Left 4 Dead 2 review

[Stark]

Isn't that the jockey controlling the guy he's on? Zombie magic and all that.

[Mr Bean]

You missed lots of the Campaign it seems Shep

The survivors meet in Savannah Georgia
1. They met in the Hotel because it was an extraction point, the met up went to the roof, missed the Helio cue first campaign Dead Center
2. After escaping the Mall in Jimmy Gibs car they run into the LD1 guys on a bridge they can't cross because Bill raised it and died in the process cue The Passing
3. Making it closer to New Orleans they run into miles of abandoned cars which Jimmy Gibs car can't get around and they don't have the gas or car for a cross country attempt so they proceed on foot still headed to New Orleans que Dark Carnival
4. After being rescued by the helo pilot at the end of Dark Carnival they are flying back to New Orleans to be evacuated only to have the pilot go zombi on them and crash in the swaps between Savannah and New Orleans que Swap Fever
5. After being picked up by Virgil at the end they are forced to scavenge for gas and get off the boat que Hard Rain
6. After returning to the boat they are dropped off by Virgil at the docks at the edge of New Orleans que The Parish and the end of the game as they are pulled off by military Helio to end the game on a cruise ship.

As for why you can be bitten and clawed and be ok
Spoiler

The zombie virus or "Green Flu" in the game infects everyone who comes in contact with it, some people are immune other people mutate, the survivors are immune but still carry the virus. These people are called "carriers" and quickly infect any immunes they come in contact with who are not immune. We know from the Sacrifice DLC that being immune is a genetic trait and a male passed on gene. Some people are more vulnerable to the virus than others, some turning in hours or minutes while others take days. A rare few when exposed to the virus mutate and thus the special infected as something in their body goes haywire

[MKSheppard]

You missed lots of the Campaign it seems Shep

No I didn't, Beano. I started up the first campaign mission, and I don't get told any of this stuff about the hotel being an extraction point or them missing it....or maybe all that was in the opening video....which wasn't captioned. Come to think of it, I don't think any of the 3D game sequences that start each campaign mission are.

Great job there valve!

[Mr Bean]

You missed lots of the Campaign it seems Shep

No I didn't, Beano. I started up the first campaign mission, and I don't get told any of this stuff about the hotel being an extraction point or them missing it....or maybe all that was in the opening video....which wasn't captioned. Come to think of it, I don't think any of the 3D game sequences that start each campaign mission are.

Great job there valve!

They are captioned, I know because I play with captions on and I've seen them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHv_HVue-3A (Skip to 1 minute 35 seconds)
Sounds like somethings wrong with your captions, there are levels of captions, full and subtitle only

You want full.

[Joviwan]

Campaign mode, single player or multiplayer, gets stale very quickly. It's a breeze with even simple communication on the hardest difficulty, it doesn't really change enough to keep things unique, and memorization of the level is basically a key to 100% success. I don't mind the bare bones presentation of the story because I'm a fatty nerd that likes reading scribbles on the walls for plot immersion.

The only reason I still play the game is for Versus. Putting humans in control of the special infected makes the game MUCH harder and much more interesting because they will actually start behaving intelligently (well, you know, for a given value of intelligent). Communication with your team mates becomes absolutely critical for your success, as does building up good habits and knowing how to predict what your opponents are likely to do. It's still all the same levels, but human opponents make the experience much richer. Also, the ability to slam someone into the floor and tear out their nipples while your friends charge/spit/boom/smoke/jockey the other survivors is pretty satisfying.

The game is basically worthless without Versus mode, in my opinion, though there's something of a pain-and-suffering barrier if you're just PUGing around on servers. You need friends.

Voice communication is pretty critical if you want to succeed. Sadly, this does not really help Shep.

[PainRack]

Shep didn't play hardcore enough:D

At realistic level, it takes 5 claws for your health to be wiped out and you could be ko in one hit by the tank/witch and IIRC, charger...... Well. For the charger, it was charge in and smash.

There's also plenty of throw-away audio lines as well as text in the background. The text is...... too hard to read when the zeds pop up but the audio is pretty cool. Best of all, it does lend to replayability because replaying multiple times is what reveal the whole backstory.

