Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

Left 4 Dead 2

20 Nov, 2009, 11:59 am IST | Avinash Bali | PC

Surviving a zombie apocalypse may be brutal but it’s entertaining as hell (pun intended) as seen in Valve’s co-operative survival horror first person shooter released last year, Left 4 Dead (L4D). The game put you in the boots of one of four unlucky survivors who had to survive a zombie outbreak in a fictional part of America. The game didn’t follow any plot of sorts leading you from one location to another without actually giving you a backdrop on the pandemic or any of the survivors. Still it was intense co-operative action at best.

The game’s USP at the time was the fact that the enemy AI was controlled by a higher Artificial authority dubbed "The Director" that never spawned an enemy in the same place twice. This made every play through a moderately different experience ensuring quite a bit of replayability from the campaign. Unfortunately L4D’s campaign spanned only four levels that got stale pretty fast. By the time Valve started implementing new content via patches people had already moved on from the game.

Now after just about a year Valve is back with a sequel that while fundamentally the same brings a ton of stuff to the table including newer locations, weapons, game modes and so on. The reason I call it fundamentally the same is because gameplay as such remains untouched. You have to make your way from Point A to Point B, killing all kinds of Infected folk and sticking together as a team. From time to time you’ll come across safe houses that not only save progress but allow you to restock on ammunition and health as well. Every level culminates into a nail biting climax where you’ll have to survive an insurmountable number of odds to make it out alive. It’s an unbroken formula that Valve didn’t feel the need to fix.

Making their debut in this new apocalypse is a brand new cast of characters. Not that I had any problems with the guys from the first game but the new cast is definitely more dynamic and brings a whole boat load of personality into the equation. Complementing them are new infected folk as well. You have the Spitter – an annoying little wench who spits acidic bile at you from a distance, the Charger – a brute who tackles you and then continues to pummel you into the ground and the Jockey - a fast moving creature that has the annoying knack of riding you like a... jockey. In addition to these new creatures you have the some of the returning vets like the Boomer, Smoker, Hunter and the highly annoying Tank.

Tags: Left 4 Dead 2

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