Left 4 Dead 2, Singleplayer/Campaign/Realism Review

Andy reviews the Singleplayer, Campaign, and Realism modes of his most awaited media piece of the year, Valve's outstanding co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2.



It's crazy, isn't it? This blog is not a videogame review blog, not by any stretch of the imagination. Yet myself being a game-playing, well, maniac, there's the one time of the year the lackluster mid-year releases die down and all the pre-Christmas titles start flooding website ad spaces and gaming magazine covers: November. Yes, it's this merry month when all the games we heard about six months ago, are being released to the world to enjoy, and the semi-casual, semi-serious PC gamers like me go absolutely nuts.

So, to begin the gestalt of seemingly endless game reviews, is that game I won't shut up about - Left 4 Dead 2. Basically you already know what it is if you've read my review of the demo and whatnot - it's a game where you shoot zombies, shoot zombies a bit more, then shoot different kind of zombies - while all the while, zombies are, well, trying to kill the fuck out of you. You play as one of 4 survivors, each of whom has wonderful character (even Rochelle... occasionally). From the fat, ever-hungry, ever-awesome Coach, to Nick, a gambler and conman who hates everybody and seems to hate his new "friends" even more, below his grim panic-stricken façade. However, the surprising favourite is Ellis; a Southern mechanic with a (to non-US residents) hilarious accent and the best stories. "The name's Ellis, though some people call me Ell. I don't like Ell, though, it sounds like a girl's name, but you can call me Ell if you like." Fantastic.



Singleplayer
I've decided to review only the game modes I've play extensively enough so far. A Versus/Survival/Scavenge review will come later, probably after I've played through Modern Warfare 2. To start, singleplayer - the shite, "look at me I have no friends" alternative to the Campaign. Though this is probably subjective - after all, some people have lots of friends, they just don't have an Internet connection. Well, really. If you don't have an Internet connection you can't play the game on PC, anyway, so you must be playing it on Xbox 360. And if you're playing it on Xbox 360 offline, at the least you can play local or splitscreen. So don't dare tell me you're playing singleplayer for any reason other than you just can't find friends to play with. You friendless loser. Long story short: avoid singleplayer unless you really must. The teammate AI can aim well but besides that, they're honestly the dumbest shits ever. Really.

Campaign/Realism (4-player Co-op)
Here we have the meat of the game, the fantastic 4-player co-op campaign mode. Now I can actually review the game instead of telling you don't play the singleplayer whatever you do. It goes like this: you, and 3 other players (those you know or otherwise) start off at the start of the level with no weapons but pistols. Available to you immediately, healthkits (which you use to revive health), pain pills (which is like healing but wears slowly off over time), and either more pistols (which you can duel-wield) or a carnage-creating melee weapon, depending on your preference. Melee weapons take up your pistol slot, so you have to pick and choose whether you'd rather fall back on a pistol with infinite ammo, or an axe or baseball bat that chops zombies to little tiny bloody squares.

In the original Left 4 Dead, in all campaigns you had access to a primary weapon, either a shotgun or an automatic Uzi, at the commencement of the campaign. This is not so in all levels of Left 4 Dead 2 - in two of the five campaigns, at start the crew only has access to pistols and melee weapons. Which creates some frankly dynamic pacing exercises. Since weapon placements throughout the map are only doled out by the ever-changing AI Director, it's the realisation at the start of a level that you'll either be using pistols or melees for a time unknown to you that gets the heart pumping, and the adrenaline building. You get halfway the level, you're bogged down by zombies and the team only has short-range weapons, a Smoker or a Boomer from a distance is nigh-on impossible to hit flawlessly (Boomers especially.) It's intense, more intense than the original ever was, and that's a complement to the work Valve has put in to making sure this game succeeds where the other, not failed... just didn't show up at all.

Apart from the changes to level design and pacing, new toys to play with and new Special Infected to kill (or be killed by) aplenty. As well as pain pills, you can pick up handy Adrenaline Shots which boost your speed and health for a short time. They're hell-as fun to use - the sound gets muffled slightly and Infected brush off you as you run around like a Scout on Bonk! shooting your auto-shotgun twice as fast as usual in the faces of all those around you. This, as well as throwable Boomer Bile jars (CEDA approved! :D) and life-saving Defibrillator units are welcome and game-changing additions that don't say much on paper, but in practise really add to the depth of managing items and weighing up the pros and cons of your current loadout.

The new Special Infected are crazy as ever also change the tactics of the game radically. The Charger, the Spitter, and the Jockey are the new undead kids on the block and they're all insane - especially the Charger, who, on the higher difficulties, can very often wipe you out as easily as a Tank can, if your team is unaware enough. Jockeys too have proven to be team-separating bastards, and cohesive teamwork becomes a life-or-death decision when you hear a Jockey's mocking laughter from somewhere behind the bushes. The game's locales are all utterly gripping to look at - even the murky Swamp campaign, which looks kind of boring (until the very very VERY cool finale), has a nice flair to it - be that a change in the time of day, a change in map disposition, or just a nice scripted Ellis line to accompany the madness. Ah yes, Left 4 Dead 2's campaign mode is a beast of a game and a damn fine journey. It even has a slight plot. Not meaty, not narrative-driven, but a plot nonetheless. You'll come to hate CEDA by the end of it, let me assure you.



One last thing. If I had to choose my favourite element of the game, it would be the set-pieces. From wading through a sea of alarmed cars to dashing through a firey building with smoke obstructing your vision, to climbing around a wooden roller-coaster (urge to say "wee!"... rising...), they define this game. But if I had to pick my favourite set-piece in the entire game, it's the entire Hard Rain campaign. Yeah, I'd call it a set-piece.

You start off in a small town. You fight your way through crops, as the weather above starts to swirl and worsen, and a sugar mill, until you get the fuel you need, and start to head back. It's late by then, and the weather is... well... hellish. This is where the game shines - the weather effects. The goddamn son of a bitch weather effects. With the sound of the lightning and wind literally BOOMING through the speakers, visibility low-to-none, and rain lashing down on the Infected and uninfected alike, it's a massive storm. A massive, massive, kickass storm, rendered unbelievably well and... I won't ruin it. It's my favourite part of the game, the Hard Rain campaign, and in my opinion worth the price of admission alone (US$50 is you're wondering). And that's Left 4 Dead 2 so far... see you in the Versus/Survival/Scavenge review.

ANDY SCORE
8.7/10

Nearly the perfect apocalypse, but let down by some annoying level design and a singelplayer mode that must be avoided at all costs unless necessary.