Game review: Left 4 Dead 2

A MATE got his son a new games console recently and asked his girlfriend if she would like a game to play on it.

Expecting either "no" or "something with ponies in it" as an answer he was surprised by the actual response.

"I like killing zombies," she said.

So he got her Left 4 Dead 2, because if you want to kill zombies, this is where it's at.

If you played the first instalment, well, the second is much the same, just with more zombies and more gaming.

Across five campaigns you join a band of survivors fighting their way through the deep south of America.

The level of detail in every environment is mightily impressive – from swampland, to claustrophobic streets where the zombies will come at you from every angle.

There is help, in that your friends and useful items show up in blue, although you can ditch all that help with realism mode which strips away all aids and leaves you with just your wits and a weapon.

Those weapons are many, but often you will be forced into close combat where machetes and even frying pans will keep you alive.

With them you can dispatch your enemies in many gruesome ways, from decapitation to disembowelment – nasty!

There are a number of different modes, from co-op where you and a friend battle for survival, to survivor where you must use everything at your disposal in a location to live for as long as possible, and scavenger, where you must collect gas tanks from around the map and use them to fuel a generator to give yourself more time.

And you will need a lot of time to play out the many features of this excellent game.

Or you could opt for something with ponies in.

Left 4 Dead 2; Electronic Arts/Valve Software; Multiple formats (reviewed on Xbox360)