Left 4 Dead 2

Axe to grind.

It might be all strawberries and cream and sunshine at Wimbledon, but the only summer sport we were interested in this week was a game of mixed zombie doubles in a dingy, dimly-lit tunnel beneath a railway bridge in London. Undead beats Fed every time.

Valve dragged us into its gaming dungeon on the hottest day of the year to see an equally sizzling new build of Left 4 Dead 2, running on banks of PCs and 360s, revealing the second half of the Parish campaign unveiled - and previewed by Oli - during E3. No frills, no grandiloquent pronouncements, just a quick hello from Valve's affable marketing boss Doug Lombardi, and then an opportunity for us to get stuck into the sequel to last year's sensational co-op shooter.

The two previously unseen stages on offer couldn't be more different in terms of pacing, approach and strategy, and point towards the increased variety and scale Valve is aiming for in the follow-up. If you've been following the flow of information since E3, you'll know the headline additions, but to recap: a new cast of characters and storyline; a new location (from the plantations of Georgia to the swamps of Mississippi); melee weapons (including a frying pan!); new boss zombies; the Wandering Witch; an AI director overhaul; 'gauntlet' moments; and more features still to be announced.

But the core experience of group survival in the face of overwhelming odds of course remains. And despite the checklist of new features, Left 4 Dead 2 looks and feels very much like its predecessor at first. Which doesn't fit any definition of "a bad thing" I've ever come across, although opinions differ in certain quarters.

'Left 4 Dead 2' Screenshot 1

New guys Nick and Rochelle take to the New Orleans streets.

The first new stage is a tense, nerve-wracking run through a battered New Orleans suburb in daylight. Survival under the sun is another signal addition to the sequel, adding visual variety. And if you're thinking that might strip away the tension, fear not.

The environment is a tightly structured, claustrophobic rabbit warren of rooms across multiple storeys and multiple blocks. The constant, creeping fear that a zombie could emerge from around a corner, through a window, up a stairwell, from any direction, is shattering. And this is skilfully managed by the AI director which, for the most part, drip, drip, drip-feeds danger on the squad, while all four players wince in expectation of the inevitable flood.

Zombies are spied lurking alone through windows, or shambling along in small groups, but rogues are liable to storm in at any moment. Nothing, however, punctures the tension quite like stepping into a room as a boomer wretches a Jackson Pollock all over your face and, while stumbling in a vomitous blur, gun flailing wildly, a hunter savagely pins you to the floorboards. It's classic Left 4 Dead, and the fractured layout of the town here makes it all the more critical to adhere to the game's caution to stick together unless you want to go home in bin bags.

'Left 4 Dead 2' Screenshot 2

The axe lets you slice off individual limbs. Amazing how he keeps that suit clean.

The horde moments come in the broader open spaces between buildings. In one section the onrush is triggered by starting a discarded carnival float. And the myriad tiers, balconies, roofs, nooks and crannies are quite the playground for a wily AI director, with plenty of scope for strategic variety.

New weapons make an appearance. Oli mentioned incendiary upgrades in his E3 preview. Here, it's deliciously satisfying to pop a round through a window frame from the street, and watch the room - and zombie - go up in flames.

Melee weapons are also in evidence. We're still frustratingly denied the most promising of all - the chainsaw - but the frying pan is an hilarious addition, while the axe, as well as making a fabulous noise as it tears through flesh, lets you hack off individual limbs with a careful aim. There's clearly much amusement to be had from hacking off a zombie's arms while it continues to lunge for you; or neatly de-legging one that's towering above you on the bonnet of a car.

Project lead Chet Faliszek tells me the axe can be used to one-hit kill a Witch, if you can successfully sneak up behind her. And it's likely there'll be a dedicated Achievement for that. "If you did that with a frying pan, you're going to have a bad experience," he adds, grinning.

Towards the end of the stage, we're heading down a street, with three-to-four storey blocks on either side. Suddenly, zombies are streaming from top-floor windows in a torrent, before flowing towards us like a slavering tsunami. A great moment.

Reaching the final safehouse proves relatively straightforward in the end. And utterly useless preparation for what comes next. The finale of The Parish is the first example we've seen of 'gauntlet' gameplay, new to the sequel. Starting at one end of a bridge, your party has to make it to the other end, where - a radio message informs you - a rescue helicopter is waiting. There's no holing up and surviving until help arrives. Your mission is literally, and in the best Arnie voice I can muster: "Get to the chopper!"

