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Left 4 Dead 2 is an upcoming cooperative first-person shooter game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation's award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game is currently set to launch on November 17, 2009 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.[1] It will build upon the cooperatively focused gameplay of the original and will be using Valve's proprietary Source engine, the same game engine used in Left 4 Dead. The game made its world premiere at E3 2009 with a trailer during the Microsoft press event.[3] Like the original, Left 4 Dead 2 is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, and focuses on four survivors fighting against hordes of the infected. The survivors must fight their way through levels, interspersed with safehouses that act as checkpoints, with the goal of reaching a rescue vehicle at the campaign's finale. The gameplay is procedurally altered by an artificial intelligence engine dubbed the "Director" that monitors the players' performance and alters the scenario to provide a dynamic challenge for the players as they progress. Several new features will be introduced, such as new types of infected, melee weapons, and a story-arc that connects each of the games' five campaigns together.[4] The game has attracted an unusually high volume of pre-release controversy. It has received a combination of positive, negative, critical and community reactions. John Walker of UK-based gaming website Rock, Paper, Shotgun has theorized that this is due to higher expectations for Valve, due to the perception of its status as an industry leader.[5] There also have been concerns about the game's graphic content, as seen from the alterations made to the cover art[6] as well as the refusal of classification by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification.[7] Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 2.1 Survivor characters 2.2 Infected characters 2.3 The Director 3 Development 4 Reception 4.1 Pre-release reactions 4.1.1 Pre-release sales 4.1.2 Boycott 4.1.3 Cover art 4.1.4 Racism accusations 4.1.5 Australian ban 5 See also 6 References 7 External links [edit]Plot

Like Left 4 Dead, the sequel involves the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic. There has been an outbreak of a rabies-like pathogen that causes infected humans to behave like zombies. The four survivors have to fight their way through the hordes of infected, using safehouses along the way to rest and recover, in order to reach extraction points. Left 4 Dead 2 will be set in the Southern United States, starting in Savannah, Georgia and ending in New Orleans, Louisiana.[3][4] The cast of Left 4 Dead has been replaced by 4 new survivors, whose backstory will again be provided through dialogue. Unlike the first game where there was no significant story development, Left 4 Dead 2 will feature a story arc.[8] All the campaigns have been announced: "Dead Center" takes place in a shopping mall, "Dark Carnival" where the survivors must pass through a partially operating amusement park, "Swamp Fever" which sees the survivors crossing vegetation-rich bayou, "Hard Rain" which appears to take place in a flooded industrial complex, and "The Parish" which takes place in proximity to a church. [edit]Gameplay

See also: Gameplay in Left 4 Dead Like its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2 is primarily a first-person shooter, with some cutscenes presented in the third-person or using pre-rendered movies. The game presents five new campaigns, larger in size than those of the first game. Each will be playable in the campaign, versus, survival and the new scavenge mode.[9] Left 4 Dead 2 retains the three game modes of the original game; campaign, versus, survival and adds a new game mode called scavenge. In campaign mode up to four human players fight against the computer controlled infected to make their way between safe houses and eventually to rescue. In versus mode up to four other human players take control of the various Special Infected who try to prevent the Survivors from reaching the next safe house. The two teams swap sides once per chapter and are scored based on their play through as Survivors, with the scoring based on factors such as health, distance traveled and the number of Survivors alive at the end.Survival mode is a timed challenge where the survivors are trapped in a section of the campaign maps, and try to survive as long as possible against an unending onslaught of infected. The fourth mode, new for Left 4 Dead 2, is called Scavenge. In the four-on-four mode, the survivor players are required to collect and use as many of the sixteen gas canisters scattered about a level to continue to power generators, extending the time in the round, while the infected players attempt to stop them, or at times, detonate the canisters themselves. New maps specific for this mode will be distributed with the game.[10] A "realism" mode was accidentally revealed during a media event, while Valve gave no specific details they described it as a special modifier made to give a challenge to very skilled players.[11] [edit]Survivor characters

