If you thought beating Valve’s first zombie-killing game would be enough to take down those nasty, walking corpses, think again. Left 4 Dead 2 is swiftly limping its way to release, and it’s going to be jam-packed with plenty of new features to keep your zombicide count high.
The three original modes that made the first game great are sticking around, with the addition of a new mode called Scavenge. The five new campaigns will have you running around the Southern United States from Savannah, Georgia, to New Orleans, Louisiana and, unlike its predecessor, Left 4 Dead 2 will have a story-arc following through the campaigns.

The first of these is “Dead Center” which takes place in the typical zombie setting of a shopping mall, followed by “Dark Carnival”, which is filled with things that can only have come from a child’s nightmare.

The third campaign, “Swamp Fever,” has the survivors trudge through marshes filled with mud, zombies, and a combination of the two. In “Hard Rain”, the weather reflects the grim situation with a heavy downpour, while the survivors must make their way through flooded streets and industrial buildings. The final campaign, “The Parish”, takes place in New Orleans, and is set during the day in full light of the sun.

Each campaign features special “uncommon common” infected that have a special attribute and are specific only to their campaign. For example, the clown zombie in Dark Carnival has squeaky clown shoes that attract common infected to the sound, which means it should be taken down as quickly as possible.

Almost as if Survival and Versus had a baby, Scavenge is a fast-paced 4 versus 4 mode that features a team of survivors trying to stay alive as long as possible while attempting to find gas to power a generator. Each round starts with a set time limit that increases with every gas can that is brought back to the power generator. Once the time runs out, the teams swap sides and try to beat the previous survivor’s time. Like in the standard Versus mode, the infected team gets to be on of the boss characters, like the Boomer or Smoker, and includes three new boss-infected to choose from: the Charger, Jockey, and Spitter.

The Jockey leaps onto you like the Hunter, but rather than clawing at your face, they take control of you and attempt to separate you from your teammates, or into more dangerous situations, while draining your health the whole time he is latched on. The Charger lives up to its name by crashing into you and your teammates with great force, utilizing a giant fist to smash the heck out of whoever it wants. While the two other new bosses like to get up close and personal, the Spitter does its job best by staying back and vomiting puddles of acid for survivors to stumble into.

Having added a new mode, new campaigns, zombies, and bosses, there have to be new weapons just in case shotguns and assault rifles weren’t gory enough for you. Now you will be able to dismember limbs or bash zombie heads in with melee weapons that include, but are not limited to, a baseball bat, katana, frying pan, and even an electric guitar. There will be ten melee weapons in all, leaving you plenty of choices on how to eliminate the undead threat.

With all the controversy surrounding Valve’s latest game, it’s no wonder that the zombie killer is getting a great deal of hype. From the boycotts that began soon after the game’s E3 announcement, to the accusations of racism, and most recently, being banned in Australia for containing “…a level of violence which is high in impact, prolonged, repeated frequently and realistic…” . Now, on top of it all the post-apocalyptic game is getting a $25 million ad campaign which means whether or not you like zombies, chances are that you are going to see plenty of them around the time of Left 4 Dead 2’s release.

So, practice your headshots, and prepare for a second round of zombie survival action, because those pesky, undead fiends are coming your way November 17^th.

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