Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Impressions

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo was publicly released today on Xbox Live, one week after people who ordered from Gamestop locations were treated to an early release of the same demo. For fans of the original Left 4 Dead, you'll be happy to hear that L4D2 feels like L4D. The controls are as tight as ever, and the cinematic feel of the first transfers nicely to its sequel. What's more impressive is how snugly all of Valve's additions fit into the game play. The three new special infected; the Spitter, the Charger, and the Jockey; work well with the old special infected, who all still make an appearance. Instead of going into detail about all the additions, I'll stick to just sharing my thoughts about the actual play through, which you can see in the video above.

The first two levels of the Parish campaign are set in New Orleans, and they've captured the look of the city really well. The first thing you'll notice is the big-band sound blasting the L4D theme in horns and tubas, it's really cool. When the good times kick in (and in L4D fashion, you'll have zombies running at you in the first 10 seconds), you'll notice the zombies seem a bit more... detachable... than their previous models. Limbs will be blown off, backs and chests will be ripped open to expose the gooey infected insides, and it's all done in great good gory zombie fun. Even in the first level you'll find new weapons and if you play through multiple times, you'll find different paths blocked off or opened up, which definitely makes things more frantic as you're searching for which way you can go. The first level is very short, and has really tight alleyways, so as long as your team sticks together you should make it alright.

The second level is considerably longer and has more open spaces, taking you through a park among other places. They've done a really good job of designing a city that's in the clutches of a crisis. In the second level you'll run across a bus depot that was obviously being used to shuffle people out of the city. You'll see queue gates and signs on the wall telling people about the extraction, it really helps the cinematic feel of the game. The crescendo event in the second level is every bit as intense as Valve made it sound. Once you trip the alarm and summon the zombie hordes, you want to move quick, as mobs of zombies and special infected will continually jump you as you try to shut off the alarm. What this amounts to is a frantic chase through the crescendo event where it's REALLY hard to stick together as a team.

Herein lies why I'm so excited for L4D2. Where the first one really shined is when things would go insane. Having to maintain teamwork while things are going to hell around you kept things intense and interesting, and all the additions to this game aim to make it more intense. The only disappointing thing about the demo is realizing you still have to wait before you get to play the full game. Check back here soon after the 17^th for a full review of the game!