Left 4 Dead 2 review
Left 4 Dead 2Expected at the turn by vociferous hordes of fans and detractors, Left 4 Dead 2 is finally available on PC and 360. If the basic recipe is now well known and still invites four survivors to stick together to try to survive a invasion of zombified humans, the question now is whether this "suite" can really be considered as such, and if it justifies a purchase. The answer, we hope, will appear to you in the following lines, between two or three pieces of not fresh barbaque and a puddle of fluorescent vomit.
For many players, Left 4 Dead first of the name was a real cry of love in the world of FPS. The formula may seem paradoxical, obviously, but the fact is that the software, with its gameplay resolutely turned towards cooperation and its airs assumed delicious cosmic nanar, appeared to us as a gigantic breath of fresh air. Fun to die for, intense and devastating, the big, smelly baby from Valve seemed to have all the possible arguments to constitute a reference. All, except perhaps that of offering really substantial content. However, we expected the American firm, an expert in the field, to bring its game to life afterwards by constantly offering nice updates, free of charge. These legitimate expectations will not necessarily have been fulfilled and the arrival of this new episode, just one year after the first Left 4 Dead, is therefore done in a slightly special context, tinged with curiosity as well as hostility . Many players consider that Valve is ultimately only looking to charge for updates that should have supplemented the offer of the first game. The debate, we fear, is not likely to die out immediately, because if Left 4 Dead 2 includes a whole string of new features - some more significant than others - the fact remains that an enlarged version of its predecessor. Basically, Left 4 Dead 2 is a bit the same game, with a different atmosphere, more zombies, more modes, more weapons and the absolute need more than ever to make radical choices. Come on, let's face it, it's generally all that is expected from a suite ...
Basically, neophytes are well on their way to cry with happiness, while fans, even pursed lips, will find it hard to resist the call of 5 brand new campaigns really very successful. These campaigns will also have to be visited in the company of 4 new survivors, trapped in spite of themselves in the rotten entrails of Savannah in Georgia. Nick, the gamer / swindler in costar, finds himself forced to team up with Ellis, the young mechanic with a well-hung tongue, Rochelle, the budding journalist, and the Coach, a fallen sportsman who drowns his disappointment in alcohol and fat. Clearly less charismatic than the 4 friends of the first game, the buggers still have the merit of inviting us into varied environments, which all respond to the theme of the American Southeast. From a burning building in Savannah, you will cross sunny streets, before arriving in a shopping center infested with smelly creatures. In the second campaign, we will have the joy of plunging into the night horror of an amusement park, with its love tunnel and its roller coasters to cross on foot ... We will then take a stroll under the rain in an old plantation, where movements will be slower due to gigantic puddles and where the downpour, which will gain randomly in intensity, will prevent you from seeing more than 5 meters in front of you! The last two campaigns will invite you to cross smelly swamps and some ramshackle neighborhoods of New Orleans.
Extremely well done and varied, with a fabulous atmosphere in addition to the regular interventions of daylight, these campaigns have the added flair of offering us situations that are as stupid as they are demanding in terms of gameplay. Gather petrol cans to supply the tank of an exhibition car in a shopping mall while repelling successive hordes, for example. We will also think of the need to get bottles of soda from a nearby grocery store on behalf of a survivor barricaded on a roof. In addition to the alarm that will not fail to trigger by breaking the window (and which will therefore attract fiddlers of infected), one of the survivors will have to carry the pack of drinks and will therefore no longer be able to participate as effectively in combat. And what about this canceled rock concert, whose special effects and other fireworks will have to be triggered to attract the attention of the emergency services, and unfortunately of all the monsters in the area? You will also be happy to learn that certain alarms will even have to be deactivated manually and will therefore require you to charge in the middle of monsters, while one would be more tempted to adopt a defensive attitude. We also note that each campaign will confront us with specific zombies: the alleys of Savannah will see your meeting with infected people in fireproof suits, capable of crossing the curtains of flame that you will raise between you and the horde using Molotov Cocktails . In the amusement park, you will have the right to clowns, capable of training dozens of infected following them. In New Orleans, it will be former riot cops with batons who will pick you up (normal for a walking corpse).
To all this, of course, are added the special zombies from the first game: Boomers, Smokers, Hunters, Tanks and Witches obviously respond to the call. Note, however, that the Witches can now move and slowly drag their pain down the halls, until an unfortunate survivor crosses their path and attracts their wrath. Within the plantation, you will even be entitled to a whole colony of wandering Witches ... But these special infected are now accompanied by a nice trio of newcomers. We will therefore count on the Charger, capable of rushing at you at high speed and grabbing you to smash your face on the ground. This "Chabalian" zombie will be particularly unpleasant in corridors and narrow areas. Then comes the Spitter, who will be happy to spit his toxic saliva on your companions. Very corrosive, this acid will also make any affected area impassable for a few seconds. Basically, the Spitter constitutes the response of the infected to the Molotov Cocktails of the survivors. Finally, the last guest in the kingdom of horrors is undoubtedly the funniest: it is Jockey, whose main fad is to jump on the head of a human to lead him to dangerous places, during a sort of obscene rodeo. All these monsters obviously utter cries or particular growls, which will allow the survivors to know what is lying around and therefore to prepare for it, as much as possible.
