You may not be surprised (especially ’cause you’ve probably already seen it) but the passing has been delayed to an ambiguous date of “spring” as revealed on the Xbox show, “Sentuamessage.” Besides wondering if that was an official show, my first reaction wasn’t really of overwhelming dissapointment. As I watched the footage of presumably more New Orleans streets spotted with the living dead, overturned cars, and four survivors sprawing bullets everywhere, I felt not even a twinge of excitement. Let me tell you that I’d probably accept a cage match for anyone that would begrudge Valve the title of one of the best game producers ever before I further my reflection of my non-reaction.
You see, to me, Left 4 Dead 2 represents a rarity in this day and age for me, if not the majority of folks, where game buying is hyper-informed. You and I don’t buy Crappy Castle Adventure because teh webz told us from two hundered sources that the crappy in the title applied to more than just the Castle that you visit in-game. I queried, and the collective gave me a green light. I even played the demo. But I played the game for like a week. Shame on me, you say, for buying a game that you didn’t end up caring about after so much research. Touche. A well earned touche. But I can still say something about the hindsight of all this.
Thing is, Left 4 Dead was totally worth the investment. I liked everything about the experience, with or without a machete. But the sequel felt wrong in my hands. Something about the environment, the characters, I dunno. I feel like the game struggled under the weight of its own franchise, trying desperately to innovate in a field built for staying the course. Besides, why do we need a stereotype fulfilling “hick” character like Ellis? Why does the world feel so contrived? As I write now I even search for answers. My first answer is a better locale. I’ve got nothing against New Orleans, but what was the appeal for a zombie game, exactly? We don’t even get to shoot any mardi-gras zombies with vague allusions to Bioshock. Alaska? Oh man, I’d buy that “location” of Left 4 Dead in a heartbeat. Rainforest? Maybe. Suffice to say, I was not as enthralled as I was in the dampened urban environment of Left 4 Dead.
I could say more, but I’m fast approaching (if not gravely surpassing) the wall of text theory, thereby negating any and every scrap of information contained herein. Are you rabid for the DLC? Or are you like me, among those gone to the realistic military shooter for some FPS consolation?
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