L4D2 - The Passing (Tech Review)

* This entry does not cater to general public, by which I meant folks who don't know what L4D2 is. If you are still not sure where you stand, just ask yourself this - do I know how to change my nickname in the game? Of course this is not to deter laymen to read this entry entirely, just a kind reminder that the lingo might be unfamiliar and weird.

* For fans, spoliers ahead.

We have waited 4 months for The Passing to come out. Remember the days where rumors fly on whether it could be 8 persons co-op (in our dreams!) or can Midnight Riders be NPC or even playable characters, since there are 4 of them and they wield guitars?

Truth is finally out. L4D2 four leads, Nick, Ellis, Coach and Rochelle after escaping the mall at Dead Center in their trusty Jimmy Gibbs Jr stock car, their journey to the amusement park came to a halt in portside nighttown where they will meet Francis, Zoey and Louis, characters from L4D. Bill has sacrificed himself to allow Francis and gang to ascend a link bridge where they are trying to patch up an injured Louis.

Poor Bill. I'm pretty upset actually. We all are. I have never had a playable character kill off in a game before. Sure NPC die all the time, but knowing that someone you choose to stick with for months will not be around anymore, instead rotting away with the thousands of zombie you slaughtered, is unnerving. Despite the alarms screaming for us to fill the generators with 16 cans of gasoline and zombies rushing from all directions, the 4 of us gathered around Bill to have a last look before David (my bro) snatched away Bill's M16.

In the short 2 hour span, David and I completed the campaign twice - Normal and Advanced mode. We managed to see all of the Easter eggs and improvements of this DLC. We saw the bride witch and zombified waiters (which David thought it was a riot). Killing the bride witch, we thought of looking for the groom next, but it was massively messy.

Golf club was awesome. Swift, light and inflicts mass damages. It's like using Katana or Machete, with a metallic click sound. I wonder if the meele is a tribute to Tiger Woods' wife?

M60, or known to Counterstrike as Para is disappointing. With around 150 rounds, it will be barely emptied after a tussle with a Tank. Though I heard it will be best powered with incendiary ammo.

Suitcases of hand guns, crates of pills and Molotovs though a riot of laughs became meaningless after a while. Complete with items from Fallen Survivors, there is an overwhelming supply of items in the game.

The best part of the campaign was that of the three maps and one finale, it incorporated the essence of L4D2.

- X2 Tank Rush from Swamp Fever's Plantation House
- Dash gameplay from Parish's Bridge
- Storm from Hardrain
- Scavenger Hunt of gasoline from Dead Center's Atrium

Gameplay was disrupted by lags on several occasions and hopefully would be resolved soon.

Oh ya, I saw Midnight Rider's tour bus sped right through from the fence by the giant drain. Woot!

Overall I would give four stars out of five and hope to get more people to complete this campaign in Advanced mode. Any takers?

L4D2 - The Passing (For General Public)

* This entry is targeted for general public.


I have never been much of a fanboy in my life. A geek maybe, but only a closet one. I have never queue for nights for launch of iphones, Halo or Star Wars movies. I am the technological barbarian and a very lazy nerd.

But the past twenty four hours, I have partaken in a fanatic nerd-rage that is both exciting and embarrassing for folks my age.

Upon knowing the launch of the much anticipated 'The Passing' campaign for Left4Dead2, we camped out Sembawang Chambers LAN shop just to play the game.

24 hours post the update of The Passing around the globe, by now there must be gazillion reviews and blogs on the game. The reason I still want to squeeze in my two cents' worth is to remind myself in the future that I have never and will never be a Mr. Stepford. Despite marriage and work, I still have time for myself to engage in otherwise misunderstood frathood.

L4D2 is a first person shooter, cooperative game that can be played with both LAN and Internet domains. It is the sequel to Left4Dead which four survivors in a post-apocalyptic world have to fend themselves from zombies and special infected. It is a very violent game that depicts decapitations, disembowelment and genocide using chainsaws, M16, frying pans and sardonic dialogues. Blood fly and innards splashing all over the place that will shock parents into coma just like what Contra did in the Eighties.

Why don't I join regular people my age over beer in soccer pubs, or mahjong and other mature vices? I simply don't. I like to set people on fire over red bulls and pocky chocolate sticks and melee an endless surge of zombies while updating my Facebook. I like to curse, swear in joy, spin and throw my mouse in rage and laugh rabidly with my friends and brothers in front of glowing computer screens and seas of pubescent adolescents.

You just have to accept that the entire generation of Counterstrike gamers has now grown up and still decide to stick to their guns. The quick and easy access of modern Internet and media violence desensitization are just pushing the lot of us in numbers.

I am thrilled that The Passing was not disappointing and exceeded our expectations, which made the long wait worthwhile. I am looking forward to shorten the launch-and-play time of the next DLC (downloadable content) campaign of L4D that will explore the sacrifice of the playable character Bill and preparing for Blizzard's Diablo 3. Yes, I will be taking a week of sabbatical absence from work and housework for that.