Left 4 Dead 2: Positives
I must confess, I’m not quite sure where I’ll be going with this article. Yes, the goal is to discuss the positive aspects of Left 4 Dead 2. I may have many things to gripe about, but despite all that I still have fun. I simply do no subscribe to the foolish train of thought that such is all that matters at the end of the day. For some, yes, that is all you may need. Yet there must always be those that will call a developer on their bullshit, and man does Left 4 Dead 2 reek of an entire herd’s worth.
But, just as criticism is necessary, it must also be reminded what a developer does right. It’s just…a bit difficult in this case. Everything Left 4 Dead 2 does right is merely inherited from its predecessor. The best features have mostly been ruined, as I had discussed. This is not a sequel that feels as if improvements had been made. Rather, they have been tarnished by the excessive need to shove moar into it.
Yet I continue to digress into the flaws, lambasting my thesis that there is good in this game away.
To begin with what makes Left 4 Dead 2 fun, let’s take one of the things that makes it different and find the positive spin. The emphasis on run-and-gun, for example. The original Left 4 Dead is not as rushed of a game, where players may sneak through the alleyways and halls, slowly knocking undead back to the afterlife one by one. While the more fast-paced manner of the sequel is different, that does not make it worse or better. That simply means the first game has not been replaced. It still has value, and that is always commendable.
As opposed to providing a much more action-oriented experience, this has also allowed the game to provide a different sort of panic. In the original you were often backed into a corner hoping to withstand the massive numbers until an escape could be made. With the sequel the act of waiting out has been replaced with wading through. You will instead be rushing through the horde in a heart-pumping and adrenal gland secreting race to the finish. While the experience was not fully polished and does not necessarily help the philosophy of teamwork, it provides a certain kind of rush. This is also an experience that would never work as well in the first game due to the melee weapons.
The weapons being the most positive addition in Left 4 Dead 2 at all. The only thing I long for when going back to the original is the three-burst assault rifle, the incendiary ammunition and laser sight. Instead of merely having more of the same there were small modifications added to each type of gun. Players that previously preferred the M-16 assault rifle may now lean towards the AK-47 or the combat rifle, revealing deeper preferences in performance. The same extends to the sniper rifles and shotguns. The only problem is a player’s favored weapon may not always be there (in fact, shotguns and sniping rifles seem to be available much more frequently than automatics).
The melee weapons don’t necessarily make the pistols worthless, but it seems a bit more silly to try and chip away at zombies as there are simply so many. Despite the variety of melee weapons, none of them seem necessarily weaker. Instead it seems as if there may just be a difference in effective crowd control or range. They are all one-hit kill weapons, however, and the chainsaw is a veritable mower-of-dead-things. Just turn it on and everything that runs at you becomes tiny little chunks of floor decoration.
Of course, in order for the weapons to even be worth while the campaign maps must be enjoyable. This is going to be where things suddenly come up for debate. Dead Center and The Parish feel very similar over-all, both taking place in urban environments. However, the bright light gives a different approach to the special infected, in particular the Witch. Perhaps the greatest change to come to the special infected is the Witch, as avoiding a mobile one becomes a more harrowing and thus suspenseful experience. Suspense is a valuable tool in entertainment that is under-appreciated, as it keeps thoughts lingering in the back of a player’s mind while they continue working towards a primary goal. They are always thinking of the location of that Witch while continuing onward. It is not annoying, merely suspenseful, and thus is the greatest design choice made for any of the infected in the entire game.
Dark Carnival and Swamp Fever each have an atmosphere much more reminiscent of the dark environments from the first Left 4 Dead. Until a few key moments in Dark Carnival, they do not have the rushed feeling or pressure of the other maps and seem better to take your time on. This allows a different sort of pace between each campaign, lending them to a sort of “what are you in the mood for?†favoritism. Once again, a good thing as this allows the different maps to remain fresh and unique between each other.
Hard Rain is perhaps the most interesting of levels, though it also feels as if it is the laziest. Having to go through two maps only to backtrack and replay it sounds lame, but the execution causes it to stand out amongst its brethren. Despite a very, very shameful fog effect to simulate a lot of rain (and in Dead Center smoke), the change in environment forces a different approach in navigation. It isn’t merely backtracking, it is finding an alternative route through cleverly constructed maps. Having to monitor the consumption of ammunition and medical tools forces players to risk going without now or later. In addition, the lack of a moment where players must stampede through narrow halls to reach a button or destination makes it a preferable map to play on.
Having to avoid a gathering of Witches in a cramped environment is also one of the features of the level, while another forces players to watch their fire as they are surrounded by cars with alarms. Such traps litter the different levels providing additional flavoring to the gameplay, keeping it less stale.
The end result of Left 4 Dead 2 is that it is a good game in the making. The inescapable fact is that it feels unfinished. There are too many special infected and the new additions don’t help encourage teamwork. While there is a certain level of adrenaline inducing fun to slashing through a horde of zombies as you run across a roller coaster track, there comes a great level of aggravation when a smoker pulls you off and forces you to go back. Increase such aggravation further if you happen to get knocked off somehow again and again. This especially applies in versus mode where a Charger can kamikaze himself off the side of a bridge, bringing a survivor with him and without standing a chance. It’s a brand new kind of camping that is almost unavoidable and completely eliminates balance between teams.
This is one of those games that the scores simply lie. In fact, it’s a prime example of what is wrong with games journalism. I cannot fathom why the game has an average rating of 90% when it should be down to about 60 of 70. Yes, it’s fun, I get it. However, every reviewer out there should have been demanding that Valve take it back and not release it until it’s balanced and complete.
I can only imagine that the QA Testers were out on vacation through half of development, because otherwise I’d fire them all.