What plays out is an astonishingly relentless trek down the bridge, clambering over upturned cars and crashed trucks, while crashing waves of zombies burst towards you in a seething, ceaseless flow. There is no respite. There is nowhere to hide. There is only forwards. And if you die, you die. It's up to the remaining party members to push on regardless.

The pile-up of broken motors littering the roadway means that, while the zombies are all coming at you from a narrow, defined space up ahead, their sheer volume means you're under constant threat from those splitting off from the pack to scurry up and down the bridge structure to flank you or box you in from the rear. The closest things to a corner to cower in are open truck containers, which is where to find ammo pickups and the like. But there's very little point in hiding away here other than seizing an opportunity to heal yourself.

'Left 4 Dead 2' Screenshot 3

Not everyone was pleased with the addition of daylight missions.

One moment sticks in the mind that sums up the frenzy. My character and another had fallen off edges (there are also great holes ripped through the roadway at various points), and were clinging on for dear life, waiting to be dragged to safety by one of the others. Help duly arrived, and, unable to move, I watched with hilarity as endless swarms of zombies kept aborting any attempts to pull us up, until just enough space was cleared before the next onslaught to haul us both up.

It's bloody hard. I don't know what difficulty it was set to, but I didn't see a single group reach the chopper all afternoon. But what a rush.

And that's your lot for now. Valve is promising further substantial reveals of game content in the run-up to launch, in addition to a multiplayer demo that will be made available pre-release. Based on this playthrough, it's more of the same with some neat additions. Which is, again, in no way a bad thing.

The subtleties and depths added by the inclusion of melee weapons, a reworked AI director and so on, won't be fully appreciated until the final game hits. And so, the exasperation of a large number of L4D fans aggrieved that this is being sold as a separate game rather than released as an add-on is likely to continue until people experience it first hand.

'Left 4 Dead 2' Screenshot 4

The Charger, a ferocious new enemy. All those one-armed press-ups paid off in the end, then.

Valve simply urges fans to "trust" it; and in fairness the studio hardly has a history of unjustly mugging customers. The various pledges of ongoing support for the original may also prove an emollient, once they materialise (and Faliszek also teases that we haven't seen the last of the original crew: "We love those four, we love their story, but we think there's some other place to go as well. They're not dead, they're still going on. So definitely... We'll see what happens in the future.")

But on the evidence so far, it's hard not to be thrilled all over again by the prospect of headsetting it up with chums and pounding through the new locations, with the new characters and weapons. And in the meantime, once the blistering heat and SEGA-blue skies give way to familiar concrete grey misery, I suspect more than a few will still be locked away in dark rooms romping through the original.

Left 4 Dead 2 is due out for PC and Xbox 360 on 17th November.

Comments (42) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Rirekon #1 3 years ago

    Can. Not. Wait.
    Love Left4Dead, this is a day-one preorder for me to be honest
  • mashk #2 3 years ago

    luks gr8t. cannot w8 to play it.
  • the_dudefather #3 3 years ago

    ' the axe can be used to one-hit kill a Witch, if you can successfully sneak up behind her'

    oh hell yeah, that should lead to some fun online

    aside from that, can't see much use in the melee weapons from a L4D1 standpoint, unless they are going to give you less ammo, or if you decided to go melee only for a challenging run through a chapter :D
  • Tuffty #4 3 years ago

    Consider this a day one purchase for me.

    What I would like to know is how are the melee weapons kept? Are they a permanent fixture in your inventory or are they handled much like petrol cans and gas tanks were in the original?
  • beastmaster #5 3 years ago

    Not played the first one online yet. Tonight, I will take on the undead and probably die screaming. Probably.

    This one sounds great. I may play it online in 2011.
  • frostcircus #6 3 years ago

    Fucking sheep will buy jail time and a nasty rash
  • DUFFKING #7 3 years ago

    I for one am hugely affected by the discovery that Doomguy75 thinks less of me for wanting more of one of my favourite games, and am going to change my ways forever.
  • kinky_mong #8 3 years ago

    Oh lordy, I can not wait for this.
  • Cylinder #9 3 years ago

    Most anticipated game of the year for me (would've been Brutal Legend but now it really does seem like it won't get a PC release :( ).

    @Tuffty
    Melee weapons replace your primary weapon I believe.
  • Bangaioh #10 3 years ago

    pre-order x 3 for me, a couple for me mates!
  • DFawkes #11 3 years ago

    I can just see it now, seeing the witch at a distance. Carefully skulking my way up to the witch, as my skilled teammates snipe away zombies with deadly accuracy. As I inch closer to the witch, I decide to switch from my trsuted auto-shotgun to my close combat weapon. So, just before I hit fire, right beisde her now, as she slowly turns her head, I hit the weapon switch...

