The aim of scavenge mode is to work together to achieve a goal. Sure you have to work together to survive but now scavenge mode requires players to plan, execute and pray that it works. The level I played was set at a cheap looking hotel. The central focus of the map is the outdoor swimming pool, located in the pool is a generator. Your objective is to find and fill the generator with gas and every time you do so your team scores a point and the team with the most points win. You have around a minute to find and fill the generator, failure to do so will end the round.

The biggest issue I had with playing versus mode in the first game was that it was simply more fun playing as the infected, even though you knew that there was something sadistic about praying on humans, however, now with the addiction of an objective I had more enjoyment playing as the survivors; working together, finding the gas cans and protecting them as though they were a three week old baby. Finding the gas canisters isn’t very hard (especially when you can see the silhouette through the walls as you can with your fellow Zombie slayers). Even getting them isn’t too bad, but getting them back is where the problem lies. Like any object you can carry in Left 4 Dead, your mobility is limited. You’re not able to shoot and swapping your weapon automatically drops the item you’re carrying, so all you’re left with is smacking the hordes of dead meat and relying on your friends to watch your back. The first few gas cans you come across will be rather close to the generator. However, the more gas you find, the further you have to go to get the next lot. This risk and reward aspect is both a thrilling and terrifying ride.

It seems that the new special infected that Left 4 Dead 2 offers has been thrown in to split the group up. The Spitter, a female who spits deadly acid. If your team tries to camp in one spot, The Spitter will soon put an end to that. The acid she spits stays on the ground forcing you to move. The Charger and the Jockey have similar purposes, to drive you out of the group. The charger is the more dramatic of the two, looking a lot like a mini tank, he runs for the group and doesn’t stop even when hitting one of the survivors, slamming them into the nearby wall. The Jockey is much more of a comedic and shameful way of getting caught, jumping on your head, steering you away from safety until your friends carefully shoot him off. The new infected play exactly how you would expect them to, use the right trigger for their main attack, wait for the meter to charge and try again. The best thing now is when playing as the infected you have a broader scope to choose from. The first Left 4 Dead made you feel lucky when the AI director spawned you as something other than The Hunter or The Boomer.

If you’re expecting Left 4 Dead 2 to blow you away with how different it is then, well, it’s not. However, that’s not a bad thing. The game plays very similar to the former game, but it seems valve have recognised everything that was fun about the first game and then giving you more toys to play with.