Left 4 Dead showed us that in the event of a zombie apocalypse, even the most unlikely team of people can survive if they stick together. It proved something that every MMO gamer already knew - well-designed co-operative gameplay is way more fun than simple competitive multiplayer action. It was also carefully polished and balanced to a point where it played like a dream, and in case you somehow managed to miss it, our Left 4 Dead review is there for you. One year later, Valve surprises many by actually delivering a full-blown sequel - on schedule and in record time. Left 4 Dead 2 features an all-new cast of survivors. The story is not really a prequel or sequel - it is the same zombie apocalypse as we saw in the first game, only told from a different perspective. As the main criticism against Left 4 Dead tended to be that it didn't have enough "stuff" to keep the instant gratification crowd happy with new shiny for more than a few days - well, Valve has clearly concentrated on fixing just that with the sequel. L4D2 is the same game with new characters, new storyline, new maps, new game modes and a lot more stuff.
Teaser Trailer
 New survivors, new areas, same zombie apocalypse. Set in the Southern USA, Left 4 Dead 2 story is split into five campaigns - Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain and The Parish. The storyline is one continuous arc that starts in Savannah, Georgia and through some twists and turns ends up in New Orleans, culminating in an epic dash across the Mississippi River before the military blows up the bridge in an attempt to slow the spread of the infection. Basic elements of the gameplay are mostly unchanged - you still have a team of four survivors, a massive horde of infected (including special ones with devastating abilities) that stand between you and the next safehouse. As before, each campaign builds up to a final "crescendo event" before the team makes a narrow escape - or dies trying. The new cast is just as diverse as the first one, but somehow they also feel more forgettable - Ellis (young brat), Rochelle (token woman), Nick (a con man in a fancy suit) and Coach (a big ex-football coach guy). I'm not entirely sure what the problem exactly is, but somehow I found it hard to connect with these new characters and they never seem to "weld together" through the voiceover chatter either. The team of the first Left 4 Dead managed to somehow make me care about them while the new lineup just feels weaker, less clearly defined.
Related Stuff Games: Left 4 Dead 2
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