Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to Left 4 Dead, was announced by Valve Corporation at Microsoft's E3 '09 press conference on June 1st. According to Valve, the Infection has spread to the southern United States, where the sequel picks up. It will feature new Infected, new weapons (including melee weapons ), new items, five new campaigns which are said to connect unlike the original's, new Survivors, and one new gametype which has not yet been revealed. Its set release date is said to be November 17th, 2009—a day before Left 4 Dead ' s one year anniversary.

There are four new Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2; Nick, Ellis, Rochelle, and Coach.

Another feature which has been announced is new powers to the Director. Instead of just switching up where items and enemies spawn according to how players are doing, it can now completely rearrange the map's layout, turning places that would be simple into mazes with dead ends.

One of the aforementioned new Special Infected include something called The Charger. There are also Infected who were wearing hazmat suits when they were infected. Though they aren't shown to have any special abilities, they are immune to fire and incendiary weapons, giving them a definitive edge over other Common Infected who seem to be especially flammable. These new Infected are known as the Uncommon Common and it has been stated by Valve that each campaign will contain it's own unique variety. Of course, now that the antagonists are upping the ante, players get new weapons. Among the new ones shown are a silenced submachine gun (though it has no real effect on gameplay), a more accurate version of the assault rifle, and a scoped assault rifle. And a replication of a franchi SPAS12 There will also be melee weapons, including axes, frying pans, chainsaws, and a baseball bat. These will apparently have a one-hit kill on most Special Infected, but not the Tank or Witch, making them viable alternatives to firearms when trying to conserve ammo. Also mentioned are new items which can give players certain boosts and heavy advantages, such as incendiary bullets which set their target on fire. Unfortunately, once these special items are picked up, they must be used at that time; they cannot be saved for later use.

Plot
The plot is like it's prequel Left 4 Dead, it involves in an aftermath of the The Infection 1 week after the previous game, around 3 weeks after the Infection because it is yet unknown how long the storyline in Left 4 Dead were. The story takes place during the daylight and night (possibly meaning that the Survivors' travels to the eventual rescue vehicle take even longer than before) in the Southern United States, starting in Savannah, Georgia and ending up in New Orleans, Louisiana spanning in a five new long campaigns. According to Valve employee Chet Faliszek, the Savannah area hasn't yet been hit by the Infection. The daylight causes some Infected to act differently, especially The Wandering Witch. Four new Survivors replace the original Survivors in their quest to find a safe area where the infection hasn't reached yet, Coach, a A high school football coach. Ellis, A teenage boy who used to be a mechanic. Nick, A gambler and conman. and Rochelle a news reporter, the Survivors will meet in their way new Infected such as the Wandering witch, The Charger, new common Infected and more, during the daylight it may also affect how the Infected behave. Valve has also said that they intend on providing more exposition about what may have caused the zombie apocalypse than in the first game, and to try and connect the narratives of the two Left 4 Dead games.

The Cover
The cover of the Left 4 Dead 2 appears to be identical to the original Left 4 Dead cover, the hand was modeled once again by the hand model Andrea Wicklund, the idea was to create an hand that has another 2 bitten fingers along with the famous original bitten thumb with the famous software Adobe Photoshop to create an hand that is only holding up two fingers, further signifying the number two, the background's color has also been 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 bitten fingers behind the hand to create the illusion that model's fingers were missing, yet strangely still leaving the bitten thumb.


 * The ESRB was asked why they still allowed the new cover with yet only one missing finger, yet not accepting three, they have chosen not to comment.

Decline and Boycott
Shortly after the announcement of Valve's release of Left 4 Dead 2 many fans were shocked of the idea due to short period time after the first Left 4 Dead, admiration for the original Survivors and maps, and lack of content, hours after the announcement fans gathered together and formed a group called L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2), the group has reached 10,000 fans in a week, and 35,000 fans in three weeks. The group believes that Left 4 Dead 2 should not be a separated game to keep the community one, and not two, Their suggestion is an expansion pack that is not full-priced or a free downloadable content, this idea could lead to problems with the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Valve has informed the fans that they have been tracking their comments ever since the first announcement, 1st June 2009 and their response were that Left 4 Dead will keep having downloadable content, due to this many fans started to believe that Valve thinks the fans of Left 4 Dead are doing so to only get more free updates and to save money. Valve has also said that they are discussing the matter and thinking to import the original maps to Left 4 Dead, nothing about the original Survivors were discussed.

E3 09
thumb|300px|right|Left 4 Dead 2 teaser trailer.

Trivia

 * Strangely, it seems that Valve has not changed the Survivors' personalities to a great degree; they have what resembles a caring, elderly man (Coach), an interested female (Rochelle), a rebellious motorist (Ellis), and a casual, rich man (Nick). If organized by Alphabet, both of the Survivors of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 are in the same place, leading into the a thought they are replacements.
 * Zombies seem to be able to have missing limbs as seen in the trailer, whereas in Left 4 Dead, they die when their limbs are blown off. This could mean that the virus has begun to strengthen its victims to a degree.
 * It takes place in the fall as seen in a banner in the beginning of the trailer.
 * One can see what appears to be the Army bombing the infected, and that these are breaking through fenced barriers, implying Valve's statement that New Orleans had been until now relatively safe from the infection.
 * Hazmat-suit wearing zombies may indicate that scientists are trying to work on a cure or tried to prevent getting infected. It is entirely possible that they are CEDA workers attempting to do the aforementioned.
 * The infected seem to be smarter and more aware of their surroundings as they seem to take notice to the jets and appear to be running from the explosions.