Welcome to the first entry of ‘The Next Iteration’ (formerly Déjá Vu). I’d like to try and get one of these out every Monday if I can. I’ll be comparing the games in categories to make the comparisons clearer and more understandable. The categories are Gameplay, Presentation (graphics and sound), Level/Area Design and Story.
Well that’s enough explaining; let’s take a look at Left 4 Dead 1 and 2.
Presentation.
First, let’s start off with one of the easier comparison points, the graphics. The graphics in L4D2 are very similar to L4D1, obviously due to still being on the source engine, but there are a few improvements found in L4D2. One of the better improvements is with the zombies. There’s now more variety with the addition of uncommon infected and the dismemberment system from the first game is much improved. You can now disembowel zombies and have their intestines trail on the ground. Also instead of a group of zombies exploding into a cloud of red like in the first L4D, L4D2 has them properly get torn apart by the explosion, truly adding to the zombie slaughter. The new gore effects really add to the feeling of being in a zombie b-movie and makes L4D2 the more satisfying game to play it doesn’t hurt that the graphics in general are all slightly better looking.
The sound is mostly unchanged, just adding new sounds (voices?) and audio cues for the new special infected and the voices of the new characters. Personally I prefer the Voice acting in the sequel, the characters seem to get to know each other better throughout the game and the dialogue seems a lot more natural and you get to know the characters better through the campaign at the same pace the characters get to know each other. This helps you feel more involved with the survivors and their personalities.
The end of chapter music that you get for making it to the safe room is the same tune from L4D1 but with a southern and more upbeat twist to it which makes it sound more victorious compared the L4D1 version of the same tune.
Gameplay
L4D2’s gameplay is pretty much L4D1s with a new lick of paint, but it’s such a nice lick of paint. The game plays the same as survivors, kill zombies while trying to get to the safe rooms and ultimately escape at the end of the chapter but the main difference in playing a survivor comes from the addition of melee weapons, replacing the pistol if you pick one up and changing the way you can play dramatically. Melee weapons are mostly one hit kills on common infected and very formidable against special infected if you can get close enough. This was something that was sorely lacking in the original L4D. All you could do back then was shove and shoot but in L4D2 we can shove, shoot and slice, because deep down we all want to take an axe to a zombie and chop its limbs off. The melee attacks in L4D2 are very satisfying and it’s fun to sometimes go through a chapter or two using just melee weapons.
This biggest addition to the Infected gameplay comes from playing as the three new Special Infected (Jockey, Spitter and Charger), requiring new strategies and team work to utilise effectively. Charging a big group of survivors down a narrow hall or ally is always good fun, especially when a Spitter ally spits acid at the downed pile of players.
There’s also the addition of new modes, Scavenge, in which the survivors have to collect gas cans while the Infected try to stop them and Mutation, which has a new gameplay mode every week ranging from chainsaws only to being forced to take a gnome through the campaign with you. Scavenge is good fun and pretty much the same as the finale of the Dead Centre campaign but on different maps.The survival game mode also makes a return, unchanged from the L4D version with the exception of the new infected. There’s also the addition of Realism mode that changes the game to add difficulty by making it more ‘real’, things like taking the glow from around your team mates making it hard to find them if you don’t stick together or stopping a dead team mate from respawning, making the defibrillator kit the only way to get a lost team mate back.
Story
Well there’s not much difference in the story here, like in the first L4D it’s basically a group of survivors immune to the zombie infection trying to get to safety and escape from the zombie hordes. This time though the game takes place in the Southern United States and the campaigns follow on more directly. Only thing that sets the story apart from one another is the locations and the characters, the basic premise of the game is the same. There are a few things that add to the story like in L4D1 like the graffiti in safe rooms that tell the story of how CEDA was called in to deal with the infection or posters of famous personalities in the games universe which the characters comment on that are used as plot points in the campaigns finale (escaping in a famous sock car racers sock car or using the pyrotechnics set up by a big rock band to call for help).
Level Design
While the levels in L4D1 all took place at night and had the eerie, spooky feel of a horror film, the levels in L4D2 take place at various times of day and night. The levels seem a lot more open in L4D2 taking place mostly outside while L4D1 had a lot of levels in doors. The locations in L4D2 are just as varied as in L4D1, going from a hotel and through a town to a shopping mall to making your way through a dark swamp to a mansion on a plantation. There’s plenty of rooms to explore to find new weapons or supplies and loads of places for the infected to set up the perfect ambush, my favourite being a drop into the sewers where the infected could cripple a team if they get the right set up.
Conclusion
All in all, L4D2 is pretty much L4D1 with more weapons, Zombies and modes. It’s L4D+. That by no means bad as a sequel should be an improvement and while this improves in every way some might see it as not enough. If you were to buy a Left4Dead game I’d recommend 2 as it looks a bit better, plays better, has more multiplayer options and is all around better, if not by a great deal. If you’ve already got L4D1 then only get L4D2 if you want more of the same (a whole game more) or if you love L4D1 a lot.
