480 hours after infection. Triple afterword: sliph, agrippa, unleashed
Player Card
Thoughts on the first part: I don't know, I haven't played it. I've heard a lot about it, but never had the chance. I shrug my shoulders, look down, and shyly shuffle my feet.
What I wanted from the second: the same insane enjoyment that everyone got from the first. Players praised the first part, but I walked past it. That's why I had so much hope for the second, even though I didn't fully understand what **Left 4 Dead** was.
Favorite game of the last year: it's hard to single out just one. Resident Evil 5 particularly stood out to me; I just fell in love with it. The recent **Modern Warfare 2** is enjoyable. But perhaps my greatest admiration goes to **ArmA 2**.
Main project in life: this is an even more complex question. I still believe it’s **“Gothic” 2**, as I haven't experienced stronger emotions from any other game. But it was my first RPG... Now I remember the port district, how I bought the map, how I caught a thief behind a tree. Tears are almost in my eyes. Apparently, yes – **“Gothic” 2**.
What I played before L4D2: **Modern Warfare 2** completely captured my mind and hasn’t let go since. The multiplayer mode is beyond praise, so I couldn't even imagine how I would transition to L4D2, where you don't need to drop to your stomach, aim, and shoot accurately in the head.
Thoughts on the first part: I played it, I know, and I absolutely don’t understand why everyone loves it. No plot. No classes. Very little weapons. All situations are monotonous. I went through it once, and that’s it – I tossed it out and forgot about it. Boring.
What I wanted from the second: innovations and interesting features that were lacking in the first (like classes). I also wanted to understand what everyone liked so much about **Left 4 Dead** – maybe I could find out here?
Favorite game of the last year: it was a great year – with lots of interesting games, but it’s honestly hard to single out something that stands out vividly. Perhaps **Borderlands** and Heroes of Newerth.
Main project in life: **Fallout 2**. (Just like that, with a period, without a shadow of a doubt, without a moment's hesitation).
What I played before L4D2: Borderlands, **Space Rangers 2**, **Modern Warfare 2**… and that’s it. Don’t play MW2 – it’s a waste of life, I only managed to stop at level 63!
Thoughts on the first part: I played for almost six months, followed all the updates, studied everything that needed to be studied and everything that didn’t, discussed everything with everyone. In short, I loved it.
What I wanted from the second: nothing. I didn’t want to receive the second part in such a short time. Like many others, I was disheartened by its announcement.
Favorite game of the last year: a very weak year, especially because a huge number of games were postponed to spring 2010. However, the presence of pleasant “surprises” amazed me, especially **Borderlands**. Among the anticipated projects, only **Dragon Age: Origins** impressed me.
Main project in life: **Half-Life**.
What I played before L4D2: **Mass Effect** (for the umpteenth time), **Dragon Age: Origins**, **Modern Warfare 2**, Borderlands.
[H1]N days until infection[/H1]
I missed the first part, and didn’t think much about the second. Until at some moment something lit up in the brain where it usually ignites. Suddenly I joined the ranks of ardent fans. I began to wait impatiently for the game, flipping off anyone who said that L4D2 wouldn’t be true and that the boycott should be supported. I argued and explained that before us was Valve, which makes nothing but masterpieces. A kind of Blizzard, but in another genre. And we all believe in the developers.
I don't know what got into me, but I was very active and aggressive. I even downloaded the demo, which had to be hacked and then danced around. But in the end, laziness won, I decided to hell with the shamanism and went to **“Igromir”**. When I returned, I somehow got burned out. I wanted to feel the project, but at a leisurely pace. I waited for us to gather a team to go fight zombies together. And shortly after the release, that day of infection arrived. We started playing.
I bought the first part in a fit of excitement. I remember how I ran to the store, all excited with being next to the disc for 750 rubles (just greedy). But I was aiming for it, especially since several friends shared comments cheerfully. I thought it would be very interesting to pass the game in fours. After all, we were running from death, feeling how the old lady with the scythe gently tickled various intimate places… I even bought myself a new microphone, just for that purpose.
After a couple of days, I realized that **Left 4 Dead** wasn’t for me. First, I hate that devilish contraption Steam more than life itself. I was always waiting for updates, synchronizations, and the like (some will say that such problems don't exist – I know, I just had bad luck with it). Secondly, I found the game boring – the same zombies, the same levels, a very, very limited selection of weapons… We went through the scenarios, already without any fear and thrills. That’s why I wasn't waiting at all for the second part, it was announced even before the first had time to fade. The same engine... In general, I immediately understood what this smells like and even at the stage of rumors, I had huge doubts...
