Left 4 Dead 2

Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: Valve

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: November 17, 2009

Summary

Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) is the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Left 4 Dead. This co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns. Play as one of four new survivors armed with a wide and devastating array of classic and upgraded weapons. In addition to firearms, you'll also get a chance to take out some aggression on infected with a variety of carnage-creating melee weapons, from chainsaws to axes and even the deadly frying pan. You'll be putting these weapons to the test against (or playing as in Versus) three horrific and formidable new Special Infected. You’ll also encounter five new "uncommon" common infected, including the terrifying Mudmen. Helping to take L4D's frantic, action-packed gameplay to the next level is AI Director 2.0. This improved Director has the ability to procedurally change the weather you’ll fight through and the pathways you'll take, in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match your performance. L4D2 promises a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience every time the game is played, custom-fitted to your style of play. [Valve]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Left 4 Dead

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

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What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 648 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Justblaze d gave it a10:
The only reason these kids are giving it a bad review is cuz this game isnt noob friendly. these are the kids that join the servers run away from the team get pounced by a hunter and die. This is what a true fps is suppose to be like. Its all about teamwork and fast reaction time. If you gave it a 1-7 its because you suck at this game no question about it. Go play a game that is easy like COD.

Josh D. gave it a9:
Left 4 Dead was a great game. Left 4 Dead 2 is even better. The game is perfected beyond the first, and offers a great experience. Many people have issues with servers, but you can fix it in the lobby by selecting "Official Dedicated" instead of "Best Dedicated". The game is very much like the first, however many sequels are that way. The level design (Coming from a level designer), is astounding. Valve has perfected it. The subtle hints that lead you from one area to the next help this game for new people. The new characters, although realistic and you can identify with them, just don't come out as unique as the first's. Another problem I had was the Charger's AI is horrible. The Charger more-often-than-not runs into walls, and little corners, which can get infuriating. The Jockey's however, is great! He hides, and uses his advantage of being short to hide behind small areas. Scavenge is a great addon too, offering a quicker, fast-paced versus mode that does it's job really well. Kudos to Valve for making my heart race as the music gets quicker, as we grab the last can, and attempt to protect our convoy as we are in overtime. The weapons seem too close to the screen, and the Magnum would blow your head off. Again, these are minor nuisances, that can be ignored. The Hunter is somewhat buggy, as I once pounced off a high ledge and landed right on his head, but simply fell off. There aren't as many memories, but over-all, it is a better game. The new DLC should help this game out, and it could either do really well or fail miserably. Overall, I'd give Left 4 Dead a 9.3. I rounded it, so that's why I put it as a 9. This game was one of the best of last year.

Onslaught gave it a5:
This game only gets a "fair" or "median" because of: No radar. Come on, why no radar? Is this supposed to add to the cliche horror shooter left 4 dead is supposed to be? Radars in team-based games are crucial and any one title without it just is... stupid. NO real distinguishable features for "special" infected. ONLY when they're leagues away from your location will they be highlighted. Better yet, why not just highlight your TEAMMATES at all times? Why not show pointers on the screen (left, right side maybe?) to where your teammates are or where they're going? The Sound emulation for L4D2 is sub-par at best. For a $50 game I'd expect to rely on my headphones to tell me where the sounds are coming from (CS;S, predecessor of L4D with its useless radio commands, mouse-wheel change functionality has better sound emulation than this supposedly block-buster title). Retarded game modes, friendly fire that scales up with difficulty levels? All it takes is a dumb or punk teammate to kill you or severely wound you to ruin your game. Water. The water in this game feels like tar. Your movement speed is severely hampered by even water that goes as high as your ankles. Invisible AoEs on all effects (acid, fire), making them larger than they appear on-screen. Awful damage output on guns. Melee weapons are one-hit kills for 90% of the infected throughout the game. Why can't guns be a bit more powerful or melee weapons scaled down? The chainsaw, however, has a fuel gauge and runs out of gas quickly after excessive use. Some good points with this game does include the fact it has friendly fire to make it more realistic. Valve DOES support their active titles frequently and bugs do get fixed sooner rather than later versus some other games. Assorted weapons? Though most of them pump out the same damage a few different decals are nice? This game has been overinflated by hype and anticipation, period. I wouldn't have purchased this title myself (this game was given to me as a gift). My expectations of this game were a lot higher than most other fanboys would have. The graphics aren't much of an improvement over the first and most importantly the gameplay hasn't changed a single bit. This game definitely should've been marketed, and charged as a DLC, not an official standalone game. I would NOT recommend this game to someone who hasn't played any zombie-shooting game in the past. Frankly, Counter-Strike: Source is only $10 US through steam store and BORDERLANDS offers much more fun gameplay at the same price bracket as L4D2 only seems to last about 2 weeks top and dulls out real fast.