One thing odd though is that I found L4D2 much harder than the first. The horde behaviour is dramatically different and allows for single zombies to catch you offguard and hurt you. Infected seems to sprout way more often and the director is more punishing if you choose to just sit around and wait(not a good idea when you're playing a new map with pure noobs like me).

Meelee was..... I don't know. Its way more interesting than L4D1 and promises to be more powerful while removing the gimped nature of shoving with rifles, until you realise that it was still possible to do that. The only real change that removed the shove with rifle was the horde change in AI.

[Joviwan]

Melee weapons have only two purpose, and no one currently playing online has any concept of what those purposes are. This leads to you invariably filling your team mates with bullets as they run around like retards trying to whack at zombies that are more efficiently shot, or worse yet, running up and beating you repeatedly around the head to clear the horde off of you.

Purpose one: Clear the swarm immediately around you. This is basically the only thing melee weapons are good at. Hitting them with your gun is useless because of the changes to common infected and gives you a femtosecond of breathing space, which doesn't help you a whole lot--you'd be better served spinning in a circle and shooting. Using melee weapons is much more effective and efficient, especially the sword and fire axe, at clearing yourself when you're surrounded.

Purpose two: Clearing your friends. This purpose is pretty fucking useless, actually, because in nearly any situation where you need to clear your friends, you'd be better served by telling them "duck" and hosing the area around them in lead. You wont deal any FF damage as long as your bullets hit a zombie before hitting your friend. If you're out of ammo, though, or if you're trying to go back to back, it can be useful as long as you're careful.

[Mr Bean]

I'd disagree with you there because the Sword and Axe both work great at the "back up everyone into a doorway and fire over their head" Or the "friend is down you need to clear the mob right this second"

However the main purpose is simply choice, you use your sidarm to clear wanderers and for the first few shots of a mob to save ammo, you use your melee when you have no weapon period or a sniper rifle type. Personally I'd always chose a magnum/shotgun type loadout but the director rarely gives me a magnum quickly so I run long range/melee till I do have a magnum to swap for.

[PainRack]

I won't argue that using weapons shove is now useless. You still get a second of space, depending on the weapon, it allows you to shoot and scoot as in l4d1. Its less absurd than before where you shove the entire horde back but its still effective enough that meelee weapons seems to be more of a specialised tactic other than an effective secondary.

[Molyneux]

I'd disagree with you there because the Sword and Axe both work great at the "back up everyone into a doorway and fire over their head" Or the "friend is down you need to clear the mob right this second"

However the main purpose is simply choice, you use your sidarm to clear wanderers and for the first few shots of a mob to save ammo, you use your melee when you have no weapon period or a sniper rifle type. Personally I'd always chose a magnum/shotgun type loadout but the director rarely gives me a magnum quickly so I run long range/melee till I do have a magnum to swap for.

I'd sum it up as:
"Melee weapons are a great way to save yourself IN MELEE." You carry them as backup weapons, not to play Buffy; if a crowd catches you, they're a great way to clear some breathing room without having to worry about reloads. Just don't go chasing after zombies with a guitar.

[Singer]

I put 135 hours into Left 4 Dead 1; I only put in 39 hours for Left 4 Dead 2. It felt like an uninspired expansion pack for me. It definitely improves on the first game in that it offers more variety in weapons, infected types, and levels. But that's the main problem with it: all it has to offer is more variety. If you really, really liked the first one (or haven't played the first one), then L4D2 will be a great game to play.

I on the other hand am wishing I did not purchase it for the PC, because now I can't resell it. It's too bad Steam won't bother with that trade/resell market that I've heard users talk about.

[Joviwan]

A lot of people had that problem. A lot of other people didn't care that they were spending $50 on an expansion pack. Thankfully, there's a sale going on more often than not that strikes the price of L4D2 down a bit, but no, it's never going to leave expansion pack territory. The sad part is that L4D1 has become entirely unsupported and is now populated almost entirely with cheaters and exploiters.

[PainRack]

I put 135 hours into Left 4 Dead 1; I only put in 39 hours for Left 4 Dead 2. It felt like an uninspired expansion pack for me. It definitely improves on the first game in that it offers more variety in weapons, infected types, and levels. But that's the main problem with it: all it has to offer is more variety. If you really, really liked the first one (or haven't played the first one), then L4D2 will be a great game to play.

