I'm sure it won't be as hyped as MW2, but L4D2 was released last night. After about an hour and a half delay, I was finally able to load up the game at about 12:30 CST. I played through the first two campaigns on single player just to get a feel for them. There were a few complaints I had, but overall, I believe it has a lot of improvements over the first. Many of the changes are subtle, but they affect the gameplay significantly.
First, the maps. They are much more open this time and it's not always immediately clear where you are supposed to be going. I never got lost, but I did have to stop a few times to look around and get my bearings. For the most part, they kept the idea of marking the general path with various lighting techniques. Also, the maps seem much bigger this time which is a plus for me.
The survivor characters were surprisingly well done. I was afraid that I would be too attached to the original cast, but the new survivors have already won me over. Especially Ellis. At the beginning of the Dark Carnival campaign, he literally had me laughing out loud. The only one I didn't particularly like was Nick, but only because he's a prick. And I haven't confirmed it, but I'm pretty sure Rochelle and Zoey are the same voice actors because they sound almost identical to me.
The new special infected are a welcome addition.I have a new found hatred for the Jockey and the Charger is just a monster. The Spitter didn't make much of an impact on the games I played last night. Could be because bots don't cluster or because the maps discourage stacking, but I'm sure she'll have a bigger impact in versus.
The flow of the game is much better as well. There are almost no down times when there isn't at least a couple of infected attacking. Because of this, sitting still is even worse than in the first one. Also, the level are much more complex this time and there are several moments that will stick with you. The very first level in the hotel was incredible and there's a moment when you walk into a certain shop that is just euphoric. And like in real life, when something gets turned on or an alarm goes off, you now have to turn it off before the horde will stop coming. No more hiding in a corner and waiting it out.
There are small things that add some variety to the game as well. For example, there aren't as many ammo dumps laying around. There are however, lots of guns laying around. What this means is that if you want to replenish your ammo, you're going to have to pick up a different type of gun. No more picking up an auto-shotty and carrying it with you for the rest of the game.
There were really only three complaints that I had. The first one is minor and a personal opinion, but I thought the tank looked a little less intimidating this time. He looked more like a pink blob and a little smaller and less muscular...just didn't give me the same sense of dread I'm used to. Also, the musical cues seemed to be missing. Maybe I just missed them, but I was surprised every time a tank was in my face or a horde was on top of me and I had no warning from the change in music. The lack of music also made it seem a little less tense. My final complaint was the AI. If you thought the original bots were dumb, then you're gonna hate these guys.
Overall, a very good experiance and a very nice improvement over what was already an excellent game to begin with.
lol I thought this was Scott's post first, but it caught me astounded that there weren't more complaints. I hope your right maug and I hope it's better then the demo, because personally other then visual effects I felt the demo was a back step and felt more like a cheap action zombie game and had no horror in it one bit. I liked the creepy feeling of the dark setting with the occasional car light and spotlight in the distance. Well that was until Blake came along and all I heard was FRISKY'S GOT A GAS TANK then it was less horror and more like I was in a shitty monty python act where the jokes weren't funny. Don't get me wrong I love the holy grail and the pet shop, but the other stuff could make scott cry. anyways I hope....
ReplyDeleteI just simply like, no, love the game. I always play campaign without bots. Bots suck ass in this game type.
ReplyDeleteWabbit says he likes the dark settings, the creepy feeling and so on. Well you have a map where it rains so hard, yo don't know where you going, facing every zombie you can imagine. In that map I killed, and I'm not lying, 9 witches, several tanks, chargers and other creepy monsters.
I also like the melee weapons. Like a katana sword, which is by far the most powerful melee weapon you can get. But there is also a wide range of automatic weapons, a nade launcher, several shotguns (Remmy's favorite), and last but not least yo have pipebombs, molly's and the boomer bile.
The graphics are great, the maps are big and you have a lot f freedom. There are new monsters and zombies an new achievements to get.
All in all this a very good game. I really enjoy playing it. Especially now with the knowledge that my cast is gone, and that I can hold my mouse again.