The survivors of Left 4 Dead 2, shown on the poster for the "Dead Center" chapter. Left to right: Coach, Ellis, Nick, Rochelle Left 4 Dead 2 features a new cast of human survivors, which include Coach, a high-school football coach; Rochelle, a news reporter for a local television station; Ellis, a mechanic; and Nick, a gambler and conman.[4] While the game is intended as a continuation of the original, occurring a few weeks after the first game begins, Valve decided to create a new group of survivors because of the change in location.[12] Players will have access to more weapons, including new melee weapons such as frying pans and chainsaws,[4] as well as new ranged weapons such as scoped assault rifles and silenced submachine guns; furthermore, new ammunition types will be introduced, such as explosive or incendiary rounds.[13]. The game also includes numerous new common infected. [edit]Infected characters

Coach fighting an infected in a Hazmat suit The infected in Left 4 Dead 2 are largely unchanged from Left 4 Dead. While referred to as zombies, the infected are humans mutated by a virus of unknown origin. The most numerous infected encountered by the survivors are the "common infected", individually weak, but can swarm and overwhelm the survivors with large numbers. In Left 4 Dead 2, damage dealt to the infected will be portrayed more realistically, with bullets tearing off bits of flesh and in some cases, limbs.[14] A new addition to Left 4 Dead 2 are the "uncommon infected" unique to each campaign. By virtue of equipment worn before infection or mutation, they possess an ability that separates them from the common infected. For example, in the Parish campaign the player will encounter infected wearing Hazmat suits and riot gear, making them almost impervious to fire and gunfire from the front, respectively.[15] As in the first game, there are "special" or "boss" infected in addition to the common infected whose mutations grant them special attacks that make them much more dangerous. The presence of such infected nearby is hinted at by sound effects unique to each type, or with certain musical cues. The five special infected from the first game return in Left 4 Dead 2, some with modified behavior. They are: the Boomer, a bloated infected whose vomit and bile (which may be released at will and upon death) blinds the player briefly and attracts a horde of common infected; the Hunter, an agile infected that can pounce on survivors from great distances; the Smoker, an infected that can ensnare survivors with its long tongue from a distance and, upon death, releases a cloud of smoke that obscures vision; the Tank, a gigantic, muscular infected that is powerful and difficult to kill. It can knock players backwards, dealing massive damage, or attack from afar by throwing a lump of debris - it also has the ability to bash certain objects, such as cars and dumpsters, towards survivors, that will cause incapacitation on contact; the Witch, a passive female infected, who, when provoked by loud sounds, lights, or proximity of survivors, will attack her provoker - she is able to incapacitate or kill the provoker (depending on the difficulty setting) in one hit. If her victims survive, she will attempt to kill them if not killed herself.[16] In Left 4 Dead 2, the Witch will wander around in daytime levels.[16][4] Several new Special Infected are being introduced in Left 4 Dead 2, all of which are playable in versus and the new Scavenger game mode.[4][17][18][19] The Charger is an infected with a mutated, oversized arm, and can move quickly and knock players in its path off their feet. It can also grab players and smash them against the ground to deal major damage. The Spitter can project balls of mutated phlegm that splatter across an area, eroding the survivors' health as long as they remain within it. The Jockey can jump onto the back of a survivor and steer them towards other infected or traps set by the game. [edit]The Director As in the first game an artificial intelligence system called the A.I. Director drives gameplay by procedurally spawning enemies, weapons and items based on the players performance. In Left 4 Dead 2, the Director has been improved to encourage more participation by players, forcing players through difficult gauntlets to reach the extraction point. It will also have the ability to alter elements of the level such as placement of walls, level layout, lighting, and weather conditions, making each play session unique.[4] The Director will now reward players for taking longer or more difficult paths through each episode by providing more useful equipment, such as incendiary ammo, along these riskier paths.[3] [edit]Development