I missed the release day of the first part because I always preferred single-player games over multiplayer (yes, I’m that old-fashioned). The only exception was perhaps my beloved **Unreal Tournament** (rest in peace, my poor friend), in which I probably had more frags than there are people in this world.
However, you understand that **L4D** was such an infection that you cannot hide from it. I was no exception, and, kicked by friends, I went for the disc at the end of December.
From the very first minutes, I fell in love with this game: I had never experienced such emotions from, at first glance, the most banal shooter, albeit multiplayer. The absence of a plot, a random psychotic director constantly changing scripts, a continuous stream of curses in the air directed at only three people – all this filled me with puppy enthusiasm every time. Day after day, I wanted to return to that crazy, chaotic, uncomfortable world and shoot at everything that moved, scream into the microphone at some unfortunate laggard and just, but with wild enthusiasm, vomit, jump, strangle, and hurl.
Time passed, and somewhere at the end of May, I finally realized that I was bored with the game. Especially after the DLC, which seemed more like a large patch than actual DLC (adding a “quick” game mode for short sessions and polishing two maps, is that a big deal?). And I, absolutely unashamedly, joined the flood of players migrating to **Team Fortress 2**.
The statistics, by the way, were disheartening :( Those paying attention will understand what I mean.
I didn’t fully immerse myself in the atmosphere of chaos and update madness when I was almost immediately shocked by the announcement of the second part. “Why? How? To what end? Something is off here,” – these questions were pondered by every survivor, and I was no exception. Although later I pulled myself together and began to speak out against all these boycotts. My trump thought was that **Fallout 2**, after all, isn’t that different from the first, but no one mentions that. And then, in the very first week, I made a pre-order. I was waiting eagerly, especially against the backdrop of the stupid and inadequate **MW2**.
Kirill and Yaroslav do not approve of the complaints toward [**MW2**](http://www.gamer.ru/games/636-modern-warfare-2)!
[H1]The First Night After the Infection – Cautious Steps of Survivors.[/H1]
We waited for it to get dark, for everyone to finish work, and after actively posting something on forums and reading something in feeds, we started the game. It was midnight. Or even one o'clock – late, in general. We wanted to be scared… (and we wanted to sleep too, so much was at stake).
The first launch – everything felt so familiar. Valve loves its engine, and so even the crowbar here is the same as that of Freeman… how many years ago? No, not from the very first Freeman, of course, but even from the time of the second part of **Half-Life** we’ve managed to tear off a decent amount of paper from the calendar.
But I can’t complain about the graphics. I like it. I have a strange love for Source. This engine always seems technological and beautiful to me. Here Valve did well. But I got distracted; just sharing my first impressions. We started somewhere on the rooftop when a helicopter flew away from us.
The first reaction – where’s the intro, where’s the plot? Why did they show me some cliché and incomprehensible video at the entrance to the game, which I saw a month ago? And what the hell is it made of disconnected segments (where the heroes are already familiar and friendly), why does it go after Valve's standard intro, where is the normal introduction? Isn’t it strange that there’s none? Not a single word before the actual campaign about who and how ended up here, who these people are, why I’m a black guy while Slyph is a lady, can I hit on her, or is she dating the Italian played by Unleashed?
About twenty minutes later, the characters met. We killed about a hundred zombies, entered the elevator, and the characters decided they could now talk. “Hello, my name is Rochelle,” “And I am not Rochelle.” Very cute, but I don’t get where the plot is?!
Later, Slyph and Unleashed explained that it was the same way in the first part. No plot, you just run around and kill. So, normally, according to me, I needed to move toward the direction of the male reproductive organ. In general, I didn’t quite understand how fun it is to shoot zombies, but clearly, there are some problems with how the story is presented here. Wherever my partners send me...
The helicopter flew away. That’s it. Now we’ll be dying.
All of this feels painfully familiar... We appear on the rooftop – there are four of us. Why did the helicopter fly away – we don’t know (what a stupid thing, right?), and who these people are – we don’t know that either. I look around – what the hell is this? Just a second ago, we all stepped out of **Modern Warfare 2**, which was more technological, prettier, brighter. I began to loudly complain – how could they do the same thing on the same engine a second time?! We even had a disagreement with Kirill on this topic. There are no innovations at all. I don’t know what the shaders and other incomprehensible words are on paper, but the game itself looks not dreary, but poor. It’s hard to say what exactly it is reflected in. In too square boxes, too similar textures, too monotonous walls… In general, it feels terribly wrong that I’ve been ass… deceived with special cynicism. The team didn’t agree with my moods and slogans, but I still didn’t shut up.
