The Music of Left 4 Dead 2
By DrRandle 3 Comments
Left 4 Dead's gameplay lends itself to spending more time running and gunning in order to escape hordes of zombies than it does allowing players to sit back and enjoy some of the finer details Valve has put into the game. One feature that might be overlooked more often than not is just how incredibly unique the games score is. Presented below are a few choice highlights from the soundtrack of Left 4 Dead 2 for you audio pleasure, and there's an added bonus. If you already own the game on Steam, or at least the demo, there are ways of obtaining these tracks by simply following these instructions:
Go into your computer directory and look up the following: The drive you put it on > program files > Steam > Steamapps > Common > Left 4 Dead 2 (or the Demo, which you can download for free and find the files there, too) > sound. And there you are, access to all the pieces. Now some of them are just small incidental bits... the stray violin pull or the exclamation of being grabbed by a smoker. But with the videos below it should be a little easier to find some of the better, more full tracks you're looking for.
Overall the music is very familiar to anyone who played the first Left 4 Dead. The familiar tunes and themes are back, including The Monsters Within, but all with a decidedly southern coat of paint. The music is packed with more banjos and brass than the previous, making you feel like you're in a grind-house flick... which would be appropriate given the amount of gore that splatters with each kill and the film grain. The game also has a decidedly heavier rock guitar influence compared to it's predecessors reliance on electronic bass and haunting overtures.
There are plenty more songs to find, of course. This was just meant to sample some of the better ones. What really intrigues me about both Left 4 Dead's soundtracks is how their are recurring themes and motifs that keep weaving between the songs, all of which let you know that this is in fact a Left 4 Dead game. Even as it branches out into a second title, those themes and motifs continue, something that a lot of popular franchises have learned well (Mario games and Zelda games being heavily obvious with recurring pieces.)
Oh and next time you're running along The Parish and you stumble upon a Juke box, do me a favor and give it a couple of whacks. What for? I'd be GLaD to show you why:
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