I logged into XBox Live just a few days ago and found a pleasant surprise. The demo for Left 4 Dead 2 was available. Of course I instantly queued it up. After what seemed like hours of agonizing torture waiting for the little status bar tracking the progress of the download to creep along (although, in reality, it was just a few short minutes) I was finally ready to get my first taste of the wholesale changes Valve claimed to have made to the zombie killing formula.
Needless to say, I am very impressed. The major changes are evident from the moment you start The Parish level. All the weapons have gotten a makeover both cosmetically and functionally, you now have multiple types of shotguns, sub-machine guns and assault rifles to choose from, each with their own feel, rate of fire, damage, etc. It's a major upgrade from the "Tier 2" weapons from the first L4D.
The melee weapons are as fun as advertised. There's just something satisfying about smacking a zombie upside the head with a frying pan or watching the blood and chunks of ichor accumulate on the guitar you've been swinging. Getting up close and personal isn't all fun and games though, since the melee weapons take the place of your trusty, limitless ammo pistol a whole new dynamic occurs. Do you sacrifice long range capability for the power of the machete or police baton? Adding to the conundrum is the addition of at least one different pistol: The magnum handgun. Less ammo than the standard pistol but it packs a helluva wallop.
Once you get into the demo it won't take long for you to happen upon one of the new infected. I'm sure anyone who's looking to get this game is well aware of the additions to the zombie side of things so I won't go into details about each one. What I will say is just playing a 2 chapter demo has me itching to get my hands on the game so I can play versus mode with the new antagonists. The spitter, jockey and charger are all interesting to play against, I can only imagine what they'll be like to play as.
Of course, I could go on and on about the big, well advertised changes and additions to the game but I'll give the lesser known alterations some time as well. It seemed in my opinion that the game (or at least the demo) played a little looser and quicker than the original. Graphically the standard infected were more varied in appearance and it seemed like there was a mass of them waiting around every corner. I noticed the zombies that are just standing around seem to respond to the survivors a lot faster than the first game, something that should push the pace of the game and make it more difficult to "run and gun" without finding yourself surrounded by a horde of pissed off zombies.
All in all, the demo is just as exciting as the original. I've been playing it almost nonstop since downloading it and if anyone hasn't, I highly recommend getting it yourself or just holding out for the actual game. Remember, it releases on November 17th.
Just last night I had a string of really good movies come to an end. Ever have one of those streaks where it seems like every new movie you've watched over the span of a few weeks was actually pretty good? I had me just such a run of good luck. It didn't seem to matter whether it was a movie I'd never heard of or if it came recommended by a friend or if I had been itching to see it the moment I caught wind of the plot synopsis I just went through what seemed like a dozen movies with nary a stinker among them.
That was, of course, until I finally put in Year One with Jack Black and Micheal Cera. Laugh-worthy moments were few and far between in this jumbled mess of a film. The journey of the two main characters was so erratic and all over the place it left me confused and just not so sure what was happening or why. Along the way there are poor attempts at humorous takes on the stories of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah. It doesn't seem to me that the Bible is exactly the best place to pull comedic inspiration from. Not that I believe the aforementioned scenes to be offensive, they're just horribly not funny.
Oh well, they can't all be great movies, can they?
