The Energon Pub

[Shadowman]

It's one of this months major releases, and there's no thread about it? It's almost like video games aren't the major focus on this site!

The game officially dropped Tuesday at 1AM EST, being officially the shortest delay in any Valve game. (1 hour, though that's kind of splitting hairs, since it was still released November 17th as planned, though it WAS released November 16th on the West coast) Having played it, I feel obliged to tell you how awesome it was.

It was very awesome.

But to get into detail, a lot of people argued that this should be free DLC, because Valve has been very generous with the Team Fortress 2 DLC. To be frank, this isn't DLC. Five new campaigns, four new characters, three new Special Infected (Four if you count the Wandering Witch), five new Uncommon Infected, 9 new weapons, nine melee weapons (Plus one exclusive to people who pre-ordered), several thousand new spoken lines, a new Director, two new gameplay modes, and many other new things.

There are plenty of changes to already existing features; the new Director is a bit more bi-polar than his brother, weapon and items spawns are more frequent, and Special Infected and Common Infected spawns are much more frequent. The Tank is much smarter; in the first game, it will focus on a Survivor until the survivor is dead. This allowed other players to lay fire on the Tank until it was dead first. Now, the Tank will focus on incapacitating a player, before moving on to incapacitate the next, because once all four survivors are incapacitated, it's game over.

Likewise, this game is gory, very damn gory. Weapons leave more realistic damage, revealing bones and internal organs. A zombie blown apart and tossed may leave entrails. For the players who can't take it, these effects can be turned off without the game judging your masculinity.

Two of the finales are also very different, rather than calling for help and holding out until it comes, you have to actually DO something; the first campaign's finale involves fueling up a stock car to drive out, while the final campaign's finale requires you fight your way across a zombie-covered bridge to a helicopter on the other end.

There's also new ammo types, explosive, which can mess up pretty much anything, as well as incendiary, which causes enemies to burn for a short amount of time. Laser sights can be added to increase accuracy, as well.

The melee weapons are going to be your bread-and-butter. A melee weapon WILL kill any enemy in range, making rushing a bit easier. Not to mention, taking a zombies head off with a katana is sooooo satisfying.

Is it worth it? If you thought the original Left 4 Dead was, then hell yeah it's worth it. If you didn't but still enjoyed the game, then, maybe. Think of it as the first game, just better.

[jameshope]

My 10-year-old brother and I play Z-rated games together. Excuses, if needed: 1) He is fun to play with; 2) He is my best friend; 3) I keep him off the internet.

We downloaded the L4D2 demo a week or so ago and looking for the full version of the game..

[Shadowman]

My 10-year-old brother and I play Z-rated games together. Excuses, if needed: 1) He is fun to play with; 2) He is my best friend; 3) I keep him off the internet.

1. This game most certainly is not for 10-year-olds.
2. "Z-rated" is not on any rating system.
3. To keep him off the internet would require you to keep him off this game.

We downloaded the L4D2 demo a week or so ago and looking for the full version of the game..

If you have a good enough computer, I suggest Steam, since that gets more support than the Xbox 360 version. If you don't have a good enough computer, the Xbox 360 version is an option, though $10 more.

[8 bit]

The demo for the Xbox isn't all that great. The level they made available really wasn't all that inspiring; I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. And shooting zombies in the daylight just isn't as creepy. I'm gonna rent it though before I finalize my opinion because I've read the reviews and it's supposed to be a stellar game.

[Shadowman]

The demo for the Xbox isn't all that great. The level they made available really wasn't all that inspiring; I didn't feel like I was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Technically true, actually. Philadelphia was ground zero, but New Orleans had only recently been hit, and the military's evac effort is still going on, albeit barely.

And shooting zombies in the daylight just isn't as creepy.

I didn't go too much into the daylight missions; Two campaigns take place during daytime, only one is entirely at night, but two another two take place during both. In fact, once of them takes place during a massive thunderstorm; if you thought fighting zombies at night was tough, wait until you have to shoot them while there's so much rain, wind, and thunder, you can barely see or hear more than a few feet away.

[8 bit]

Technically true, actually. Philadelphia was ground zero, but New Orleans had only recently been hit, and the military's evac effort is still going on, albeit barely.

Oh. Well that clears things up; also explains the zombies running around in armored radiation suits.

if you thought fighting zombies at night was tough, wait until you have to shoot them while there's so much rain, wind, and thunder, you can barely see or hear more than a few feet away.

Sounds cool. I'll definitely give this one a try. I'm still debating whether or not to buy the original LFD. I like the single player campaigns, but I'm not very good playing online.

[Shadowman]

Technically true, actually. Philadelphia was ground zero, but New Orleans had only recently been hit, and the military's evac effort is still going on, albeit barely.

Oh. Well that clears things up; also explains the zombies running around in armored radiation suits.

Yeah, one of the Uncommon Common Infected is the Hazmat Zombie, which is resistant to fire.

if you thought fighting zombies at night was tough, wait until you have to shoot them while there's so much rain, wind, and thunder, you can barely see or hear more than a few feet away.

Sounds cool. I'll definitely give this one a try. I'm still debating whether or not to buy the original LFD. I like the single player campaigns, but I'm not very good playing online.

First, it's L4D, not LFD, calling it LFD will just confuse people.

Second, I wouldn't worry about online, as long as you read up on the various special infected and tell the other players it's your first time, it shouldn't go too poorly. Online is basically just the campaigns but with smarter allies. Unless you play Versus, but then that mode kicks my ass.

Likewise, if you have a good enough PC, Steam has both games in a pack for $70, which is pretty much what I paid for both.