Left 4 Dead 2 - Previews - The Armchair Empire


	Platform Xbox 360, PC Genre Shooter Publisher Valve Developer Valve ETA November 17, 2009
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

Left 4 Dead 2

The original Left 4 Dead received a host of industry awards that helped cement its place in gaming as the pre-eminent zombie-killing title and made cooperating with strangers (and friends) necessary and fun, which was the game’s groundbreaking feature above anything else.

The structure and design of each of the four Survivor “movies”, the ebb and flow and balance of versus mode, those moments of terror when the music swells and you know a tank is somewhere, the ever-changing whims of the “Director”

Advertisement

constantly a threat, that all pales in comparison to creating a game that rewards teamwork and turns you into a corpse if you choose a solo route.

All of this came together after years of work, so it’s surprising to learn that a sequel is “targeted” for release just shy of a year since the original launched. And it appears the sequel isn’t just a stitched-together

Advertisement

collection of new levels.

The game has moved locales. This time, the all-new Survivors are fighting in the Deep South, including New Orleans’ French Quarter against the infected horde and new Special Infected (oh God, a wandering witch?), while under the threat of the Director 2.0, which can now control the weather and alter elements in each of the five connected campaigns to keep players constantly alert and moving and, probably, dying. Though the Survivors have picked-up some new tricks – new firearms, incendiary ammo, melee weapons like the frying pan and chainsaw – the infected have some new surprises, too, like the ability to walk through fire thanks to their hazmat suits. The combination of all these elements will force strategy and cooperation to the fore once again.

November 17 can’t come soon enough.

- Aaron Simmer

(June 4, 2009)