We descended to a lower floor – we’re in a hotel filled with zombies, there’s a fire below, and we need to escape. In my hand is a pistol – it still pops off as stupidly as in the first part (only now there’s also a superpistol that does pop-pop!). Before us is a long corridor, and on the sides are identical doors – okay, understandable, it’s a hotel – everything here is the same. While the team shoots zombies, I walk into rooms. They all seem like twins. One empty, another empty, no medkits, not a single grenade, nothing. Slyph, chuckling, says that this is **Left 4 Dead** – next time something will be there (a medkit, a grenade), but that doesn’t reassure me – the surroundings add poverty to the overall picture – there are no details, no, if you will, authenticity. Well, and there’s no purpose, we don’t need these rooms. Just a dumb arena. Again the same linear and boring layout. Even running through fiery corridors on some floor didn’t impress – I played **Max Payne**, and it was really cooler.
This is probably the most colorful shot of the campaign.
My nerves are frayed, I’m running home. I missed the train, cursing myself for my negligence, because I spent 50 bucks, by the way people are waiting, and I have failures with plans again. But nothing, overcoming all difficulties, I finally get home, download the latest updates, and head there. To where I once spent half a year of my gamer life. Upon starting the game, my heart stops — yes, I was able to grasp that very sense of nostalgia you experience when playing old, beloved games, and this indescribable feeling of old school charged me with positivity: I see that beloved intro from Valve again, I again see that delightful intro of L4D2... Demo? Wait, wait, wait! I’m seeing that very intro again that was leaked a long time ago!? “No, this is actually just the first part of the intro, now they’ll show you the new one,” – I managed to calm myself and suddenly found myself in the main menu. I dismissed the gloomy thoughts* and quickly joined Kirill's game so my attention wouldn’t get fixated on such trifles.
Kirill joyfully creates a server in realism mode, a kind of new (very original!) mega feature of the game. Poor guy, he doesn’t even suspect what’s coming. Yes, indeed, what could be more interesting than when all hints of casualization are turned off and you need to explain with centimeter precision where you are just to get back on your feet. But not to play like that the first time? “Alright, it’s all the tricks of **MW2** and its excessive love for **ArmA**” – I thought and prepared for the worst.
Again, without unnecessary words, we’re thrown into the thick of events – no intros, instructions, or anything else. All in the good old traditions of the original. Oh no, there it is, that very promised and anticipated plot**: on the first map we aren’t given any firearms! Indeed, this is the very beginning, where would we get weapons? Logical. And it explains: why am I wearing a T-shirt with “Depeche Mode,” why the sports coach isn’t athletic at all, why the Italian wears Prada, and why the mechanic has a female name. “Come on, I just have to figure it out by myself and carefully listen to the dialogues, it’s ‘The Vents’!” – thought I lovingly.
Ignoring Unleashed's wild complaints about… hmm… everything, we move through the map and constantly encounter exquisite gameplay solutions: sometimes we have to walk along narrow ledges, sometimes through a barricaded corridor, and at the end, it generally involves an incredibly difficult dash through flaming chaos. And this is only the first map, yet I’m already filled with emotions! What’s interesting is what kinds, but definitely not positive ones: the overall “roughness” of gameplay in the second part compared to the first*** confused me already right from the beginning. They constantly presented us with some, excuse me, either “chewing gum” or “treats.” It felt like the developers pulled all the ideas that were refused in the first part out of their mothballed chests for the sake of smoother gameplay. Well, yes, we were promised more dynamism, to hell with meditation, right?
That’s it, I’m at a loss, I’ll go do something I hate but that is more useful – sleep.
Fresh.
[H1]Second Night After the Infection – Survivors Understand What's What.[/H1]
We gathered again at night. The last game left me with strange feelings. I swear, I still don’t get why people love **Left 4 Dead**. Crowds of zombies rush from all sides, and we just shoot. Plus, you can't aim and slash with a knife on “E,” like in **Modern Warfare 2**. I am ready to ignore the plot; on the second day I want to understand what is actually cool here. Yesterday, let’s just say, I didn’t see it.
