Left 4 Dead vs Left 4 Dead 2

Sadly enough, Left 4 Dead has become a huge part of my (and Neformore’s) life. We completely overplayed the first game, and then moved on to the second, and I remember the first time we played it as a fond memory. We were completely in awe of the sheer amount of zombies and the graphics (which my laptop hates, of course) and the new weapons etc. And then Silk joined us and we have team building exercises blowing things heads up and failing to shoot the Charger Steve! because he can’t turn round…

But then the other night we went back to the first game, after sort of getting sick to death of those stupid Spitters and Chargers, and I promised myself I would do a comparison thread, because I have nothing better to do.

Now, we all know that other than Ghostbusters (because they’re both essentially the same film), usually the first part of something is better than the rest. I mean, yeah, there are exceptions, but as a rule, the first is better. We both got blinded by the colours (and Ellis) and hoards and new zombies and stuff like that, and generally just having a new thing to play. But going back to the first game opened my eyes to a few things.

Number one; the first game is much, much creepier. The graphics aren’t as good, but that completely adds to it. The game is a lot darker, and that makes it jumpier when something comes out of nowhere behind you and screams in your ear. And y’know, I will admit that it’s usually me screaming in people’s ears. The colours of the second game are there for the added graphics and stuff, but the game actually suits the darker and grainier effects better than the bright colours, acid etc. The echoey screeches and the horde noises are amplified in the first game too, and the noises last for much longer before the Specials appear.

Number two; the zombies are creepier. The second game sort of ruins the Boomers. I was playing the first a couple of days ago and blew up a Boomer which was stood right next to me that I hadn’t noticed, and I have to admit I squeaked a bit. In the second game, the Boomers are so obvious that you can spot them miles away and end up killing them before they even have a chance to puke on you. Unless you’re Nef. The Smokers don’t appear behind you every two minutes where you can spot and shoot ‘em before they grab you, and the Hunters are in greater frequency, and screech on for much longer before they actually get to you – which usually echoes as it’s in a built up area and generally makes you go “where the hell is it??” before it pounces. Usually on me. It must be my perfume.
The added zombies in the second are used to make the game harder, and that’s fair enough, but frankly, they just do my head in after you’ve been playing it for a while. Especially the Spitters and the Chargers… And the Jockeys. There is a lot of attention based on these new specials in the second game, and away from the originals, which makes them less scary and somewhat farcical, actually. When you go back to the first game, it’s kinda disappointing that they’re not as creepy in the second.
Also the hordes take longer to get to you and specials hide amongst the hordes so you don’t notice them and end up getting boomed on or whatever. We were playing the other night and we were stood in between two flights of stairs. It took so long for the horde to get to us that we were both stood going “where the hell are they??” for about five minutes before they ran through the top door of the stairs, and it was creepy. Even the noise is creepier in game one, and the waiting time does get your heart going.

Number three; the Witches are about twenty times harder to kill. I’ve mastered the art of double-tapping with a shotgun in the second game, and providing I’m paying attention and in the right place, I can generally get them before they get up. Now, full of cockiness, I went into the first game and tried to double-tap in the same way. I died. The Witches are also generally facing you in the first game, whereas in the second, a lot of the time, they’re either wandering away from you or facing the other way, enabling you to get closer to them so you can shoot their heads off. Bless them. And although Nef still manages to startle every Witch going in the second game, they go down easier. Plus, in the first game you can actually manage to startle Witches from in a different room (Nef), so it’s just far harder to do. And again, you hear them crying for a while before you get to them, and they’re hidden quite well too so you can startle them before actually realising they’re there.

Number four; the guns take a lot longer to reload. I use a shotgun, and it’s a complete pain in the backside to reload – and it’s even worse in game one. Also, it’s much easier to kill hordes with an axe, rather than with the pistols. The extra melee weapons in game two, along with the Magnum, are one thing I actually miss from the first game – the axe I generally the only thing I prefer from the second game over the first. That and Ellis. But anyway, switching to the pistols in the middle of a horde fight is a lot harder to do than just getting out an axe and swinging it. Because I’m a bit rubbish at aiming and shooting (the fact that I actually kill any zombies is a lucky fluke), I have to use the shotgun in order to manage to shoot anything at all. Therefore, when I use the pistols it makes things harder for me. I am getting better though.

