The Surprise

So the other night Michael (my gaming partner) told me he had a surprise for me. I was preparing for something small, like another Domo gift (i <3 Domo!). But no...this surprise was one of the best in a long time!
He got the code from his friend Doug for the Left 4 Dead 2 early demo!!! I was freaking out that i got to see some of the new game early and that i didn't have to wait 3 more weeks til it came out! So today I am going to share with you what i liked and disliked about some of the new campaign that I got to play... To start off let me say that the demo only includes about 20 minutes (depending on how fast you play) of one of the five new maps. Besides new maps there new weapons and 4 different characters, no more Francis :( Although I instantly liked the old characters the first time I played L4D, I think that these new ones will grow on me; Coach, Ellis, Nick and Rochelle. I played at Ellis (the southern frat boy) and he was funny with his wise ass jokes. The others ones were ok, Michael played as Coach who wasn't as funny but could grow on me.

The map that i played, The Parish, took place in New Orleans that has been taken over by the infected. I did not find the layout to be that confusing, but it did seem to go in a circle and many different entries that the player could take. The thing that I did not like about the map is that it took place during the day. Therefore, the flashlight is kind of pointless for witches. Then again it’s something new and different, so who knows maybe by the end of the map it will be dark (and there are 4 other maps that I have not seen).

A few other things that I did not care for were the new weapons and the new specials. The new weapons that you can pick up are melee weapons, i.e. frying pan, guitar, and police baton. However, the reason I do not care for them is because once you pick one up you automatically drop your pistol! And since the pistol has unlimited ammo why would you trade something that can only hit up close instead of something that you can shoot and protect yourself from things far away?!

There is also a new health item that has been added along with the pills and health packs. It’s an adrenaline shot that you are suppose to take when you are slowing down or low on health. This doesn't seem necessary, and seems repetative since the pills do the same thing.

There were three new specials, two of which I encountered; the Spitter and the Jockey (the Charger I did not see). Both, in my opinion, seem stupid. All the Spitter (see picture to the right) does is throw up this green goo that can hurt you if you don't kill her fast enough or if you stand in where she spit it up (too close to the Boomer). And the Jockey is just annoying, but better than the Spitter. The Jockey will run up and jump on your back to disorient you while your teammates have to shoot him off; also too similar to the Hunter.

The original specials are back which is good, but Michael and I both agreed that even though we were playing on advanced it seemed way too easy! We barely got hurt and the Tank was taken down as fast as if we were playing it on easy.

There are a lot of new features added as well, including 50 new achievements. There is a new mode called Scavenge, where one team play as the infected and the other team has to run around a map and find tanks of gas to fill up the generator before the timer runs out. It seems like a mix between Survival and Versus Mode (which are also both back).

It may seem like I have listed a lot more negatives than positives, and to be honest I was a little disappointed. However, the more I think about what I played and also didn't play, the more excited I still get. I think it will still be a great game, and we all need to remember that there are going to be things different but that doesn't mean that is a bad thing.

Left 4 Dead 2 hits stores November 17th (or check your local GameStop for midnight release Nov. 16th).

Hope you're prepared!