Wednesday, October 2, 2019

T5W#216-Top 5 Team Four Star Left 4 Dead Let’s Plays




Though best known for Dragon Ball Z Abridged, aka the King of Anime Abridging, Team Four Star dabbles in other forms of entertainment from other abridged series like Hellsing Ultimate Abridged and Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged to Dragon Ball Analysis to, one of my personal favorites: gaming videos.  Back when Let’s Plays were gaining steam, TFS members Lanipator, Takahata101, KaiserNeko and Ganxinba frequently got together to enjoy some four player co-op over a few games.  As much as I love their Halo: Reach playthrough, since we’re about to get into in the month of scares, im looking back at their epic Left 4 Dead 2 Let’s Plays.  Whether it’s mowing down Zombies or shooting each other in the process, these are my Top 5 Team Four Star Left 4 Dead 2 Let’s Plays, showcasing the best banter and epic successes (and fails) that inspired me to pick up this game and play it. 

#5-Suicide Blitz II 
A custom DLC campaign for the PC, Suicide Blitz II saw the TFS gang attempting to trek to an evacuation site at a football stadium, all the while carrying the mysterious garden gnome, Gnomechompski, along with them.  What makes this campaign stand out are two things.  First, the constant connection failures that result in Kaiser or Taka dropping out, unable to chat with their teammates and raising general havoc in the process.  Second, the true reason why Gnomechompski is along for the ride.  The mega Easter egg of a Portal themed sublevel (both Portal and Left 4 Dead were made by the same studio) is an incredible find and it sucks that connection issues prevented the team from exploring it completely. 


#4-Hard Rain 
One of the toughest campaigns in Left 4 Dead 2, Hard Rain sees the TFS boys battling a literal hurricane to get fuel and return to a safety on their boat.  Trying to keep track of one another while fending off legions of Zombie and Witches proves difficult for the crew.  It’s plenty action packed with plenty of jokes, capped off by a finale no one expected.  Kaiser accidentally completing the campaign and leaving the others to die leads to one of the most recurring gags in the entire Left 4 Dead Let’s Play run, because it’s a catastrophe Gan would not soon let Kaiser forget.  


#3-Helm’s Deep 
Never would I ever expect to associate The Lord of the Rings with Left 4 Dead.  And yet here it is: a survival mode map set to one of my favorite locations in all of Middle Earth.  Lani, Taka, Kaiser and Gan get to unleash hell from the top of the wall against legions of Zombies and Special Infected with every weapon the game has available for them to use.  The added LotR music is an added bonus but the real gold is towards the end during the teams last failed playthrough.  An epic attempt to save Gan results in the whole team going down, leading to a hilarious impromptu Team Deathmatch in the waiting room. 


#2-Detour Ahead 
Another custom DLC campaign, Detour Ahead looks like business as usual for the TFS boys.  It ends up turning into one of the hardest, most hellish campaigns any gamer has ever had to endure.  The team comes so close to dying on multiple occasions from waves of Zombies that just wont end, followed by Tanks that just tear through them when things get too quiet.  Like other entries on this list, the finale stands out the most, this time because of the feeling of dread coming over everyone that they wont win the first time and they’ll have to replay it again.  It’s both gut bustingly funny and cringe worth, this campaign is freaking brutal. 


#1-No Mercy 
Probably the first Let’s Play I saw from these guys, No Mercy is the first campaign of the first Left 4 Dead game.  It’s got a fun mix of gunplay and sword slicing Zombie action.  We also get the team at their best and most dysfunctional.  Several times Gan and Taka nearly clash because Gan cant help but insult or call out Taka on every little thing, making tensions flare a couple of times.  But in the end, they pull together and Taka even allows Gan to leave him behind so they can finish the campaigns finale after three tries.  I don’t know why but that always makes me smile (teamwork is awesome I guess?)

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