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The Total Gaming Network headed up to Valve’s private room at E3 to get some hands-on time with their upcoming title Left 4 Dead 2. After hearing the announcement of the new title on Monday at the Microsoft Press Conference, we couldn’t wait to learn more about the game and play a level from one of the new campaigns.
Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South about one week after the events of the original Left 4 Dead. My initial impression of the game after playing a level from “The Parish” is that the game feels like an expansion pack to the original. Returning players will instantly be able to dive into the game; however, developers at Valve seem to have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep the gameplay fresh and original in the sequel and plan to keep supporting new content for the original title.
The sequel features four new characters including Nick, Rochelle, Coach, and Ellis and the original cast of special infected, Boomer, Smoker, Hunter, Tank, and Witch are joined by three new characters. Playing the Parish level, we got to see just one of the new special infected classes in action, the Charger, who will rush players and quickly knock them to the ground. In gameplay I didn’t find the new infected class to be a challenge because the team could see him coming from a distance and pick him off before he became a threat. Additionally, once the Charger commits to a line, his momentum keeps him moving on a straight path so he was relatively easy to avoid.
The Witch is also present in the upcoming title with a new twist: during the day she will roam around the map, but at night will stay in one spot like she did in the original.
Guns remain the same in the sequel, albeit with new skins for the pistol, silenced SMG, pump and auto shotgun and rifle. Left 4 Dead 2 does mix it up a bit with new incendiary rounds which light enemies on fire and are useful to quickly take down common and special infected. New to the series is the introduction of more melee weapons, including the frying pan and axe in the Parish. Slow but powerful, the axe was great when it came down to taking out hordes of the infected, but seemed to lack when it came to the special infected like the Boomer, Smoker, Witch and Charger- just stick with the guns for them.
To change up the game dynamics Valve has modified gameplay and crescendo events will force players to constantly be on the move. Players can no longer stay in one area and use chokepoints to kill off hordes of zombies. This was apparent in one of my favorite levels in the Parish where players gather in the trailer and trigger a lever. This sounds an alarm, instantly sending the blood pumping and putting all players on the lookout. Soon zombies came down on us en masse, herding the team down a series of narrow paths as the infected spawn in front of you and behind you – staying in place and taking them down is clearly not an option - you’ve got to make it through the maze to stop the waves of enemies. Speaking to the developers, the story behind the alarm is that to help identify humans, the army set up a maze of corridors, with the thought that only live humans would be able to get to the center, and the infected could be killed off before they reached the center. Clearly that was not the case.
Although some might say it’s more of an expansion pack, I’ll look forward to learning more about Left 4 Dead 2 and I have a feeling that Valve has a lot of surprises to throw our way. The title continues to deliver the nonstop heart-pounding action from the original. If you’re one of those folks who, like me, loved the first title and think about contingency plans for the zombie apocalypse, this is a must purchase on its release in November 2009.
~Bawdyjane
Left 4 Dead 2 takes place in the South about one week after the events of the original Left 4 Dead. My initial impression of the game after playing a level from “The Parish” is that the game feels like an expansion pack to the original. Returning players will instantly be able to dive into the game; however, developers at Valve seem to have a few tricks up their sleeve to keep the gameplay fresh and original in the sequel and plan to keep supporting new content for the original title.
The sequel features four new characters including Nick, Rochelle, Coach, and Ellis and the original cast of special infected, Boomer, Smoker, Hunter, Tank, and Witch are joined by three new characters. Playing the Parish level, we got to see just one of the new special infected classes in action, the Charger, who will rush players and quickly knock them to the ground. In gameplay I didn’t find the new infected class to be a challenge because the team could see him coming from a distance and pick him off before he became a threat. Additionally, once the Charger commits to a line, his momentum keeps him moving on a straight path so he was relatively easy to avoid.
The Witch is also present in the upcoming title with a new twist: during the day she will roam around the map, but at night will stay in one spot like she did in the original.
Guns remain the same in the sequel, albeit with new skins for the pistol, silenced SMG, pump and auto shotgun and rifle. Left 4 Dead 2 does mix it up a bit with new incendiary rounds which light enemies on fire and are useful to quickly take down common and special infected. New to the series is the introduction of more melee weapons, including the frying pan and axe in the Parish. Slow but powerful, the axe was great when it came down to taking out hordes of the infected, but seemed to lack when it came to the special infected like the Boomer, Smoker, Witch and Charger- just stick with the guns for them.
To change up the game dynamics Valve has modified gameplay and crescendo events will force players to constantly be on the move. Players can no longer stay in one area and use chokepoints to kill off hordes of zombies. This was apparent in one of my favorite levels in the Parish where players gather in the trailer and trigger a lever. This sounds an alarm, instantly sending the blood pumping and putting all players on the lookout. Soon zombies came down on us en masse, herding the team down a series of narrow paths as the infected spawn in front of you and behind you – staying in place and taking them down is clearly not an option - you’ve got to make it through the maze to stop the waves of enemies. Speaking to the developers, the story behind the alarm is that to help identify humans, the army set up a maze of corridors, with the thought that only live humans would be able to get to the center, and the infected could be killed off before they reached the center. Clearly that was not the case.
Although some might say it’s more of an expansion pack, I’ll look forward to learning more about Left 4 Dead 2 and I have a feeling that Valve has a lot of surprises to throw our way. The title continues to deliver the nonstop heart-pounding action from the original. If you’re one of those folks who, like me, loved the first title and think about contingency plans for the zombie apocalypse, this is a must purchase on its release in November 2009.
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~Bawdyjane