Left 4 Dead built up a strong following of gamer fans and even cults who live day to day thinking of shooting and smashing zombies apart. It all started in Jan 2007 where many FPS (First Person Shooter) fans were tired of the age-old random shooting (Think Quake 3) and boring old camp-fest (CS-Source) games. They wanted more, something engaging, something real, something that will force you and your team mates to work together OR die trying.
So came Left 4 Dead (L4D), the ultimate "28-Days" style zombie game with 4 player Co-operative Mode as Standard. It even allowed players to be zombies for once! It was an instant hit, within 3 months, over 50,000 copies were sold and gone were the days of boring single person FPS (Halo). Now, you have team mates, no matter whether you are playing online or offline. The bots were clever and good enough for you NOT to notice that they were actually controlled.
So, everyone in the world are shooting zombies and running into safe houses. That is fun, but wait, there are only 4 campaigns, it averages around 5-6 hours to complete all 4 campaigns with your buddies. Whats NEXT we ask?
Value decide to jump on the hype of L4D can create L4D 2 while it's still pretty hot and create a brand new stand alone sequel, its not a add-on mind you. The reason behind it was that it has 4 new characters, 3 new special zombies, new campaigns, new unrevealed mode of play, new AI director, lots of new weapons and more of those standard zombies but they have more varieties of them now.
I had a chance to play the first campaign of the new L4D which was 'Dark Carnival'. Once you entered the game, it felt new, fresh with a brand new fear of the unknown. I did not read up on the new special zombies forehand so I was heavily anticipating their arrival. We moved from the totally condemn highway which was lifeless to a 'horror movie' styled motel.
Along the way, I got the first encounter with one of the new zombies, the 'Jockey'. It jumped on my team-mate's back and started crawling at him while also leading him away from us. The slower you react, the further your team mate will get which also means, the harder he'll survive. So, in simple words, its like the Hunter but better because it has the option to move away from the group.
The next special zombie were met near the motel was the 'Charger'. If I was not wrong, when L4D 2 was announced, it was mentioned that the Charger would run into the group and smash everyone apart so they can't stay together. This was made to counter the fact that a lot of players in L4D 1 had the tendency to stay very close together to survive. But i was surprise to see that the Charger was 'modified'. It actually, grabs one of the humans (which was me, unfortunately) and smash him or her towards oblivion at the nearest wall or barricade.
I personally felt that the original Tank was slightly stronger but its only my first experience so I might be wrong.
The next zombie character we met inside the motel was the 'Spitter', it spits goo at your and on the floor which will actually damage you if you stood on it. The interesting part was that the spitter actually pre-am the area that the humans will 'camp out' and spit some goo inside before you even reach the place.
There is also talk that the Jockey will lead it's catch into the spitter's goo but we have not actually met into that scenario yet. It pretty interesting to hear that the special zombies actually work with each other to kill you off which is unlike the first installment.
In the last part of the Dark Carnival, we had to activate the merry-go-round, which was partially similar to the add-on map 'Crash Course'. The new AI Director was smarter this time, the horde of zombies just will not stop just because you are able to defend for a period of time. Now, every horde launch has a specific purpose to it, which is either for you to be forced to move forward while fighting or to accomplish some task. After which, the horde rush will stop.
In conclusion, I loved the new campaigns, I loved the new zombies and their 'smarter' AI and I think the gameplay is building up towards something bigger. I forsee that the 4 characters from the first installment will be participating in more of L4D in the future together with these new 4 heroes.
8 player co-op mode? In which 4 will start on each end of the map and fight to meet in the middle and fight the ultimate boss? Multiple characters to choose from and each with special abilities?
I'll be waiting for it.
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