One of the biggest surprises at E3 was the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. It was also one of the very few big name games there that was actually playable on the show floor. I got to spend some time playing the Xbox 360 version and the PC version. I also got to sit down and talk to Chet Faliszek, one of the writers of the game. Click the pic to check out more on Left 4 Dead 2.
Left 4 Dead 2 tells the story of four new survivors; Nick, Rochelle, Coach and Ellis. The first thing I noticed about Left 4 Dead 2 is that the environments are in a mardi-gras style setting. Not all the maps are at night like in the first L4D, there are maps now that have you fend off zombies in the daytime. New to the gameplay are circumstantial events which alert the hoard but also require you to perform certain specific tasks otherwise the hoard never stops coming.
Left 4 Dead 2 adds the ability to find and use melee weapons such as baseball bats, fire axes and frying pans. Certain guns in L4D2 will now have special ammo such as incendiary ammo which sets fire to zombies when you shoot them. In addition to all of the original special infected zombies, Left 4 Dead 2 introduces new ones such as the Charger. The Charger is able to knock you and the whole team down by running head long into you. If you’re lucky, the Charger also pins you to the floor and beats the snot out of you. (Yay!)
Chet Faliszek let us know that the Charger is not the only new special infected that we will see in Left 4 Dead 2. Chet also tells us that all of the original gameplay modes from the first L4D, including survival mode, will be available in L4D2 in addition to a currently unannounced multiplayer mode. From what I played, the PC version looks way better and runs way smoother than the 360 version.
