Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 is a single-player and multiplayer co-operative survival horror first person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to Left 4 Dead. It was first announced on June 1st, 2009 by Valve Corporation at Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference.

As of January 24, 2010, Metacritic gave Left 4 Dead 2 a metascore of 89 out of 100.

The Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer demo was released on October 28th, for those who pre-ordered. It was then made available to the public on November 3rd.


 * Campaigns/Maps
 * The Survivors
 * The Infected
 * Updates

Plot


The plot is similar to Left 4 Dead; it involves the aftermath of the Infection one week after the events of the previous game, now being around three weeks after the first Infection.

The story starts around noon in Savannah, Georgia. As the last rescue helicopter leaves the building, four unlucky Survivors climb up the hotel to find that they were just a couple of seconds too late, watching their chance of escape fly away. With this newfound predicament, the group decides to go to a mall, where it is said that another evacuation center is still in operation. While leaving the mall, they learn each others' names; Ellis, Coach, Rochelle and Nick. They fight their way through the run-down streets of Savannah, obtaining equipment at Whitaker's Gun Shop and strike a deal with Whitaker to quickly access the mall, only to find it abandoned and full of Infected. In desperation, they decide to pierce deeper into the building in hopes that the evacuation center was simply deeper inside. It turns out that the center was decimated, and all the CEDA agents are either dead or infected. In despair, the group enter the mall's atrium and discover local legend Jimmy Gibbs Jr.'s stock car, and Ellis suddenly comes up with the idea to find gas cans to fill the car's fuel tank. They manage to find sufficient gas and escape Savannah in the car.

The four soon arrive at Rayford and find a raised bridge that they cannot cross, having been raised by the original Survivors of Left 4 Dead. Bill sacrificed his life to raise the bridge, while Louis was wounded by a Witch while the group explored Rayford. Francis or Zoey will meet the Survivors and inform them that they cannot lower the bridge for the group because the generator that used to lower the bridge is out of fuel, and they must tend to one of their own who is wounded. After battling through a wedding with the Witch bride, the streets, and a "historical sewer," the Survivors then meet up with the other three again. After the three original Survivors agree to help by defending them from higher ground, the Savannah group is able to fend off most of the Infected, find gas cans, fill up the generator, cross the lowered bridge, and drive off while exchanging farewells as they continue to New Orleans.

The escape car works well, until the Survivors arrive at Griffin County and discover a massive pile-up of abandoned vehicles, forcing them to disembark from their car and proceed on foot, where they discover the people were stuck in their cars when the Infected came and killed them. When they go below the overpass, they see searchlights still lit up in the distance. The group then decides to head for the lights, as they believe there may be fellow Survivors holding out at the park. The lights are revealed to have come from Whispering Oaks Amusement Park (and that the Midnight Riders were going to play there), and the Survivors soon discover that the park has been overrun and full of Infected. They fight their way through the infected masses, and as they leave the Tunnel of Love, soon discover a helicopter flying overhead, apparently trying to search for Survivors. As they fight their way through, the helicopter returns again, and Coach comes up with an idea to use the Midnight Riders' equipment in The Peach Pit to start a concert to attract the helicopter pilot's attention. This gambit pays off, and the Survivors manage to evacuate in the helicopter as masses of Infected swarm the stadium.



But once again, luck is not on their side, as the helicopter pilot soon becomes infected, prompting Nick to shoot him and cause the helicopter to crash. The Survivors exit the wrecked helicopter to find that they landed in a bayou, and discover a small village with its inhabitants deciding to fend for themselves, although this failed miserably and they were overrun. They soon come across an alligator farm (though no alligators were seen) and continue forward, eventually discovering the wreckage of a plane. They are forced to activate the plane's emergency exit, unleashing a horde of Infected alerted by the emergency exit's sound, but manage to fend them off and arrive at another village which appears to be intact. Unfortunately, they soon discover this village was also overrun, but its survivors informing any passerby to head to the Plantation House, where they discover a radio. Upon interacting with the radio, they soon find another survivor, Virgil, and inform him that they are at the plantation house. Virgil recognizes the location and blasts the gate open after the Survivors fend off a horde of Infected, and escape on his boat before they can overwhelm them.

