Recent reviews by Slick

This game's continued support, 9 years after its release, is baffling in the most impressive way possible.
The heisters, and even the different police units, have colorful personalities that you can't get enough of.
The game is utterly ridiculous, in a VERY, VERY VERY GOOD WAY. It's incredibly fun.

Left 4 Dead 2 has always been one of those games to me, and I'm sure many can agree.

You've had it for such a long time, maybe haven't touched it in awhile, but you always come back to it. It's like an old friend that hasn't changed in years. (Granted, that's a bit nullified by the new community update, but we'll get to that later.)

L4D2 is one of the best PvE FPS games out there. It's one of the best zombie games I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The fact that the community is still going so strong after the whole "zombie craze" died out goes to show how objectively well-made this game is. It integrates teamwork in a satisfying way. It has merit in the FPS genre as a whole, even after its initial release in 2009.

Taking a look at a game objectively will show that there have always been flaws, down to the game's Survivor and Infected AI, the common infected's slowdown and mobbing mechanics, and wonky physics. Those flaws have been welcomed by some, and have been rejected by others. I'm somewhere in between, I feel.

Compared to the original game, Left 4 Dead 1, L4D2 adds a whole new bundle of content, and while some atmosphere and horror may have been lost in the translation, I feel like L4D2 is better than L4D1, even without the fact that you can play L4D1 campaigns and emulate the L4D1 gameplay with mutations. The amount of content outweighs the cons of losing atmosphere and first person legs.

Anyways, I've talked about the game as it was for the past 8-9 years. Let's get to crux of the whole thing: The Last Stand Update.

Personally? I absolutely love the update. The changes to the game feel justified to me. However, I can see where some people are coming from when they show their disapproval from some of the changes. One thing I've seen throughout negative reviews is that people preferred the game with its flaws and original animations, which I can understand.

I get the feeling that not having an update for such a long time can be pretty shocking for some players, and they may not be prepared to look at the update critically and see how the changes can benefit a wider range of people. Besides, the update has attracted many new fans, and have brought back old fans who are curious to see what the community has offered to spruce up the tried-and-true gameplay of L4D2.

Looking at the game stats, before the update drop, the peak player count on average for the game was 10k-12k players. However, after the update, the peak player count has increased to 86k. Of course, major updates will attract many people, but this is the second biggest peak in L4D2's entire history.

One good positive way to look at this update is acknowledging that VALVe has allowed the community to majorly alter the game. Of course, this is just one scenario, but if the update does well for VALVe (and we can see that it already has with the incredible player peak), we may experience more community-driven updates for not only Left 4 Dead 2, but possibly the rest of VALVe's expansive library. Who knows, maybe there's a glimmer of hope for us TF2 fans out there.

Wrapping this whole thing up, I cannot tell you enough to play this game now if you're a returning fan, and check it out if you're new on the scene. It's fun to play and experience, just like it's always been. It's worth every penny, no matter what Steam Price you buy it at.