Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 has been under some pretty intense scrutiny. Protests have come and gone about the sequel being released so soon after the original game. I can tell you right now that not only is this worth full price (which here on Amazon is about $40 for the PC version, but I'd pay $50), but it's better than the first in every way.Left 4 Dead 2 is, in all honestly, virtually identical gameplay-wise to the first L4D. You still run through campaigns with friends shooting zombies and getting to safehouses. But it is no expansion pack.Firstly-the graphics are extremely improved from L4D1. It's not the most beautiful game ever, but it's close. The gore is unbelievable; this is, without a doubt, the most violent game ever made. It really makes you wonder why people make such a fuss about games like Grand Theft Auto. I wouldn't let young children play it; however, everyone else should be fine. The violence is so over the top and gory that it loses it's impact.Secondly-this game includes more content than the original, by far. 5 campaigns, all the modes from the first plus more, more than twice the amount of weapons, presumably free DLC, and endless amounts of user-created content (last two PC only). By definition, it is more than the first game. Therefore, people who say it should have been released as DLC are saying that Valve should have more than doubled the content of the first game...for free. Valve has done that before-Team Fortress 2 is four times the game it used to be-but to expect them to throw out this much content for free with all their games in this economy? Unreasonable, to say the least.Unfortunately, some of the flaws from the first game remain. The AI, while noticeably improved, still has its retard moments, which makes play for people who have no online extremely hard in some cases, and remains an annoyance to those who play on public servers where people constantly leave and join. Slowdown is a problem sometimes, happening even on my 6 GB RAM monster of a computer, which leads me to believe that requirements are a bit too high. Steam kicked me off once for no apparent reason, although it was only once. Given the high quality of the rest of the game, I'm willing to forgive these flaws, since they are only a microscopic chip in the new paint job.I also hope Valve lets Left 4 Dead 2 be the last L4D release in a while. I don't normally support sequels after such a short time, but this release adds enough to be worth it. As for a Left 4 Dead 3, let's wait a while, Valve. Yearly updates are a bit too much like CoD in my opinion.Bottom line: if you loved Left 4 Dead, this is everything that game was and much, much more. It retains a lot of flaws from the first, and it won't make you love the series if you didn't before, but that doesn't stop it from being extremely fun.

Gameplay is OK at best; good graphics and the gore factor is quite good, but overall it gets repetitive and dull quickly.Thats the good part.The DRM on this absolutely sucks. I will NEVER buy another game that runs on Steam. Its fine if you have a persistant internet connection or only want to play online, but if you want to continue to use the game you paid for, you MUST periodically get online and have it 'phone home' and check back in with Steam every couple days. They should mention that on the box with the game requirements, but they don't.Even if you just want to play single player offline, you will soon get locked out of using the game until you can go back online and allow the game to re-connect with Steam. How about that? You can't use the product you paid for unless you let it check back in periodically.I fully understand the need to protect the intellectual property of the game publishers, but this is far more onerous than that. A simple disc check would be sufficient, but when the game needs to check back in the Steam every couple days to keep running, thats simply unconscionable.Never again. Don't buy into this kind of DRM.

"L4D2" nails the zombie genre on the head. The game plays as if you're in a movie. It keeps things simple. There are no complex puzzles, but you still have to think your way through levels and develop strategy, and in the end it's still a blaster. The numerous game modes, such as scavenge and survival, give you the best elements of zombie movies in game format for endless fun. All told, it will take you a long time to play through and conquer every part of this game, and you'll enjoy every adrenaline-drenched minute of it, with creepy surround sounds, cinematic environments, endless action, zombies that really scare you, and fun cinematic moments and dialogue. And multiplayer will keep you gaming for a long time after that. This is probably the most fun you'll have with zombies and is arguably the best game in a genre where there really aren't that many games, at least not stand-outs. You have your "Resident Evils," but those are more involved puzzlers with darker, more complex stories. "L4D2's" focus is putting you in the center of a pop cinematic zombie apocalypse, keeping it very accessible and fun to come back to again and again. And it's as close as you can get right now to starring in your own zombie movie. Slap on the low Amazon price, and you have a can't-miss PC game.

It's a good game if you liked the first left 4 Dead you'll like this one more new special characters and new special infected.

It can't be run since the activation code has already been used. I didn't see anything about this in the product description. A waste of money if the product is not new.

Love it

Enjoyable 4 player game. Same as the first one but new weapons, maps, items and characters. Graphics are sharper then the console counter-parts. AI not the most brilliant but there shooting is very accurate. Recommend for playing amongst friends. Down side is only handful of levels to play and no replay value. online versus mode can be fun but human side seem to have a greater vantage.

fun shooter but that's about it