Development for Left 4 Dead 2 started shortly after the release of the first game—following a short break—building on ideas from the development team to make the next game "bigger and better".[4][20] The game was given the code name "Carnation" to prevent revealing its details before its official announcement.[21] Chet Faliszek stated that Left 4 Dead 2's story will explore more of the world of the game, and that Valve has created a full story for the cause and effects of the infection pandemic, including terms that they have used for the AI Director.[21] Faliszek wanted to include a "no-nonsense" woman from a Department of Motor Vehicles, but this character did not make the cut.[21] The developers solicited several bands to include them in the game; Depeche Mode responded eagerly, and allowed Valve to use their music and other imagery in the game, such as on the front from Rochelle's shirt.[22] Doug Lombardi, vice-president of marketing for Valve, noted that the SDK released for Left 4 Dead will also be compatible for Left 4 Dead 2.[23] Players that pre-order Left 4 Dead 2 through Steam or other participating retailers will gain early access to the game's demo on October 27, 2009 and an exclusive baseball bat melee weapon to be used in game.[24] The demo will be made available for all PC and Xbox Live Gold users on November 3rd, 2009 with Xbox Live Silver users gaining access on November 11th, 2009.[25] On October 5, 2009, Valve announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be promoted by a $25 million advertising campaign, exceeding the $10 million that supported Left 4 Dead. The campaign will include television advertisements during sporting events, on billboards and magazines; and more aggressive advertising for Europe.[26] [edit]Reception

[edit]Pre-release reactions [edit]Pre-release sales Pre-release sales estimates for Left 4 Dead 2 have been positive. As of July 2009, Left 4 Dead 2 ranked fifth in purchase intent out of all upcoming games, with 6 out of 10 polled stating that they would buy the game.[27] According to Lombardi, pre-orders for the sequel within the month following the announcement are double what Left 4 Dead were at the same relative time before their respective releases.[28] In a press release on October 5th, 2009 Valve announced that based on the strength pre-orders they expect Left 4 Dead 2 to be the fastest selling product in the company's history, with the game's pre-release sales averaging 300% greater than Left 4 Dead.[29] [edit]Boycott The weekend following the game's announcement at the 2009 E3 Convention, some Left 4 Dead players called for a boycott of Left 4 Dead 2 in the form of a Steam community group called "L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2)", growing to over 10,000 members by the end of the weekend following the game's announcement,[30] and reaching more than 37,000 about a month later.[9][31] The group noted that in addition to the potential lack of further Left 4 Dead content, they were concerned with several of the aspects such as characters, visuals, and music, shown in the E3 demonstration video, feeling these were inappropriate to the first game's aesthetics, and that the release of the sequel so soon after the first game will fracture the community.[30][32] It also questioned the timing of the sequel so soon after the first game[30] and noted the lack of additional downloadable content for Left 4 Dead based on comments from Gabe Newell made during October 2008.[33] In response to these complaints, Valve marketer Doug Lombardi stated that the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at E3 should not be taken to indicate that Valve would no longer support the first game.[9][34] He also noted that what was shown at E3 was only a fraction of the new content and atmosphere for the game.[9] He asked the community to "trust us a little bit", and noted that their team was eager to get new material out to a large body of players of Left 4 Dead and determined that the sequel would be the best option.[23] Lombardi also stated that the most common desire from players was the need for more campaigns, and felt that the addition of these along with new enemies and weapons made the content much more than downloadable content as was the case of Left 4 Dead's "Survival Pack".[23] Both Faliszek and project lead Tom Leonard stated that the team, in putting down ideas to add to the original game, found that too much of the content relied on each other, making incremental patches in the same style as Team Fortress 2 very difficult to do.[20][21] Leonard stated that he suggested rolling up the content into a sequel to be released a year after Left 4 Dead's release, an idea that the rest of the team eventually warmed up to.[20] Faliszek stated that Newell was skeptical of the idea when the team brought the sequel forward, but still allowed the project to go through.[21] Some of the player community has also supported Valve, forming a "L4D Enthusiasts" group in response to the boycott group.[35][36] In September 2009, Valve flew out two of the boycott group leaders to playtest Left 4 Dead 2, to which they responded that they felt that the sequel was well done. This opinion was not shared by some of the members of their Steam boycott group.[37] This event, through a series of correspondences made in jest, shortly led to Valve's Gabe Newell and designer Erik Johnson flying to Australia to visit "Joe W-A", a Left 4 Dead modder. Newell jokingly reported that Valve was "boycotting" Joe's new mod for the game when Joe asked when he would be flown to Valve in the same manner as the Left 4 Dead 2 boycotters, but whimsically offered that if Joe was to pay to fly him to the country, he would take a look at it. Joe was able to raise the required funds, $3000, through donations through his website, though ultimately Newell paid for the trip himself, with Joe's collected donations going to the Child's Play charity.[38][39] On October 14, 2009, the boycott groups' leaders announced that they had ended their boycott and were shutting down the 40,000-plus group. The leaders were satisfied that Valve was retaining their promise of additional content and fixes for Left 4 Dead, as evidenced by the then-recent release of the "Crash Course" campaign, believing their boycott helped to assure this commitment. The leaders also believed that the group itself was losing its purpose, being populated by those that were simply trolling to bad-mouth Valve and other players.[40] [edit]Cover art

