66| Left 4 Dead 2

Released: November 17th, 2009

Definitive Version: PC (All major OSes); Also on: Xbox 360

During the latter half of the 2000s there was a huge revival with zombies in the entertainment world. This has continued on to the modern day, most notably with the hit franchise The Walking Dead. I don't recall what exactly started this revival, but I think most will agree that it can be traced back to the film 28 Days Later. The movie was a modestly budgeted British horror film that involved zombies taking over the United Kingdom. Now what differentiated it from the more mainstream zombies found in the acclaimed Living Dead films were primarily two things. The first is that the "zombies" weren't really zombies, but regularly people who were infected with a specific type of "rage virus".The second, and the most major reason, is that rather than the zombies being slow and dumb, they were just as fast as any other human and had some sort of intelligence. So not only did zombies have the advantage in numbers, but they no longer had a disadvantage in speed and not as much of a disadvantage in smarts. It was formula that gelled very well with modern audiences and soon all types of mediums from film to books began adapting this formula such as Shaun of the Dead and World War Z. This obviously included video games as well such as Resident Evil 4 and Killing Floor. But if there is one franchise that stands as the definitive example of this formula, it is clearly the Left 4 Dead series.

Released in 2008, Left 4 Dead revolved around four players meeting online as they choose to plays as four different characters and select a map.  Once the game started there was one simple objective, get to the end of the map without dying. This was a lot harder than it sounds as traveling from point A to point B the players came across a literally endless supply of zombies, with dozens and at times even hundreds coming at the players at once. Luckily each player is equipped with a weapon of their choice that they get in their starting safe house, as well as various items such as healing packs. Throughout the map there are also a share of abandoned houses and buildings each containing the same weapons and items, or at least something similar. The game may have been simple, but it was enough for it to become a massive hit.

Unfortunately the developers weren't satisfied with the end product and decided to make a sequel Left 4 Dead 2. The best way to describe the game is that it is more or less "Super Left 4 Dead: Turbo Edition". It feels less like a sequel and more like an updated version of the original game. The gameplay was the exact the same but with new maps, characters, enemies, and the addition of melee weapons. As par to the first one, the game starts off with four people logging onto in a server and selecting which character and map they want. Once all votes are casted the game starts. The players begin in a safe house where they select their gear and leave to reach the next checkpoint. Once again, in between the safe house and the next checkpoint the players will have to deal with an onslaught of zombies. The vast majority are the regularly zombies who run really fast and are out for blood. Occasionally there are others such as the fat boomers who explode which results in killing everything in the surrounding area, the witches who cry in the corner not to be disturbed...or else, the spitters who spit acid at the players, etc. But the most notable of these is the tank. A huge enemy that can do immense damage by pounding on the player or even picking up large objects such as cars and throwing it at them. They often act as a boss in each level due to the immense damage they dish out and the huge amount of hit points they have.

And that's about it. Left 4 Dead 2 is a game with a very basic formula that is very fun. It may sound repetitive but it takes a while to become so as each enemy encounter can be handled in a variety of different ways. And even if the main mode becomes stale, there are multiple other modes to try, even a versus mode where one side are the protagonists while the other are the zombies. There are some faults with the game though. One is that there are some people in the community who believe the original Left 4 Dead is superior, however due to the entire first game being ported into Left 4 Dead 2, it is no longer an issue. However, another is that the game isn't all that deep. It is very basic as there is little strategy to survive. Just simply avoid zombies and use the most powerful weapon possible. While this doesn't stop the game from being fun, it does leave players who want a little more meat to the game with a lack of something to sink their teeth into. However, if you want a fun and mindless zombie game, you can't go wrong with Left 4 Dead 2.

Not a fan of the map design (with the exception of the maps from the original). Nevertheless, really good co-op fun. Still need to try the versus stuff.