It seems like just a few days ago, I was blogging about how great Left4Dead 2 was going to be. Now, after logging 10 hours in the game - I think it's about time to give this baby some justice with a real review.
Left4Dead 2, coming out just a year after it's successor, feels like a completely different game. There's new special infected, new campaigns, new characters, and best of all, a continual story line. At the beginning of the game, you meet Nick, Ellis, Rochelle, and Coach. Then, throughout the game, you follow their escape story. Unlike the original Left4Dead, each campaign links to the next, giving you a better connection to the characters and their experiences.
Another thing I noticed about Left4Dead 2 was it's sheer level of epicness. Sure, the crescendo events in the original were great, but the new campaigns are just awesome. Many events are notable for their epicness - rushing through the downpour of rain, dodging the piles of witches, gathering gas tanks as fast as you can. In comparison, it almost feels like the first game was just an experiment, and the sequel is a full-blown gaming experience.
Oh, and don't let me forget the melee weapons, they're awesome! With chainsaws, axes, guitars, and more, you've got the most awesome zombie-smashing experience ever. And it's strangly balanced too -- you could probably kill just as many zombies with a melee weapon as you could with the grenade launcher.
All in all, Left4Dead 2 is a great, new, epic experience. And I love it.
Pros
- Same great zombie experience from the first game
- New special infected and general infected
- Awesome new campaigns full of even more epic-ness
- New survivors
- Jukeboxes that actually play music in-game
- Tons of new weapons, including melee and a grenade launcher
- New ammo types, incendiary, explosive
- Shock paddles let you bring dead survivors back to life - leading to new gameplay strategy
- Big online community - a game is always available
- New gameplay types (realism and scavenge)
- No Zoey
- Some people feel it's a rip-off of the first game
