Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, X360) (2009)
Developer: Valve

Review by Faididi and Co.

Number two to the original

Story: Excellent

Although this game is supposedly a sequel, its events occur at roughly the same time as the first installment's, starring completely different survivors in a southeastern United States setting. Don't let the extreme grindhouse-style presentation of the intro movie throw you off; the actual game is free of that crap. Woven with carefully-delivered dark humor, the dynamic dialogue manages to be even funnier than before, and it still pulls off the double job of providing useful cues during gameplay and helping to keep every session fresh.

Gameplay: Above Average

Closely following the first game's formula, Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 is a FPS with the same main offering of the 4-Player story mode and the 8-Player versus mode. Again, the heavily-armed survivors have to shoot their way to the escape points, while the monsters known as the infected get to use their different special attacks to stop the survivors. Not counting any downloadable extra material, this sequel contains 23 chapters, or just three more than the original game's. No matter where the survivors are, however, the highly randomized nature of the infected's locations successfully rewards spontaneous resourcefulness, not rote memorization.

The problem is that this sequel may be trying too hard to up one over its predecessor. Its eagerness to throw in new content and other changes ruins some of the sensibilities so assiduously maintained in the original Left 4 Dead. One place to start is the level design. On one hand, it randomizes the paths at certain areas, and the fourth campaign has an interesting backtracking layout that puts a big twist on conserving supplies. On the other hand, the environmental lighting effects no longer serve as reliable markers for the path forward, so accidentally looping back at the wider-open areas becomes a pain in the ass. Due in part to the setting, a large portion of the scenery also consists of very similar-looking town streets, buildings, and swamps.

Left 4 Dead 2 expands upon the varieties of weapons and items, adding things such as chainsaws, incendiary ammunition, adrenaline boosters, and ally-reviving defibrillator units. Unfortunately, their worth is diminished by their overly arbitrary slot assignments and new restrictions. For instance, why can't the survivors carry a pistol and a hand-to-hand weapon at the same time? Furthermore, why does performing the old shoving attack now cause the survivors to tire out, while swinging weapons like heavy axes never costs any endurance? That is exactly as retarded as it sounds.

Conversely, the infected suffer virtually no overall drawbacks. Three more special types of monsters join the cast, including the acid-lobbing Spitters, the deceptively fast Chargers, and the devilishly amusing, control-overriding Jockeys. If that isn't enough, the returning special infected receive their own upgrades. The Smokers' peripheral vision is improved, and the Hunters can repeatedly pounce without needing to recharge in between every attack.

All these changes clearly throw the game's balance in favor of the infected, and this sequel appears to be more concerned with the versus mode than anything else. Further proof of this lies in the stupider computer-controlled allies, who may be fine for the versus mode but are frustratingly dull-minded in the story mode. They react far more slowly, and they even fail to notice certain incapacitating attacks on your character.

Controls: Above Average

The controls are almost identical to the first game's, but strangely enough, this sequel no longer makes the characters automatically duck to enter low passageways. The inventory system's interface hasn't kept pace with the bloated-up equipment system, so unwanted items can be easily swapped in and out by accident. The console version of the game still doesn't provide fully customizable controls.

Graphics: Excellent (PC), Above Average (X360)

Left 4 Dead 2's visuals look impressive enough, be they the furniture-cluttered rooms of restaurants, the rushing hordes of infected, or the lighting effects of the sun setting over the trees of a forest. The higher level of detail in rendering the generic infected also allows their bodies to chunk apart in a greater number of ways. In the console version, this results in a slightly lower framerate, although it isn't bad enough to ruin the fun, not even during splitscreen sessions.

Audio: Excellent

The changing dialogue and music continue to be a blast. The survivors here have more to say, especially in the safe houses. The new types of infected come with their own distinctive jingles and noises that add to their personalities.

Overall: Above Average

Packing in more items and infected types, Left 4 Dead 2 shows off the same team-oriented, thinking-on-the-feet FPS action that has made the original game a true classic. However, it isn't as refined as it should be, due to the inferior AI for the computer-controlled allies, the sloppier level design, and the bizarre inconsistencies between the shoving attacks and the hand-to-hand weapons. The pro-infected adjustments may be desirable improvements for the versus mode, but aside from that, there is little in this sequel that hasn't been done better the first time around.