At E3 2009 Valve confirmed Left 4 Dead 2 is coming exclusively to Xbox 360 and PC, when it’s released on November 17, 2009.
The title adds melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more. Check it out in this first Left 4 Dead 2 trailer:
“A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008’s top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.”
Introducing the AI Director 2.0, L4D’s dynamic gameplay is taken to the next level by giving the Director the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects, and pathways in addition to tailoring the enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players’ performance. The result is a unique game session custom fitted to provide a satisfying and uniquely challenging experience each time the game is played.
Featuring new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items, Left 4 Dead 2 offers a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch.
Supported by a $10+ million marketing campaign, Left 4 Dead has sold over 2.5 million retail copies since it was released in November of 2008. Left 4 Dead 2 is targeted for release on Xbox 360 and the PC on November 17, 2009, and will be launched worldwide with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign across TV, Outdoor, and Online.
“Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008,” said Doug Lombardi, VP of marketing at Valve. “Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original.”
Valve’s Chet Faliszek, known as one of the writers on the dialog in Left 4 Dead and Portal, was recently interviewed about the future of the Left 4 Dead franchise and what it was like working on the shooter.
He mainly talks about how the upcoming downloadable content would include more versus stories, but then switches to an interesting comment about the storyline of the game and what we presume to be that of the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2. To quote: “The backstory, in a way, would have to be something different. I don’t wanna play the backstory in a game, like where the infection came from and stuff.
Uhm, but I think we definitely have plans to continue on talking about the infection, the world. Because that’s the interesting thing right? How the world reacts to it, how it all falls apart or pulls together. (Let’s gonna go out there and fight! Alright!) But some people (I think) are of the mind that they wanted a little more story, some (you know) seeing the bulk of you are happy with the way it was told. So I think our plan is to just keep updating the game. Keep exploring the world and what’s going on in it.”
I don’t know about you, but count me in for more co-op action! — Hear the full interview over at Kotaku.
Update: Now that the game’s been released, check out our Left 4 Dead 2 codes guide for PC.