Reviews// Left4Dead 2

When I was planning to review 2008's Left 4 Dead I was struck by metaphors of cherry blossom and the flight of swallows in autumnal winds. The fleeting moments of perfection when everything is just right, made somehow all the more special by their inevitable transcience.

It was due to thoughts like that that I was banned from writing the review. It was a simpler time, a better time, playing a truly co-operative online game, where no player could Rambo their way through uncaringly, and tactics and teamwork were lauded. When the time passed, as it does for all games (with the possible exception of Tetris and Mario Kart) I was saddened, and no other online game gave me quite the same feeling of worth and mutual necessity as it did.

There are some people: nay-sayers, idiots, who have complained that Left 4 Dead 2 offers nothing new, that it's the same game again. This begs many questions, including, just for starters: "What did you want? To Katamari zombies around a minute universe? To fire them at each other until a row of four is completed? To answer a small puzzle game before each kill?” At which point my rant begins and would threaten never to end.

Left 4 Dead, for those of you who didn't play the first one, puts you inside the body of one of four characters who must battle waves of zombies and super-zombies through four levels to get evacuated from the dystopian environment of probably ultimate doom. Split-screen co-op, online and single-player are all available, as is 'Versus', a mode whereby half your group of friends can play survivors and half, the infected zombs.

Left 4 Dead 2 is fantastic because the first one was so bloody good. It refrains from pulling traditional bad sequel punches like introducing a cute animal companion or fiesty female (it already had a nicely understated woman who can handle the horde). Left 4 Dead got so much right, it'd be a travesty if they changed the style, the basic structure of four players struggling to get rescued, or the constantly switching, unpredictable AI.

That's not to say that Turtle Rock or the demi-Gods of Valve have been sitting on their arses for the last year, though, far from it. The solid structure for the game has been adorned with much newness on every level, only serving to increase my vitriol at the aforementioned Negative Nellies.

This time the survivors are fleeing across the Southern states of America, starting in the crab shacks of New Orleans at dawn and running through what once were medical outposts, through a burning hotel, stopping off in one memorable moment at a gun store before getting to the shopping mall. It must be said, it seems to me that a mall is a stupid place to go if trying to flee zombie hordes though I presume there's some socio-political point being made about consumerism.

In a change from Left 4 Dead most of these levels are either indoors or during the daytime, a brave decision on the developers' parts, but one which pays off with realism - you wouldn't catch me outside at night when zombies were around, assault rifle or no! Feel like you'd miss out on something? Atmospheric lighting, pathetic fallacy and authentic horror film feeling? Just check out Hard Rain.

Another improvement from the 2008 game is the character development and dialogue. Although only introduced to us through the intro scene and pauses between levels, these characters feel a lot more believable and thought through than in the first game.