Pros:
Unique setting Authentic atmosphere Lots of custom assets Beautiful visuals Above average map design Custom survivor dialog
Cons:
Got lost or turned around a couple of times, especially in the 4th map Bots had trouble getting in to the cable car Gas can objective for the finale is a bit spread out and tedious to navigate Golf clubs in the first map look like they should be usable melee weapons but aren't
Conclusion:
Pretty sure I've been waiting for this Campaign since the original Left 4 Dead, and now it's finally here. And it was definitely worth the wait! Yama is a feast for the eyes, utilizing its Japanese setting to the fullest extent. While Left 4 Dead is typically known for North American towns like Pennsylvania and New Orleans, Japan is very different, architecturally speaking, lending Yama its own unique atmosphere that is completely different from everything else out there right now. Narrow streets, neon lights, and tall buildings dominate the early maps of the campaign, as Yama eventually branches out into more rural mountain towns and industrial areas. And it's all just gorgeous. I'm in love. But it's not all perfect. The density inherent to Japan, the high level of detail in this campaign, and the tendency for each map to have tons of secret alcoves and split paths means on more than one occasion I explored down a path that I expected would lead me to some bonus items or something and found that it merely wound me back to the beginning of the map. That's not the end of the world, but I legitimately got lost in the third map, when the rooftop path leading to the next area wasn't made entirely clear - might I suggest a couple trees or something to try and discourage the player from accidentally jumping off the roof (while still leaving the roof open as a danger area for smokers and jockeys)? And while I appreciate the finale, where you work your way up through the hotel and must come back down again to get to the rescue vehicle, everything feels just a little too spread out. With Dead Center, the big mall area was easy to read and figure out where gas cans were - in the Yama finale, figuring out how to get to any given cache of gasoline takes a little bit more work than should be necessary. Oh, but don't listen to people who say the campaign is too easy - they can just bump up the difficulty if they want more challenge. That's what it's there for. I think the current item distribution is just fine the way it is, and is in line with the difficulty of Valve's own official maps.
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
This review was posted before the latest release.