Today, we're going to deviate from our standard review format for just a bit... and we beg your indulgence for this exercise. Left 4 Dead 2 is available now, and many of you have most likely already purchased the game. Some may still have hard feelings about how quickly the game was released after the first game—which is out of character for Valve. Some of you may still be on the fence about plopping down your money for the game.

Instead of describing the game and giving you the good and the bad, it's time to just put the cards down: this is a great game that's worth your time and money. We present to you, in no particular order, the reasons you should buy Left 4 Dead 2... on the PC.

More content than the first game

Left 4 Dead 2 has five campaigns, each with its own distinct setting and challenges. You'll be fighting the infected in the dark, in the daylight, on the tracks of a roller coaster, in high places, and in low places. You'll have multiple paths through certain areas, and situations can be tackled in many different ways. There will be a metal concert... with pyro. There will be rain. The missions in this game are more varied, with bigger set-pieces and more asked of the player while playing. Simply seeing all there is to see is a big job, and is a major time commitment. In the first game, you could finish all the movies in a leisurely afternoon.

The campaign is just the beginning, though. You also have the vs. mode with the new infected, which brings brand-new strategies and combinations into the mix. You can use the Jockeys to nudge the survivors into traps, you can use the Spitter to control their movement or simply sap the health of a large group of players—the range on the acid projectile is surprisingly long. The Charger isn't as strong as the Tank, but he can disrupt a large group of survivors and put the major hurt on a player if he's not taken out quickly. The new levels, with the new infected, give vs. mode a whole new life.

Survival mode is back, with all its frustrations; you simply have to stay alive while wave after wave of Infected are thrown at you. Scavenge mode tasks the survivors with collecting gas cans to refill generations while the Infected do all they can to kill them.You can turn on Realism mode which means players won't respawn in closets and will have to be revived with defibrillators, the Infected are harder to kill with an added emphasis on headshots, and there are now no outlines around characters or items. The Realism mode can be turned on during any difficulty level, in any campaign.

There are more game modes out of the box, with more campaigns to explore. You can master the game on one difficulty level and then move to Advanced difficulty, which requires all new strategies. Realism mode changes the game significantly. Vs. mode is always changing as strategies spread across the Internet. This is a big, big game.

New weapons!

Whereas the first game had a limited selection of weaponry, the sequel gives you multiple shotguns, multiple handguns, and multiple fully-automatic weapons, as well as incendiary ammunition, explosive ammo, and laser sights. You can also find a grenade launcher that's good for dealing with crowds—but is hell if wielded by someone who doesn't respect friendly fire.

That's not even discussing the melee weapons, which you can pick up if you're willing to drop your handgun. Ranging from a katana to a cricket bat to a frying pan, you can slice through large groups of Infected with ease, but by definition you have to be in close quarters; be sure to tell your friend with the shotgun you plan on wading into a horde before you start swinging away. I could devote a whole section to the joys of the chainsaw, with its limited supply of fuel and ability to make quick work out of anything you put in front of it.

Weapons are no longer given out in neat piles with an easy upgrade path. Now you'll find weapon drops throughout the level, forcing you to make hard choices about what to carry and when.

But wait, there's more! Now you can pick up Boomer bile as a grenade, which you can throw at any enemy or location to cause the infected to swarm to that area. Bonus points for getting a horde to attack a Tank.

Finding your favorite loadouts by combining ranged weapons with a melee weapon, or maybe dual-wielding handguns while keeping the chrome shotgun or the AK47, will be a fun job for the first few hours, and the game gives you a nice pile of hardware to play with.

This is a proper PC release

The 360 version is going to be fun, no doubt about it, but the PC version features support for dedicated servers—because of course that's a selling point now—and the menu features slots for add-on campaigns and new content. The first game already has some fun user-created levels and mods, and this game will be no different.

The ability to find the best servers creates a more consistent online experience, Steam offers a great way to make sure you always have someone you know to play with, and the mouse and keyboard are much more accurate than playing with a controller. I don't want to start a flame war here, but if you have a decent gaming system, the PC version is less expensive, offers more content, will be updated more frequently, and has better controls. The game also scales wonderfully; I can play it on my MacBook Pro at a good framerate and it looks fine, but on my desktop I can crank the detail and have it look much better than even the 360 version.

It's harder

My regular group of teammates had a quick conversation about whether we should start the campaign on Normal or Advanced difficulty, and decided to stick with Normal to learn the ropes and fly through the campaigns.

That didn't quite happen.

The Director knows how to use the special infected in packs to break up your group, it knows how to keep you moving, and the new environmental, weather, and fire changes you'll see in the game will keep you guessing. Our group was ripped apart multiple times, and we learned to respect the Normal difficulty mode. You'll be forced to learn how to use the new items and weapons very quickly, and if you don't work together as a team and communicate, you won't stand a chance.

Lastly, it's the little things

When you throw a pipe bomb and it blows up, bodies and body parts fly in every direction. Zombies now lose limbs, and look horrific both before and after you take weapons to them. The weapons look and sound satisfying. The campaign offers more than a few surprises to even seasoned players.

Despite the fast development time, this is a game filled with detail, love, and care. You'll be able to pour hours into any of the game modes and still feel like you have more to learn or to do. You can boycott all you want, but you're only hurting yourself. The game seems to be selling well, the servers are filled with skilled and happy gamers, and the reviews have been positive.

Here's hoping that Valve can turn around a Left 4 Dead 3 that's just as good in another year.

Reasons NOT to buy the game?

You don't like playing online. With the new infected and heightened difficulty, the included bots are much lamer. If you don't mind being social and have gaming friends, however, you have no excuse.