Left 4 Dead 2

Thanks to a GameSpy preview of Left 4 Dead 2, a new special infected has been revealed, known as the “Spitter.”

Beyond the common infected and hero infected from the original L4D, the time I spend with L4D2 also allowed me to check out the effects of the newly revealed Spitter infected. The Spitter — whose graphic was still being worked on when I played — can lob a ranged attack into a group of survivors, creating an area where survivors take damage so long as they are within it. No, the Spitter’s shot won’t do a ton of damage all at once, but it can hurt you badly after a few seconds spent in its area of effect, and can easily make a team panic and split up when it hits in the middle of a fight. Imagine you’re in a room with your team and a Spitter lobs the shot through the window, forcing your team to abandon the position. Now imagine that as you all abandon this spot that some of you split off from one another — perhaps exiting out of the room from two different sides — leaving yourself open to attack. I’m sure you get the idea of how this can be bad for a team and potentially rewarding in multiplayer.

GameSpy’s Full Exclusive Preview of Left 4 Dead 2 can be found here.