The UK version of the box art shows the fingers pointing away to avoid offence. Valve was forced to alter their original cover art for the game by the ESRB; the original image showed the pinky and ring finger of the iconic hand (belonging to Valve artist Andrea Wicklund)[41] torn off in addition to the torn-off thumb, but to appease the ESRB, Valve changed the image so that the fingers were merely bent back instead.[6] The cover was further changed for release in the United Kingdom, as the two-finger sign towards the viewer is considered an insult; the UK cover features the hand facing the opposite direction to avoid this.[42] [edit]Racism accusations Willie Jefferson of the Houston Chronicle, after seeing initial promotional material for the game, considered that several of the infected "appear to be African-Americans" implying a racist approach to the game, and also noted that "setting the game in a city that was scene of dead, bloated bodies floating by" some years after the impact of Hurricane Katrina was "a bad call".[43] Faliszek, commenting on Jefferson's claims, considered the supposition to be "utter insanity", and commented that the infected are a mix of all races, and that the game's version of New Orleans is "not a brick-for-brick representation" of the city and were not trying to make any statement about it with the game.[44][45] Kotaku considered that "Jefferson's seemed to me to be picking a fight where none exists."[46] Others noted that the appearance of African-American infected simply reflected the racial diversity of New Orleans.[47] [edit]Australian ban See also: Classification of video games by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification Left 4 Dead 2 was refused classification in Australia by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). It failed to gain a MA15+ rating, the highest possible rating for video games, thus preventing the sale of the game within the country.[48] In its report, the OFLC cited the reason for refusing classification as "The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play."[49] However, a small number of members of the OFLC board believed the game could merit the MA15+ rating which was used to publish the first Left 4 Dead. It is expected that changes could be made to the game, as had to be done with Fallout 3, to allow the game to be classified as MA15+ and thus sold in Australia.[50] Both Lombardi and Newell were "surprised" by the classification refusal.[51][52] Valve appealed the OFLC's decision about a week after being notified of the ruling, comparing the sequel to its predecessor, which had been classified as MA15+, and the mature ratings the sequel had received from similar rating organizations around the world.[53] However, as the appeal process, expected to end on October 22, was close to the planned release date, Valve had also submitted a modified version of the game for classification addressing the concerns the OFLC has stated.[52] This version, which no longer contained images of "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies", has been classified as MA15+ by the OFLC, thus allowing for the game's release in Australia, though Valve and Electronic Arts still hope to have their preferred, unmodified version classified by the OFLC for release.[54] Left 4 Dead 2's classification refusal has reignited debate over the OFLC's current lack of a video game classification for adult material, as similar classifications exist for films and other media.[55] [edit]See also

List of undead-themed video games [edit]References

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