Left 4 Dead 2 - Xbox 360

Just in case you weren't aware from reading my E3 and Comic-Con impressions, Valve wants to kill you. Slowly and painfully. Call it a homecoming, call it the easiest haul for the Seattle-area developer, but the team didn't have to travel too far to bring "Dark Carnival," the latest unveiled level of Left 4 Dead 2, to PAX 2009. During G4tv.com's interview with Valve's Doug Lombardi at Comic-Con, he promised that there would be more in store. By that, he must've meant more premature deaths. The more I play each section of Left 4 Dead 2, the more I feel that Valve is ensuring that you will play together as a team, or you'll be dispatched faster than you can imagine.

Unlike the gazebos and New Orleans-inspired architecture of "The Parish" or the mucky bogs of "Swamp Fever," the segments of "Dark Carnival" that I experienced felt like scenes from the highways of the rural South. As a former Southerner, it strongly resembles any freeway and roadside motel you'd find along I-20 in Alabama or Georgia, and it goes a long way in conveying an eerie authenticity. Apparently, the stage also features a carnival, but with limited play time, none of us could make it to the latter stages of the chapter.

My time with "Dark Carnival" (slogan: "You must be this tall...TO DIE!") started amidst the wreckage of a multi-car pileup on a rural interstate. And like many of Valve's lovingly designed stages, it's a double-edged sword. On one hand, you can use the numerous wrecked cars as a vantage point to pick off hordes of undead. But it won't stop a Smoker from reeling you away from your team, nor will it prevent projectiles (Boomer puke and Spitter...spit) from hurting you. Plus, it creates a maze, not dramatically different from the gardens of "The Parish," that's designed to separate you from your fellow survivors. And separate it did. Fortunately, between squad members, we managed to keep damage to a minimum in our hunt to stay alive as long as possible.

That is, until the Jockeys showed up. Lombardi indicated that at every big media reveal this year, Valve would introduce a new special Infected class. At E3, I got plowed by a Charger. At Comic-Con, I got napalmed by Spitter saliva. And with the Jockey (which is like a Hunter that keeps on giving), I experienced the deadliest monkey ever...on my back. In addition to the Uncommon infected shown at the prior shows, there's a zombie clown in "Dark Carnival." Can't wait til that becomes an Internet meme.

Overall, everything seems to be falling into place. I could editorialize why, at this point, I don't believe that Left 4 Dead 2 could simply be a DLC update to the first game, but I'll save that argument for, say, an episode of Feedback (heck, maybe even the PAX special!) instead of grinding something out here. The emphasis on pacing, deathtraps, and item drops points toward a game that takes many of the ideas of the first game, and heightens the tension. No more playing selfish with health and letting your teammates straggle to the safe house. That'll doom everyone. Needless to say, it's going to take a lot of teamwork to get through each stage of the game. Public matchmaking is ill-advised here.