Wonder if that mohawk's insured.
#1 Sights and Sounds
Left 4 Dead 2 is a definite step forward from its predecessor, the much-upgraded Source Engine delivering superior lighting and Ninja-Gaiden-2-esque zombie dismemberment at the same ironed-flat frame rate, but Modern Warfare 2′s tailor-made tech edges it in the wow-department. That 600p resolution is nothing to shout about, but cunning texture streaming has enabled both larger environments and higher levels of detail on characters and objects in the near vicinity (check out IW community manager Robert Bowling’s blog for screenshot comparisons between Call of Duty engines new and old).
Coach and Ellis share a "moment".
Valve claws back ground in terms of atmosphere, an area in which the Half-Life developer has traditionally excelled all comers. Left 4 Dead 2 retains the wonderful indirect storytelling techniques of its predecessor, with snippets of character banter and volumes of despairing graffiti filling in the backstory behind each depopulated locale, but introduces a more explicit overarching plot. Daylight doesn’t appear to have lessened the game’s capacity for suspense – the moan of a nearby Witch is terrifying whether there are sun beams streaking the opposite wall or no.
A point apiece, then.
Modern Warfare 2 – 1
Left 4 Dead 2 – 1
Shields are the new shotguns.
#2 Modes
The polarised styles at work here become most obvious when you look at each game’s mode selection. Modern Warfare 2 is a sprawling, segmented, completionist’s dreamland, after the heart of Insomniac’s Resistance 2: the strictly single player campaign, competitive multiplayer and two player co-operative Special Ops modes are effectively games within the game, sharing environmental assets, guns and character models but preserving their own identities in the form of mode-specific experience systems, challenges and even enemies.
Scavenge mode in progress. Hurry up with the gas, woman.
Left 4 Dead 2, by contrast, is more concerned with depth than breadth. Its scant five chapters or “campaigns” and four cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes are designed for exhaustive play, much like the best coin-op arcade classics, rather than to be forgotten after first run-through. This approach seems more elegant than Infinity Ward’s onslaught of features, and the new “Scavenge” mode (in which Survivors try to capture gas cannisters to extend a level timer) promises to enthral.
On balance, though, Modern Warfare 2′s range makes it the safer option, not least because it’s more generous to solo players. Left 4 Dead 2 can be tackled on your lonesome, but like the original it’s a multiplayer experience at heart. Infinity Ward pulls ahead…
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l4d2 is winner based on intelligent game play making it interesting 6-12 months from now….cod same thing over and over promoting a braindead mindset…lol…Cod turns ppl into zombies we can practice killing in l4d2!!
Left 4 Dead 2 is way better than Modern Warfare 2. It the type of game you can still enjoy playing 2 or more years down the road as if it was your first time playing. I’m not knocking Modern Warfare 2 but Left 4 Dead 2 gives you more enjoyable gameplay that promote teamwork to its max. Left 4 Dead 2 all the way baby!!!
I don’t think it is even fair to compare the weapons between the two games. In L4D2 these are weapons that you could pick up in real life. Everyday people don’t have all these military weapons at their disposal. Also, I’m pretty sure that in real life after you kill so many opponents in a row you don’t get the option to have your radar point out where the others are hiding, or have a plane drop bombs or whatever. It is pretty sad that I am going to say this…but I think the post-apocalyptic zombie shooter is more realistic than a game based on the military. My vote goes to L4D2 because of the realism and just all around better gameplay.