Left 4 Dead 2 was the first game I ever played on a non-Nintendo console (on Xbox 360 back in Christmas 2009), and is my favorite team-based multiplayer game of all time. I'm not really into team-based games or multiplayer games in general, but this game has always managed to keep my interest over the years and something I hold close to me even now ever since I saw my older cousin play the first game at his house when it was brand new. Now it's about time I get to the nitty-gritty of the game itself.

Left 4 Dead is a series that prioritizes gameplay over its plot, but that doesn't mean it's nonexistant. The United States is ravaged by a new pathogen simply known as "The Green Flu", causing people to become aggressive zombie-like creatures; there is no cure and it mutates constantly, causing the entire country to fall into chaos in a matter of days. You follow 4 new survivors after 3 weeks of the infection, trying to navigate through various areas in the south to find safety from the infected.

As mentioned above, you play as 4 different survivors throughout the campaigns of the game, each with their own distinct characterization. Ellis is an enthusiastic mechanic with a kind personality who loves telling others about his misadventures (particularly involving his friend Keith). Coach, as his name implies, a coach before the apocalypse, and also has a deep obsession with food. Nick is a gambler and conman who roams the country, often clashing with the more optimistic viewpoints of the rest of the group with his pragmatic and snarky personality. Rochelle is a young woman who works for a news company, seeing the infection as her big break and traveling to Georgia to report on it. Each of the survivors interact with each other constantly and have great chemistry throughout the game's campaigns, all of them bonding as they travel through the south to find safety; they are an integral part of what gives the series a lot of its charm.

Left 4 Dead's gameplay is certainly unique, heavily relying on your teammates and coordination between them in order to succeed. The game is very fast-paced, requiring quick-thinking and strong hand-eye coordination to play well. A new feature of this sequel is the introduction of melee weapons, allowing more effective close-range combat and method to clearing crowds of zombies. Other equipment is also introduced such as weapon mods, a defibrillator for reviving dead teammates, and other new items you can find along the way. Along with commons, special infected are also present and are much more powerful with the addition of three more in this entry, each having their own abilities and one can easily incapacitate or kill you if you're alone or not careful, bolstering the reliance on teamwork during gameplay.

The mechanics of the survivors are simple; you have 100 base health to start and infected can deplete it. If you reach 0 health, you will become incapacitated and a teammate will have to revive you. When revived, you will have 30 health that will slowly deplete back to 1. If you're incapacitated again, your screen will become black and white, signaling that if you become incapacitated again, you will die. If you die, a teammate can possibly save you from an enclosed room or use a defibrillator. A survivor cannot escape a special's grasp and must be saved by a teammate through either killing or shoving it off the survivor. If there aren't enough players to fill an entire team, a bot will take the place (they are awful, rely on them as little as possible). The game is constantly observed through an AI known as the Director, dictating where to place items, when to spawn infected, and even change certain routes in the level, providing a unique experience every match and boosting replay value.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a game that has integration with the Steam Workshop, allowing virtually infinite content than just the vanilla game. Items on the workshop obviously vary in quality, but is vast enough to be able to have something for just about everyone who wants to modify the game. These mods range from model edits, weapon skins, custom campaigns, and brand new gamemodes.

The game has many various modes that provides extreme replay value and caters to numerous groups of players. Since you can just check what these are yourself, I won't be explaining what they are, rather I'm going to give my thoughts on them for someone who's just joining this party. Campaign is the standard mode and is what most people play, I'd stay in this lane if I were you. Realism is for campaign players who want some more challenge to gameplay since normal campaign can be a bit dull at times. Survival is full of speedrun community-tier autists who just do the same route throughout Dead Center Atrium over and over for hours on end in a single match, fun with friends if you wanna try and go for gold. Versus is a cesspit of sweaty tryhards and the obnoxious Spanish players that infest this community; as someone who primarily plays Versus I discourage playing this one at all, or at the very least until you have a few hundred hours worth of learning the game and its mechanics (please for the love of God look at guides). Scavenge is dead as a doornail and mainly amounts to a small niche community of players that have memorized all the conceivable death charge spots on No Mercy Rooftop. Realism Versus is for Versus autists that feel that the survivors are too overpowered and want a more even playing field, probably the same lot that like Confogl and other similar balancing mods. Versus Survival just kind of exists but it's fun in small doses, do people even play this? Mutations will give you a good time with how much are in the base game, but you'll get even more bang for your buck based on the plethora of community-made ones on the workshop.

Left 4 Dead 2, in my opinion, is an epitome of multiplayer FPS games that heavily rely on teamwork. With the vanilla game's gamemodes, the addition of the Workshop's endless content, the setting built around the game, and its goofy and lovable characters, the game has something for everyone. If you love slaughtering zombies and/or playing high stakes FPS games, then this game is for you, it is a real treat to play when you learn how it works and I very much recommend it.

