More Left 4 Dead 2 details have emerged from the Electronic Entertainment Expo today, including information about the new survivors and changes made to the infected.
The events in Left 4 Dead 2 are said to take place at the same time as those seen in the original game. However, instead of taking place in an anonymous northern American city, Left 4 Dead 2 will take place in the Southern United States. With the new location comes a new group of survivors: Nick, Ellis, Rochelle, and The Coach. Each survivor will have their own back story which will be revealed through character conversations.
The game will unfold over five all-new campaigns, with a new emphasis placed on making each campaign connect more coherently to the next. All five campaigns will be available for single player, co-operative, versus, and survival modes right from the start, so there will be no waiting for a patch in order to play your favourite campaign in versus mode this time around.
Just as Bill says in the opening cinematic of the original Left 4 Dead, the zombies are changing. Left 4 Dead 2 will feature an all new type of infected – known as the Charger – that is said to be a cross between a Tank and a common infected. Sporting one massive arm, the Charger will run toward the survivors and attempt to knock them down, capable of sending all four to the pavement at once. It won’t incapacitate you, but if it manages to isolate a lone survivor, it’ll do its best to pummel them mercilessly.
Thankfully, the survivors will have more weapons at their disposal. With a new type of shotgun, a silenced sub-machine gun, and the all-new sniping rifle, the survivors will be better equipped to deal with the horrors that await them. And if they run out of ammo, Valve has provided a variety of melee weapons that can be used as a last resort. Revealed melee weapons include a baseball bat, a frying pan, an axe, and a chainsaw.
The Director AI, the driving force behind Left 4 Dead’s dynamic gameplay, has seen an upgrade. Director 2.0 will possess the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the zombie population. Some sections of each campaign will feature entirely random routes, designed on a whim by the malicious Director.
Set for release on November 17th, Left 4 Dead 2 reinvents the gameplay that reinvented cooperative gameplay. With more boss zombies, more weapons, more campaigns, and an improved Director AI, the wait is sure to be a long one.
And Francis hates waiting.
Richard Mitchell is a video game addict living in Toronto. He has been gaming for more than two decades, and despite multiple interventions, continues to game today. He has an Xbox 360, a PS3, a Wii, a Nintendo DS, a gaming PC, and a life, and does his best to juggle them all. 