At the moment many gamers aren't quite sure what to make of the announcement - on one hand there is more awesomely paced zombie co-op action to go around, on another there is much head scratching as to why this isn't going to be provided to gamers as DLC. What makes the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 most perplexing is that it totally goes against what we've come to expect from the developer. Valve has cultivated quite a reputation for itself as being known as a company that is willing to support its games in the long term - need we go further than mentioning the massive support that the PC iteration of Team Fortress 2 has received since its inception? Even its titles with a smaller fan-base, such as Day of Defeat: Source, have been looked after. The updates may same spartan when compared to the amount of developer generated content that TF2 has seen, but the fact remains that Valve continues to support the game four years after it arrived on store shelves.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
In a recent interview with ShackNews, Valve's Chet Faliszek explained the reasoning behind the move: "In Team Fortress you can do one map, and it's a standalone map and it tells its internal story and you're good. In Left 4 Dead, when we started talking about new characters, all of a sudden we were talking about maps, then all of a sudden we were talking about campaign, and then director 2.0...and now we have to have new creatures in the game, we actually have dynamic pathing - we have all this stuff, and these aren't just incremental changes. These are big, technical changes."
So what should we expect from Left 4 Dead 2? Well, it’s still Left 4 Dead: even a frypan walloped zombie could figure out that Valve wouldn't want to mess too much with the formula that made the first title such a splendid piece of multiplayer gaming. The focus of L4D2 is to make a game that is bigger and better than the original. So far it has been confirmed that the title will come equipped with Campaign, Versus, Survival and an as yet unknown new gameplay mode out of the box. Valve has also explained that they are looking at streamlining both L4D titles into one so that players won't have to continually boot up each game separately to play through a particular campaign.
One of the flaws that Valve saw with the original title was that there was no link between the campaigns, something that they've set out to rectify this time around. L4D2 will take players on a trek through the dirty south of the ol' US of A, spread across five campaigns which construct a narrative thread to give players some tangible link of how the game's characters progress from one campaign to the next. So far, what we know is that players will start their journey off in Savannah, Georgia before heading on down to Louisiana for some Cajun-styled zombie killing in the famed French Quarter of New Orleans. There are also rumblings that one campaign will take place in the swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, but this and the locations of the other campaigns have yet to be revealed.
It's all fun and games until someone loses an arm.
As well as moving to a new location, Valve has also thrown in a new cast of Survivors into the mix with Ellis, Nick, Coach and Rochelle set to replace the original L4D foursome of Bill, Louis, Francis and Zoey. As with L4D, players will be given insight to each character through the back-and-forth chatter between the characters as you play through each campaign.
Beyond the game's cast, everything else in L4D2 is an existing feature from the previous title that has been added to or expanded upon, rather than directly replaced. Thankfully, this means that all of our favourite 'Special Infected' will be back again, as well as a new collection of zombies to play with. Only one of the new Infected has been revealed at this stage, 'The Charger'. Think of a crossbreed between an ordinary Infected and the Tank - who, as his name suggests, uses his giant mutated arm to shoulder charge its way through a pack of unsuspecting Survivors.
While the other Specials have yet to be revealed, Valve has shed some light on the changes that players should expect with the current crop of adversaries. One chuckle worthy change is the inclusion of hazmat suits to some of the common Infected. This means that these pesky Infected will be fire-proof, and able to waltz right through your carefully planned walls of Molotov cocktail fire. Another exciting change will be to the Witch, who will prove to be an even more formidable opponent now that you won't be able to hide in the dark, as most of L4D2's campaigns will occur in the daylight.
Zombies: now with added daylight.
Weapons have also been given an overhaul, with L4D2 set to receive a substantial amount of new firepower. While there is confirmation of a new shotgun, SMG, and sniper rifle, Valve has pointed out that these weapons are not merely new skins for the guns of the original title: they will actually feel slightly different to shoot and have different rates of damage to their counterparts. Valve have also explained that special ammunition will also be made available, with players able to pick up incendiary rounds to set fire to the incoming zombie horde. Perhaps the most exciting edition to the new game is the emphasis of melee combat. Players will be able to pick up weapons like axes, baseball bats, chainsaws and the humble frying pan (we're kinda sad that the rolling pin didn't get a mention) to hold off an incoming wave of zombies when the ammo reserves dry up. Valve has explained that the melee weapons are more than just comic humour, with players able to wield them with devastating effect on most of the Special Infected. Yes, even a pesky problem like the Hunter can be thwarted with one fell swing of an axe - though how potent the frying pan will be is anyone's guess.
Perhaps the biggest change to the title is the shake up of the gameplay, in particular the shake up of the 'crescendo' moments. Through studying gamer's playing patterns, Valve found that these moments proved to be too easy to defeat. These are those times when the Survivors were forced to press a switch and camp out in a particular area to weather the storm. This time around players might have to hit a switch that alerts the undead horde, but then battle through a portion of the map in order to hit a second switch that actually stops the zombie swarm from attacking you.
Another portion of the title which has been re-tooled is the 'last stand.' While the final moments of the campaigns in L4D had you tensely waiting for help to arrive, L4D2 will introduce the 'gauntlet' moments. No, you won't be running through a line of spandex clad zombies at the end of each level. These gauntlet moments have been added to attempt to make L4D2 a more consistently thrilling experience. Rather than the twitch-tastic final stand, this title will present players with an almost inescapable path to victory. Players will have to carefully craft their way through the final moments of the campaign in order to survive with no real option to bunker down and ride out the final wave of enemies, something which is completely different from the setup of the original title.
Whether you believe that Left 4 Dead 2 will prove to be nothing more than the sound of Valve milking the life out of one of its most delightful IPs, the sheer fact that the game will be released with such a short development cycle is quite a remarkable feat in itself. Valve itself is prepared to stake its reputation on the title and from what we've seen and heard about the game we're anxiously waiting for 17 November to roll around to see whether this new imagining of Left 4 Dead will live up to the gory heights of its forefather.
Don't forget to check out the E3 trailer to sample a taste of Left 4 Dead 2:
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