the characters in the first one! Probably gonna buy L4D2 though, maybe for christmas...

Jaranja:

Jiraiya72:

Jaranja:
It gets old really quickly. It's far too easy. It's monotonous.

Too easy? I think you're full of shit. This game is easily twice as hard as the first. Killing zombies never gets old and the whole point of constantly killing zombies is the POINT, not monotonous.

Well maybe you just can't play it as well as some. Killing zombies does get boring, very quickly, in fact. Saying something is twice as hard as another isn't really that smart either; Double 1 is 2 and it's still a small number. I'm really nitpicking now. I'll stop.

Nah, I really think your just full of it.

I played L4D on Expert as a matter of course, and L4D2 is much harder than L4D1 on Expert.

It just sounds like you are one those guys who has to brag about how good they are at things they haven't really done. You probably just played through it on Easy and got bored after one play through.

CantFaketheFunk:
...it just wouldn't be a valve game without a crowbar, would it?

No, indeed it would not be.

So is the gore vamped up? It looks like it, and there was the whole Australia issue.
I can't wait until they have a L4D3 where they cross over the survivors, but L4D and now L4D2 will satisfy my zombie lust.

Out4Blood4:

CantFaketheFunk:
...it just wouldn't be a valve game without a crowbar, would it?

No, indeed it would not be.

So is the gore vamped up? It looks like it, and there was the whole Australia issue.
I can't wait until they have a L4D3 where they cross over the survivors, but L4D and now L4D2 will satisfy my zombie lust.

From what I've seen from L4D1, yes. The gore has been ramped up CONSIDERABLY.

Before you start complaining about the difficulty, try playing it on expert with realism mode enabled. Not impossible, and sometimes it relies upon you getting lucky with the spawns. Two hunters and a spitter at the same time, then followed by two consecutive chargers can really mess you up. Killing zombies does get old rather fast though, but that's what versus is for.

CantFaketheFunk:

Out4Blood4:

CantFaketheFunk:
...it just wouldn't be a valve game without a crowbar, would it?

No, indeed it would not be.

So is the gore vamped up? It looks like it, and there was the whole Australia issue.
I can't wait until they have a L4D3 where they cross over the survivors, but L4D and now L4D2 will satisfy my zombie lust.

From what I've seen from L4D1, yes. The gore has been ramped up CONSIDERABLY.

Always a good thing IMO.

@topic: I was really expecting a skillet gag.
Also @topic: I hear the Director is crueler overall, but kind of evened out, like when me and a few others went through the No Mercy campaigns (L4D) and got half way through the first scene with not a drop of blood shed, the Director would even out our karma. With interest. The interest being a Boomer (and subsequent swarm), a Tank, a Smoker AND a Hunter, all in the manner of about 30 seconds, and we see a second hunter crawling around as our screen fades to black. And this happened every single time that we tried to do it "Black-Ops" style. Are there less of these events?

I see nothing here that couldn't have been patched into the original game instead of being released as a new game six months after the original. Money talks and bullshit walks.

I'm really struggling on this.

L4D was possibly my game of 2009. Truly godlike.

L4D2 feels like L4D(1.5). It's good but...

And it's that that stops me buying at full price.

I don't even know what it is that doesn't make it as good, it's just that...it's not quite as good.

Yeah, the flames are gorgeous, the bilebomb is great and useful, the Infected are great, but...

And I really can't explain any more than that.

Byers:
I see nothing here that couldn't have been patched into the original game instead of being released as a new game six months after the original.

Lies and exaggerations. It's larger than the entire 1st game (5 campaigns compared to 4 campaigns). It has new weapons, new graphics, new infected, new mechanics, new game modes, improved AI. Every single aspect of the game has been improved in some way.

And it's been a lot longer than "6 months after the original". Left 4 Dead was released a full year ago.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

So you are walking then?