Left 4 Dead 2 Message Board older than one year ago

In the market for Nathan Drake's latest adventure but not trying to spend a hidden fortune on it? Amazon.com's Cyber Monday deals are here to help, offering Uncharted 2 for only $40, among other great deals. How about Left 4 Dead 2 for $40? Or maybe you'd prefer a 60-hour-long fantasy RPG for the same price? Amazon has you covered. Look, we'd keep listing deals here, but there's kind of a lot. So pick your console of choice (Nintendo Wii / DS, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360) and check out all the savings for yourself. While it's not quite Steam levels of insane price drops, we're quite partial to games for a third or more off normal retail price. Aren't you?

Killing zombies with less lag is always a good thing.

What's the only thing worse than having two dead team members, an approaching wave of special infected, and a fresh sheen of Boomer puke on your person? Having to suffer all those things while also -- fighting -- server la -- tency issues. Fortunately, that experience has become less common, as Valve recently did a bit dusting around their network infrastructure, reducing lag during bouts of Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox 360. Of course, even without the lag, you're still going to die. But at least now you'll be able to see where it's coming from. (Hint: It's probably from those three oncoming tanks.)

Video: US version vs. Australian edit. One is bloody... the other is bloody ridiculous.

Video: US version vs. Australian edit. One is bloody... the other is bloody ridiculous.

Is this version of the zombie apocalypse any fun? IGN Editors unload opinions.

Is this version of the zombie apocalypse any fun? IGN Editors unload opinions.

When Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2 during Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference -- less than seven months after the release of the award-winning original -- gamers were, perhaps rightfully, shocked. This was the same Valve that spent nearly ten years iterating on Team Fortress 2 and whose experiment in episodic gaming has forced us to reevaluate our expectations for future installments of Half-Life 2 using the "Star Wars-definition" of episodic. So when Valve announced a direct sequel to the ground-breaking Left 4 Dead on what could only be considered an accelerated schedule for normal developers (and an impossibly accelerated schedule for Valve) we had every right to be shocked. Valve answered this concern with assurances that Left 4 Dead 2 was an entirely new game, with changes that could not be simply grafted onto the original. And the team was right! ... But that's the problem.

Considering the devilishly heightened difficulty of Left 4 Dead 2, we're surprised enough outlets managed to complete a single campaign in time to submit a review for the title. We have to imagine GameSharks were somehow involved. Regardless, here's what other sites are saying about Valve's follow-up to last year's Zombocalypse survival sim. Eurogamer (9/10): "Whereas once we treated Left 4 Dead as a stopgap between Half-Lifes, this is no longer a weird little side project with modest expectations, and Valve is confident enough to play around with it, safe in the knowledge that you can trust your players. Left 4 Dead proved it. And whereas that game had a personality, this one is overflowing with it." IGN (9/10): "It remains one of the most distinctive co-operative titles out there, and allows for some of the most nerve-searing team-based multiplayer gaming on the market." GameTrailers (8.7/10): "Though not an astounding improvement over the original, Left 4 Dead 2 successfully rekindles that magical zombie-hunting feeling with great new content, and a cool competitive multiplayer mode to boot." Giant Bomb (4/5 Stars): "The core of Left 4 Dead may have lost some of its newness in the last 12 months, but the wealth of additions in this sequel ought to keep you blasting zombies and munching on brains for a good long while."

When Valve announced Left 4 Dead 2 during Microsoft's E3 2009 press conference -- less than seven months after the release of the award-winning original -- gamers were, perhaps rightfully, shocked. This was the same Valve that spent nearly ten years iterating on Team Fortress 2 and whose experiment in episodic gaming has forced us to reevaluate our expectations for future installments of Half-Life 2 using the "Star Wars-definition" of episodic. So when Valve announced a direct sequel to the ground-breaking Left 4 Dead on what could only be considered an accelerated schedule for normal developers (and an impossibly accelerated schedule for Valve) we had every right to be shocked. Valve answered this concern with assurances that Left 4 Dead 2 was an entirely new game, with changes that could not be simply grafted onto the original. And the team was right! ... But that's the problem.

Teaser page points towards first downloadable content coming soon.

