And the weaponry is amazing. Unlike the first game, in which there were six main weapons (Uzi, pump shotgun, assault rifle, hunting rifle, automatic shotgun, and the trusty pistol), there are several weapons ranging from Ak-47's to Deagles to an HK G3 sniper rifle. Each gun has a different plus and minus and there are better uses for each gun. The SPAS12 is fully automatic and is useful for close range uses such as in the Mall or in the Carnival's tunnel of love or the concert finale, however, it's not useful as a long range weapon (nor are any of the other shotguns recommended for long range use) or in more open areas as it's ammo is limited and gets used up quick.
Another complaint of the first game is that it's campaign mode is four single campaigns as opposed to one long story composed of separate campaigns. That's changed with the 2nd iteration, Left 4 Dead 2's five campaigns combine to make one long story, starting on a hotel rooftop in Savannah, GA and ending at a makeshift heliport off the Veterans Memorial Bridge in New Orleans, LA (and yes, I'm well aware there is no such bridge with that name in New Orleans, but in the much further west Gramercy, but let's not get too technical about things).
The story has five main locations: A shopping center (Dead Center), an amusement park (Dark Carnival), a muddy swampland (Swamp Fever), a sugar mill (Hard Rain), and the French Quarter of New Orleans (The Parish). Each has its own quirks and what I love about this game moreso than the first is the different finales. Whereas the first game was basically the same, call the rescue in and survive two tanks and then leave, the 2nd game offers some variety. In Dead Center, you have to play a quick game of scavenge, and find eight gas tanks in order to fill up a race car in order to drive it out, thus ending the finale. The Parish's finale is a battle across a bridge, and on the other side is a helipad, waiting for you to get in it. Each is unique and offers a new spin that's much more enjoyable than the “run around and wait for the 2nd tank to die before booking it to the rescue vehicle” finales of the first game.
The game's graphics are about the same as the first, and retain the same film-style look of the first game. It's not trying to make huge leaps and bounds from the 1st game in terms of graphics, and it doesn't. The audio is as good as ever and it's a nice touch to hear the Left 4 Dead theme in different styles (like, metal, jazz, and what I like to call hick). My favorite audio parts was hearing about Ellis's stories, all involving Keith, and most of them of questionable legitimacy.
There are a couple new modes thrown into the mix, Scavenge and Realism. Scavenge mode is much like the finale of Dead Center, a team of survivors must gather gas cans in an effort to fuel their way to victory while a team of infected tries to stop them. Each team switches sides after a round, and tries to outscore the other. It's a fun twist on the game that combines versus with a survivor style gameplay. Realism mode isn't a whole separate mode like Survival or Scavenge is, but instead is played during normal campaign mode. In realism mode you can no longer see the outlines of survivors, and if you die you have to be defribbed, as you won't spawn in a random closet later. It also makes the zombies harder to kill, consider it another difficulty level that makes the game a decent bit harder than the difficulty you selected.
Both modes stress teamwork, as does the main game, as running ahead will usually mean a special infected will be waiting for you INSIDE of the safe room, often resulting in a slow and painful death. The game, moreso than the first, requires each player to work as a team member. If just one person is goes rambo, it screws everything up and the rambo usually dies. Voice chat is key and I kicked anybody from my party who didn't have a mic.
Versus and Survival mode make appearances and span across all five campaigns. If you think the campaign is fun, just try versus. My favorite map to play on versus is hard rain, as the rainstorm provides enough cover to strike perfectly and deal out loads of damage to the survivors. It's also the map most likely to separate the survivors for whatever reason, I always found that they split up, often times for no reason at all.
All in all Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game and those that are boycotting it should shut up and buy the game. Left 4 Dead is a great game as well and I see why you would want to keep playing it, but once you play Left 4 Dead 2, you'll understand how great of a game it is. Left 4 Dead 2 is available on the 360 and PC.