I on the other hand am wishing I did not purchase it for the PC, because now I can't resell it. It's too bad Steam won't bother with that trade/resell market that I've heard users talk about.

God.... At least you guys got it in a sale. In a fit of insanity, I purchased it point blank for 50 bucks.And again. Just 2 weeks before they announced the expansion

There's no way I can play L4D1 now online, and I'm simply unwilling to buy l4d2 straight after what happened.

[PainRack]

I'd sum it up as:
"Melee weapons are a great way to save yourself IN MELEE." You carry them as backup weapons, not to play Buffy; if a crowd catches you, they're a great way to clear some breathing room without having to worry about reloads. Just don't go chasing after zombies with a guitar.

I don't know:D
Its hilarious doing just that.
"Why the hell are you defending?"
"That sound is the signal for the horde coming to attack us.. We got to fort up and...."
"Horde? We ARE the horde. CHARGGEEEE!!!!!!!"
Watch in shock as my friends man up and charge across the mall to reach the safehouse multiple floors away from us.....


The new game mechanics of having to shut off alarms and etc is simply game changing. Gone are the days of hiding in a closet and blasting away with autoshotguns/pistols. I had the simply insane kill of 80 zombies average in each chapter with meelee weapon that day as we charged across the mall before filling up the gas tank.

Not to mention the sheer joy of throwing gas tanks down to the waiting car below as my Axe and M-16 covers my friend fueling up the guzzler. I don't think this tactic is applicable to most of the other maps but playing buffy in the mall is certainly plausible for some strange reason.

[MKSheppard]

That brings me to a point regarding the car/mall bit. Why do you have to go all the way into a mall to find a working car? Why are there dozens of gas cans lying around in the middle of the mall?

Can't you just grab one of the random cars you find lying throughout that campaign?

[Mr Bean]

That brings me to a point regarding the car/mall bit. Why do you have to go all the way into a mall to find a working car? Why are there dozens of gas cans lying around in the middle of the mall?

Can't you just grab one of the random cars you find lying throughout that campaign?

The mall was an extract point, this again audio it seems to you missed. They were headed to the mall because the roof top extract point was a dud, they got to the mall found out CEDA was MIA, kept going through the mall and said "shit what do we do now? I know lets get a car, hey it's Jimmie Gibs's car!"

[MKSheppard]

The mall was an extract point, this again audio it seems to you missed. They were headed to the mall because the roof top extract point was a dud, they got to the mall found out CEDA was MIA

So why keep going through the mall? We know it's full of the horde. Why not you know, bug out of the darkened unlit mall for outside, where you have clearer zones of fire.

kept going through the mall and said "shit what do we do now? I know lets get a car, hey it's Jimmie Gibs's car!"

What's amusing is that of all the vehicles they could have picked up at any other point, they picked a NASCAR racing car from the 70s. Why not you know, something like a SUV with enough room to fit all four characters comfortably, room for all their weapons, and extra fuel?

In fact that's probably why everyone in the Passing Level 1 has pistols; because they had to throw away all their riced up weapons from the Dead Center Campaign to fit into the stock car.

Yes, I know it's a game design decision so that anyone can just jump into the linked together campaigns at any point and get the same experieince...but it just feels dumb.

[Mr Bean]

So why keep going through the mall? We know it's full of the horde. Why not you know, bug out of the darkened unlit mall for outside, where you have clearer zones of fire.

The CEDA extraction point, or at least were it was supposed to be was less than 100 feet through that wall. If you replay that section you hit the CEDA area, no one is there but there's a sign to a safehouse not 50 feet away so they go into the Safezone and there get the idea to exit and take Gibb's car.

What's amusing is that of all the vehicles they could have picked up at any other point, they picked a NASCAR racing car from the 70s. Why not you know, something like a SUV with enough room to fit all four characters comfortably, room for all their weapons, and extra fuel?

In fact that's probably why everyone in the Passing Level 1 has pistols; because they had to throw away all their riced up weapons from the Dead Center Campaign to fit into the stock car.

