One could say that Left 4 Dead 2 is much like DOOM 2. Both games came out around a year after the first game, but more importantly, the games also took their predecessors, changed nothing of the base game, and threw in a few new things. And much like DOOM 2, L4D2 was criticized for being more of the same. Indeed, a good portion of those critics ended up coming from the Left 4 Dead community itself. But amidst the controversy, did it warrant fans plunking down money for a game that was painted as “more of the same” by some?
Left 4 Dead 2 is set in the aftermath of a worldwide pandemic (one week after the first game) that saw humans rapidly transform into zombie-like creatures and mutated forms that demonstrate extreme aggression towards non-infected. Few humans are immune to the disease, still carrying the infection but showing no symptoms. The Civil Emergency and Defense Agency (CEDA) and the U.S. Military create safe zones to attempt to evacuate as many American survivors as possible. The sequel focuses on four new Survivors: Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle, who are immune to the disease. The four Survivors must now fight their way through hordes of Infected, using safehouses along the way to rest and recuperate in order to reach extraction points.
Admittedly, it can be a difficult task to improve upon what was so good about a game like Left 4 Dead. The concept of relying on teammates to help you make your way to the end of a level, keeping up with the pace and the frenetic energy of the campaigns, all while being surprisingly accessible to a variety of skill levels, was already excellent. Also not to mention the attention Valve and Turtle Rock paid to creating characters that were likeable and appealing to the player. Yet, the teams were able to do just that and more.
For one, all of the campaigns in L4D2 are now strung together into one big adventure, with more varied locations. This all makes the feelings of dread and despair while trekking through these areas wax and wane as any good zombie apocalypse story should. Along the way, the chatter between the survivors is marked by moments of levity and personality, which goes a long way to developing and establishing connections with the players. Ellis’ stories about his buddy Keith (and the other survivors’ responses) still do a great job of character development, thanks in large part to the top notch voice acting.
Of course, L4D2‘s story and gameplay thrives on chaos, and who can forget the chaos that’s unleashed when a horde of zombies descends on your location when you activate one of the “Crescendo Events” during the campaign? All of that is punctuated by the improved AI Director system, which as in the first game procedurally spawns enemies, weapons and items based on players’ performance, but also now tweaks the level layouts and conditions, and rewards those who elect to go the more difficult way with more powerful weapons and ammo.
This comes back to the importance of you and your teammates working together. Much like Valve’s other multiplayer classic in Team Fortress 2, you live and die in L4D2 based on how well you and your team functions. No matter your experience level with the game, you’re only as good as the guy who just picked it up for the first time. You still have to revive downed teammates or rescue them if they fall off of a ledge, or supply them with pills for a health boost. This time around, Valve elected to give players “second chances”, supplying adrenaline and a portable defibrillator to give your teammates a little boost when they need it (or to save their life).
That’s not all you get with L4D2. What would a zombie game be without weapons. Valve expanded the roster of weapons across all tiers with L4D2, including new mechanics. Most notable is now players actually have a melee attack. In the first game, you merely shoved away zombies with your weapon. Here, while you can still shove enemies back with your weapon, you now have specific melee weapons available to kill zombies. Most notable is the chainsaw, which is practically a requirement when it comes to first-person shooters involving zombies. You even get Special Tier weapons in the M60 and Grenade Launcher that, while you can’t refill at ammunition dumps, are incredibly valuable to have when it comes to crowd clearing.
And, much like what id Software did with DOOM 2 and it giving players a boost in enemy difficulty on top of the offensive goodies, Valve did the same with L4D2. The previous game’s Special Infected return, but have been given revamped behaviour. Most notable is The Witch, which now has a variant that wanders about for unsuspecting players to accidentally provoke. Then there are the three new Special Infected: The Charger, the Spitter, and the appropriately-annoying Jockey. The introduction of the three new Special Infected again reinforces the importance of teamwork and strategy, having teammates work to help rescue those carried off by the Charger, or knocking the Jockey off of another player’s back before they end up running into health-depleting goo left by the Spitter.
While L4D2‘s main draw is the Campaign, as was in the first game, Valve still included the original modes from the first game. Despite the AI still not being quite as good as real humans, you can play Singleplayer, but the real meat is with other humans. Versus still allows you and seven other people in 4-on-4 matchups to increase the mayhem even more, and Survival is the ultimate test of endurance as you face unending waves of zombies. But new to L4D2 was Scavenge, another 4-on-4 mode that requires the Survivor players to collect and use as many fuel cans scattered about a level to fill up a power generator, while the Infected players attempt to stop them. It’s a variation on the Versus, but by no means any less fun. For the truly hardcore, there’s also a Realism mode, which removes some of the “video game logic” that helps players along (such as the player silhouettes when your teammates are behind walls). Again, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Just add a little more to make it a little different, but also that much better.
And yes, just like the original game, Left 4 Dead 2 is an absolute feast for the modding community. Throwing in models of the Mars Attacks! Martians to replace the zombies, or mashing up Resident Evil 6 or Silent Hill with the game, it’s all part of increasing the longevity and enjoyment. If you want to talk about longevity, L4D2 even had a recent crossover with Dying Light! Not bad for a game that’s a decade old.
But invariably, the ultimate decision has to be made, particularly again with the sequel being released so close to the original. Is Left 4 Dead 2 superior to Left 4 Dead? It turned out to be a more definitive version of Left 4 Dead, to put it one way. Don’t get that misconstrued, though. Both games are still amazing to play today, and you can’t go wrong with either of them. Left 4 Dead 2, however, feels more “complete” when it comes to the experience. There’s more variation, more weapons, more zombies and more challenge in the sequel. You do miss out on the original survivors (which is a testament to the job the team and the actors did to bring them to life), but with the tie-in campaign The Sacrifice, L4D2 players can get their fix of Bill and company.
The other question you might be asking is just when we’d get that third game (since Valve has so much trouble with that number). Sadly, while it doesn’t appear that Left 4 Dead 3 is on the horizon, the team at Turtle Rock studios are pulling the “spiritual sequel” card with Warner Bros’ help with Back 4 Blood, which was announced back in March of this year. No details have been revealed as of this writing, but the hope is that the game will bear some of the hallmarks of what made the two Left 4 Dead games so good. And given Turtle Rock’s past efforts, that may very well be the case.
