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"[GAME] Left 4 Dead 2"

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This thread has been linked to the game 'Left 4 Dead 2'.
Sun 22/08/10 at 12:23
Regular
Posts: 18
Ever fancied a bit of Zombie bashing? Ever watched a Zombie film and wondered how hard it is to survive in a ruined post apocalyptic world? Left 4 Dead 2 will throw you into a zombie-filled world full of those hungry flesh eating monsters leaving you to find weapons to fight for survival and also find some sort of safe haven in this new terror filled world. The original Left 4 Dead was a big success however there was some room for improvement, and when Left 4 Dead 2 was quickly announced, people feared a terrible rush job with the new game however they were completely wrong and Left 4 Dead 2 is bigger and better.

This new game is set in the Deep South of the USA but also set at exactly the same time as the first game, just this time we have a new group of 4 survivors fighting their way to survival. Meet Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle (the only female) all with their own characteristics and, depending on who you may be playing this game with, are your fellow comrades and in Left 4 Dead 2, team work is more important than ever before. The new levels are more complicated and do have some frustrating parts to them, each you will come across as you play through the game, and it’s safe to say L4D2 requires more concentration and more planning than the first one, where you simply felt you were working our way through a level, zombie after zombie. Instead you will find mini-missions during one campaign, and the end campaigns to each level are now more than just a case of ‘fight off the zombies until safety arrives.’ For example in one level you are in a shopping mall, in the end you require some fuel to fill a car, and so as a time you must grab some conveniently placed fuel canisters and fill the car up, in the mean time still fighting those zombies off. During the game you can find mini-missions ranging from fighting zombies off as you walk round a rollercoaster, to delivering some bottles of good old coke to a shop keeper who has tightly locked himself up, in return he’ll blow something up enabling you to move on through the level. I’ve found that the campaigns in L4D2 are much harder than the original, and whilst there were some complicated bits in the first game I was surprised to find I struggled with L4D2 enormously at first. It’s important to note though that team play is a much bigger focus here, and you really do need to stick together to survive.

Not only does Left 4 Dead 2 now boast better and more crisp graphics, making you chop up those zombies in even more gory detail, but they also have a new dismemberment engine meaning you can now satisfying watch zombie limbs flying through the air or watch a head splatter after you’ve used your trusty shotgun, making those anti-violent game campaigners rather angry indeed. Using explosives also has a more realistic effective and combined with that is another great new feature, melee weapons. These range from a trusty axe right up to a guitar making a very tasty twang as you clutter the head of some attacking zombie, but there’s also a frying pan and even a chainsaw which you can brandish like a demented serial killer and start charging through hoards of zombies with that brilliant chain saw sound searing through all of the undead. There’s also new zombies to contend with, and so you will find yourself fighting zombie clowns, scientists, mud men and more, but there’s also new ‘special zombies’ to contend with. We still have the disgusting gurgling Boomer just waiting to throw up green bile all over you, but we now also have a Jockey who lives to ‘ride you’ away from your fellow survivors, a Spitter, who spits bright green toxic vile at the ground around you causing health to deplete rapidly and also a Charger, who does exactly that and charges into you before grabbing you and pounding you on the floor. Ouch.

Weapons and ammo-drops are still random and so each level will never be the same. Sometimes you will find a much needed first aid pack but second time around there will be a gun instead or worse, nothing at all, and this randomness keeps the game challenging. As well as the new melee weapons previously mentioned there are some new fire arms too, but I found the game to play much better using a melee weapon when you’re surrounded rather than firing a gun aimlessly wasting that precious ammo.

One of the main attractions to Left 4 Dead 2 is the co-operative game play. Offline you can play split screen with friends, but online is where the co-operative game play really shines. Not only can you choose to simply play through the game but there are also some fun competitive games to play. Here you can the chance to play as a zombie and attempt to bring down the survivors and after hours of playing through the normal campaign game as a survivor, this is strangely very satisfying. I love nothing more than to be sick on an unsuspecting victim or pound them into the floor until dead, it makes a nice change. Despite this I still prefer playing through the normal campaign in story mode as I believe this is where the game is really at. There’s also a Realism Mode in Left 4 Dead 2, though I haven’t dared attempt this as I struggle enough on Normal mode, and so it’s probably one for those more hardened gamers amongst us.

