With all the excitement surrounding the next-gen console wars, a lot of news has flown under the radar. One particular piece of news that might interest people is the return to relevancy of Valve's Left 4 Dead 2. For those unfamiliar with Left 4 Dead 2, it's a cooperative zombie shooter where four players traverse a devastated New Orleans in search of rescue. It's been seven years since the game's last update (not counting bug fixes), and many players worried that Left 4 Dead 2 had been, well, left for dead.
However, those worries have been dispelled thanks to a gargantuan effort from the community. With Valve's support, fans have created the "Last Stand" update, which is slated to come out September 24. In conjunction with this update, Valve plans to give Left 4 Dead 2 a free weekend so new players can experience the fun. This update is packed to the brim, so let's break down what we know about it.
As you might have guessed from the name of the update, "The Last Stand," which was previously only a survival map, is receiving a full length campaign. However, it's unclear whether or not this campaign is canon, since Bill died in The Sacrifice. In addition to a new campaign, there will also be a whopping 26 new survival maps and four new Scavenge maps. We know some of these maps will be based on previous locations, such as the Cane Field in Hard Rain and the Barge from The Sacrifice. To top it all off, the update will also introduce 30 new achievements for players to earn.
The new update also includes new voice line for the Survivors. There will also be a new voice for Bill, as the original voice actor, Jim French, sadly passed away in 2017. Along with new voices comes new animations. These include new idle, incapacitated and helping animations. More will be revealed when the update is released.
There will also be new weapons added in the update. Two new melee weapons have been confirmed, namely a shovel and a pitchfork. Furthermore, Counter Strike: Source weapons have been fully implemented and will appear in every game mode, albeit with a lower chance of spawning. So far we know that the CS:S weapons will include the MP5, SG 552, Scout, Knife and infamous one-shot AWP. Previous weapons have also been updated with better models.
The update will also merge certain aspects of the original Left 4 Dead into Left 4 Dead 2. For instance, Infected models from the first game will be ported in, alongside their original grunts and screeches. Sound effects and beating music from Left 4 Dead will also be making the transition over to L4D2. Some miscellaneous changes include balances to PVP, new mutations and UI improvements. Single-player will also be selectable in every game-mode. Finally, there will be a multitude of bug fixes, which means no more falling through the floor of a moving elevator. The developers have not revealed all their secrets, so we'll just have to discover them for ourselves when it comes out on September 24.