Left 4 Dead 2, released Nov. 17, is the thrilling-yet-controversial sequel to Valve Corporation’s Left 4 Dead zombie shooter game. It is available for Xbox 360 and Windows PC.

The game is filled with exciting moments. During one scene the survivors make it to the mall, which is their last hope for getting out of their zombie-infested home. The survivors picture a full-out military force with helicopters or Humvees ready to immediately evacuate them out of the city. Upon entering, however, their hopes are deflated. The mall is empty except for a few corpses littering the ground. The survivors look around some more until finally one of them, a gambler named Nick, says in a hollow voice, “There’s nobody alive here.”

As a player, you want the new batch of survivors to make it out alive, not only for the sheer sake of winning, but because the characters are slightly more loveable and more developed than in the original. The story, with the five campaigns blending into each other rather than being separate experiences, is also better.

Along with the new characters comes a new setting and infected bodies. Along with the Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank and Witch, there’s the Charger, Spitter and Jockey. Also, instead of playing through nighttime levels only, like the first game, there are now levels that take place during the day.

Last year, the level design was merely a backdrop to the A.I. Director–an artificial intelligence system. This time the levels are designed with high action and intensity with the A.I. Director complementing it. The Director is indeed much smarter this time around, having the ability to switch up different pathways and changing the weather as well as deploying a plethora of new items for the survivors to use. Melee weapons are included, and you’ll wonder how you ever played the first game without them. The gore has also intensified in this installment. Besides these being entertaining to use, they also offer new strategic elements, which is a requirement in this game.

The crescendo moments of Left 4 Dead 2 are a knuckle-whitening blast. Instead of being held up in a corner and waiting for the attacks to end, players will sometimes have to move from point A to point B in order to thin out the onslaught of zombies. There is one instance where an alarm goes off and you have to race to shut it off with zombies coming at you from every direction. These moments don’t ever tend to repeat themselves and even if you find yourself replaying them, they never grow dull. For hardcore players there is a Realism mode that turns off all of the helpful features, such as character outlines and warnings when one of your teammates is incapacitated.

All of the campaign maps are playable in Versus and Survival modes. If you’re looking for something different or you don’t have time to play through a full Versus match, a new Scavenge mode puts two teams, one of survivors and one infected, against each other. The survivors have to race against the clock to find as many gas tanks as possible to fill up a generator.

If you loved Left 4 Dead last year, then there should be no hesitation to buy this game. Newcomers, however, should be warned that this game is strictly for multiplayer. While it is possible for you to get through a campaign by yourself, it’s best to share the experience with friends online or through split-screen co-op, as the A.I. Director is a little lacking. Though Left 4 Dead 2 doesn’t offer any new game play mechanics from the first one, this is still a well-developed sequel. Valve has expertly crafted a high-quality game that ups the ante and makes shooting zombies with your friends still the best fun you can have.