Playing on the Xbox 360 you can attempt to get some rather amusing achievements such carrying a gnome without dropping it through an entire level and so the game still carries it’s sense of humour. One of my favourite parts in the original game was reading graffiti on the walls in the safe rooms, and this is still the same in the second game. One which amused me was a warning message that it’s not a flu and washing your hands does not prevent you from becoming infected, a creepy nod to the flu pandemic of last year.

Overall Left 4 Dead 2 is even better than the original, and also proves more of a challenge. It has nice new additions, crisper graphics and better storylines and whilst it can get frustrating at times, this only adds to the fun. I’ve found it to be an addictive game, with the main story mode being my favourite, as I believe this is where the game excels the most.
Left 4 Dead is available on the Xbox 360 and the PC, both formats costing less than £15 on Amazon at the moment, an absolute bargain for a brilliant game.
Sun 29/08/10 at 17:52
Regular
"How Ironic"
Posts: 4,312
Dead Rising is more fun, you can pick up pretty much anything as a weapon :)

*EDIT* I've actually ordered L4D after remembering how much fun I had on the demo.
Sun 29/08/10 at 17:15
Staff Moderator
"Show Me Your Moves"
Posts: 2,255
CheekyLee wrote:
> I think you might be thinking about Dead Rising 2?

Yes, yes I was. In my defence they seem pretty similar...
Sun 29/08/10 at 12:08
Regular
"Short Attention Sp"
Posts: 76
Butch wrote:
> It disappoints me that this game is 360 only, I played and
> enjoyed the first one before my 360 gave up the ghost.
>
> It's a good review though, but I was wondering on your thoughts
> on the 'duct tape' addition this year. In a lot of the hype I
> have seen they are pushing this 'combine two weapons' angle quite
> significantly and it seems like a good idea, if they pulled it
> off.

I think you might be thinking about Dead Rising 2?
Tue 24/08/10 at 17:21
Regular
Posts: 9,995
It's on PC as well.
Tue 24/08/10 at 14:20
Staff Moderator
"Show Me Your Moves"
Posts: 2,255
It disappoints me that this game is 360 only, I played and enjoyed the first one before my 360 gave up the ghost.

It's a good review though, but I was wondering on your thoughts on the 'duct tape' addition this year. In a lot of the hype I have seen they are pushing this 'combine two weapons' angle quite significantly and it seems like a good idea, if they pulled it off.
Sun 22/08/10 at 15:05
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Great review. I've just ordered this from Amazon now it's cheap so I'll give it a blast on my 360 soon. Got the first game on PC through Steam for a few quid.
Sun 22/08/10 at 12:23
Regular
Posts: 18
Ever fancied a bit of Zombie bashing? Ever watched a Zombie film and wondered how hard it is to survive in a ruined post apocalyptic world? Left 4 Dead 2 will throw you into a zombie-filled world full of those hungry flesh eating monsters leaving you to find weapons to fight for survival and also find some sort of safe haven in this new terror filled world. The original Left 4 Dead was a big success however there was some room for improvement, and when Left 4 Dead 2 was quickly announced, people feared a terrible rush job with the new game however they were completely wrong and Left 4 Dead 2 is bigger and better.

