Oct 28, 2009 View Comments
In Game: Left 4 Dead 2 Demo
Those of you who 1) are into gaming, and 2) know me well enough to have discussed said love of gaming, know that I despise Gamestop. That said, the fact that this post exists tells you a few things about how I feel about Left 4 Dead. Chiefly, there has been a considerable amount of stigma brewing around the sequel, so my interest has been justly piqued since the game was announced.
I’ve been a fan of Valve for some time now, and have honestly been happy with every game I’ve played from their catalog. I love that they have a thriving community, and that they support and play to their community whenever possible. I like that they continue to support a game well after release, and when Left 4 Dead was first released, I too fell in love with the idea of future expansions via DLC and patch releases. So when a boycott cropped up for the sequel, there was a part of me that understood. I didn’t agree, but I understood.
So the question remains, is Left 4 Dead 2 enough of an upgrade to justify a full point release? Well, ordinarily I steer clear of such places, but the lure of a $5 deposit giving me early access to the demo was just too much to resist. So here I am, guilty of giving Gamestop some money, and drunk off of the L4D2 demo. What are my thoughts?
I’ve had some time to dig into the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, and I’m happy to report that there is plenty to love here. The addition of melee weapons adds a layer to gameplay that I didn’t think possible. Pans, crowbars, and nightsticks all make sense given the contextual surroundings. I’m not sure I quite understand the choice of guitar, but this may only be due to a couple odd placements. Occasionally you find a Gibson SG lying in the streets, and this seems plausible. Other times you happen upon a weapons cache and find the SG laid neatly as a selection, as if to say “here are the weapons to choose from, and a guitar.” Maybe I think of these melee weapons in the limited view of being “weapons of haste” and not “weapons of choice,” but whichever the case may be the guitar does do a decent amount of damage, so who am I to complain?