J. Midnight gave it a2:
I fell for the hype. TBH i would have given this "add-on pack" of a game a solid "8" the first week i got it. But now after playing the game a few times through its clear what this "Game" is: 3 "Special" Zombies and some maps. Nothing revolutionary, and i agree most-if not all- of the high reviews of this game are from overexcited fanboys. - Bad Pacing (A typical "Run and Gun" Zom Shooter) - Horrible Dialogue - Level Design is Bland - Director 2.0?!? (nope... again pointless hype. Shows some signs of improvement seems like a dumbed down ver. to help attract new players. Ex: Open Spaces = No Horde, Inside a Well Fortified Room? = Bingo)

Percy P gave it a5:
I've played this game from start to finish, both offline and online and I must say, I'm quite disappointed. Why not give it a lower score, you say? Because it still rates quite highly as a mod for the original game. Not enough content to justify a new game, and this renders the original game obsolete now, which is a slap in the face for those people who bought the original and expected it to be updated frequently... It's certainly not a worthless game, as it's great to pick up and have a blast for a few minutes every week, but it's not deserving of any accolades, either. My advice - Don't believe the hype. Pass + (Wait for a 75% off sale)

Jake C gave it a2:
The game is unplayable most of the time, because of the worthless servers which either have: 1) horrible ping 2) annoying mods/custom content The game is also filled with bugs of all sort. Why did they have to rush out with this piece of shit anyways? Fix the useless servers and bugs and I would give the game an 7, the game costs too much for what it delivers compared to the first game.

