Left 4 Dead 2 builds upon cooperatively
focused gameplay and Valve's proprietary Source engine, the same game engine used
in the original Left 4 Dead.
Set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, Left 4 Dead 2 focuses on four
new Survivors, fighting against hordes of zombies, known as the Infected, who
develop severe psychosis and act extremely aggressive. The Survivors must fight
their way through five campaigns, interspersed with safe houses that
act as checkpoints, with the goal of escape at each
campaign's finale. The gameplay is procedurally altered by the "AI Director 2.0", which monitors
the players' performance and adjusts the scenario to
provide a dynamic challenge. Other new features include new types of special
infected and an arsenal of melee weapons.[3]
The game made its world premiere at E3 2009 with a trailer during the Microsoft press
event.[4] Prior
to release, it received a combination of positive and negative critical and
community reactions. It attracted an unusually high volume of pre-release
controversy about the game's graphic content. In response, alterations were
made to the cover art[5] and
both Australia and Germany refused to rate the unmodified edition at the time
of release.[6] After
release however, the game was met with positive reviews by critics.
PLOT
Like its predecessor, Left
4 Dead 2 is set in the
aftermath of a worldwide pandemic of an infectious disease known as the "Green Flu",
which rapidly transforms humans into zombie-like creatures and mutated forms
that demonstrate extreme aggression towards non-infected (much like the
infected in 28 Days Later).
Few humans are immune to the disease, still carrying the infection but showing no symptoms.
The Civil Emergency and Defense Agency (CEDA) and the U.S. military create safe zones to attempt to
evacuate as many American survivors as possible. Left
4 Dead 2 introduces four
new Survivors—Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle, who are immune to the disease
and have individual back stories that are provided through character dialogue. While the game is intended as a
continuation of the original, occurring one week after the first game begins,
Valve decided to create a new group of Survivors due to the change in location.[42] Like the first game, the five
campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2 are set across a story arc,[43] set in theSouthern United States, which starts in Savannah,
Georgia, and ends in New Orleans,
Louisiana.[3][4] The four Survivors have to fight their
way through hordes of Infected, using safehouses along the way to rest and
recuperate in order to reach extraction points.
While also referred to as zombies, the Infected are
humans who have contracted a mutated strain of an infection, though neither the
source nor nature of this "Green Flu" are made clear in the games.
The most numerous Infected encountered by the survivors are the common
Infected. Though individually weak, they can swarm and overwhelm the Survivors,
especially when separated from their teammates. Damage to the infected in Left
4 Dead 2 is portrayed more realistically, with bullets and melee
weapons ripping off bits of flesh and, in some cases, limbs.[16] A
new addition to Left 4 Dead 2 is the Uncommon Infected unique
to each campaign. By virtue of location and equipment worn pre-infection, they
possess abilities that separate them from the Common Infected. For example, the Dead
Center campaign introduces infected CEDA agents in hazmat suits,
making them fireproof;[17] Dark
Carnival includes clowns, whose squeaking shoes attract small hordes
of Common Infected;[18] and The
Parish includes infected private security contractors in riot gear,
making them bulletproof from the front.[19][20]
As in the first game, there are special Infected whose
mutations grant them special abilities that make them highly dangerous, which
act as bossess. The presence of such Infected nearby
is hinted at by sound effects or musical cues unique to each type. The five
Special Infected from the first game return in Left 4 Dead 2, some
with modified behavior and skin models:
·
The Boomer: an extremely bloated Infected
who vomits bile. The bile attracts a horde of Common Infected on contact with
Survivors and also momentarily blinds them.[21]Upon
death, it explodes and can also spray bile onto nearby Survivors.
·
The Hunter: an agile male Infected that
can pounce on and incapacitate Survivors from great distances, tearing at them
until the Survivor dies or another Survivor shoves it off/kills it.[22]
·
The Smoker: a male Infected with a long
tongue that it uses to ensnare Survivors from a distance, continually choking
them. Upon death, it releases a cloud of smoke that can obscure the Survivors'
vision and cause them to cough, should they come in direct contact with the
smoke.[23]
·
The Tank: a gigantic, extremely muscular
Infected male with the strength to punch Survivors off their feet some
distance, as well as toss cars and concrete slabs.[24] Unless
the Survivors work as a team, they will be quickly incapacitated or even killed
by the Tank's inhuman strength.[25]
·
The Witch: a crying Infected woman who,
when provoked by either damage, loud sounds, light, or proximity of survivors,
will attack the provoker and any other Survivors after her provoker is dead.
She can incapacitate or even kill a Survivor in one hit.[26] Left
4 Dead 2 introduces a variant of the Witch that wanders aimlessly in
the open.[3][26]
Left 4 Dead 2 also introduces three new Special Infected:
·
The Charger: a male Infected with an
enormous right arm,[27] and
can charge into the Survivors, capturing and carrying one Survivor away from
the others, sending any others in his path flying to the side after a capture
and stunning survivors upon hitting an obstacle in a charge. He may then pummel
his captured Survivor into the ground, rendering that Survivor helpless until
one of their teammates helps them by killing the charger or stunning it with
frag rounds.[28][29]
·
The Spitter: a female Infected that spits
out balls of stomach acid that splatter across an area, quickly eroding the
Survivors' health as long as they remain within it. She also leaves a puddle of
goo upon death. The longer a player loiters in the goo, the faster their health
drops.[30][31]
·
The Jockey: a male Infected that jumps
onto a Survivor's back and steers them into other Infected or environmental
hazards (e.g. Spitter goo), whilst clawing at the player's head until the
player is incapacitated, killed, or shoved off.
A new Training Mode was also added to Career Mode
allowing the player to develop footballers in the team of which they are managing
without actually playing them.[4] These
are in the form of skill games, a feature first added to the series in EA Sports' 2014 World Cup official
game. It allows the player to set a specific focus on which the
footballer should develop on meaning that he will grow specifically according
to the chosen focus attribute. Doing this also increases the transfer value of
the player.[5]
New features that are exclusive to the PlayStation 4,
Xbox One and PC versions of the game will involve a licensed presentation
package for the Bundesliga, new weather and kick-off time variations, and the
use of vanishing spray during certain matches.[10]