This new game is set in the Deep South of the USA but also set at exactly the same time as the first game, just this time we have a new group of 4 survivors fighting their way to survival. Meet Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle (the only female) all with their own characteristics and, depending on who you may be playing this game with, are your fellow comrades and in Left 4 Dead 2, team work is more important than ever before. The new levels are more complicated and do have some frustrating parts to them, each you will come across as you play through the game, and it’s safe to say L4D2 requires more concentration and more planning than the first one, where you simply felt you were working our way through a level, zombie after zombie. Instead you will find mini-missions during one campaign, and the end campaigns to each level are now more than just a case of ‘fight off the zombies until safety arrives.’ For example in one level you are in a shopping mall, in the end you require some fuel to fill a car, and so as a time you must grab some conveniently placed fuel canisters and fill the car up, in the mean time still fighting those zombies off. During the game you can find mini-missions ranging from fighting zombies off as you walk round a rollercoaster, to delivering some bottles of good old coke to a shop keeper who has tightly locked himself up, in return he’ll blow something up enabling you to move on through the level. I’ve found that the campaigns in L4D2 are much harder than the original, and whilst there were some complicated bits in the first game I was surprised to find I struggled with L4D2 enormously at first. It’s important to note though that team play is a much bigger focus here, and you really do need to stick together to survive.

Not only does Left 4 Dead 2 now boast better and more crisp graphics, making you chop up those zombies in even more gory detail, but they also have a new dismemberment engine meaning you can now satisfying watch zombie limbs flying through the air or watch a head splatter after you’ve used your trusty shotgun, making those anti-violent game campaigners rather angry indeed. Using explosives also has a more realistic effective and combined with that is another great new feature, melee weapons. These range from a trusty axe right up to a guitar making a very tasty twang as you clutter the head of some attacking zombie, but there’s also a frying pan and even a chainsaw which you can brandish like a demented serial killer and start charging through hoards of zombies with that brilliant chain saw sound searing through all of the undead. There’s also new zombies to contend with, and so you will find yourself fighting zombie clowns, scientists, mud men and more, but there’s also new ‘special zombies’ to contend with. We still have the disgusting gurgling Boomer just waiting to throw up green bile all over you, but we now also have a Jockey who lives to ‘ride you’ away from your fellow survivors, a Spitter, who spits bright green toxic vile at the ground around you causing health to deplete rapidly and also a Charger, who does exactly that and charges into you before grabbing you and pounding you on the floor. Ouch.

Weapons and ammo-drops are still random and so each level will never be the same. Sometimes you will find a much needed first aid pack but second time around there will be a gun instead or worse, nothing at all, and this randomness keeps the game challenging. As well as the new melee weapons previously mentioned there are some new fire arms too, but I found the game to play much better using a melee weapon when you’re surrounded rather than firing a gun aimlessly wasting that precious ammo.

One of the main attractions to Left 4 Dead 2 is the co-operative game play. Offline you can play split screen with friends, but online is where the co-operative game play really shines. Not only can you choose to simply play through the game but there are also some fun competitive games to play. Here you can the chance to play as a zombie and attempt to bring down the survivors and after hours of playing through the normal campaign game as a survivor, this is strangely very satisfying. I love nothing more than to be sick on an unsuspecting victim or pound them into the floor until dead, it makes a nice change. Despite this I still prefer playing through the normal campaign in story mode as I believe this is where the game is really at. There’s also a Realism Mode in Left 4 Dead 2, though I haven’t dared attempt this as I struggle enough on Normal mode, and so it’s probably one for those more hardened gamers amongst us.

Playing on the Xbox 360 you can attempt to get some rather amusing achievements such carrying a gnome without dropping it through an entire level and so the game still carries it’s sense of humour. One of my favourite parts in the original game was reading graffiti on the walls in the safe rooms, and this is still the same in the second game. One which amused me was a warning message that it’s not a flu and washing your hands does not prevent you from becoming infected, a creepy nod to the flu pandemic of last year.

Overall Left 4 Dead 2 is even better than the original, and also proves more of a challenge. It has nice new additions, crisper graphics and better storylines and whilst it can get frustrating at times, this only adds to the fun. I’ve found it to be an addictive game, with the main story mode being my favourite, as I believe this is where the game excels the most.
Left 4 Dead is available on the Xbox 360 and the PC, both formats costing less than £15 on Amazon at the moment, an absolute bargain for a brilliant game.

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