R Z gave it a10:
Left 4 Dead 2 is absolutely amazing. While the first one finally made zombie games actually scary (the zombies look even scarier now), was a good first-person shooter, and the best co-op game of the whole year, the second one takes all of those from before and greatly expands upon it. It adds a much larger slew of weapons and equipment, which serves to mix things up a bit and makes things more fresh, particularly with the addition of melee weapons. It makes all new Campaigns that have MUCH more originality and difference that in the first game, makes Crescendos actually interesting (it frequently isn't just "hold out for 2 minutes" anymore)... The finales are all pretty interesting, too. In Dead Center, you have to fuel up a car with gas cans that are scattered all around the area on different floors to escape. In The Parish, you actually have to run across a bridge and get to the end to survive. All of these things serve the purpose of making Left 4 Dead less repetitive, and it sure as heck does. Additionally, there is the introduction of three new Special Infected, which all serve their different purposes; with the Spitter, it's putting the nail in the coffin on the all-too-common and all-too-effective strategy of "stacking" that was abused in L4D1. WIth the Charger, it's scattering a group of players and leaving them all vulnerable while also running off with one Survivor. With the Jockey, you are given complete control over where a Survivor goes, and thus you can scatter them from their group very effectively, even to the point of making them hang onto a ledge. Versus is even more fresh at this point, and suddenly, being a Hunter isn't super common and boring. Scavenge is a great new addition to the online multiplayer, which, while making your time as one team (Survivor or Infected) less annoying, also serves to make the game a whole heck of a lot less frustrating playing online. With Versus it's pretty serious business, with Scavenge it's just a short, nice game. Realism Mode really isn't a new mode at all, more just a new setting. It can be applied to any difficulty, and it makes Witches always instantly kill, makes bodyshots far less effective to the point of you wondering how this is "realism", and worst of all, removes all player glows, even when someone is puked on/pounced. It serves to make teamwork extremely vital and it makes you go for headshots as if it's Counter-Strike or something. While I do not particularly enjoy this mode, and I doubt many people do, it does bring up a new challenge to do, especially with the "The Real Deal" achievement. Speaking of achievements, the achievements in Left 4 Dead 2 are fantastic. Just like the original, they are extremely varied, most of them being fun, and you never have to go too far out of your way to get them. It also only has one repeat achievement from the first game, that being to beat all Campaigns on Expert, as it would be absurd not to include that. The achievements are weighted in such a way that they are mostly for Campaign play, but almost all of those can also be earned in Versus as well if you feel you are up to it. There are a few achievements for the new Scavenge mode that are fun to strive for, and while you can earn any Infected achievement in either Scavenge or Versus, there are some that are easier to earn in Versus and some that are easier to earn in Scavenge. There is a measly one achievement in Survival, which, while some might consider it a shame, I personally do not as it was not a very popular game type in the first place and is very unsatisfying in general. Thankfully, there is only one achievement for Realism, but good luck getting it, as it requires you to survive a Campaign on Expert with Realism mode enabled. Truly an achievement that takes much effort, showing that there is a good blend of achievements; from easy to insanely hard. In terms of the characters, Ellis has a ton of lines that most all quite humorous and entertaining. Nick's lines makes him the only believable character yet in the series. Coach is supposed to be some kind of leader and encourager but he frequently ends up coming off as just annoying. Rochelle is just a complainer who makes really lame jokes and she screams really, really annoyingly when she's incapacitated. So overall, I liked the Survivors better in the first, but Ellis is, without a doubt, a hilarious edition to the series, bringing up much of the comic relief in Left 4 Dead 2. Back on to Infected, it is even more fun now to play Infected, as it is more varied as to what you will be, and you can make a much bigger influence than before. In the first game, if a team was extremely good at sticking together, the worst thing you could send them was a Boomer, and even that proved quite ineffective frequently. Now, you can deal with Stackers and people who are good at grouping with the Spitter or Charger, which are both very much welcome additions to the game, as well as a blast to play, although the Charger can be extremely difficult to play. Another small edition to the game was "Uncommon Infected", which are basically Common Infected that have around 1/10 or so of a chance of spawning in the place of a Common Infected. They possess special abilities that are not terribly game-breaking, but once again, serve to make the game more fresh. There are Infected CEDA Agents/Hazmat Infected, which are fire-resistant and occasionally drop Bile Bombs, Clowns, which alert other Common Infected with their squeaky shoes, effectively creating miniature hordes, Mudmen, extremely dexterous, fast, and sneaky Infected that slightly obscure your screen with mud upon each hit, Worker Infected, which are tougher than Common Infected and are not attracted to Pipe Bombs, and Riot Cops, which are wearing bullet-proof kevlar, meaning that you have to shoot them in the back to actually kill them (yes, even headshots don't work, which is ridiculous). As far as bad things go, there are not, in my opinion, many problems with Left 4 Dead 2. There are, of course, many minor glitches that can really make you mad at the game, as L4D2 was clearly rushed. Don't get me wrong, it's rushed, but it still seems to be a very complete game. Another thing that is extremely annoying is that the Tank is probably only half as scary as it used to be; they're really slow, and on Expert, the only thing scary about them is their concrete throw, which still proves to be quite annoying. In Versus, it is extremely easy to backpedal a Tank even at yellow health without it catching up, and you can circle-strafe to a lot of effectiveness even at red health. While playing the Boomer, it is obvious that you can now not vomit through, for instance, Common Infected; which is just plain annoying and a pointless nerf. Also, something that is not really a negative but just something I will say; Valve really should work on their first-person animations. I'm sorry but when you're flying through the air after being punched by a Tank and your hands just plain disappear, that's just lazy and I think that showing a lot of different first-person animations serves to make the flow and integration of the game much better. AKA, Valve, please take lessons from Dice because they made Mirror's Edge and that game was absolutely fantastic at that. While I said before that the zombies look more scary now, the Tank is completely the opposite if you ask me. Sure they're not a whole heck of a lot different, but now they have... shiny abs? What the crap? So yes, the Tank is now less scary gameplay wise and appearance wise, which is kind of sad because they really used to just be plain scary. Another annoying thing that is similar is Witches. The Witches are just plain slow at responding now and you can kill them really easily due to them having a reaction time that was increased by probably a full second. This may not sound like much, but when it comes to first-person shooters, it is. Especially disappointing is the "Wandering Witches", which are supposed to be more easily disturbed but instead are actually even easier to avoid and react even slower despite the fact that they stand up. But besides a few little things, Left 4 Dead 2 overall is a fantastic game that is perfect for co-op with your friends off or online, playing against/with random people, and shooting zombies. Buy it, it's seriously amazing.

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