E3 News: Left 4 Dead 2

Not content  with the continued success of its original zombie-fest, Valve today announced Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) is to be released later this year for PC and Xbox 360. The sequel to one of the best-selling and addictive co-op shooters of recent times promises to set a new benchmark for the genre and Valve believe it will become one of 2009’s ‘marquee titles’.

“A large part of how Left 4 Dead became 2008’s top-selling new IP on Xbox 360 and the PC was the custom-tailored gameplay made possible by the AI Director,” said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. “With the knowledge gained from creating the original, new technology, and a passionate team, L4D2 will set a new benchmark for cooperative action games.

L4D2 will introduce a re-fit to the popular, dynamic gameplay inducing AI Director. This time  Director 2.0 will have the ability to procedurally change weather effects, world objects and pathways over and above its current role in tailoring enemy population and sound to match your performance. Fans can also expect new survivors, weapons, items and boss zombies and it seems L4D2 is shaping up to be a much larger game than the original with a bigger number of co-op and versus campaigns and maps available from launch.

L4D2 is due on sale November 17th on Steam and in the States, but we can expect to see the box copy touch down in the UK on the following Friday. We hope to bring you more details soon, but in the mean time check out our original Left 4 Dead review and keep an eye on L4D.com for more information.