Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 (abbreviated L4D2) is a multiplayer co-operative survival horror FPS game developed by Valve Corporation. The game is being built using the Source engine and will be available on PC and Xbox 360 on November 17, 2009 and on November 20, 2009 in Europe. Left 4 Dead 2 will not be released, however, in Australia, after being refused classification by the OFLC on September 15. It is the sequel to Left 4 Dead and was first 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 1 week after the events of the first game (3 weeks after the first infection). Left 4 Dead 2 will feature three new Infected (the Charger, revealed in the E3 '09 trailer; the Spitter, revealed on July 20th, 2009 and the Jockey), 20 new weapons including melee weapons, new items, upgraded Infected (limbs can be taken off), the Uncommon Common Infected (such as the hazmat-suited Infected that are immune to fire), five new campaigns which are said to connect unlike the original's, new Survivors, and one new gametype which has not yet been revealed.

Just like the original, the game has four Survivors in an apocalyptic pandemic battling against hordes of the Infected. 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 normally be simple into mazes with dead ends.

The game will bring players a new gameplay experience with close combat weapons that can be found around the campaigns: the axe, baseball bat, chainsaw, cricket bat, crowbar, katana, electric guitar, and the frying pan. These can kill Common Infected in just one hit, but it replaces the pistol(s) in the sidearms category. The close combat weapons are able to kill all the Special Infected except the Tank in one hit, but this is not recommended due to the amount of time to reach the Smoker, Hunter, and Charger. Also, hitting a Boomer will cause bile to cover all nearby Survivors. There are also new items which can give players certain 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. Another change that should be noted is that the melee fatigue system, which was included in only Versus and Survival mode in Left 4 Dead, appears to now have been integrated into Campaign mode in the sequel.

Plot
The plot is similar to Left 4 Dead; it involves the aftermath of the the Infection 1 week after the events of the previous game, around 3 weeks after the first infection. It is yet unknown how long the storyline in Left 4 Dead is.

The story of Left 4 Dead 2 spans five new long campaigns, taking place during the daylight and night (possibly meaning that the Survivors' travels to the eventual rescue vehicle take even longer than before), and is set in the Southern United States, starting in Savannah, Georgia and ending up in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 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 encounter new Infected behavior, such as a Wandering Witch, and completely new Infected altogether, like the Charger, the Spitter, and the Jockey. There will also be new variants of the Common Infected.

Valve has also said that they intend on providing more exposition about what may have caused the zombie apocalypse and to try connecting the narratives of the two Left 4 Dead games.

The Cover and Rating
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 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 bitten fingers behind the hand to create the illusion that model's fingers were missing, yet still retaining the missing thumb.


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

Around July 2009 Valve decided to change the cover once again, instead of tucking 2 fingers to make them look missing, the idea was to just tuck them and leave them visible. The hand drastically changed, including the background which no longer contains green.

Decline and Boycott
Shortly after Valve's announcement of Left 4 Dead 2, many fans were shocked of the idea due to short period time after the first Left 4 Dead. 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 believes 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 is 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 never came through with it's promises for free DLC which it went on record for.

Valve has informed the fans that they have been tracking their comments ever since the first announcement on 1st June 2009, and their response were 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.

Valve has also noted that the boycott was entirely ineffective, ironically doubling pre-order sales of Left 4 Dead 2.

Trivia

 * One can argue 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 who comments on everything (Ellis), and a smartly dressed character (Nick). If organized alphabet by name, both sets of Survivors from Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 are in the same position (Bill, Coach, Ellis, Francis, Louis, Nick, Rochelle, and Zoey).
 * 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.
 * The game takes place in the fall as seen in a banner in the beginning of the trailer.
 * In the trailer, one can see what appears to be the Army bombing the Infected. Infected can also be seen breaking through fenced barriers, implying Valve's statement that New Orleans had been relatively safe from the infection before the events of Left 4 Dead 2.
 * Hazmat-suit wearing zombies seem to indicate that scientists are trying to work on a cure or tried to prevent getting infected. It has been confirmed by Valve at an interview that these are CEDA workers from posters in the Left 4 Dead.
 * The Infected seem to be smarter and more aware of their surroundings, as in the trailer they seem to take notice of the jets and appear to be actively running away from explosions. (Or they are attacking Humans while they are bombed out)
 * Valve seems to have reused the baseball bat hitting sound from the sound used in Team Fortress 2, which was also used in Half-Life 2.
 * Valve decided not to give the game an elaborate sequel name because the title is so straightforward. However, the team did consider calling it Back 4 More.
 * Upon seeing the campaign poster for The Parish with all four Survivors standing together, Game Informer Magazine commented; "Now the Black Guy is also the Old Guy and the office professional is wearing a suit instead of a tie. Yep, they're really mixing it up this time around."

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