The original L4D was a great game. It took a simple ‘point and shoot’ premise and ratcheted up the tension by throwing horde after horde of undead zombies your way. It was a blast to play with a friend or friends, and the fast frenetic action forced you to rely on teamwork in order to survive.  Now, roughly one year later, Developer Valve has released its follow up sequel to the hit original. How does it measure up? What’s different? Read on….

GRAPHICS (8/10)

The graphics in the L4D games aren’t eye popping. This latest version is no exception. While the graphics aren’t poor, they lack the textural details of many of the more visually impressive titles this generation. What is important is that the zombies look like zombies and the people look like people.  The game does feature more graphical detail than its predecessor.  Zombies are killed, mutilated, slashed, and flat out abused with even greater detail than before.

Now when you shoot a shotgun at the legs of a zombie, you will see the legs disintegrate into shreds of bone and flesh. While that may seem a bit gory, this IS a zombie game afterall. Also, it adds a bit more authenticity to your attacks. If you can’t take them out with a well placed headshot, what better way to disable a zombie than to surgically remove his lower body with your weapon of choice? Overall the graphics have only improved slightly, but there is definitely more detail in the animations.

STORY (5/10)

The score may be low, but L4D games have never really cared much about a story. You basically know everything you ever will prior to playing the game. The zombie apocalypse is upon us and it is up to you and the other 3 survivors in your group to try and make it out alive. That is the entire plot in a nutshell. What is different is that this game takes place in Lousiana, allowing for some interesting environments.

Also, the original four characters from the first game have been replaced by a new group of four. There is Coach, a former pro football player who is now a coach at a local high school. There is Ellis, a good old country boy who is more than willing to share his bizzarre experiences and anecdotes no matter how innappropriate.  There is Rochelle, the tough female protagonist of the group.  Finally, there is Nick, the gambling hustler who seems to have borrowed his look from an episode of Miami Vice.  Luckily this new group is very chatty, offering up some of the funniest dialogue heard in a game in a long time. 

It’s a bit dissappointing that Valve put in the extra effort to make the characters more likeable, but then seemed to neglect the story behind how they got there and where they are going. With characters as interesting as these,  I’m sure many players would love to have more information about them.

GAMEPLAY (9/10)

This is the area where the game truly shines. The game’s mechanics are basically unchanged from the first game. It is still a simple point and shoot game with a heavy emphasis on teamwork. There is one new gameplay addition, which is the new melee weaponry. Now you can hack, slice, and dice your way through swarms of zombies with chainsaws, katana swords, frying pans, and a number of other deadly objects. The melee weapon replaces whatever pistol you have in the secondary weapon slot. The new melee system actually works very well and it is a wonder why they didn’t include it in the first game.

Another gameplay addition is the ability to dual wield pistols. In the first game the pistol was a relatively useless weapon that served as a bit of a last resort. The only effective way to use it was with a headshot. Now, with two pistols, you can blast your way through just about anything, not to mention that pistols still have unlimited ammo.  With the exception of certain melee weapons, it is usually better to have two pistols than a melee weapon.

The gameplay is just as solid as the first game, with the exception of the improvements listed above. The difficulty level of this game, however, is through the roof. Playing on normal will feel like you are playing on expert. Making things even crazier for those who love punishment is the new ’realism’ mode. In this mode, there are no prompts to highlight items of interest (health packs, weapons, etc). It is all up to you to keep an eye out for these precious survival items. there are also numerous variations on the campaign modes, all making them way more difficult than the original modes.

 There are also the new “special” infected zombies they’ve added. The Jockey is a small midget zombie that will jump on your shoulders and take control of your character, usually steering them towards some hazard like toxic waste or fire. The Spitter is just that. She spits a flood of toxic material that will kill you if you’re exposed too long. The Charger is almost like a weaker version of the Tank. It tackles you out of nowhere and pins you against the wal, pummeling you to death.  Old favorites like the Tank, Witch, Boomer (now in Female form also), Hunter, and Smoker are all back to make your life miserable.

MULTIPLAYER (9/10)

The competitive multiplayer is pretty much the same as the first game, with the addition of new infected to play as.  The real gem of this series is its co-op multiplayer. There is nothing more fun than running through the game with a few friends. Even the best teamwork can unravel with some of the crazy situations that the random AI throws at you.  There are now 5 campaigns to play through, each offering some high adrenaline thrills. There is a carnival level, a swamp level, a burning building level, just to mention a few. It will take very excellent communication skills between squad members if you are to survive any of these campaigns.

OVERALL (8/10)

The game is an excellent game with improvements in nearly every department. When playing this, you immediately sense that this game is far more complete than the first one. It really makes the first one look outdated and after playing L4D2 you will have a difficult time going back to play the first game. Many of the improvements seem like things that should have been included from the series start. Melee is a perfect example. How can you have a Zombie game without melee capabilities (other than the lame shove move)? 

If there is one thing about the L4D series, it is the level of tension throughout the game. The first game had brief calm moments between major action showdowns. This game seems almost relentless in its pacing. Not that this is a bad thing, but after completing one campaign, you’ll be pretty much too drained to hop right into another one. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoy this game and I think that anyone who liked the first game will love this game.  If you hated the first game, this game will have little to offer since it is so similar. For zombie bashing fans, I highly recommend picking this up.