As the group makes their way down to New Orleans, Virgil's boat soon runs low on gas, and he sends them on a fuel run to replenish his supply. The Survivors believe the task will be easy, but soon realize that they forgot their gun bag which also contained a flare to inform Virgil they had obtained the gas. They then soon discover the local gas station has run out of gas, and are forced to go to the next gas station two miles away, passing through an abandoned sugar mill infested with Witches. The weather also shows signs going for the worst, as a storm squall appears and hinders the Survivors' sight, but they manage to make their way back to the nearby Burger Tank, where Coach comes up with the idea to use the Burger Tank's sign as a substitute for their flares. This gambit is also a success, as Virgil arrives to pick them up before the Survivors are overwhelmed by the Infected.

Virgil sends the group to New Orleans, and the Survivors bid him farewell as he goes off to look for more Survivors. Coach is immediately reinvigorated as they see fighter jets in the sky, as he knows that the military hasn't abandoned the city yet, though Nick is skeptical of their presence. They determine the bridge in the distance is the best chance of survival, and on the way, discover corpses of non-infected people and correctly deduce that the military has taken over CEDA's pitiful attempts to contain the situation, soon finding themselves in an area being bombed by the military and quicken their pace to the bridge. Nick is wary of the military as they might not have the best intentions at heart, but the others are optimistic they will be rescued and interrupt a transmission between two military personnel; Papa Gator and Rescue 7. The two learn that the Survivors have encountered the infected and presume they're Carriers; Papa Gator asks Rescue 7 if they are equipped for Carriers, which the latter affirms. Papa Gator informs the Survivors that they are lucky as they had just pulled out of the area, and that they have ten minutes to reach the other side of the bridge to their transport. The Survivors fight through the Infected amassed on the bridge and reach Rescue 7. As Rescue 7 leaves, fighter jets bomb the bridge to prevent further Infected from leaving the city, and the pilot takes them out to sea to a military cruise ship.

The Cover and Rating


The cover of the Left 4 Dead 2 is almost identical to the original Left 4 Dead cover. The hand was modeled once again by hand model Andrea Wicklund.

The idea was to create a hand missing another two fingers along with the famous original missing thumb, resulting in a hand only holding up two fingers, further signifying the number two. The background's color was also changed to a lighter shade of green.

Around June 2009 the ESRB told Valve that the new cover is unacceptable, and the idea was changed to tucking the two unwanted fingers behind the hand to attain the desired effect, yet still keep the missing thumb.


 * The ESRB was asked why they still allowed the new cover with only the missing thumb, yet not accepting the two unwanted fingers and the thumb. The ESRB has declined to comment.

Around July 2009 Valve decided to change the cover once again, making the two tucked-away fingers slightly more visible. The hand drastically changed, as did the background, which is now yellow.

In the United Kingdom, the cover was changed to show the hand facing the opposite direction, as the two-finger sign towards the viewer is considered an insult. This cover design change does not apply with the New Zealand and Australian versions of the game even though the direction of the two-finger sign applies in those countries as well. In addition, the German and Japanese version of the cover features all of the fingers intact as it did with the first game due to the same censorship reasons that applied to the first game's cover.

Australia and Germany censored Left 4 Dead 2, removing some features generally to do with violence:
 * Blood and gore: Virtually no blood is found after killing the Infected and is impossible to remove any body parts from using weapons on them. Despite this, achievements for dismemberment were still included and can be awarded in the Australian version
 * Fire and Explosive Effects: Infected can no longer be set on fire and no damage is visible when hit with Explosive Ammo or the Pipe Bomb. Infected that the game registers as having been set on fire act in the same way as they would if on fire except that no fire is visible.
 * Bodies: After dying, the Infected disappear, often before they even hit the ground
 * Infected: The Riot Infected is removed from the game, because it "encourages violence against official authority". In the Australian version, the Riot Infected was eventually put back in with minor alterations to remove any connection to official authorities.