    AHH! I've taken the blinking pan by mistake! DONK! Followed by imminent flesh rending. I will love this indeed :)
  • Sub-kamikaze #12 3 years ago

    Hmm, not sure. The first one was only so-so...

    I'll give the demo a whirl.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/09 @ 14:47
  • megastar #13 3 years ago

    shurrup demi!! :p

    This sounds very exciting - loving the fact that you cant just hole up in a corner anymore. I shall no doubt be playing this solidly all weekend on release
  • Kyledanutmeg #14 3 years ago

    Doomguy75 you're a total nonse shut the fuck up, If people like the game then it's there choice so piss off and get a life.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/09 @ 14:52
  • agparrot #15 3 years ago

    @Tuffty

    What I would like to know is how are the melee weapons kept? Are they a permanent fixture in your inventory or are they handled much like petrol cans and gas tanks were in the original?

    That's a good question - they might well be pickups that you have to drop when you aren't using them, as you suggest, or perhaps there will only be the capacity to carry pistols +1 other weapon, be that either one of the shotgun/uzi/assault rifle types, or instead a melee weapon.
  • gallow #16 3 years ago

    @DFawkes

    or one of your buddies shoots the witch just before you swing....
  • muscleblade #17 3 years ago

    @Doomguy75

    Left4Dead 3 in 2010 you say? Sold.

  • Bremenacht #18 3 years ago

    Oh god I love shameless cash-ins. I wish they'd just kept the same game and given it a different name in order to fuel my indignation. Oh! They have! I'll rush out and buy (or pirate) it on day one anyway and then pile into EG to whine about what a rip-off it is. Looks just like a PS2 game too. Actually, I won't buy it or play it at all - I've used telekinesis to detect what it's like to play in the future, and I can tell you right now that it's rubbish; a terrible game with terrible graphics, played by mindless sheep. Rip-off!! Shame on you Valve!! Roll on L4D3, 4 ,5 and 6 - hopefully within 2 weeks of eachother, and all exactly the same.

    Baaaaaa!
  • Sub-kamikaze #19 3 years ago

    It'll be 'Tales of Left 4 Dead' and one will be released each month.
  • Salaminizer #20 3 years ago

    am I the only one that don't get what's with all the excitement about melee weapons? not to get into THAT argument, but it certainly looks the smallest of the changes, just like the incendiary ammo, and not really what makes L4D unique. maybe I'm too used to see weapons added left and right in mods (not restricted to Source mods!), but, at least for me, the new bosses, modes and AI tricks are far more interesting than any weapon or model added to the game.
  • Lionheart #21 3 years ago

    @Doomguy75

    haha who's that angry at life!!
  • hiddenranbir #22 3 years ago

    Of course it is a cash in. Valve have been looking to cash in since they were founded. They're now in a strong enough position to cash in the way of the big guy.
  • Sub-kamikaze #23 3 years ago

    Goddamn Valve laughing in the faces of their customers! Their lack of respect for their fanbase is ridiculous. The way we're consistently treated well and given highly polished products and free add-ons and upgrades and a platform to talk to the developers and a digital delivery system - it's all been for this one moment: THIS SICK CASH-IN!

    My world view is now jaded.
  • Ryuken #24 3 years ago

    So, there is hope yet for a new campaign with the old quartet. Good.
  • geeza2020 #25 3 years ago

    i expect i will trade in L4D for this the day its released, and feel like a dirty ho for doing so.
  • FogHeart #26 3 years ago

    Melee weapons, incendiary ammo, a wandering witch, gauntlet events - given what we've seen done with HL2 SDK I reckon these could probably be created using the L4D SDK. The new enemy might be too. We might see some enterprising soul have a go at developing some or all of these for the original.

    That leaves the revamped AI director. What does it do that's new? (not a rhetorical question).
  • Collymilad #27 3 years ago

    All the graphics whores should be quiet.

    Graphics are a VERY small part of what makes left 4 dead great, plud it looks fine.