Know also that the interventions of all this charming little world obviously remain random, as well as the arrangement of weapons, ammunition and different equipment in each level. And let's talk about this new stuff. First, survivors will now be able to take control of new hand-to-hand weapons such as bats, axes, katanas, machetes, guitars, pans (!!!) or even chainsaws ( limited time). Very powerful, because capable of eviscerating several critters at the same time, these weapons will however dispossess you of your faithful or your faithful pistols with unlimited ammunition. The choice to pick up an ax is not so trivial, because if you ran out of bastos for your main weapon, you would then be unable to knock down a Smoker stashed on a roof, and therefore possibly quickly rescue a friend. Let us also take the opportunity to point out that it is no longer possible to abuse the strokes of the butt, as we often tended to do in the first opus. Indispensable to repel several infected at the same time, the strokes of the butt are now limited. After 3 mandals, you will indeed have to wait a few seconds to put back a layer. In short, more than ever, you will have to combine hand-to-hand weapons (which they do not require cooldown), petoire and some mandals judiciously placed to get out of it.
We also note that the firearms are a little more numerous than in the past and that we will be able to find a new snipe, AK-47, M16, magnums and even an occasional grenade launcher. Also be aware that it will now be possible to replace your treatment kit with a pack of incendiary or explosive ammunition (to be deployed so that everyone benefits) or with a defibrillator, which will be used to bring back to life a recently disemboweled survivor. Finally, and to finish once and for all with this tedious inventory, our proud heroes will sometimes have the chance to put their pretty toys on bottles of Boomer's vomit, to swing on the zombies so that they tear each other apart , as well as on adrenaline syringes, which will allow you to temporarily regain health while giving you a speed bonus. Convenient to counter hordes! In short, Left 4 Dead 2 requires the player to make choices in the selection of his equipment, choices whose consequences will generally be much more serious than in the first opus.
With all these options and all these different situations, we can say that these five campaigns keep us busy for hours and hours. Especially since in addition to the 4 difficulty modes available, it is now possible to activate the "Realism" option, which will make all infected more resistant and remove some of the most useful visual cues in the game. Realism for example, the contours of your friends will no longer be highlighted at all. If we separate, there will be no way of knowing what's going on in the next room. Hello anxiety. It remains to discuss competitive modes, such as the essential Versus, now available on all of the soft campaigns. Playable by eight, this mode offers you to alternately embody survivors and zombies. As usual, the living will only care about reaching the exit. The dead, on the other hand, will have to do everything to block them. Since you will have to cross each campaign twice to complete a game in Versus mode, that is to say that you will have time in front of you. Valve therefore sought to offer some less time-consuming modes, such as Survival in which we will simply try to survive as long as possible in the face of successive waves of infected. Finally, the excellent Collect mode will launch you on a hunt for gas cans, while 4 other participants will try to prevent you from picking them up.
For once, Left 4 Dead 2 therefore appears even more attractive than its predecessor, who is almost relegated to the rank of sympathetic draft. Despite a semi-matchmaking that will not be unanimous on PC, there is no doubt that players will find something to seriously shorten their nights.
The notes
Graphics 16/20
Able to turn on a relatively modest bike while retaining all its finesse and fluidity, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a variety of terribly credible environments, despite a crazy side perfectly assumed. By boosting the graphics options a bit, we immediately immerse ourselves in the full movie of zombies, especially in the "Hard Rain" campaign, with its showers that give cold in the back, even when we remain comfortably installed in our armchair.
Gameplay 18/20
A small warning first, Left 4 Dead 2 should not even insult us to offer a single player mode. Aside from getting to know each card, playing by yourself literally kills everything that makes the strength of an app that lives only through the teamwork of human players. This being clear, we can say that Left 4 Dead 2 is a real success and the benchmark in terms of cooperation, whether we are in the sweaty skin of a survivor or in the swollen sneakers of an infected. Richer, smarter and clearly better put together than its predecessor, the software also reveals its full potential when you boost the difficulty a little. Sensitive souls refrain.
Lifespan 16/20
Difficult to note this criterion when it comes to a multiplayer game. If you subscribe to the concept, which basically remains identical to that of the first opus, then you can simply say goodbye to your social life. Especially since for once, Left 4 Dead offers a fairly substantial content: 5 well-paced campaigns and slightly longer than in the first installment, many options, an excellent Versus, and a unique Collection mode and perfectly suited to the parties of short duration.
Soundtrack 18/20
Regulars will find the themes of the first part, all have however been re-orchestrated to give them a little taste of Louisiana. The sound effects are once again exceptional and have a real impact on how the survivors will progress. Indeed, each special infected goes there from his own gurgling, so that we will always know what is around us, without being able to see it either.
Scenario/
Difficult to fault this suite which is a big hit on all tables. Richer, better put together and more intense than its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2 represents the ultimate cooperative experience that we were hoping to discover. If some people still have some doubts, know that they no longer really need to be: Valve did not make fun of us and delivers a new reference. We're not going to get a full night's sleep again.
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