Those ‘water cooler’ moments where we relive the adventures (or often in the case of Left 4 Dead, misadventures) we’ve had. By playing the game with others, especially friends, we craft our own storytelling methods. We, as video game consumers, tend to look through the interactive side of multiplayer storytelling. Most veterans of Left 4 Dead 2 will have at least a handful of stories from their time playing. Of course, what are mechanics without the players to experience them. Even the maps feel like they’re insidiously crafted to take you at any given moment. Tools that can be the difference between success, or immolating your entire squad. Special infected pose unique dangers that synchronize with the various possible situations that can arise. It’s this element which seeds itself at the heart of the game, growing the more you play, even to this day.Įverything, and I mean everything, flows with such confidence. With plenty of space between mechanics, there’s room for organic teamwork to form. It’s often seen as limiting, but Valve’s ability to harness it and build around it, instead of on it, works wonders. Simplicity flows through every aspect of the game, a trait that we tend to overlook. This aspect lends itself well to the ageing process, but it goes much deeper than that. Fundamentally, the entire game is the purest example of pick up and play out there. There’s no real gimmick, no steep learning curve or even much of a skill wall. The oddest aspect of it all falls down to how simple the game is. But nothing else matches the intensity, ferocity and utility that Left 4 Dead 2 has to offer. Here we stand, 11 years after the fact, with a slew of titles that have either tried to mimic, match or outclass Valve’s co-op masterpiece. But between all the noise, Valve released Left 4 Dead 2 What a year it was, in the video scene Uncharted 2 sold PS3 units, Assassin’s Creed got good and Bayonetta dazzled…at least on the 360. Twilight is the epidemic threatening the world (but hey, Robert Paterson is actually really good now, and you should watch Good Time) and Glee has aired its first episodes. However, I’m the master of disappointment, so instead allow me to indulge in one of the finest video game experiences ever.Ģ009, Kanye West wanted to tell you about a video he liked. Of course, I could sit here and pretend to have something enlightening to say that somehow connects all these events together to create an impactful article. Between playing GTFO and witnessing the scaling panic over Covid-19, I found myself morbidly revisiting Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2.

Left 4 dead 2 review