Left 4 Dead best survival horror game ever, this game is often regarded as the one of the best example of sandbox style of games. The developers for the game Valve Corporation was planning a sequel to Left 4 Dead since the day it was released. Left 4 dead 2 is under the development of Valve Corporation and will be released exactly a year after the release of Left 4 Dead that is on November 17, 2009. It will release on the consoles of Xbox 360 an Microsoft Windows. The game will be distributed by Steam and will use the Source engine. Just like the previous game Left 4 Dead genre of the game will be First person shooter mixed with survival horror settings. Alongwith single player there will be 4-player Cooperative multiplayer and 4-vs-4 multiplayer modes included in the game. Left 4 Dead 2 was revealed for the first time at E3 2009 with a trailer during the press event of Microsoft. Survival horror settings are said to be deeper this time, also the game will have one of the best sandbox style gameplay.

Following the steps of Left 4 Dead, this sequel will be based in the shadows of some kind of apocalyptic plague, that is turning humans into zombie like mutants. This plague is forcing the survivors to make their way through the mass to the extractions points using the safehouses in the way. This time the game starts from Savannah, Georgia and ends up in New Orleans, Louisiana. The four new survivors for the game will be introduced with their backstories through dialogue in the game, just like the previous game. Four new survivors are Rochelle, a reporter of a local cable company, Coach a high school football coach, Nick a gambler and Ellis a mechanic. According to Valve, Left 4 Dead 2 will also explain the cause of the zombies in the first game. Story of the game also connects the two narratives of the Left 4 Dead games.

Left 4 Dead 2 is a First person shooter game like the previous game, some of the scenes are presented in third person or pre-rendered movies. In the main campaign mode of the game four players can play in the co-operative mode of the game. There will be five new campaigns, each featuring different number of chapters. All the non-playing survivors will be controlled by computer. Main objective in each chapter is to reach the safehouse location after struggling through hordes of infected zombies. To reach and secure the extraction point in each campaign will be the final chapter. This whole mode will be controlled by AI Director, Its an artificial intelligence engine that will monitor the players performance and change the challenges for the players as they progress through the game. for survival, players will have to access improved weapons like melee weapons such as an axe, baseball bat, chainsaw and a frying pan. A silenced machine gun is the new entry in the weapon section. Zombies will also have some modifications like there will be some zombies who are immune to fire.

Valve stared working on Left 4 Dead 2 just after the release of Left 4 Dead. In order to save the game to be leaked it was code named as “ Carnation”. Left 4 Dead explore more map then the previous one. The story from Valve is full to include cause and effects of the plague. Initially developers were thinking of a female character from the Department of Motor Vehicles, but that doesn’t worked out in the end. ESRB Forces Valve to change the cover page of the game. Original image showed the pinky and ring finger of the iconic hand torn off in addition to the torn-off thumb. To made ESRB calm down Valve change the figure and fingers were made bent again.

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A nonlinear gameplay is a gameplay that offers players with challenges that can be completed in a number of different sequences. A more linear game will allow a player with fix sequence of challenges and a less linear game is the one allowing a grater freedom. For example, a non linear game may allow you a choice between paths to victory or in better words permit multiple sequences to finish the game. Some games are released with both linear and non linear elements, and some of the games offers sandbox mode which allows player to explore the game environment independently from main theme of the game.

Most games feature linear storyline, which runs on a fixed plot in a single sequence. A true linear game is the one which doesn’t have a story at all. A truly nonlinear story is the one which completely depends on the actions of players completely. A non linear story is comparatively difficult to design. Non linear stories usually preserve the overall story arc while allowing multiple solutions to a specific challenge, or a choice between multiple challenges. Most of the non linear games come with a dynamic feature for game dramatics, pacing, and difficulty called the Director. The way of directors working is called “Procedural narrative”. Instead of just having a difficulty level which just runs up to a constant level. The director analyzes how the players fared in the game so far, and tries to add subsequent events that would gave them a sense of narration and nonlinear game gameplay.

A world or game level can be linear or non linear as well. In the game with linear levels, there is only one route that the players must use through the level. In the games with nonlinear levels, players might have to revisit locations or choose from multiple paths to finish level. Like other game elements, linear level design is not absolute. While a non linear may offer players the freedom to explore or backtrack there are still fixed sequences of challenges that player must solve in order to progress in the game. Even if a player has to encounter the challenges in a fixed sequence, they must be given the freedom to identify the challenges without having presented one after the other. In a more linear game, in order to finish game player has to finish the levels in the sequence. The ability to choose between levels, skip, and repeat makes game less linear. A sufficiently large and open ended level may be described as open world or sandbox. In a sandbox mode of a game, player may turn off or ignore game objectives. This can give rise to possibilities that were not intended by the game designer.

Non linear games are preferred more compared to linear games as modern day players want to be the part of the game more and more. The feeling of narration gives players feeling of enjoying every corner of the game, as they are unable to do this with traditional linear games. Non linear games also proved to be commercial hits. Some of the famous non linear games are: Assassin’s Creed, Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto franchise, Freelancer, Crackdown, Elder Scrolls series.

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