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There are thousands of video games out there, but what’s worth playing? Today let’s talk about:
Credit: Valve
Left 4 Dead 2 is a first person zombie killing game. But unlike Resident Evil, it’s not about survival horror and low resources, and unlike Dead Island, it’s not about crafting. It’s just running from one end of a level to another, hitting checkpoints along the way with about 1000 or more undead freaks in the way. Seriously, there are often a LOT of zombies. No no, more than that.
Credit: Valve
The plot is done very much like a movie, the game even has a sort of movie poster motif. Each episode 4 humans (they have exactly the same stats, so each is equally adept at zombie killing) try to escape from zombie infested areas. In Left 4 Dead (the first one) these were not connected to each other, and in Left 4 Dead 2 there is more of a narrative, but each is similar, reach the end and try not to die.
Credit: Valve
What is awesome about this setup is that you’re not trying to cure the zombies, you’re not in danger of becoming a zombie, and the puzzles that exist are super simple and clear (like turn on a switch and wait for a gate to open and then go through said gate) so there is nothing getting in the way of you smashing zombies into piles of entrails and goo. There are several types of weapons to kill zombies with (mainly automatic weapons, shotguns, rifles, handguns, and melee weapons) and they all feel great. There is something about the SKRANG of a frying pan against the skull of a zombie that makes me smile.
Standing between you and … I guess getting away from being in a place where zombies are, is the A.I. aka The Director. This is one of the first and best A.I. characters I’ve ever played against as it sort of sees how you play and reacts accordingly. Go slowly and the more mutated and freakier “special infected” zombies will stack up on you at chokepoints; try to rush and it will spawn more common infected to be in the way to slow you down. The difficulty not only alters how the game plays for you and the other survivors, but how “smart” the A.I. is and makes the game different each time you play.
Credit: Valve
This game has lots of different modes and one of my favorites is the VS multi-player. Two teams of up to 8 people (4 on a team) each take turns going through a level and gain points based on how far they get. What makes this AMAZING is that one team plays as the humans, the other team is special infected zombies that can spit acid, charge into them, grab them with a long tongue, or smash a car into the hapless humans. It’s a ton of fun and makes the game scary and even more unpredictable.
Side Note: You might have noticed I’m skipping Left for Dead; much like Hand of Fate 2 (and you can read about that here) Left 4 Dead 2 is the first game AND the sequel all wrapped up into a nice fun zombie smashing package. You literally do not need Left 4 Dead as ALL of that game is inside of Left 4 Dead 2.
Tips:
1: While each level has a “maze like” quality to it, most levels have a sort of “downward” feeling to them, so try to go downhill. If you see zombies just standing around, then that’s the way to go. Your characters will also say things like “just over this dumpster” so you get an idea of where to go so you don’t get too lost.
2: Especially in multiplayer, do NOT wander off as the special infected, once they pin you or trap you, will kill a player unless someone else helps them. You can’t escape from most special infected once they grab you.
3: There is a shove button, it shoves zombies back. Use that. Zombies can’t hurt you if they are not close to you.
4: If you point your flashlight at the witch zombie, she’ll rush you and knock you on your butt in one shot. You can sneak by her if you are quiet, and you turn your flashlight off.
5: Zombies react to loud noises. Oddly, not gunfire, but they hate car alarms, church bells, and rock concerts. This causes events where a BUNCH of common zombies will show up, try to just hold out. The tempo of the game will ease up after those are over, but don’t dawdle too much. I find myself saying this phrase a lot in this game, “I don’t care what you’re going to do, just do it fast.”