Controls
These are the default controls of Left 4 Dead 2 for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions.

Context sensitive controls

 * The X button is used to interact with other things. Using it, you can pick up objects, open doors, or help other Survivors to their feet.
 * Select the first aid kit, target a teammate and press and hold LT to heal them. It has the same effect as them healing themselves. (It will therefore take 5 seconds and heal damage depending on the current hp of the person)
 * Select the pain pills, target a teammate, press and hold LT to give the pills to them.

Refer to health for further tips. Make sure your teammates know how to revive you and give first aid kits and/or pain pills to you. The Survivors need to watch out for each other.

Awards
Left 4 Dead 2 was featured as one of Game Informer's top 50 games of 2009. Game Informer had this to say:
 * "Ever wonder how far you could make it through the zombie apocalypse with just a chainsaw and a grenade launcher? Left 4 Dead 2 has your answer. Everything about Valve's sequel to last year's intense co-op FPS is amplified, with gratuitous gore, tons of melee weapons, intensified finales, and even more zombies. If you still think this sequel came too soon, then you haven't cracked a clown zombie in the face with a cricket bat while protecting a lawn gnome."

The Drunk Tank Podcast by RoosterTeeth named Left 4 Dead 2 the best game of 2009.

Boycott
Shortly after Valve's announcement of Left 4 Dead 2, many fans were shocked of the idea due to the short period of time after the first Left 4 Dead and the fact that the long promised SDK (which is essential to making new levels for Left 4 Dead) was being held back because of this. Hours after the announcement fans gathered together and formed a group called L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2); the group reached 10,000 members in one week and 35,000 members in three weeks. The group believed that Left 4 Dead 2 should not be a separate game in order to keep the community one, claiming that releasing a sequel would split the community. Their suggestion was to make Left 4 Dead 2 either an expansion pack that is not full-priced or free downloadable content, citing a lack of new content and also voicing their preference to keep the original Survivors and maps. Many fans were also disappointed that Valve had yet to deliver the free DLC they promised.

Valve has informed the fans that they have been tracking their comments ever since the first announcement on 1st June 2009, and their response was that Left 4 Dead will continue to be supported with downloadable content. This announcement caused some fans to believe that Valve saw the fans of Left 4 Dead as boycotting the sequel only get more free updates and to save money. Valve has also said that they are discussing the matter and are considering importing the original maps into Left 4 Dead 2; nothing regarding the original Survivors was mentioned.

The boycott was not especially effective because the pre-order sales of Left 4 Dead 2 quadrupled the pre-order sales of Left 4 Dead .

The boycott has since been officially disbanded as the founders themselves have said that they have done what they set out to do and are now sympathetic with Valve's work on Left 4 Dead 2, but however still maintain that they themselves will not buy the game. Despite stating this, one should note the irony that on the leader's profiles it is noted that they both own and play Left 4 Dead 2.

Major changes from the original

 * New Main Characters
 * More Infected in each level.
 * Increased level of gore
 * New Common Infected textures and models
 * New Special Infected textures and models
 * New Special Infected (the Charger, the Jockey, and the Spitter)
 * New Uncommon Infected enemies
 * More guns
 * New weapons tier
 * Melee weapons
 * Gauntlet crescendos
 * New Gameplay Modes
 * Upgraded Graphics
 * No running animations (P220 Pistol only)
 * Counter Strike: Source weapons (German Users Only; compensation for the game's censorship in Germany).

Downloadable Content

 * Baseball Bat upon pre-order (now available for everyone).
 * The Passing
 * The Sacrifice with No Mercy
 * Cold Stream with original Left 4 Dead campaigns

Split screen
Split screen play is fully supported on the Xbox 360 allowing players to play both online and offline with a friend using one console. On PC, split screen is unsupported but still possible. Using an Xbox 360 controller for PC and some console commands, one can play only offline with a friend. Due to changes in the console split screen online for PC is not possible, unlike Left 4 Dead where split screen PC can be done both online and offline. Doing this requires a higher-end processor.