    Sounds like it's going to be brilliant.
  • christourlord #28 3 years ago

    I'm really hoping for boss encounters with Zombie Zoe, Louis, Frank and Bill in L4D2 :)
  • El-Dev #29 3 years ago

    A hell of a lot of tune changing on EG these days, shocking.
  • ISmoke #30 3 years ago

    L4D, was and still is the only X360 game that stops my PS3 getting all my game time. Looking foward to number two!
  • TRUTH #31 3 years ago

    I enjoyed L4D, but, felt the respawning once you died made the game way to easy as you knew if you died or someone else died while playing online they would simply be re-spawned and be saved; no matter how many times you/they died. This took away any urgency to survive as group to complete the level. This also took away the tension to survive as a group. The game would have been better if you died in the level you only have 1 respawn - this would increase the battle for survival and a more importance to work and look after each other to complete the stage. Battling with less should become more harder and more tense; the reason for keeping everyone alive and not giving unlimited respawns - killing the whole point of survival.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/09 @ 18:00
  • wonton #32 3 years ago

    But the re-spawning mechanic was to keep people connected to the game, if people died and had to watch others play the remainder of the level then people would simply drop.

    Then there would be less continuity of players throughout a campaign.

    Yes it makes dying cheap which sucks.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/09 @ 18:15
  • Bork0r #33 3 years ago

    I really don't get how people can bitch and moan about Valve charging money for the upcoming left4dead2. They are a business and they want to make money so they make a game that many people enjoy and sell it at a fair price. What is the problem? I for one am happy that Valve continues to work on the Left4dead concept and I'll gladly pay for Left4dead2 cause I'm pretty sure that I'll get my moneys worth. I already feel as I am in debt for the unprecedented value of the orange box.
    Edited by 1 at 03/07/09 @ 20:07
  • TRUTH #34 3 years ago

    WONTON
    ...Then there would be less continuity of players throughout a campaign.

    Yes! One re-spawn per character if dead, harder to complete with less online; this then leads to more challenge on keeping everyone alive for the sake of surviva to reach the end...Re-spawning every time you die makes the game seem less of a challenge knowing that you can simply reach the end by re-spawning - If you knew you only had one chance, plus the fact it will be more difficult if there's less players; this will make players defend & look out for each other alot more. Also force people to work better together to survive; knowing you only have two chances to reach the end, with a higher risk of not, if you don't look after each others back.
    Edited by 2 at 03/07/09 @ 21:52
  • hiddenranbir #35 3 years ago

    All games are cash ins. Surprised people don't like this being stated. :)
  • Chufty #36 3 years ago

    This is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to see all these rebellious twats watch us in envy as we have endless hours of all-new left 4 dead fun, and they're all playing half-games with their 30,000 immature ragequitting groupies.

    I still play L4D every night, and will do until this comes out. I'd buy a new one every year, without thinking.
  • ParanoidZombie #37 3 years ago

    "What I would like to know is how are the melee weapons kept? Are they a permanent fixture in your inventory or are they handled much like petrol cans and gas tanks were in the original? "

    Saw a few gameplay trailers, and what happened was that the guy showing the game dropped his M-16 in order to get the axe, so i guess it replaces your primary weapon, which would make sense since melee weapons seem very powerful and can kill a couple of infected in a single swing.
  • Spekingur #38 3 years ago

    I want to see European cities.
    Of the top of my head I can think of a London campaign where you have to and through the Underground allowing you to enter the Underground at a few places.
    A Paris campaign where you have to travel to the Eiffel tower, go up and then down again, where zombies climb up the outside of it.
    Moscow campaign where you must traverse the halls of some palace and travel the Red Square.
    Then there could be one in Rome or Venice. Athens. Istanbul.
    And then it could take place in Middle-East, Africa, Asia, South America, etc.
  • monkeywithnoeyes #39 3 years ago

    has anybody taken to the new character models yet?
  • Lionheart #40 3 years ago

    Very much looking forward to this one. In fact i CANNOT wait. I'm not one of these people who hate it being a brand new game. I mean I will pay full price for the next installment of Fifa which essentially is just updated teams and kits right?

    The ONLY gripe I have with Left 4 Dead 2 is, is it risking becoming a bit Dead Rising? Maybe that's something one of you guys from Eurogamer can answer? I'm very worried it's going to lose it's fear factor and just beome a laughable mess?

    Opinions please?
    Edited by 1 at 06/07/09 @ 10:21
  • asphaltcowboy #41 3 years ago

    I'd love to see an Army of Two-style drag ability where you can drag a downed survivor back behind a defensive line created by the other two players in order to make it a little nicer/easier/cooler to help an incapped player get up. Obviously need to let them carry on shooting their pistols as well. Might be cool during some of those gauntlet moments even!
  • DFawkes #42 3 years ago

    I do love that idea asphaltcowboy, it wouldn't be too hard to have either. They can still shoot as you revive anyway, perhaps dragging could slow/freeze the revive meter but it'd be a great option.