Valve Announces Left 4 Dead 2 For PC, Xbox 360

Valve Software announced Left 4 Dead 2, the sequel to its cooperative multiplayer first-person shooter, for Xbox 360 and PC. Shipping worldwide this November 17th, Left 4 Dead 2 will focus on melee combat with new weapons like chainsaws, frying pans, axes, baseball bats, and more. The follow-up will also introduce new survivors, boss zombies, weapons, items, co-op campaigns, versus campaigns, and Survival mode maps. The game will also include AI Director 2.0, which allows Director to further custom-tailor gameplay by procedurally changing weather effects, world objects, and pathways, as well as "enemy population, effects, and sounds to match the players' performance." The original Left 4 Dead sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide at retail since releasing November 2008 thanks to a $10+ million marketing campaign. Valve intends to again support this new game's launch with a multi-million dollar marketing TV/online/outside campaign. "Left 4 Dead was backed by our most aggressive advertising campaign to date, and resulted in a top 5 showing on two platforms during holiday 2008," says Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi. "Left 4 Dead 2 is a larger game and will be supported with even more consumer and retail advertising programs than the original."