Another campaign, but there are no strong differences from the previous one. We perform all the same actions. One exception: the level is darker, and now there are no thousands of rooms like in that hotel I hated so much, where I kept getting lost and burning. We run around an amusement park. We shoot, save each other, loudly curse when someone gets vomited on by a fat zombie. But I don’t see the fun in all this. Although the difficulty and realism (there are no colored markers and helpers), playing isn’t hard. Yes, we die three times and start over, but because of silly mistakes or because of a bot that long since resigned to the fact that we are all going to die. In general, it’s not hard here; it’s tedious. Something like that.
By the end of the second night, and after passing the third or already fourth campaign, I increasingly ask Slyph the question – what’s the point, where’s the enjoyment? You tell me throughout the game that it’s the same as the first part, but why is everyone so enamored with it and I just want to sleep, getting angry when we replay these boring levels... I’m not thrilled. I don’t want to come back here...
This part of the body definitely describes the entire level.
The second night feels like work to me. Moreover, it’s work I despise and find disgusting. Slyph is late; I secretly hope he won't come and I can peacefully stab noobs in **Modern Warfare 2**, and meet dawn in the company of some anime. There’s no such outrage this time – I’ve come to terms with it. I’ve somehow accepted this ugly and boring world that, it seems, should push with atmosphere, but instead, it presses with gloom and artificiality. I want to finish this as quickly as possible and go do my own thing. Any of them. Just not to pass it again.
This time we have a level with an amusement park. To be precise, we start on the freeway, still needing to get to the park. It’s boring to even describe this short, yet so poor and simple level. I’ll try to be succinct: cars, cars, labyrinth of cars, ladder, cars, cars, road, cars, cars, swamp, a car in the swamp, end. In general, this is even worse than the hotel, honestly. After some time, we finally made it to our goal – we were rushed by zombie clowns (oh how unexpected). We’ve seen all the new bosses already – nothing special. New weapons? That’s serious, guys. What else? A whole grenade made of vomit and defibrillators! How cool is that? Screw it; the engine of the game is the same, as there’s nothing fundamentally different, just a few new campaigns, three bosses, four weapons, and laser sights on the same engine. I think I won’t let myself be called an idiot. Left 4 Dead 2 decidedly does not appeal to me. And yes, I still don’t understand what the joy is in going through the same levels hundreds of times, taking down the same zombies who just keep rushing in...
And they just keep coming...
And again evening, and again I am late, but this time there is exactly one difference. I don’t want to turn on the computer. Simply because my “Skype” awaits me there, and in “Skype” are my fellow unfortunate friends who also can’t figure out what the problem is – are we unique idiots, or is everyone else? No, my curiosity still torments me, and torturous thoughts overwhelm me along the lines of “Just relax, dude, you were just in a bad mood!” and at the same time, “Left 4 Dead 2. Two. Why two? Can someone explain to me? Why not Left 4 Dead: South or Left 4 Dead: Zenit?”****.
Curiosity wins over reason, and I launch my beloved “Steam” again, and then the game. This time we choose the amusement park. I don’t know why; maybe we’re hoping for diversity in level design – here it should be easier to mask the cursed stretched-outness!
But we were wrong. This time we encounter an even more senseless level than the “Hotel” (Unleashed has already said a bright word about it, I won’t repeat myself), and then a loooong corridor of several sequential locations. And at the end, there’s a huge, poorly conceived stadium. I don’t know how the guys from Valve managed this, but it feels terribly boring, even despite a succession of closed and open spaces. For me, this campaign consists of three levels: a helpless freeway, a monstrous corridor, and an unbalanced stadium*****.
By the way, this time I looked more closely at that very touted system of dealing with “sittings.” For those who don’t remember or don’t know: upon activating some key element, be it an alarm button or an elevator button, players summon a horde of zombies – an “horde” – upon themselves. The method of dealing with it was the following: we stock up on ammunition (medkits are not mandatory) and hide in a clever corner. Then just press the mouse button without even aiming. That’s it, the horde is repelled, and we continue on our way.
So yes, this system exists, and yes, it even works. Just not in the way we gamers want, but in the way they want. To put it simply, this isn’t an attempt to combat gamers' imbalances; rather it’s an attempt to slow down the already tedious locations*****, for which Valve didn’t have time to provide good development and balance. What does a year mean for game development? A pittance. Especially for Valve. Thank God they didn’t manage to implement this on a large scale in the game (or their conscience woke up?). Oh, I almost forgot about the ‘feature’ widely advertised with random scenes on the maps. You don’t feel them. At all. Because there are few. Here, there’s generally very little of everything. Except, perhaps, for the price.
This time I’ll go to sleep with a single hope: tomorrow will be “Versus.” It can’t be that everything is that bad at Valve. It can’t!
Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!
