I keep being left for dead!

Photo: www.techradar.com

So I have been playing some Left 4 Dead 2 recently. I've got to say it's a really enjoyable game and really cannot believe I sold my first copy. Owing to the fact I have been away from the game for such a long time, I am incredibly rusty - as a result I've brought in some of the guys from work to help show me the ropes once more. Up to now it's been semi successful.

Just from looking at the main menu, it's clear that Left 4 Dead 2 is a fruitful game. There are many different modes to try out, including one that I used to play a lot of on my first copy - survival. 

At the moment, we've been playing versus and versus only. This is the mode where you take it in turns to play as the survivors and the infected. Each round trying to get more points than the other team.

Survivors

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As the survivors, you must make your way through each round in an attempt to reach the safe room at the other end. As you play through the round, there will be certain pickups that will aid your adventure. The things to note are items such as ammo, first aid kits, new weapons, pain pills and molotov cocktails to help disperse tanks quickly. 

Infected

Photo: www.left4dead.wikia.com

As the infected, it's your job to stop the survivors from getting too far. Each special infected have their own unique abilities that can help stop the survivors in their tracks.

Charger: The charger is a lot stronger than the other infected so has more health. The charger's ability is to, as expected, charge into the survivors. It will grab one of the survivors and pummel them until either they die or the other survivors kill off the charger.

Spitter: Quite low health. Special ability is to spit toxic liquid which can completely destroy a survivalist team if used correctly. I find a spitters best use to be spitting on either an already downed player, or a player that is already being restricted by a charger or smoker. This both deals extra damage and prevents the other survivors from helping.

Smoker: A smoker's special ability is to shoot it's tongue at a survivor, grabbing and pulling them towards it so it can claw at them. These are best used from heights, so you can pull the survivor upwards. This leaves them dangling and much harder to save.

Jockey: A jockey will jump onto it's victims head and ride them just like a real life jockey would a horse. The best way to use these is to steer the survivor away from the group, into the horde/regular infected. This isolates them and allows for an easy kill.

Hunter: The hunter leaps onto a survivor and starts to claw at them repeatedly. These are best used if a survivor breaks away from the group or as a surprise attack when survivors come around corners, through doorways etc. It may also be useful to attack with the hunter to stop a survivor helping a team mate in trouble.

Boomer: My least favourite of the infected. They throw up all over the survivors, covering them in boomer bile. This not only blinds the survivors, but also attracts the horde to the covered victim. However, they're incredibly slow and make for quick, easy kills before they even have chance to attack.

Tank: By far the strongest of the infected. Whilst the tank will find it incredibly difficult to catch up to a fully healthy survivor, it can use the environment to it's advantage. If you get the chance to control a tank, don't hang about. Charge straight in and do some damage. Tanks also have a lot of health and the only real, effective strategy of quickly dispersing one, is to use molotov cocktails.

Witch: The witch is a powerful infected that is best undisturbed. Lights off and quiet sneaking past her will avoid conflict. I wouldn't count on the AI shooting a distanced zombie and startling her though... The witch is an unplayable infected - unfortunately.

Back to the game...

I have found I am much better as a survivor than the infected. I don't seem to make full use of the infected at the right moments, so always end up spending more time on the loading screen waiting to spawn, than I do racking up kills and stopping the survivors in their tracks.

I think I definitely need to learn the maps again. I might play through the campaign, either solo or get the guys to go through this with me to take a break from versus. This should help me get to grips with everything a lot quicker and make for some better versus gameplay.

The game is still retailing quite high if you buy it brand new. However, you can pick it up quite cheap second hand. eBay, Blockbuster and Amazon are likely places to find a bargain - Blockbuster moreso due to it's recent announcement of calling in the administrators.