All I can hear are the groans and screeches of the undead as I sprint through the dark and bloodied hallways of Resident Evil 2’s police station. I look over my shoulder for a moment only to see a wave of zombies washing down the hallway after me. I’m lost, out of breath, and nearly out of bullets. As the zombies pile on top of me, ripping my insides out, I can only fire off a few pistol rounds in a futile effort of resistance.
I give in, resigned to my zombie dinner fate. The zombies tear chunks from me until I see a glint in the distance, followed by a torrent of gunfire. I blink, and my friends are next to me, wiping the blood off my clothes and bandaging my wounds.
Stalking the halls of Resident Evil 2’s police precinct is usually a lonely affair, but then again, we aren’t really in the Racoon City Police Station, and I’m not Leon. I’m playing as Nick in a Left 4 Dead 2 custom map.
A Left 4 Dead 2 fan called Roku has recreated the entire police station from its observation room down to its sewers. There are different keys, hidden puzzles, and even several green tanks – Left 4 Dead’s bulky zombie bosses – that pretend to be the vicious giant crocodiles down in the sewer. It’s some of the most fun I’ve had in Left 4 Dead 2 and Resident Evil.
Multiplayer Madness
It provides something Capcom never could: multiplayer slapstick.
Getting to experience all the twists and turns of Resident Evil 2 with my friends was an experience I won’t soon forget. While it almost completely negates the horror aspect I love so dearly about the classic horror series, it provides something Capcom never could: multiplayer slapstick.
Trying to navigate the convoluted mansion, complete the puzzles, and fight off hordes of attackers is hilariously complicated with multiple people. When playing the first Resident Evil map, my friends and I had to restart the entire game after I dropped a can of brain juice down a pit. I didn’t know what to do with the cerebral fluid (or that it was a vital puzzle element) and thought it might belong in the hole. It did not, and we couldn’t get it back up.
While frustrating at times, these moments are part of the fun of playing with multiple people. You no longer have much control over what happens or who does what when the other players are no longer brain-dead AIs but are brain-dead friends who terrifyingly do whatever they want without a thought.
Chokehold
Even after 14 years, Left 4 Dead 2 has a chokehold on my gaming habits. Other games come and go, but this masterpiece stands the test of time, in large part thanks to devoted, creative fans.
While we haven’t seen any major updates from Valve in years, the developers endorsed and elevated community creations. Early in 2020, the Last Stand update, made by the Left 4 Dead 2 community team, included new maps, weapons, enemies, unused dialogue, and a new campaign.
If you want more examples of this creativity, you must go on the game’s Steam page workshop to see how many new custom maps and mods there are. Roku is just one of many players who have dedicated their time to producing more content for fans like me to relish.
Left 4 Dead 2 was an excellent game at launch, but the community has grown it into something Valve can’t have predicted. You never know what to expect when you go onto the workshop.
