“My buddy Keith tried camping out on top of a building once. He was shooting crows, but the police were too busy teargassin’ him to ask what he was doin’ up there. He screamed for an entire year every single time he opened his eyes! Oh, man! At first, it was funny; then it just got sad, but then it got funny again! Oh, man!”
Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, MAC, XBox 360)
Ellis is probably my favorite character of the group, as he always has some odd (but funny) story to tell. Coach, Richelle, and Nick make up the other three survivors in this Left 4 Dead sequel from Valve. For those of you who have never played Left 4 Dead, you’ll be happy to know that you can pick up and play this without ever having played the original.
Left 4 Dead 2, like the original, takes four survivors through various maps, whilst throwing zombies and other special infected at them as they progress. Your friends will be able to drop in and out of the game at will, should they wish to join you in the fight for your life.
Zombies aren’t the slow turtles that you often seen in the movies. They’ll come running at you with a vengeance, trying to surround you and well, let’s keep this PG-13 shall we? Special infected pop up from time to time to further ruin your day. They each have their own name and special attacks, and it takes a good deal of teamwork to survive once they get a hold of you.
The Boomer will vomit slime all over you, attracting the zombie horde and blinding you for a while.
To help you survive against so many scary things are of course, weapons. You’ll have your basic weapons like pistols and melee weapons, and then you’ll have your main weapon which can be anything from an Uzi to a grenade launcher. Left 4 Dead 2 added more weapons to your arsenal, making the zombie apocalypse that much more fun to wade through.
Besides weapons, you’ll have med packs, pills, and other items that will assist in keeping you alive. You may also find special ammunition or laser scopes lying about, giving you more reason to explore every nook and cranny that maps have to offer. Pipe bombs, molotov cocktails, and bile bombs are excellent when trying to escape a particularly nasty event.
Pills give you a temporary health boost while pipe bombs emit a beeping sound that attracts zombies to it, before exploding.
The AI is adaptable, meaning that it can change environments, spawn items, and bring on the pain whenever it feels like it. If the game sees that you are breezing through a map, it may not choose to spawn a med pack where you’d normally see one, or incite a huge zombie rush to attack you. This adaptable AI mechanic makes every game new and exciting.
Teamwork is essential in staying alive. You and your friends MUST stick together, as a lot of the special infected’s special attacks involve paralyzing a survivor in such a way that requires someone else to save them. If you are playing alone, AI bots will round out the other three members of your team and do very well in protecting you and moving about the environment.
Teammates are practically worthless when they are down…revive them as soon as you can.
The game includes other modes should you tire of the main campaign. Every week, a new mutation is introduced, changing the way you’d normally see the game. Don’t worry, it’s an optional mode, though some mutations can be down right fun. There’s a survival mode for those of you who want to time how long you can hold a particular area, and a scavenge mode that tasks players with collecting items to complete a goal while facing a never-ending rush of infected. The verses mode allows players to take on the role of the special infected and ruin someone else’s day for a change.
User created content such as mods and maps are available to players to keep things fresh. After the game’s release, some of the Left 4 Dead maps were added and made playable to further increase its value. The game is definitely worth its current price tag of $19.99 (on the PC), though on occasion you’ll find it on sale. Overall, this is an excellent, mature multiplayer zombie shooter that is easy to pick up and play. If you’re into zombie shooters or multiplayer games, I’d give this one a look if you haven’t already.
The last map of a chapter usually incorporates some sort of epic escape sequences. In Dark Carnival, you have to play loud music and set off fireworks to get the helicopter’s attention…guess who that will attract in the process?
Oh, and in case you haven’t figured it out by now, keep this game away from kids…it’s very gory and not appropriate for young eyes.
Final Verdict: 9/10
—
You can check out video play sessions here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sMoLdXEY_A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-0Mn14ftT4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdAux4tZhnw
—