2032: Redux

Title: 2032: Redux
Links: http://www.gamemaps.com/details/15314 
http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=569773741
Author(s): MaddaCheeb101
Survivors: L4D1
Notes: Intended for solo play; only one player will spawn.

This is the three-map conclusion campaign for the 2019 series, the other campaigns being 2019 and 2019 II. As with 2019 II, this is very narrative-oriented but more so than the other campaigns, it is much more experimental with gameplay. It's only intended to be played solo, so you will not spawn with any other teammates. If there is more than one person in the lobby, the other players won't be playable in the first map, but they will in the second.

I have really mixed feelings about this. The first times I played it, I didn't like it at all. I definitely leaned on the "why is this even a thing, this is dumb" side. But when I revisited it and played it solo, my feelings were a bit more amenable. It is reminiscent of some story-driven mid-2000 FPS's like F.E.A.R., and although it doesn't really explain too much, the voice acting was serviceable.

The campaign begins and ends with bare-bones cutscenes with voice-over work above static images. The backstory isn't significant to the campaign but is focused on for some reason. None of it is really set up in the previous campaigns and there's really no that happens in them that you can't deduce from this campaign. What's done a bit more effectively is the use of audiologs, since they actually lay a better framework for the campaign's setup. As with 2019 II, there are static NPCs but they're not quite as distracting because you can pretty much run past them all.

Otherwise, the map layouts for the first two maps are actually pretty decent. They're not bad but not great either. Some places will remind you of places from other games, probably because textures were ripped from other games. It's most an industrial setting and the path is usually fairly clear. Aside from one part where you have to go off the beaten path just to find a key and return, it's pretty straightforward. The highlight is probably when the power gets shut down and the backup power gets turned on, freeing hundreds of common infected. The finale is a let-down in the layout department though because it's just a series of meandering tunnels with the same texture everywhere, and there are so many common infected that's a bit annoying.

As I said before, this campaign is fairly experimental, specifically in regard to gameplay and the way combat is affected. The major changes are thus: common infected have more health, the player moves a tad bit slower, common infected are immediately alerted to your presence when you fire a gun, and you can free yourself from special infected. First things first, the new aspects of common infected make the game effectively challenging, especially since there are hardly any special infected in the first two maps. This also has the hilarious side effect of sometimes having infected continuing to attack after getting decapitated. This is because one melee swing won't necessarily kill with the exception of a decapitation, and even then they might still have enough health to keep attacking. I actually really liked this concept for some reason.

The common infected getting alerted to your presence because of gunshots is a good idea in theory and it made me choose to take a melee weapon instead of a pistol in the beginning, but there just weren't enough opportunities for this to become a strategy to actually think about. Surprisingly, the reduced movement speed wasn't really too big a deal since I carried a melee and just ended up beating the shit out of any commons that attacked me with a tonfa. The lack of special infected until map 3 really doesn't make reduced movement much of a factor.

Lastly, being able to free yourself from special infected in map 3 is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's pretty much necessary for new to average-skilled players because they will end up getting pounced or ridden. There's not much else that can be done and leaving the default setting doesn't work because you'll just get incapped and there would be too many complainers. On the other hand, it does take the threat away from specials, aside from boomers, who just exist to make your life a pain. As I said, this is mostly experimental and the more interesting thing, in my opinion, is to see how this all plays out and conjecturing about how the mechanics here could potentially work out in a longer and better campaign.

I think one of the biggest detriments is that a significant portion of this campaign is watching cutscenes or waiting for people to stop talking. Aside from aspects that waste your time, 2032: Redux is beatable in about twenty minutes. There are no tank or witch spawns. Resources are a bit rare until the third map.

Difficulty: Since this is an experimental campaign with different mechanics, I recommend players try it out on Easy or Normal first. The hardest part by far is the finale, where the number of common infected bum-rushing you in corridors is extremely high.

Final Verdict: This was a bit better than expected, but there's nothing that really stands out that makes it worth returning to. It's a unique campaign designed to be solo'd, so that enough should warrant one playthrough for more experienced players, but it plays terribly for multiple people. Good for a single solo playthrough if no friends want to join you.

Rating: 3.1/5.
62 headless common infected out of 100.