Left 4 Dead 2 or, Spitters and Jockeys and Chargers, oh my

[Occulus]

So. This.

Cinematic YouTube HD trailer. You will click this.


Our Survivors, from left to right: Nick, Rochelle, Coach, and Ellis

Left 4 Dead 2 is the sequel to Valve Software's seminal Left 4 Dead. Set during the mother of all zombie apocalypses, Left 4 dead 2 introduces new survivors, new locations, a new set of special infected, and several new game modes, including (among others) "scavenger" and "realism" modes.

Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in and around New Orleans, and manages to capture the look and feel of the city very nicely. Of course, the people that live in New Orleans have been transformed into murderous zombies that want nothing more than to eat your brains, but other than that, everything is just peachy, kthxbai.


Zombies in a graveyard? Say it isn't so!!

Basic gameplay remains pretty much the same as in the first game: kill the zombies, find the safehouse, rinse, repeat. In the first game, a hidden AI engine called the Director would time events such that the game kept a good pace, with zombie hordes attacking from various spawn points at unpredictable times and special infected appearing out of nowhere to try to rape your face. While that hasn't changed in the sequel, the AI Director seems to be a little more unforgiving this time around; many is the time I've simply not been able to get to the safehouse without getting killed off because the Director was throwing horde after horde at me. This makes for a more tense experience overall.

The environments are much creepier this time around, too, and sometimes the environment itself will work against you. Hazards present in this game that weren't in the first one include a burning hotel (yes, the fire spreads), a sugar mill at dusk, a run-down amusement park, and a severe thunderstorm that cuts visibility down to nearly zero (predictably, lightning and heavy rain signal the appearance of a horde). They've also included an extended section in a shopping mall, an obvious nod to "Dawn of the Dead".

The Special Infected have gotten a makeover this time. All the specials from the first game return for a repeat performance (Hunter, Boomer, Tank, Smoker, and Witch), although this time the Witch will walk around the map, as opposed to remaining in one place. Additionally, we have a few new specials joining the party:


Dude, she's HAWT

The Spitter. This special infected spits acid from a long way off, and the acid persists on the ground for several seconds after. Additionally, she leaves a puddle of acid on the ground when she dies. The Spitter is good for splitting up the survivors, as the acid does heavy damage that increases the longer a survivor stands in it. Fortunately, like most other special infected, she doesn't have a very large health bar, and it only takes a few shots to take her out.


ehehheheheheheheeehehehehhhahahaahahahehheheheh

The Jockey. It's fairly easy to know when he's around, as you'll hear his maniacal, incessant laughter from the moment he spawns into the map. This little bastard will jump on your head and drive you around, usually right toward a waiting mob of zombies. Having a Spitter or Boomer around makes him particularly dangerous, because he will drive you directly toward their position. This one is also great for splitting up survivors, as they will have to kill him to rescue you. Again, the Jockey, like most special infected, is fairly weak and can be easily killed with just a few well-placed shots.


HOOOOOM *VROOM* ARRRRRRRRGGGGH

The Charger. This guy is fairly easy to avoid if you see him coming. The Charger will run in a fast, straight line directly at you, pick you up while he's running, and slam you into a wall or other obstruction. He will then pick you up and repeatedly bodyslam your character into the ground. He's only dangeruos if he actually gets you, though; dodging will save you, as he cannot alter his course once he starts to run. As usual, he's relatively weak and fairly easy to kill; however, given his speed and the damage he can do, he's a bit more dangerous than either the Spitter or the Jockey.

As well as the new Special Infected, there are also new melee weapons of various sorts: baseballs bats and frying pans, katanas, machetes, and even a six-pack of cola make an appearance. My personal favorite is the chainsaw, which does massive damage to regular and special infected alike, but can only be used sparingly because there's no gas to put in it once you get it.

Finally, as I mentioned above, there are several new game modes. Realism seems to make your characters a lot more fragile, and there's apparently no coming back if you die. The Witch will kill you with a single blow, and the glows around the characters (which tell you where they are if they're out of sight) are removed, making for a very different (and scarier) experience. By contrast, Survival mode casts wave after wave of zombies at your team, with the sole goal of surviving for as long as possible. You will die in this mode... the only question is when. Survival mode on the realism setting is thus appropriately brutal. Lastly, scavenger mode requires players to frantically pour gas into a generator; doing so adds time to the clock. when all the survivors die or all the gas is poured or the clock runs out, the teams switch sides and play again. After six rounds, the team with the highest score wins.

All in all, Left 4 Dead 2 does a good job of picking up where the first game left off from a conceptual standpoint, adding lots of new features while never taking away from what made the first game so great. While I would have been happier to see a little more in the way of innovation and development of the concept (Left 4 Dead 2 almost feels like a major expansion pack and not a fully-fledged game in its own right), the sequel still does a great job of delivering a very fun multiplayer (or single player) experience, and with the Left 4 Dead authoring tools already available, we can expect to see user content appearing on the scene rather quickly.

So sally forth with thy chainsaw and thy bottle of Boomer bile. Go and do battle against hordes of infected undead. Try to get out of New Orleans alive.... the odds are definitely against you, but you'll have fun trying, guaranteed.

[sam sarrha]

1. are the hordes like aliens in Halo,cant fight them off, but you can just run thru them to the plane

??

[Occulus]

2. Oh goodness no. They're a real threat.

The hordes go out of their way to try to surround and separate you and your team every time. On easy difficulty, the horde only lasts a few seconds; on the higher difficulty levels, four or even five ten-to-fifteen second hordes come at you in waves. It all depends on how much of a skanky bastard the AI Director decides to be at the time. Although you can use a melee weapon during horde attacks (my personal favorites are the katana and the frying pan, both of which perform one-hit kills), it's best to fight them off with guns. Individually, the zombies are fairly weak; as a horde, they can easily take you down if you don't kill them off as quickly as possible.

Simply running is only useful in a few situations where you have to shut off the alarm that's attracting the horde. Two examples are the roller coaster in the amusement park (you actually have to run on the tracks to get to the station and turn off the alarm) and the entrance to the bus station. In those examples, you have to run as fast as you can to shut the alarm off, but the hordes continue to come for a few more seconds, effectively pinning you down until they're all dead.

I remember one time when one of my friends was playing it in particular. He was on "Normal" difficulty and I guess the Director decided he'd either been playing the game too well or had had it too easy, because when the safehouse came into view, the Director started throwing an infinite loop of hordes at him. He was only about fifty yards or so away from the safehouse, and he never made it.

[sam sarrha]

4. what who is the director

[Occulus]

5. The AI Director controls the pace of the game

The AI Director is a subroutine that operates invisibly during the game. Its job is to control the pacing of the game overall; it handles triggering the horde events and item placement based on several factors, including how well you've been playing thus far. The AI Director has been known to 'punish' a team that's doing well, and will 'help along' players that aren't having their best day (to a degree).

The AI Director has been known to be a bastard at times; I've seen it firsthand. The results are messy to say the least....

[ZombieHorde]

3. The Left 4 Dead games make me wish I had an Xbox. nt

[Occulus]

6. If you *can* get it for the PC, do so

It's a PC franchise in the first place, and there are also huge bonuses such as the map editor and user mods. Also, this game is far easier to play with a keyboard and mouse.

[benEzra]

7. There is a playable demo on Xbox Live, for those with that capability...

I never played the first L4D, but this one has my interest after having watched Zombieland...