So, I was among the great many who pre-ordered this game on STEAM, and waited for an hour while Valve got their act together so that I could unlock and play it. But that was no biggie, I have come to expect delays and cancellations as a gamer who spends an overwhelming majority of my time playing online games. But that's just a minor gripe and has nothing to do with the game, onto the good stuff!
Left 4 Dead 2, at its core, is an amazingly fun game. Group up with 3 other people and tear through the challenging campaign, or if you and your crew are a good, close-knit group, tackle the Realism campaigns. All of the campaigns are very well done, and well laid out, though some of them seemed fairly bland and seemed like making the levels feel like a zombie apocalypse was an afterthought at best. Don't get me wrong, most of the campaigns look great, but at times it feels like some of the levels just weren't finished.
Or, you have the option of taking up the role of the special infected. The Hunter, Smoker and Boomer are all still there, though they have received much needed, well done, aesthetic upgrades. Joining them are the Jockey, Charger, and the Spitter. The Jockey jumps on survivor's backs and steers them towards mayhem, meaning other zombies, the Charger has the ability to charge, grab and pummel survivors, and the Spitter spits an acid a fairly considerable distance, and also leaves acid where she is killed.
The new survivors are a much different crowd this time. No grizzled veterans or angry bikers this time around. These new survivors are much less experienced in the fine art of fighting zombies than the original's cadre, and are generally more helpless. In the mix is a newscaster who is a helpless city girl, an overweight coach with an affinity for chocolate, a conman with a colorful background, and a redneck who might be a little too emotionally attached to a particular car. The voice acting this time is much better, much more entertaining, and the humor feels more natural no more "Zombie Bulls***" or ill conceived comments about chaps.
Their are numerous new weapons in the game, which makes for a little more customization, but it seems that a lot of the weapons are just there to have different weapons. And the weapons are where the majority of my complaints lie. First off, what modern first person shooter doesn't have the ability to bring up the iron sights, seriously? One of the weapons, which was modeled after the real gun called a SCAR, has a complete rail system, yet they felt compelled to tie on a flashlight, though their handguns have mounted flashlights. All of the weapon models feel big and clunky, they all feel like they are just slightly too big, especially the hand guns. Also, with the dual handguns, you can't fire them as fast as you could in the original Left 4 Dead, and I'm not sure why. There are two different sniper rifles, two different pump shotguns, and two different automatic shotguns. Respectively, I can't tell the difference from one to the other, aside from ammunition count. There are two different assault rifles, but the effect those have is noticeably different. The same can't be said for the silenced SMG, which looks like a MAC10 with a suppressor held on with baling wire. Zombies still come to you if you fire it, just the same as any other gun.
Really, my only big complaint is with the guns, it seems they added more just to have more, and screwed up some of the models in the process. Don't let that hold you back from a fun experience, just don't expect this game to play like the Battlefield and Call of Duty games that most of us are accustomed to.
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