German authorities give uncensored version of Left 4 Dead 2 the green light

Shawn Knight

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Editor's take: The uncut international version of Valve’s award-winning first-person zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2 is now available to gamers in Germany, well over a decade after the title first launched. If you somehow missed this one during its heyday, the multiplayer aspect alone makes it worth the money.

Left 4 Dead 2 is the 2009 sequel to Valve’s original Left 4 Dead, which arrived one year earlier. Both feature a variety of campaigns that afford a movie-like experience with a heavy emphasis on multiplayer / cooperative gameplay.

For release in Germany and a few other regions, Value had to censor much of the game’s violent content to appease the local ratings body. According to Engadget, the censored version removed all traces of blood from the game and prevented players from dismembering enemies or setting them on fire. Worse yet, when killing an infected, they simply disappeared.

Even the game’s box art had to be toned down.

Valve recently asked German authorities to re-evaluate Left 4 Dead 2. Surprisingly enough, regulators changed their tune and permitted Valve to release the uncut international version in the country. Those who already own the censored version can download free DLC to add gore back to the game.

Despite its age, Left 4 Dead 2 remains relevant. Back in September, Valve published a community-created update that added 26 new survival maps, a new campaign based on the lighthouse survival map and more.

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I never played Left for Dead 2. I really enjoyed Left For Dead 1, but I had 2 main problems:

#1 The game truly couldn't be played by a single player and you absolutely needed 4 players.

#2 the difficulty ramps up ridiculously. The game is better when it's easier to kill the enemies. I never had a chance to truly enjoy GAUNTLET back in the days, but Left 4 Dead is pretty much the same feeling on multiplayer fun.
 
I had no idea Germany had this restriction.

I still play L4D2 Multiplayer on custom servers like 10x10 etc still alot of fun.
 
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I had no idea Germany had this restriction.

I still play L4D2 Multiplayer on custom server like 10x10 etc still alot of fun.


A number of countries have restrictions on graphic violence.
Australia, has a restriction, for example, on having children in a situation where they can be killed in game. I think that's why a lot of people around the world love tuning into Youtube to watch Americans play games without censors...or the Japanese.
 
"For release in Germany and a few other regions, Value had to censor much of the game’s violent content"
I think there should be Valve not Value
 
I had no idea Germany had this restriction.

I still play L4D2 Multiplayer on custom servers like 10x10 etc still alot of fun.

In the 80s/90s in Germany some games were completely banned due to content like Wolfenstein 3D (nazi symbols) or heavily modified like Carmageddon (robots instead of humans). Thoes games, even when quote pixelated to today's titles, had a novel and different impact and where perceived to have a bad influence on kids/teens by the established society, so you had to dial up with 56k during the night and and hit the scene to get them or trade at a lan party, anyway the games back then were well worth it.
 
I never played Left for Dead 2. I really enjoyed Left For Dead 1, but I had 2 main problems:

#1 The game truly couldn't be played by a single player and you absolutely needed 4 players.

#2 the difficulty ramps up ridiculously. The game is better when it's easier to kill the enemies. I never had a chance to truly enjoy GAUNTLET back in the days, but Left 4 Dead is pretty much the same feeling on multiplayer fun.

I can't speak much for Expert, but as far as campaign goes the AI do better than most players in Easy through Advanced difficulties when it comes to protecting you.
 
This game still has the best zombie death animations and body physics of any game to this day. The blood splatter is also delicious!

And the headshots...
I get chills just thinking about them.
 
I feel I've warped to a weird alternative dimension where the Germans don't like blood and dismembered corpses
 
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