Everywhere you look right now (behind you!), someone is writing about the controversial airport scene "No Russian" in Modern Warfare 2. This post however, will only slightly touch on the airport scene. See, for me personally, there was another level that was more disturbing than the airport. After the not-so-surprising finale to the airport, you're transported to a place that is eerily familiar, but instead is coated in a lovely new hellish reality.

Both of these details had been spoiled in the weeks before the game, with a war-torn Washington, D.C. even appearing in the trailer. However, the airport scene has been talked about non-stop since it slipped through the cracks and spread like a wildfire through the internet. I was pretty much prepared for what would happen in that level, though I wasn't sure how I'd deal with it when the time came, as I have trouble just selecting the evil choices in Bioware games (How could Shepard say such hurtful things?). But when the time came, I felt oddly detached. Maybe because of the rampant coverage, I was taken right out of the game. I was fully engaged in the previous levels, but there was something about knowing that it was coming, and then realizing that this is it, and then... yeah, that was it. I felt a little strange walking through the level, but no where near how I thought I'd feel. I even tested myself partway through the level and shot a civilian, and while I can say I didn't enjoy it, it certainly didn't make me feel sick to my stomach like I'd though I would. In a scene that was trying to make a poignant statement that was lost due to the leak. Anyway, I said this was not a post about the airport level, so I'll get to the point of all this.



The Virginia/Washinton D.C. levels were what did it for me. We have never seen modern warfare on our own shores, our own land. You basically play the part of a first responder, right after all hell has broken loose. You find yourself walking through a neighborhood that could have been anyone's, with fires raging and paratroops dropping in the background. The sights just gave me fucking chills man. I mean this could be anywhere! You're walking down Anytown, USA, and witnessing houses blown to shit that makes you think about the random family that might have been sitting there watching House or reading some C-Blogs on their laptop and then BAM; done. Suddenly, the game has become very real and using a Burger (King) Town to hole up in for cover didn't seem that far fetched. I was ACTUALLY fighting for the people, fighting to protect them from an actual threat. It's certainly a very frightening thought, and this is where Infinity Ward got the job done and pulled me right back in.

I have to commend Infinity Ward on their ability to create these amazing set pieces, they know how to craft a fantastic game. Now, I think I've got an hour or so left in the game, and then it's on to some LIVE and Spec Ops!

I'll start off by saying this: I am a huge fan of the original Left 4 Dead. I'll also say this: I generally don't play online either. I'm known to play single player off-line, split screen with my wife, or system linked with 4 buddies. I much prefer playing this game with people in the same room rather than across the internets. I played through this demo twice; once by myself, and once with my wife. With that off my chest, I can tell you it was with a school-girl's giddiness that I climbed up the stairs to my apartment to download the demo for L4D2. 1.6 gigawatts later, I was booting that sumbitch up.

The demo starts with the awesome 3 minute trailer that leaked the other day, which is even more impressive when presented on your television screen. Then the usual ads and the menu screen, whose setup I actually like more than the original's screen. It was much cleaner and more clear. Blah blah blah you don't care so get to the good stuff. The demo is faptastic, and I want more. Now.

The first thing you'll notice starting the game itself is the different feel of the environment - most notably the fact that you're fighting off zombies during the day, a huge difference from the first, or any zombie game for that matter. From the twangy music that made me think of HBO's True Blood, to the extremely loud jet fly over right in the beginning, you really feel that your a part in a very organic, and very dangerous world. The colors pop out at you, and everything just feels alive - including the undead. But, there-in lies the rub. I was just thinking about this, and I realized that in this bright and sunny environment, I really felt no threat. It felt to me like sunshine and lollipops, lalala I'm shooting zombies in N'Orleans, bang-bang. And I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it certainly seems to instill confidence in the player, it's just very different from the dark, bleak environments in the first game where the tension was palpable. Another note - my second playthrough was actually slightly different in the maze section of the park. In the first run, the park was quite simple, move from one area to the next, maybe 3 areas in all. On the second play, it seemed like it was longer, like there were more areas to explore. So that thing they did with the director actually works. Pretty sweet.

Now for the weapons. I love the melee weapons. They are all pretty satisfying to use, and they aren't at all overpowered. I'd gotten a little worried about that, reading in some places that they were essentially one hit kills, which they are for the most part, but its not like you have a Jesus stick or anything. I tested out a few the frying pan and guitar by wading my way into a horde and swinging away. I wouldn't recommend this tactic, as I lost about half of my health, but I did have a lot of fun doing it. It's just easy to not realize just how much damage I had taken in doing so. As for the guns, I almost felt a little overwhelmed with them due to my unfamiliarity, but the same basic premise is there from the first game. If you like shotguns, just grab the shotgun. Like automatic weapons? Grab the SMG or M16 or whatever. Stick with what you know. It didn't seem like individual statistics were all that important for each weapon, it was pretty basic at its core. Chrome shotgun? Still only has 8 shots and isn't automatic. Look beyond the new skins. I didn't get any of the incendiary ammo from either playthrough, so I can't comment on that. I did get a the bile bomb or whatever its called, but I didn't get a chance to use it because the demo pretty much ended right after I picked it up.