[H1]Third Night After the Infection – Survivors Finally Get Infected[/H1]
Everyone decided they would never play L4D2 again. The last chance for Valve's creation to redeem itself – to deliver a hundred tons of fun in battle mode. Slyph tries not to lose spirits and promises that we won’t be disappointed here.
For the first time, I find myself in the skin of an infected. We play as a team, trying to lure the opponent out, plotting mischief against him. Unleashed kind of sat down as a witch hunter and simply invited us to shoot him. The particularly impatient shot at her, angered the witch, and she tore them apart. It’s funny to come up with plans: how to give the enemy the biggest annoyance, how to help a comrade and how not to let the survivors heal and rescue their partner. There’s tactical depth; I’m satisfied.
Even playing as survivors became interesting. We run, huddle, curse at each other, and don’t particularly love winning (although we really want to get to the end) because we enjoy playing as the infected. For me, all this was new, and at first, I was simply in unrestrained enthusiasm. It was genuinely fun. I want more.
Closer to morning, however, it becomes clear that such gameplay isn’t for me. Once every two or three days, I’d play a bit, but to hang around here for hours and days... No, that doesn’t appeal to me. If Slyph or Unleashed are going to play, then I might join them. Sometimes I might drop by myself.
The tactical failure. The enemy ambushed us on a narrow parapet. Almost all of us died.
The only thing I liked in **Left 4 Dead** – running as an infected and eating people. That’s entertaining and fun, giving a lot of positive feelings. I’ve heard that in the second part they also remade the confrontation, added something, refined it. Well, maybe this would save it, I think? I sat down to play with a smile on my face – I proposed this mode back on the very first day.
We created a game, joined, started as lepers infected. I feel deja vu and understand that everything here is familiar. The new bosses are learned quickly, giving a tactical breadth – that’s promising. One drags away, another grabs, the third – vomits, it’s really cool. Besides, it’s nice to know you’re up against a living player. You eat them – it’s fun. It’s also more interesting to be the survivors, because you usually get eaten halfway, less often in the first quarter. That gives me personal pleasure – I didn’t like playing as a human in the first part.
Everything seems positive – we like it, but then I pose Slyph a trick question: “So what did they change in the confrontation, what’s the matter?” I get a fair answer: “They added bosses.” At this point, I lose my ability to speak. I think the others must really be happy about that.
NEW FEATURE. Jockey – you paid 15 (or 50) bucks for this.
So, the day has finally come when we can finally play for long, and in “Versus.” I’ve been given second winds; I’m bursting with enthusiasm and positivity.
We load the first campaign we find, gather a group of friends as opponents, and start the match. And here it is, the primordial excitement; it has returned to me! Once again, we build tactics as a team, tease the opponents, and again we curse at each other for our mistakes. But then Yaroslav casually asks me: “What did they change in confrontation, by the way?” to which I answer without hesitation: “They added bosses.”
And then I feel like I’ve been struck by lightning – what exactly did they add in the mode, apart from bosses? Nothing. The bosses can be counted as a fix for balance. Since the characters are full-fledged and sensible. The survivors received a tranquilizer in the form of a “revival option.” And, in fact, that’s it. If only Valve had introduced a fine tuning for matches and modes, I would have calmed down right away, but no.
This spitter is funny. Sometimes even quite a lot.
[H1]In the end, everyone died; there will be no happy ending[/H1]
What’s the outcome? I don’t know, it’s somehow unchanged. On one side, it’s amusing; there are new feelings, genuinely fun multiplayer that, however, doesn’t hold for very long. The campaign itself is simply hideously repulsive, absolutely impossible, and I send beams of hatred and contempt toward it. Left 4 Dead 2 didn’t hook me at all. It just passed by, involuntarily catching my attention for three consecutive nights. And I’m once again drawn to **Modern Warfare 2**. Someone please ask it to stop...
I’m even glad that L4D2 was given to me in exchange for one small gig. Otherwise, I would have regretted the money. It turned out to be exactly what I predicted. Left 4 Dead 2 is a copy of the first part with very, very minimal additions. Moreover, it does not evoke excitement, as the hype has already worn off. All the feelings L4D2 could have played on, I already experienced in L4D1. And this is just a vile repetition. Look soberly – don’t be an idiot. (But I did find out the quality of most Western media. Their excitement had already made me suspicious before, but especially now...)
It turned out that this article was written earlier, but it’s only being published now. Now, when most websites and publications have already given a score to Left 4 Dead 2. Who has it significantly below 8.5? Therefore, read us. And add us to your feed.