Leveling Down

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo hit the marketplace yesterday for Live Gold members, and I was able to give it a spin. As someone that really enjoyed the first Left 4 Dead, I felt it would be good for me to share my mixed thoughts on the demo. But first, what is the demo all about? The Left 4 Dead 2 Demo features the first 2 (of presumably 4) parts of The Parish campaign, one of the five new campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2. You are able to only play those two levels – either offline with AI (as well as split screen with a buddy) or online with others. The demo menu also shows various other modes that are not available in the demo: Versus, Survival, Scavenge, and Realism. Scavenge and Realism are new to Left 4 Dead 2.

As mentioned above, I had mixed reactions to the demo. After getting through it, I wasn’t floored nor super pumped to play the full game, but at the same time, I didn’t cancel my pre-order either. Here’s a list of things I liked and disliked in the demo:

Liked
1. The addition of new weapons and melee weapons
There are new guns available in the game, and while they still are classified under the primary weapon types like SMGs and assault rifles, their overall feel is different. While I loved the feel of the assault rifle in the first game, it’s neat to be able to use a similar weapon with a different feel.

Melee weapons are the new most notable aspect of the game that I enjoyed most. Now, there are various melee weapons in the game you can find, such as frying pans, guitars, police batons, katanas, etc. Picking up a melee weapon replaces your handgun, so you have to make a decision between the two. Frankly, I love it. As a person that enjoys leading the group, I prefer having a melee weapon instead of a handgun because it’s quite effective in making your way through a crowd. In Left for Dead 1, you’d have to just keep meleeing with your gun to push the zombies away. But now, when you’re holding a katana or police baton, one swing generally takes the zombies down for good.

2. New special & common infected types
There are three new special infected added to the game, and I got a chance to engage each of them. The most prevalent one I came across in the demo was the Spitter, who is a female zombie that spits huge balls of acid. Once these balls of acid hit the ground, they turn a large radius into an acidic area, dealing damage to players standing in it. The Jockey looked pretty silly and would jump onto the players’ backs to steer them around. I found him to be somewhat silly and inconsequential – but perhaps in the retail game he will prove more of a threat. Finally, the last new special type is the Charger, a zombie with a huge arm that can charge into players and knock them over. He was most likely introduced due to the turtle and melee tactics of players in the first game. All three special infected die pretty quickly – even the Charger.

I believe there are new common infected types in each campaign, and the demo’s Parish campaign introduced infected in riot gear. These infected would not take damage from the front, so they required teamwork to take them down.

Disliked
1. Graphics
Graphics are generally not a super big deal to me since gameplay is what matters most, but I was surprised with how dated the game looked since the demo took place in bright outdoor areas. In the first game, everything was pretty dark, so the lack of detail could be hidden but such is not the case in Left 4 Dead 2. For some reason, the graphics made me think of the de_dust level in Counter-Strike, a game over a decade old.

2. Less interesting characters
I never realized how much I loved the first game’s characters until I played the second game. Bill, Louis, Zoe, and Francis were so lovable in their own way (even Bill – “PILLS HERE!”) that Left 4 Dead 2′s characters completely pale in comparison. Maybe I need more time with them to hear more of their lines, but it seems almost like the Left 4 Dead 2 characters are less defined – or perhaps they’re just character archetypes that I have a hard time loving.

3. Lack of innovation
When I first played Left 4 Dead, I saw the potential in it and convinced several friends to get it. It was among the best co-op games I’ve ever played. When I played the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, even with the new weapons and infected types, it didn’t grip me like the first game did. Sure I’ll play it with friends and probably have a great time, but when I compare the difference in Left 4 Dead 1 with 2 versus Modern Warfare 1 with 2, I can’t help but feel like Left 4 Dead 2 falls a bit short in that aspect. The mark of a good sequel is that once you play it, you find practically no reason to go back to playing the original. I don’t think Left 4 Dead 2 will completely replace Left 4 Dead 1.

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