Format: Xbox 360, Windows PC.
Rating: BBFC, 18 / ESRB, M

The lads and lasses at Valve had a two-fold problem on their hands when producing the sequel to last year’s Left 4 Dead. Firstly, they had to be able to top what is easily the best zombie survival game ever released; secondly, they had to prove to the gaming public at large that it was worthwhile releasing a completely new title so soon after the first.

There was no small degree of outrage when Left 4 Dead 2 was announced. The first game had a massive following and a great deal of critical acclaim. It was the first time a co-operative multiplayer game had put together all the elements of a survival horror experience and made them WORK. People were still plugging away at the various game modes, trying to get every last achievement and squeeze every drop of enjoyment from Left 4 Dead. To announce that a sequel would be released just over a year after the first game, which had been given an uncharacteristically spartan offering of downloadable content, well… a few people were up in arms over it.

Valve, who have long been known as great innovators in not only game design but also community support, were quick to jump up in defence of their plans. The supposed ringleaders of the L4D2 Boycott were flown to Valve HQ to see the game firsthand in order to smooth things over with the disgruntled community. As a result, the boycott lost much of its momentum, with the converted former agitators now convinced that Valve were quite right in releasing L4D2 after such a short break.

I pre-ordered the game and was given a free demo featuring part of one of the campaigns, showcasing all of the new special zombies (or “Infected”), as well as most of the new weapons. This short taster got me excited about the game which, with the new characters and setting, almost felt like a completely different experience to the first one. I was definitely won over, and excited about the sequel’s release.

Having now played through all five of the new game’s campaigns, I’m left feeling a little disappointed. I mean, the game was just a shade over £25, which is really not that bad if you look at it as simply purchasing 5 new campaigns, 4 new characters and a bunch of new weapons as downloadable content for the original Left 4 Dead.

To call this game a sequel implies that you should expect a light-year leap in gameplay, providing something that was sorely missing from the previous title. The new features are there, but I’m really not sure whether they were worth all the fuss and hype.

The five campaigns run in chronological sequence, with the first setting you right where the introduction cinematic leaves off. Each campaign has a vastly different setting, ranging from murky swampland to a zombie-infested fairground complete with working amusements and rides. The painstaking level of detail is something we’ve come to expect from Valve, and while it’s definitely interesting, a lot of the time the gameplay is so hectic you simply don’t get to enjoy it.

Most of the campaigns feature a new spin on the tried and tested method of ‘run from point A to point B, killing all undead in your path’, which usually ends with ‘call for help, then fight off your attackers until help arrives’. I won’t spoil anything here, but I particularly enjoyed the finale of ‘Dead Center’, even though it drives home the need to stick together with a ten-tonne hammer.

Speaking of hammers, one of the big selling points of this game is the introduction of melee weapons. Before, when swarmed with hungry undead, your only option was to shove them back before firing wildly all around yourself, your teammates largely helpless for fear of shooting you. Now, you simply arm yourself with one of the many bladed or blunt force instruments you find lying around, and tenderise the face off the nearest zombie. Chainsaws, baseball bats, samurai swords and electric guitars are among your potential arsenal.

The number of firearms on offer has grown, too, so now instead of shotgun/machinegun/sniper level 1 and 2, you have a selection of guns with varying power levels, accuracy and fire rate, depending on your preferred playstyle. There are also grenade launchers for destroying crowds of zombies, and boxes of incendiary and exploding ammo, as well as laser sights to improve the accuracy of any gun you attach it to.

There are new ‘uncommon’ infected on show here, with zombified riot police clad in bulletproof armour and helmets, requiring players to shove them and shoot them in the back; undead clowns complete with honking red noses and demented carnival music which draws other zombies to follow them; and the infected government forces dressed in hazmat suits, rendering them fireproof.

The new special undead are the new and improved method by which the computer can derail your escape attempts:

The Charger is a lesser version of the Tank, with one massively mutated arm that it uses to ram into and slam the players repeatedly into the ground. It’s very similar to the Hunter in its attacks, although it is much less subtle, easy to spot and thus much more easily killed. It does however have the ability to push survivors back several metres, throwing them away from their comrades and potentially into swarms of zombies, or worse.

The Spitter is a grotesque mutation of a tube top and capri pant-wearing southern belle, whose grossly distended neck allows her to spit long-range balls of highly corrosive bile, which spread over a wide area in a similar fashion to the molotov cocktails used by the survivors.

The amount of damage done by the spit is incredibly harsh, and while it’s acknowledged that this infected was designed to flush out tightly-packed, bunkered survivors, I feel that for a group surrounded by zombies with nowhere to run, the Spitter can be a bit of a game-breaker.

The Jockey is a crazed, grinning hunchback that crawls, sniggering, until it is close enough to hop on the back of one of the survivors. Once there, it ‘rides’ the survivor away from his or her comrades, usually into some sort of horrendous danger. He’s weak, but normally quite hard to spot.

There are other neat little twists on the familiar formulae of L4D, which again I won’t spoil for you. Suffice to say, if you’re a fan of the original game, there’s enough here to keep you entertained for a least a short while.

There are a number of different game modes, too, from time trial survival modes to a mode called ‘Realism’, which removes much of the game’s visual cues (such as the coloured halo that lets you see your team-mates through walls), and stops you from respawning (meaning your only hope of returning to life is by being successfully resuscitated with a defibrillator).

Two huge differences between L4D2 and its predecessor become achingly apparent within minutes of joining your first game.

Number one, it is incredibly gory and violent, with each blast from your shotgun or automatic rifle tearing off limbs and blasting enormous holes through the common zombie, leaving half-torsos and spilled intestines spread liberally across your wake. It’s not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re expecting nice neat ragdoll corpses like in the first game.

Number two, it is REALLY bloody hard in parts. I always played the first game on Normal difficulty, because I like to be able to finish the game no matter how incompetent my team mates are (more often than not, this is VERY incompetent). There was enough challenge on L4D1‘s Normal mode to keep you alert, while never really frustrating you with needless, surprise deaths.

L4D2 on the other hand has a monstrous difficulty curve, even on Normal mode, which left me staring at the screen in sheer exasperation. During the finale of one campaign, the survivors are attacked by three tanks at the same time. THREE! This is an enemy that can incapacitate you in two hits, and there are almost as many of them as there are survivors?! Oookay then!

There are several moments, too, where even on Easy mode it is possible for half your party to die instantly after being chucked into a lethal environmental hazard by a lucky Charger strike. I know a zombie apocalypse is meant to be stressful, but give me a break!

Valve have done a good job on this game, though, and I would heartily recommend it to someone new to the franchise. But there’s not a great deal of innovation this time around, so if you’d grown bored of the gameplay in Left 4 Dead 1, there is not much on offer here to rekindle your interest.

On the other hand, if you were hooked on the story of Left 4 Dead and want to follow the continuing saga, L4D2 is well worth a look.

Overall, I’d say that Valve is justified in calling this a sequel, but only in the same sense that Half Life Episode 2 is a sequel to Half Life Episode 1. The maps are different, there are tweaks to the gameplay and appearance, and there are new characters. It’s a very fine line between being downloadable content, but Left 4 Dead 2 just about manages to keep its rotting head above water.

[7.5/10]