Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 is brilliant. The game's many additions such as new weapons, new infected types, daylight campaigns and more varied scenery really spice up the format of Left 4 Dead. To me, the original now seems fairly bland and boring with its exclusively night-time maps and only a very small number of weapons.

I feel the two best campaigns in the game are Dark Carnival and Hard Rain. Dark Carnival takes the survivors through an abandoned theme park. You'll be running from infected hordes through a Tunnel-of-Love and along a roller-coaster track. There's also an achievement for carrying a garden gnome through the entire campaign and the finale is fantastic.

Hard Rain sees the survivors' boat run out of fuel, forcing them to disembark and head to a gas station for a fill-up. They then have to make a return journey, which means that if the players use up all the safe room health packs on the way, they won't have any left on the way back.

Hard Rain gets its namesake from the dynamic weather effects it features. At any moment, a storm could roll in, reducing visibility significantly and making the survivors sitting ducks for special infected attacks. It also means that, on the return journey, much of the route will be flooded, slowing the survivors down and making them use alternate paths.

The other campaigns are excellent as well, and there is a running story arc throughout them, unlike in the original game. The only problem with this is that, due to Left 4 Dead's multiplayer format, there is no real ending sound-off to the story, although the last finale of the game is by far the hardest.

Left 4 Dead 2 takes Left 4 Dead's award-winning format and improves on it tenfold. Anyone who liked Left 4 Dead, or likes shooters in general, should definitely give this one a go.