Left 4 Dead 2 was the first game I ever played on a non-Nintendo console (on Xbox 360 back in Christmas 2009), and is my favorite team-based multiplayer game of all time. I'm not really into team-based games or multiplayer games in general, but this game has always managed to keep my interest over the years and something I hold close to me even now ever since I saw my older cousin play the first game at his house when it was brand new. Now it's about time I get to the nitty-gritty of the game itself. [h1]The Story[/h1] Left 4 Dead is a series that prioritizes gameplay over its plot, but that doesn't mean it's nonexistant. The United States is ravaged by a new pathogen simply known as "The Green Flu", causing people to become aggressive zombie-like creatures; there is no cure and it mutates constantly, causing the entire country to fall into chaos in a matter of days. You follow 4 new survivors after 3 weeks of the infection, trying to navigate through various areas in the south to find safety from the infected. [h1]The Characters[/h1] As mentioned above, you play as 4 different survivors throughout the campaigns of the game, each with their own distinct characterization. [b]Ellis[/b] is an enthusiastic mechanic with a kind personality who loves telling others about his misadventures (particularly involving his friend Keith). [b]Coach[/b], as his name implies, a coach before the apocalypse, and also has a deep obsession with food. [b]Nick[/b] is a gambler and conman who roams the country, often clashing with the more optimistic viewpoints of the rest of the group with his pragmatic and snarky personality. [b]Rochelle[/b] is a young woman who works for a news company, seeing the infection as her big break and traveling to Georgia to report on it. Each of the survivors interact with each other constantly and have great chemistry throughout the game's campaigns, all of them bonding as they travel through the south to find safety; they are an integral part of what gives the series a lot of its charm. [h1]The Gameplay[/h1] Left 4 Dead's gameplay is certainly unique, heavily relying on your teammates and coordination between them in order to succeed. The game is very fast-paced, requiring quick-thinking and strong hand-eye coordination to play well. A new feature of this sequel is the introduction of melee weapons, allowing more effective close-range combat and method to clearing crowds of zombies. Other equipment is also introduced such as weapon mods, a defibrillator for reviving dead teammates, and other new items you can find along the way. Along with commons, special infected are also present and are much more powerful with the addition of three more in this entry, each having their own abilities and one can easily incapacitate or kill you if you're alone or not careful, bolstering the reliance on teamwork during gameplay. [h1]The Mechanics[/h1] The mechanics of the survivors are simple; you have 100 base health to start and infected can deplete it. If you reach 0 health, you will become incapacitated and a teammate will have to revive you. When revived, you will have 30 health that will slowly deplete back to 1. If you're incapacitated again, your screen will become black and white, signaling that if you become incapacitated again, you will die. If you die, a teammate can possibly save you from an enclosed room or use a defibrillator. A survivor cannot escape a special's grasp and must be saved by a teammate through either killing or shoving it off the survivor. If there aren't enough players to fill an entire team, a bot will take the place (they are awful, rely on them as little as possible). The game is constantly observed through an AI known as the Director, dictating where to place items, when to spawn infected, and even change certain routes in the level, providing a unique experience every match and boosting replay value. [h1]The Workshop[/h1] Left 4 Dead 2 is a game that has integration with the Steam Workshop, allowing virtually infinite content than just the vanilla game. Items on the workshop obviously vary in quality, but is vast enough to be able to have something for just about everyone who wants to modify the game. These mods range from model edits, weapon skins, custom campaigns, and brand new gamemodes. [h1]The Modes[/h1] The game has many various modes that provides extreme replay value and caters to numerous groups of players. Since you can just check what these are yourself, I won't be explaining what they are, rather I'm going to give my thoughts on them for someone who's just joining this party. [b]Campaign[/b] is the standard mode and is what most people play, I'd stay in this lane if I were you. [b]Realism[/b] is for campaign players who want some more challenge to gameplay since normal campaign can be a bit dull at times. [b]Survival[/b] is full of speedrun community-tier autists who just do the same route throughout Dead Center Atrium over and over for hours on end in a single match, fun with friends if you wanna try and go for gold. [b]Versus[/b] is a cesspit of sweaty tryhards and the obnoxious Spanish players that infest this community; as someone who primarily plays Versus I discourage playing this one at all, or at the very least until you have a few hundred hours worth of learning the game and its mechanics (please for the love of God look at guides). [b]Scavenge[/b] is dead as a doornail and mainly amounts to a small niche community of players that have memorized all the conceivable death charge spots on No Mercy Rooftop. [b]Realism Versus[/b] is for Versus autists that feel that the survivors are too overpowered and want a more even playing field, probably the same lot that like Confogl and other similar balancing mods. [b]Versus Survival[/b] just kind of exists but it's fun in small doses, do people even play this? [b]Mutations[/b] will give you a good time with how much are in the base game, but you'll get even more bang for your buck based on the plethora of community-made ones on the workshop. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Left 4 Dead 2, in my opinion, is an epitome of multiplayer FPS games that heavily rely on teamwork. With the vanilla game's gamemodes, the addition of the Workshop's endless content, the setting built around the game, and its goofy and lovable characters, the game has something for everyone. If you love slaughtering zombies and/or playing high stakes FPS games, then this game is for you, it is a real treat to play when you learn how it works and I very much recommend it.