Earlier in the year, after getting to play sneak peeks of Left 4 Dead 2 at PAX and the San Diego Comic Con, my snarky reaction to it was “it’s the same game as Left 4 Dead, hurr durr, look how nonchalant I am about it”.

Well you know what? It’s not the same game, and curse my constant sardonic attitude! First of all, this game looks fraking sweet. Take the first installment, and add a mess of detail to EVERYTHING, like guns and characters. The demo took place mostly in the daylight, where you can obviously see clearer, which translates directly into way more blood. For gore hounds (like myself), this is a much appreciated addition. For those who don’t like drowning in blood but just like killing people without the mess, Valve has added a gore setting in the options screen. Cool.

Horrifying.

They also made the characters pretty interesting. Within the fist video, I already had a fondness for the survivors, which is kind of amazing. I really like Coach, and I’m rooting for him to not be the guy that wakes the witch all the time, like Louis in L4D. The backgrounds and atmosphere really drew you into the story, and I liked the direction they took with it. If you stop and listen, you can hear the crickets and it just adds to the feeling that you’re in New Orleans.

In addition to better characters and an immersive atmosphere, they also had some cool new additions to regular gameplay; for one level, we had to give ourselves a shot of adrenaline, and then RUN down this industrial maze with zombies pouring in on all sides. Again, cool. It also looked like they added new modes like ‘Realism’ to the menu, and I’m excited to see what they are all about.

The one thing I didn’t like about the game was the new melee weapon option. When you pick one up, you lose your pistol(s), and it’s totally not worth it because they’re super weak or there could be a Boomer around the corner. Granted, I only tried the nightstick, and guitar, but I think I’ll hang onto my pistols after I get the melee weapon Achievements.

Definitely buy this game when it comes out. When you have it, find me on XBL and we’ll go kill some zombies.