Now, I didn't get the best experience with the new special infected. Like I said earlier, I was playing on normal both times, and my AI partners were just too good for the special infected, with the exception of the Charger, who 3 out of the 4 times he appeared in my second playthrough, grabbed me and smashed me into the ground multiple times before anyone was able to kill him. I do like the Charger though, I can see how he adds to the frantic gameplay. He's not really that tough to take down when he stops moving, but when he gets going watch out. I didn't get touched by the Spitter, but I did get to see her roaming around a bit, as well as the Jockey who grabbed a hold of me for about .2 seconds before getting blasted off. I also liked the Common Uncommon in the level, with their full body armor suits. It makes perfect sense (though how did they get turned with all that armor on?) that there would be zombies running around with something other than regular clothes on, so that's a welcome addition. Also, I liked the redesigns on the old special infected. They're not radically different, but changed enough to keep them fresh. The Hunter still has a hood on though (or was that just me?), with just the sleeves ripped off. It's different, it's good, whatever. Then there's the witch. I actually think that having her walk around is a little bit of a step back. I expected to see her pacing back and forth in a small area, but in the demo she seemed to just keep walking. She's still creepy as all fuck and this is just one scenario, but she didn't seem like as big of a threat as she did in the first game. Also of note, two cracks to the head with a guitar does not a dead witch make.

One thing that I think is good, but I won't be able to decide until the game actually launches is the length of the chapters. They seemed much shorter to me. I can see how people might want shorter chapters for Versus matches, but I might like to seem them a bit longer. I liked the newly styled crescendo moment in the middle of the second chapter, but it seemed to not really do anything after that. It didn't seem like that much of a challenge. Granted, it was Normal, but still. I expected a bit more. Again, I'll just have to wait and see how the final game plays.

I really only have one complaint with the game, and it's fairly minor. The ammo count in the new HUD. It's fucking tiny! Green on slightly darker green is not easy to read by itself, and then you make it a size 7 font and I have to squint on my 37" HD TV. Same goes for the after-chapter stats. Shit is TINY. The first game everything was bold and easy to read, and would have been much preferred to have that cleaned up and used for the sequel.

Still, if that's my only complaint, I'll take it. It most definitely seems that L4D2 will be a worthy sequel, and I can't wait to get my hands on it in November.

EDIT I wanted to add two things to this post: 1. New Characters 2. Demo Download Code

1. The new characters are great. The banter seems cut down a little bit, but they seem to be worthy successors to the original four. Coach fucking rules.

2. Apparently Gamestop gave out some faulty DL codes for the demo, so they sent out a fresh batch to everyone again just in case. My original code worked fine, so here's the new one for you if you're lucky enough to be the first person to read this edit:

FXXHQ - MD8XQ - QX9GH - M9Y4P - 9VXPG

If this is illegal to do on the blogs, I apologize and it won't happen again, I'm just trying to spread some love is all.

Helloo C-Blogs! It seems that when many of you join the community, you write introductory blogs, so I figured I'd follow suit here. I'm 23 years old, and I live in New Jersey. I just got married this past June, and it's exactly the same except I think we get some sort of tax breaks or something. I am currently employed full time at a manufacturing company as a Quality Assurance Technician, which basically boils down to me checking the parts we make every once in a while, filling out paperwork, and then sitting on my computer for the rest of the day. This is where Destructoid comes in.

I'd always checked the blogs here and others similar to it every once in a while, but never really with any regularity. I just never spent that much time on the computer, I was always either playing a video game or reading. But since starting this job, I'd discovered I had plenty of time to explore the internets. Now, I'm hopelessly addicted to Dtoid, and I love everyone here. The community is fantastic, and the humor is spot on (at least for me). Eventually I created a username here to comment on some posts, and now I've decided that I've got the time to actually write a blog or two here with the rest of the community.

On to the important thing - gaming. I love playing video games, and I always have. My earliest memory of gaming is Pitfall on the Atari, I have no idea how young I was but I still remember playing it to this day. After the Atari fried itself (it literally caught on fire), the family moved onto an NES, where I remember watching my brother and his friend play Q-Bert and Mario Bros. for hours on end. My obsession grew (maybe a strong word), and over time got the SNES, Genesis, PS1, Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PSP, to the current gen (not Next ANYMORE) 360, PS3 and Wii. I primarily use my 360, and only play exclusives for the PS3. I've got a serious backlog of games that I'd love to get to, but I just finished Uncharted 2, and have put Brutal Legend on hold because I caved and gave myself a little taste of Borderlands, and now I don't want to stop playing it. Haven't played online yet, but did some 2 player split screen with a buddy the other day, and that was plenty fun.

Well, it's 5 o'clock, and I get to go home now, so that's that. Thanks for giving this a read!