Left for Dead 2 (L4D2) is a First-person shooter game which is situated in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. The player will play 1 of the 4 survivors of the zombie apocalypse. The player will either use a gun or an object as their weapon of choice. Together with 3 other players, they will work together and make it through different zombie infested areas to get to safety.
Game link: http://www.l4d.com/game.html
Gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VGFVenmOVI
The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad
L4D2 was released in 2009, and it was one of the top games during that time. It was a sequel to Left for Dead (L4D), thus it retained many of L4D gameplay features. L4D2 can be run on the XBOX 360 and windows PC, which means the controls were easy to use, like most FPS games.
The game mechanics were rather simple (Basically just shoot zombies and survive till the end). Players arm their character with a weapon of choice, and get through hordes of zombies coming your way. Players are also equipped with a throwable item (such as a pipe bomb or Molotov) and 2 healing items. Each player must work together, and use resources wisely as they are hard to come by, which means that there is a certain strategy to get through each map. The map physics are also rather realistic; thrown items will fly though the air in an arc shape, or hitting an explosive gas tank will send zombies caught in the blast flying in the direction of the blast. One main mechanic of L4D2 is how the game generate enemies (zombies). The game uses an AI system that generates zombies randomly. This means that with each time you play a map, the zombies generated will be different each time, creating a “new” experience each time we play it.
The story of L4D and L4D2 are related, in which there are 4 survivors in each story. The 8 survivors eventually met in one of the maps and fought alongside each other. Each survivor in the story are complete strangers when they first met, but eventually will get to know each other (as seen from the conversions between characters during the gameplay).
The aesthetics of L4D2 is gloomy and dim (it’s a zombie apocalypse after all). Characters will be eventually covered in blood and dirt after trudging through hordes of zombies. The time and weather of each area is fixed however, but it still portrays the environment perfectly. The audio is also eerie, and overall fits the apocalyptic theme very well.
The Lens of Fun
The game is fun as the enemies in each map are randomly generated, thus creating a need for a different strategy each time a player plays it. Included in the game are hidden achievements as well, which prompts players to detour from the original game plan to complete these achievements as well. Thus which each instance of playing, the player will have a different experience of the game.
The Lens of Skill
The game is in real-time, which means fast reaction time is needed to play this game. Players must know how to counter certain zombies, know how to dodge or manoeuvre though enemies. Players must know which weapon is good for which situation, and know which route will allow them to reach the safe zone quickly. Some stages require all of the above mentioned skills to be completed. All these are skills that each player will learn after playing the game many times.
The Lens of Cooperation
L4D2 allows up to 4 players in a single game instance. Each player is essential to the progress of each map, and no one is able to complete the game on his/her own (zombies that can disable you). The resources in the game are also limited, thus each player must communicate on who needs the resources more etc. Thus this game encourages interaction between people. Each player must cooperate to help the whole team get to each safe zone.
The Lens of Challenge
Like most games, a game has to be challenging, if not who will play it? L4D2 is a simple shooter game, with the challenges being achievements and competition. Achievements are hidden actions or things in the game in which players can obtain by doing a certain thing. Some achievements are hard to obtain, while some are fun. Players has a sense of accomplishment if they are rewarded with a difficult achievement badge for example.
There is also a competition mode in L4D2, where 4 players play the survivor, and another 4 plays the zombies. The aim of the survivors are to get to the safe zone, while the zombies aim to stop the survivors from reaching the safe zone. This allow players to compete with each other in terms of cooperation and communication between players, whether they are playing as the survivors or the zombies.