Keep in mind they have 1. Redneck Mechanic, 1 TV reporter, 1 High school Coach and 1 Con-man. It's the Redneck's idea to take Gibb's his car and they go along with it because none of them have a better idea to steal an SUV or large truck.

Yes, I know it's a game design decision so that anyone can just jump into the linked together campaigns at any point and get the same experieince...but it just feels dumb.

They could have used some throw-away dialog to explain it but they'd have to do it for every level. It makes no sense for example for Hard Rain, they have a frigging boat to keep the guns on.

So pure game design decision, it is dumb but game mechanics.

[Gunhead]

For the money I paid for both games I think they're great. I do feel sorry for anyone who paid more than 20€ for the both of them. Multiple people is a must though, the single player is not worth much. I did play with AI survivors, which got boring really quick. Finding logic or reason in the game is totally worthless. I mean the back story is utter shit scraped from the bottom of the zombie apocalypse barrel, so thinking too hard about it is about as useful as panning for gold in your shower. It's too bad the AI driven special zombies are so predictable. I'd like to play versus, but that would require me playing as a fucking zombie, which is not why I bought the game. In addition to being boring as fuck, it forces me to wait forever to respawn after being killed.

I hope they make a third. With more nades, zombies and guns. Specially nades.

-Gunhead

[Singer]

I hope they make a third. With more nades, zombies and guns. Specially nades.

Hmmm, your little list of wants sounds exactly like what they did for Left 4 Dead 2. That is definitely what I do not hope for, as my last post already illustrated. Another expansion-like sequel with nothing to offer but more variety is the last thing I want.

[Gunhead]

I hope they make a third. With more nades, zombies and guns. Specially nades.

Hmmm, your little list of wants sounds exactly like what they did for Left 4 Dead 2. That is definitely what I do not hope for, as my last post already illustrated. Another expansion-like sequel with nothing to offer but more variety is the last thing I want.

Then I got to ask what are you looking for in a possible sequel? I mean there's no plot to speak of, not even after that shitty comic they published.

-Gunhead

[Singer]

Then I got to ask what are you looking for in a possible sequel? I mean there's no plot to speak of, not even after that shitty comic they published.

I can't tell you specifically what I am looking for, but I know for sure what I am not looking for.

Left 4 Dead 2 was the exact same game as Left 4 Dead 1, except with more weapons, infected, and levels. Other than that and a few minor refinements and gameplay twists (like someone mentioned earlier about rushing to turn off alarms), the game was completely unchanged from the original. After loving the first game, I quickly got bored of the second game because I was playing the first game all over again. It's akin to playing one of the recent Call of Duty games, which are all variations of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Some people like that, and that's fine with me. I just know that I'm not touching "Left 4 Dead 3: More Nades!" unless there is something more compelling and interesting.

[Gerald Tarrant]

Yes, I know it's a game design decision so that anyone can just jump into the linked together campaigns at any point and get the same experieince...but it just feels dumb.

They could have used some throw-away dialog to explain it but they'd have to do it for every level. It makes no sense for example for Hard Rain, they have a frigging boat to keep the guns on.

So pure game design decision, it is dumb but game mechanics.

Minor note: About half the time on Hard Rain they do explain the lack of guns. What's even stupider though is that they have guns in the diner about 30 feet from the boat dock.

And yeah it's still a dumb decision. I'll mention again another dumb one they do, they often have chain link fences that separate parts of the level, and you usually end up doing a lengthy diversion to go around 'em. For gameplay purposes it lets you see other stuff, and still be rats trapped in a zombie maze, but it feels kinda SOD breaking.

the dialog explaining why no guns.

Vergil "I'll wait off-shore, signal me when you get the gas."

Nick "What are we supposed to signal him with?"

Ellis "Oh, there's flares in the gun bag."

Nick "What gun bag!?!?"

Ellis "You didn't bring the gun bag?"

Nick "Who died and made me gun monitor?"

Ellis "Pretty much everybody."

[PainRack]

Don't you get better starting weapons if you play through continously? I received a grenade launcher and Ak-47 when following through on Dark Carnival. It was memorable because it only lasted till the first respawn.