Ok, I was a big fan of the original Left 4 Dead and was really looking forward to this sequel. Unlike a lot of the press, I didn’t have a problem with a sequel coming out so soon after the first game. The first game seemed pretty complete, if maybe just a little too short. Luckily, the sequel lives up to its parent title – any more.
There are plenty of sources on the web to get a full game review, so I’m not going to go into crazy detail about every aspect of the game here. Let me first get one gripe out of the way. Valve – I’m not a fan of being able to jump into any level of any campaign at any time. Flat out. It may seem nice to let players get into whatever section of the game they want from the first time they boot up, but I don’t like it. I find it really leaves me no incentive to play through the game in its entirety. I could just jump in to the final chapter of any campaign, play through it and bang – I just “beat” that campaign.
I think a much better approach would be “unlocking” each episode of the campaign for free play after I’ve beaten it, one by one. If you really think it’s necessary, you could still allow players to choose to start at any campaign.
Ok, that’s that. I can’t stress what a minor (and probably personal) complaint that is. This game is pure action, start to finish. Every minute of every episode of every campaign is packed to the gills with zombie-killing, adrenaline-pumping button mashing. The controls are tight. The visuals are good. The audio is fantastic. All of that adds up to the completely immersive feeling of being in a Hollywood zombie flick. Actually, it’s probably better than that. Granted, the characters are fairly stereotypical and offer no real change in gameplay depending on who you choose, but that’s not what this game is about. The characters aren’t bad by any means. Each one has a distinct(-ish) personality and all deliver some great one-liners.
Due to time constraints, I really never got into the multiplayer aspect of the first title. This time around I wanted to check it out and I now definitely regret not playing it in the original. Playing a campaign with 3 other live people only adds to the chaos of being overwhelmed by hundreds of undead. I was surprised how pretty much everyone I played with really worked together as a team. I think part of this can be attributed to Valve’s game design. If you don’t work together, you’re dead. It’s that simple.
I’ll leave it at that. This game is definitely getting a “buy” rating from me. I think it’ll provide you with many hours of entertainment, especially the multiplayer. And with the randomization of the levels (weapons, health assists, special bosses and hordes change placement with each play through) helps keep the game interesting, even when re-playing a campaign after you’ve beat it. Also, I’ve heard reports of at least a couple of DLC packs coming down the road which should add even more to this title. The official blog is a nice source of info that I’d recommend checking often.
Great review!
I agree that starting from any episode on a campaign is sort of cheap, but those who do that are only cheating themselves. You have to finish the whole campaign straight through to get an achievement at least, which is still difficult and requires some stamina and skill. The one time I actually survived “the bridge” (parish finale) I was frustrated because I had jumped into a game that was already in progress and still on the first episode. I did NOT get the achievement for completing the campaign. However, I ran my ass off and got an achievement for doing that episode in under 3 minutes. Cowardly yet satisfying. I think it only took one hour and 45 minutes and I died 5 times. The bridge is the one time where teamwork doesn’t really guarantee success. I have yet to do that whole campaign… you have inspired me to try it again.