Number five; the Tanks are harder to kill, and a little bit scarier because they’re not positioned five times in one game. Last night we got practically a Tank per saferoom level and we were just like “oh, again?” by the end of it. The Tank’s are positioned better too in the first game. We had one hiding just before we reached the saferoom, and it wasn’t growling until just before it woke up. That was quite funny actually, Nef got annoyed. Then I threw a Molotov and got stuck with the Tank and the fire in a corner. I’m the Queen of bad moves in L4D.

Both games are fantastic, and a hell of a lot of fun to play – especially if you have a team of friends together to play with, but actually just going back to the first game and rediscovering how brilliant it is really opened my eyes to the pluses of the first rather than the second. The second just lost some of its spark and it is because of the graphics and colours more than anything, because it is still jumpy (trust me; I’m one of the jumpiest people in the world. Second to Silk, who screams ten minutes after things happen), but it is just missing that same essence that made me fall in love with the first game, and it takes going back and playing the game again to realise it. For all the new zombies, and new maps, more zombies and harder levels; the first game is just that bit better, gets the adrenaline pumping a bit more, and yeah, here’s my love and appreciation for a game which has probably taken over my life a little bit too much in a sort of review based form.

Left 4 Dead - the official team bonding tool of the ATS Euro show!!

I must admit, I'm an addict

l4d2 is where its at tho

playing it on the hardest setting is immense fun.

ya no wanna romp wit me

reply to post by Lysergic


I'm scared to play with anyone else, I'm rubbish. LOL!

------------------

Nef: Yeah, I know you are. So'm I.

I've never played either of these games but I am a huge fan of the zombie maps in the Call of Duty Black Ops game. My son has this game for the combat action. I just like killing the zombies.

I'll have to check these two games out.

reply to post by Ayana


I'm down to help y'all unlock achievements on l4d2 if y'all want.

a few other ATS members had talked about having a l4d2 night...

VVV and lordtyp0

reply to post by dbates


Ya can get 'em both for 20 bucks each on steam.

reply to post by dbates


They're pretty damn brilliant, honest!

I've noticed recently while playing L4D2 that the number of zombies they throw at you was drastically reduced for some reason...

When the game first came out we'd kill well over 2000 zombies a game (The record being 4k)

Now we go to play and we are lucky if we break 1000...

I don't know if they patched it or what but they need to bring the zombie numbers up..

reply to post by DaMod


I tell you whats weird too... on some of my guns stats I have over 100% accuracy

Originally posted by Lysergic
reply to post by DaMod

 

I tell you whats weird too... on some of my guns stats I have over 100% accuracy

actually just went and checked stats again, they seem normal now... granted towards the end of playing l4d2 actively I did a lot of griefing :p


but seriously, I had liek 125% accuracy with ak and uzi before I got this;


Most damage to teammates:8,306 (on Expert)
Average damage to teammates:272.00

Guessing the over accuracy was either a bug, or it counted bullets that went through multiple zombies.

reply to post by Lysergic


My friendly fire is appauling. I just shoot and hope for the best.

But we just got like 1,995 zombies on L4D and I don't think we've ever got that many on L4D2. Granted some of the levels I can't do well coz my graphics aren't up to scratch and it jumps and makes me get motion sick, so I don't really shoot too many zombies, but I'm actually quite good at L4D1. It surprised me. I likes it. That's like 3 in a row completed. I'm happy with myself. I'm not a gamer.

I actually prefer Left 4 Dead 2 over the first, I feel as if the second one was everything the first one was and a lot more.

reply to post by Segador


I did at first, but my mind was changed completely when I went back and started playing the first again. I think I just prefer the echoes and darkness of it, even if it is because of like, lower graphics. Haha.

reply to post by Ayana


Left 4 Dead will "soon" be available in Left 4 Dead 2 (officially), if you can't wait that long the original L4D maps are available to play via mods.I can invite you to a group that regularly plays them, but I'm not sure how active they are any more.

Will see you in one or the other very soon.

reply to post by Goathief


Oh, I have both games. They're all good

reply to post by Goathief


Oh, I have both games. They're all good