Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 was one of the most popular games being shown at PAX this year. Lines were long with fans from the first game waiting as long as three hours to get their hands on the zombie shooting sequel from Valve. As for myself, along with the rest of the SFX360 staff, we had an appointment allowing us to walk right into the press room inside Valve’s booth for a private session.

We got to play the Dark Carnival campaign which started us out on an abandoned freeway filled with lots of empty cars, trucks, and of course alot of zombies. Starting weapons included a shotgun and a silenced submachine gun. As we plowed through the zombie horde on the freeway, we then made it to a motel where literally all hell broke loose with quite a few boss zombies making the trek to the safe house even more difficult. Finally, our battle would take us to the swamp where the terror level most certainly increased. Good thing was before we entered the swamp we had some Level 2 weapons to help us out. There was also some melee weapons, including the battle axe, adding to all the fun.

Now for those of you who consider yourselves “zombie slaying experts” in the first Left 4 Dead game, let me assure you that Left 4 Dead 2 is much tougher. The AI Director is well aware of your tactics and will trick you up. The new boss zombies make the orignal boss zombies look like a pushover. The new boss zombies that we battles in the demo included the Spitter who spits acid at your feet. There’s the Charger who literally charges after you while shoving other zombies out of the way. If you get caught by him, he will slam you into a wall and even smash you. Finally, we saw the Jockey who will ride your back and seperate you from the rest of the survivors. If there is a Witch nearby, the Jockey will take you right to her along with startling her and making you dead meat. Don’t forget that the original boss zombies are also here as well.

Just like the original Left 4 Dead, communication is a major key to success along with staying together with the rest of the survivors. A good thing to keep in mid is to call out boss zombie locations as well as helpful items like Level 2 weapons, second pistol, extra ammo, health kits, pain pills, molotovs, and pipe bombs. Don’t follow these important rules and you’ll never make it to the safe house alive.

Overall, Left 4 Dead 2′s November 17 release date can’t come fast enough considering the fact that the game is that good. According to Chet Faliszek, Left 4 Dead 2 is the definitive Left 4 Dead experience. Clearly this game was what the first game was meant to be. This is one of the must have games of the holiday season. We’ll have more info regarding Left 4 Dead 2 in the coming weeks. If you can’t wait for this new game like I am, don’t worry because the new DLC for the first game called Crash Course is coming later this month.

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