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Our first hour with Left 4 Dead 2
What can you do when you've just got one hour to play a title as good as this? A little bit of co-op and competitive multiplayer of course
Written by Andy Griffiths, 18 November 2009
Left 4 Dead 2 is still in the process of being reviewed and naturally for a title as big as this we like to savour it before giving our final verdict. However sometimes we want to give you guys as much information as early as possible, so here are a few of our opening impressions of Valve's zombie shooter and a few uncut screenshots to go with it. Special thanks to all the gamers we met on our merry kill spree.
Some screenshots from our experiences onlineEven though we usually prefer original titles over sequels, there is something very comfortable about booting up a game and knowing exactly what you have to do. When playing as survivors there are a few new things you have to learn like how to use melee weapons properly, boomer bile and defibrillators, but so far it seems like an enhanced version of the original.
No need to lose your head.Path-finding is now simpler, as your character will often indicate where to go with a verbal instructions. So far we've only sampled two campaigns Dead Centre and Dark Carnival and they were both varied and interesting. The length of each of the campaigns has been drastically lengthened and now competitive multiplayer lasts even longer.
Graffiti makes a welcome return.The end of campaign set pieces have also been improved and are now more than just surviving several zombie hordes and a Tank. Instead you'll have specific goals to meet and equipment to interact with.
Overall the campaigns feel much more creative in both level design and looks. Some sections of Dark Carnival are absolutely fantastic and they definitely scratch that fairground each, which lots of people will get a kick out of. Dead Centre feels like your average American mall, but we had flashbacks to Dead Rising and Dawn of the Dead.
PCGZine Issue 36
For our latest Left 4 Dead 2 coverage, click here to download PCGZine Issue 36 for free.Uncommon common infected also offer up a little variety and running into the hazmat-suited or clown zombies often inspires a giggle. All the infected character models have been given a little variation and running into female Boomers is both terrifying and funny at the same time.
We also had a brief spell of competitive multi-player and it seems completely different from before. The inclusion of three new special infected means that gameplay dynamics have definitely shifted. The Spitter has become more of an artillery class, where the user will fall-back and try and hit the survivors from a distance, whereas the Charger has to get up close and personal to inflict maximum damage. Honestly we were shocked how ineffective the Charger is.
During all the previews he seemed like junior version of a Tank, but in reality two shells to the back and he's down. He seems incredibly hit and miss, but in a long corridor he can be pick up a survivor and carry them far from the other survivors.
So far Left 4 Dead 2 seems much more cinematic than the original and the way zombies break up under fire has again been vastly improved. We found ourselves just waiting for them to come close before we nailed them.
If it ain't broke don't fix it and all of the additions we've seen so far make sense and add a great deal to the franchise.
During one hour's playtime we finished two chapters in a survival campaign and had a brief go at multiplayer. There's plenty left to play and we'll have a full review for you in December's issue of PCGZine.
Left 4 Dead 2 coverage available in PCGZine Issue 36 - click here to download it for free!
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