My one complaint is that melee weapons can only replace the secondary gun - the pistol – just when I got my hands on a magnum. The full cast of special-infected is back for a second round, and in greater numbers. L4D2 almost makes the original feel like a practice run. Making a last stand while waiting for rescue was always a harrowing experience with the imminent arrival of the massive Tank. Facing three in a row is almost downright Sisyphean. Hunters and Smokers have far more rooftops and nooks to lash out from, and Witches – deadly if disturbed – wander through the levels in greater numbers. Just to make the life of a survivor even more miserable, three new enemies await. Spitters are similar to the horde-attracting Boomers, except their projectile vomit creates an acidic pool. The Chargers are like the smaller cousins of Tanks. They burst forward, grabbing the first thing in the way, stopping only to smash into the wall.
My personal favorite of the virtual-walking dead has to be the Jockeys. The little pests don’t do much damage, but they can leap upon the heads of survivors and guide them toward more deadly foes. Although there is a single-player option, L4D2 might as well be online-only. Teamwork is too vital to be left in the hands of A.I. companions. For the optimal experience, two teams can go head-to-head through the campaign, with four players as survivors and four as special-infected. Survival most is back with 10 stages, but Scavenge is the new game of choice. It’s a battle for points in which the survivors have to forage for cans of gas and refuel an engine while the infected players try to thwart them at every turn. For the truly hardcore, Realism mode beefs up the zombies and removes all notifications (supply indicators, teammate locations, etc.).
Frankly, I’m just not that masochistic. By no means is L4D2 a reinvention of the series, but with so many welcome additions, it feels close to being the perfection of it. It’s the little things, like the gooey expulsions from severed heads splattering across your screen that make the experience pop with horrific delight. The level designs and objectives boast far more variety than the predecessor. You’ll have to gather gas cans to refuel a getaway car, sprint across a collapsing bridge to a waiting chopper, and fetch an old man his bottles of soda. With so many stages, modes, and possibilities between survivors and infected, Left 4 Dead 2 is an exceptional co-op shooter. Having a chainsaw in your hands and a laser-sighted grenade launcher slung over your shoulder puts it at the top. Simply put Left 4 Dead 2 is one of the top Xbox 360 games of 2009, all zombie fans need to report to duty at your local game retailer.
