Left 4 Dead 2

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Four survivors fight from safe room to safe room through the zombie South.

Platforms: PC, Linux
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (98% of 1,061,819 reviews)
Length: five campaigns, replayable
Players: 1 to 4 in co-op, 4 against 4 in Versus
Made by: Valve
Released: 2009

What frightens Hordes of the infected sprint at your team out of the dark, while special infected pick you off: one pounces from far away, one drags you off with its tongue, one rides you away from your friends, and a crying Witch kills anyone who startles her.
Content: gore, violence, strong language, jumpscares, loud sounds.

Valve's co-operative zombie shooter, in which four survivors fight across the American South from Savannah to New Orleans. You and up to three friends push through five campaigns of hordes and special infected that grab, pounce and spit. The AI Director changes where the infected come from each time, so no run plays quite the same.

About Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 is Valve's sequel to Left 4 Dead, released on PC on 16 November 2009 and on Xbox 360 a day later. It later came to Mac and Linux. On Steam today it runs on Windows and Linux; the Xbox 360 version is no longer sold digitally.

You play one of four survivors of an infection that has turned most of the South into raging zombies. Each campaign is a trek through swamps, a carnival, a burning city or a cemetery, from one safe room to the next, ending in a finale where you hold out until rescue. Guns are joined by melee weapons such as axes, chainsaws and the frying pan, and you share medkits, pills and pipe bombs with your team.

The horror is being overwhelmed. Common infected flood toward you in sudden hordes, and special infected are built to split the team: the Hunter pounces from a distance, the Smoker drags you off with its tongue, the Jockey steers you away from your friends, the Boomer's bile calls the horde, and the Witch sits crying in the dark until someone startles her. The AI Director watches how you are doing and changes the infected, the items and even the weather and routes to keep the pressure on.

It is a fast, loud action game rather than a slow fright, and best with friends. It suits groups who want to scream and shout at each other while fighting off the dead, and its Versus mode lets four players play as the infected against four survivors.

How to play Left 4 Dead 2

Choose a campaign and a difficulty, and join or host a lobby of up to four players (bots fill empty slots).
Move through each level together toward the next safe room, picking up weapons, medkits and throwables.
Stay close to your team: special infected pin survivors who wander off, and only a teammate can free you.
Heal or revive teammates who go down, and shut the safe room door once everyone is inside.
In the finale, hold out against waves of infected until the rescue arrives, then run for it.

Screenshots

Left 4 Dead 2 screenshot: three survivors with a shotgun and a submachine gun cut down infected among bodies on a street

Left 4 Dead 2 screenshot: an infected clown with glowing eyes climbs through the burning wreck of a roller coaster

Left 4 Dead 2 screenshot: three survivors with flashlights move through rain past the infected at night

Tips

Turn off your flashlight and walk around the Witch; startling her is usually fatal.
Shoot a Boomer from a distance; its bile draws the horde onto whoever is covered.
Call out special infected by name so the team knows what is coming.
Save a pipe bomb or bile jar for a finale or a horde in the open.

Questions

Is Left 4 Dead 2 scary?

It is more tense than terrifying: sudden hordes, special infected that grab you from the dark and the Witch keep you on edge, but it plays as a fast action game.

How many players can play Left 4 Dead 2?

Up to four in the co-op campaign, and four against four in Versus and Scavenge, where one team plays the special infected.

Can you play Left 4 Dead 2 on console?

It was released on Xbox 360, but it is no longer sold on the Xbox store; today it is bought on Steam for Windows and Linux.