When Valve released their Left 4 Dead demo around this time last year, it was an instant fan favorite. The demo offered a gratuitous amount of gore, humor and addicting cooperative play that could be played multiple times. Now Left 4 Dead 2 has crept up on us like a ghoul amidst controversy from the franchise's core following. It's only been one year since the original and many fans feel it didn't garner enough support from developer Valve. Are zombie maniacs justified in their war cry?
Left 4 Dead 2
The demo is nearly identical in presentation to last years sampling. A gorgeous CG cut scene introduces the characters, what little plot there is, and a few of the new additions to the zombie line up. This time around you'll have to deal with Jockeys, Chargers and Spitters (reminds me of high school). The new enemies add some flare to the line up, but ultimately don't change the gameplay significantly. Four new characters are introduced as well although the demo never delves deeper than a few albeit humorous one liners. The blue print that was laid in the first has been dusted off yet again with only skin deep elements added in hopes of convincing the player that this is an entirely new experience. Sure, there are new guns and new locales, but there isn't enough here to persuade fans of Left 4 Dead to switch to this year's installment. There has been little improvement in the graphics department other than changing the time of day to showcase sun soaked bayous and city streets. The campaign in the demo is significantly shorter then what was featured in it's predecessor's demo offering and ultimately feels a little too familiar. Several other modes are included as well all of which can be played with up to three friends. Left 4 Dead 2 is still mainly a co-op demo. If you have friends that can fight at your side, you're still going to have a blast. If you have played the original to death, than this demo has just enough variety to keep you going for a little bit longer.
Verdict: Download it!
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The gameplay has a changed a lot more than you let on. No longer can people sit in a corner, literally inside each other's figures and blast away at zombies to keep safe. The 'key points' all require you to keep running in order to turn off a switch, or stop an alarm, or whatever, keeping people on the move and unable to camp and do the melee/shoot combo to stay safe. Also, there is no longer infinite swiping, as after the third or so swipe your arm gets tired and much slower, eventually stopping altogether. Obviously they probably did this to force people to use the new melee weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe full game is great. Scavenge mode is even more addicting than versus and will have people hooked for far longer than the first game did.
The campaigns are also very different in how you complete them. I was very surprised by this, as the demo doesn't show this. There are no more endings that require you to just blast away at hordes of zombies and a few tanks. Instead, players have to accomplish certain tasks around the final map, all the while dealing with the zombies. It leads to tactical decisions that simply must be put in place in order to accomplish them. Without all your teammates pitching it to grab an objective, there is no way to win. This makes single player a little tough, however, because the bots, while helpful, can't accomplish objectives.
Anyway check it out, the demo is cool but doesn't really show a lot of what is different about the game.
Shutting off alarms and a tired swinging arm aren't enough to warrant a brand new game for $60. This feels like an expansion. I'm basing my review solely on the demo, so naturally not every aspect of the game is revealed. I'm talking about the demo only and wether it is worth downloading, which it is. This game is great for people that missed the first Left 4 Dead, but if you are neither a newcomer or a hardcore fan, I don't think there is enough to keep you playing another year.
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