Zombie obliterators who've managed to survive Left 4 Dead 2's "Dark Carnival" campaign are probably familiar with the Southern rock outfit known as the Midnight Riders. While they're not exactly an enormous focus in the game's overarching story, a teaser page featuring the heavily bearded band (and a cryptic "Coming Soon") is leading some folks to believe that the Riders will soon play a much larger role in the game's proceedings. Given the number of facial hair-sporting members of the band (see: four), we're really hoping to get some form of DLC that turns them into playable characters. Perhaps even a new campaign, in which they cure the global zombie infection using nothing but the power of their rock music. How about it, Valve?

We show you how to rescue Gnome Chompsky and more.

Footage highlighting the extensive cuts made to the Australian release.

IGN AU's verdict on the most disturbing censorship result in Australia's history.

We'd usually say it's a good thing when a zombie invasion gets postponed, but not when we're talking about Left 4 Dead 2 releasing in the UK a couple days after the rest of the world. According to Valve's own L4D2 blog, "copies of the game are still arriving" across the pond, with assurances from the developer that it will "have everyone in the UK playing Left 4 Dead 2 by Friday morning." Wait -- everyone in the UK? Whoa now guys! While Xbox 360 owners and PC gamers who still buy physical copies of software are out of luck, Valve says that everyone in the region who pre-ordered L4D2 via Steam can play it right now. Of course, those left waiting can pretend they're fighting to survive the scariest of all Left 4 Dead campaigns: "Delay of Game" (tagline: "Patience never killed anyone -- until now!").

North American retail and Steam available now, rest of world follows later this week.

The face of the zombie-shooter niche has certainly changed, but has it changed enough?

A bloody good time.

Wicked kills and dismemberment in Valve's latest shooter.

A bloodier, more entertaining, and complete version of Valve's brutal co-operative shooter.

Thanks to Eric Ruth and his PixelForce NES "de-make" of Left 4 Dead, we now have an idea of what the zombie apocalypse simulator would have been like had it released in the '80s. Valve is apparently aware of the project and finds the concept "hilarious." Ruth reveals that he plans to release the full game as a free download in early January 2010 for PC. It features all the campaigns from the original game, including 8-bit incarnations of the special infected, for two players to play through -- it is a NES game after all, fancy four-player didn't exist. Check out a video of the game after the break. The only thing we'd wish this "de-make" had was a sprite flickering zombie rush, so all the youngins could experience the glory of NES flicker when there were too many things on the screen at once for the system's 2KB of RAM.

One click separates you from the answer.

A quick rundown of how Valve has made the sequel better than the original.

Honestly, you'd think licensed Left 4 Dead 2 clothing would provide at least some semblance of undead protection. Alas, it looks like the best that Glitch Gaming Apparel could provide is simple T-shirts. Sure, the 100 percent cotton shirts provide ample breathability, but they provide next to zero zombie bite protection. Even worse, they're short-sleeved, leaving hapless survivors with plump, juicy and completely visible arms. Still, the Ellis and Coach tees at least have a picture of a medical kit on the back, which might be enough to fool a zombie into thinking you're prepared. Let's hope that buys enough time to find yourself a Molotov.

For those who have yet to face the shambling, undead hordes of the south in the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, now's your chance. Previously available only for pre-order customers and Xbox Live Gold members, the demo is now open to all Xbox Live members. That means everyone can enjoy the hacking, slashing, shooting, shuffling goodness of Left 4 Dead 2 ... well, two sections of it, anyway. You might as well give it a try. It's not like there's anything else going on, right? Add the Left 4 Dead 2 demo to your Xbox download queue

As if blissfully dancing on the grave of its opposing and recently deceased boycott, Valve's shambler-shooting sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, seems destined to surpass its predecessor. Speaking to CVG, Chet Faliszek revealed that pre-orders for the game had quadrupled those enjoyed by the original game. "As we get closer to launch we see the reaction to the demo, pre-orders are four times what Left 4 Dead 1 was, people's excitement, the boycott itself and how it's changed..." he said. "I think people are just excited now."Having tested what the power of the people can accomplish (most of all when wielding skull-smashing implements) Valve can finally let that excitement wash over them, content that fans have latched on to what's in the game -- and not what's missing. "Honestly I made the joke and it's true: If you put $20 in a box and charge $10 for it someone would complain you didn't put $50 in a box," added Faliszek. "Not to say some of the concerns raised aren't valid, but you're always going to have some kind of upset and that's not how we work. We work at looking at the project and trying to get it out."Valve gets Left 4 Dead 2 out on November 17th.

It's almost dawn of the return of the living infected! Will you survive?

The writer of "Still Alive" slipped his new song into Left 4 Dead 2.