With the demo of Left 4 Dead 2 claiming better apocalypse in its' tag-line, I was eager to give it a go after I downloaded it last night. The opening intro was pretty spectacular, giving the game an almost movie-quality feel. I was unsure if I'd like the characters, but after seeing how they interact, I can say that they're as good, if not better than the last. Same old plot though by the looks of things, although it seems to have more continuity through the campaign levels than the original Left 4 Dead.
Graphics wise, I was underwhelmed. Of course it was a day level, but still, the graphics almost looked too clean and static. Some of the objects acted awkwardly (chairs and other items don't decay or break like I thought they would in this second installment) and some of the physics don't gel completely. I know of course that this isn't probably going to be the polished standard of the final game, but it's still disappointing that the game's engine hasn't been upgraded very much - whether its' the constraint of the console or just laziness on Valve's behalf, I don't know.
Melee weapons! Yes, they're finally here. In the demo there was a frying pan, a night stick and katana, all of which can be substitute for your side arm pistols. My only complaint was that you had to get very close for the melee attack to hit your target, even when it looked like your shot should be hitting from a distance. Again, a deliberate choice or a physics engine fault, who knows. In addition to the melee weaponry are some new and improved long range weapons. Apparently they can have incendiary ammunition too! There's a few more machine guns and a different type of pistol added so far to the existing weapons.
But of course, the new zombies are what really is exciting people. The charger is quite cool. He's like a mini tank with one less arm that charges (go figure!) directly at you and can trap you with its' enlarged arm. The spitter is also quite cool. Spewing out acid kind of like a boomer, and leaving it behind when killed too, the spitter has the shape of a witch zombie. However the addition of the jockey, I am not sure about. After seeing it in action, it really just does not fit in. Obviously it is intended for control in Versus mode (and admittedly it would be quite fun to play as) but in campaign, it just looks gimmicky. Jumping on someone's head and holding on? I just don't quite understanding it and I don't know what effect trying to resist the jockey does, as you are prompted to when attacked by it.
The new types of other zombies are pretty cool also. Although we only see the riot police zombie in the demo, they add a bit of interesting gameplay as you can only really kill them when shooting them in the back. As promised, there should be mud zombies, ones in Hazmat suits and of course the clown zombies, probably only there to scare the shit out of you (nobody can seriously like clowns).
Also present in the demo was the addition of two new items. Health packs and pain pills are back, but adrenaline shots have been added to speed up your character (although I did not see much effect when using them) and so has a defibrillator. I didn't get a chance to use this, but it's intended to revive dead team mates (probably to replace the weird closet system of the previous game).
All in all, I think the demo showed that Valve was receptive and was willing to solve some of the first game's oversights. Number two looks like a lot more fun, with some new game modes (although I am not too sure what Realism and Scavenger modes exactly are), new zombies and new weapons. However, I'm not sure if it's a bit too overwhelming. With the new bright colours of New Orleans and exotic zombies being thrown at you behind every corner, it kinda felt like the game lost its' scary secludedness from the its' predecessor. In some cases more is less and I hope that the campaign modes of Left 4 Dead 2 will not suffer. But versus mode? Oh it's on! Happy gaming!
