More of the same

First, let me start by saying that Left 4 Dead is a good game.

This said, I find myself little interested in the sequel. Why? Because I found the original game shallow. I didn't even play Lighthouse despite having it downloaded and installed.

The first time you complete a campaign is a thrilling experience, and the finale - with the mad dash for salvation - is something which can pay for the game on its own. However, I was losing interest even before completing the 4th campaign.

There is a little variety of weapons and if you learn to use one, you know how to use all of them. The maps, while very interesting, are simple to learn and when done so, it's a matter of taking the shortest path possible with little variation. The common infected have the simplest behaviour possible: they run straight at you whilst flailing their arms. If you know how to kill one, you know how to kill them all - and you will do it a lot.

The special infected are more traps than enemies. CRASH.. you are pinned by a hunter. WHIP, a smoker got you. Your teammates shot him down, you lose some life and move on.

Even if you count the Tank and the Witch, there are 6 different kinds of enemy in the game. It's just too little and I can't stop thinking the AI director somehow didn't manage to impress me as much as they wished.

Now we have L4D2 in the oven with new enemies and melee weapons. I hope it will be more complex than the enter-room-shoot-zombie-exit-room routine, which the original one turned into.