Expert Realism Defeated : 'The Read Deal' Achievement claimed.

Well, I did it, I finally managed to scrap my way through Left 4 Dead 2 on Expert Difficulty, Realism mode - earning the achievement. A rare achievement actually - according the Giantbomb's stats page only 3.3% of the 12,000 odd players of Left 4 Dead 2 or about 360 players.

Now first of all - I have to say, the success was down to getting into a really good team. Normally when I play - I'm pretty strong, I tend to feel like I'm usually at least equal strongest in the team. I'm often the guy handing out pills, helping people up and limping to the safe room when everyone else bitten the bullet...

However in this particular team, I was more the dude bringing up the rear, watching peoples backs and being helped up and given pills! The honour roll of the folk I did it with:-

ALEX DE RUE
Rabbid Sloth
Le Picard

If anyone wants to do Expert Realism, hit these guys up for a game, considering so many others I've been teamed up with - have failed so often - we made it look pretty easy - nobody got killed, there were very few incaps and rarely were all the first aid kits in the safe room actually used.

I did make another observation about Dead Center which makes it a particuarly easy campaign to beat - it's the haz-mat guys. Every time you kill one there's a chance they will drop a boomer bile jar. These are incredibly useful and when there are a lot of zombies piling in - with the haz-mat guys - you can sometimes end up with an almost endless supply.

So apart from that - what's the secret to beating Expert Realism?

Okay here's my quick list for how to do it.

1. Be good, be VERY good, you should be able to clear the first part of Dead Center with the crappy computer AI only for help.

2. Choose Dead Center - for loads of reasons it's an easier campaign.

3. Be in as good a team as you can - if there's one idiot, or person who isn't very good - then you may as well play Scavenge and try another time.

4. Save your pipe bombs and boomer biles for hoard rushes.

5. Take extreme care not to hit each other with friendly fire - but never avoid taking a shot, the damage you deal with a firearm is less then the infected.

6. If a hunter, charger or smoker grabs someone - save them quick, there's no time to pause.

7. If you meet a tank heal or take pills - yo need to be able to manouvre.

8. If a witch blocks your path - use the combat shotgun, disturb her when your gun is full and don't start shooting until she is vulnerable - go for the head at point blank range.

9. Try to keep the whole team healthy and alive. If you get to the safe room and everyone is limping along in the red - the healthiest person should kill the others before you close the door- that way everyone gets 50% health

10. Remember the choke points and pick your spots to hold out, be patient, but move quickly when you're not fighting.

Finally - make sure you check every spot where health and weapons spawn - to keep yourself healthy and well armed.

Weapons wise - at the gun store get the Magnum and put your laser sight on the magnum, it's a must gun for Expert Realism, infinite ammo and one shot will more or less stop a zombie almost anywhere you hit it. Well, that's not strictly true - go for the head of course, or a limb - particularly if you're on the floor shoot at the legs. It will blow the arms off infected but that won't stop them - taking the legs out will!

Don't forget to take your time, the best strategy is to be patient, fight hard and move fast when you are moving.

All in all, if everyone plays a good game, it can be easier than you think, certainly eaiser than 99% of people who attempt it make it.

Left 4 Dead 2: The Expert Realism Challenge.

I'm still fixated on beating this. I'm not entirely sure, I'm not normally a die hard 'challenge gamer' and don't mind leaving beating games on the hardest setting.

However for Left 4 Dead 2 I somehow feel I really want to, I even came really close on Friday night - I got in a great little team, with a Frenchman called Alex de Rue and erm... Another dude. I can't remember their name. For some reason they started the campaign by killing the remaining AI survivor (Rochelle) what the purpose of this is I don't know - but I can't complain we made it through. I got killed by the tank in part two, on the way to the gun store. It was silly really, I was trying to climb the container and simply wasn't able to climb up in time - I'd already done over 3000 damage with a grenade launcher - but I should have stopped fighting back earlier and focused on clearing the container betweeen the two highways - I didn't leave myself enough time.

Otherwise we had a really smooth run through the campaign with no real tight spots at all. The trouble was - at the finale, while trying to fuel up Jimmy Gibbs junior - I got killed again... But very promising - I think Dead Center is probably the easiest Campaign now.

The other nights I tried to re-create this success, but the trouble is with Left 4 Dead 2 you are slave to the quality of people who join your game. I had one bunch join who just mucked about killing each other before the campaign started - another lot doing some wierd glitch to get on the roof, but there was nowhere to go once there... I did better with the Computer AI tagging along!

On the easier settings you can muddle through the campaigns without much thought. However on Expert Realism, the damage all of the infected do increases exponentially. Normal infected do 20% of your health in a hit, so if two sneak up behind you and simultaneously hit you - you are down to 60% health and haven't even had a chance to retalliate! Special infected not only do more damage, but take more damage to kill. Used to seeing a Smoker grab you and taking them out with one shot? Won't work now with most weapons at most distances. You might get a couple of shots in, but unless you have a powerful weapon at the right range you won't have time to kill him.

Witches also, I've noticed seem to get placed in the way - removing the option to sneak around them. Normal infected also have to be shot in the right place - head shots are good and leg shots, torso shots are not effective and you can blow an arm off them - but they still keep coming.

So how do you deal with the various infected, what's the best tactic for the various infected?

1. Normal infected:- When they are milling about try to keep your distance, shoot for the head or the knees. If they start attacking as a horde - the whole team should try to shelter in a spot where everyone can face forwards without fear of being attacked from behind. The trucks at the start of Dark Carnival are an example. If you are in a corridor like the hotel of Dead Center - have one person cover the rear attack. Usually most of the hoard comes from one direction, but a few will often come in from behind.

2. Smokers :- In normal mode your safest bet is to shoot the Smoker the instant he grabs you, that won't work now, unless you have a very powerful gun and are at the right range at least. Instead shoot the tongue, or if you have a melee equiped - chop the tongue. You have to be accurate, but you have more chance of this than being able to kill the Smoker before he pulls you in.

3. Witch :- On the Normal difficulty setting you can usually move around her if she does get you - you just get incapped, on Expert Non-realism, you'll be rescued from a closet. Those are now no longer the case and she will be placed so you cannot move around her. Option 1 for dealing with her is throw a molotov and back up quickly - let the other survivors shoot her while you run like the wind - have the person with most health do this as they can run faster. Option 2 is to kill her with a gun. The most realistic proposal is the combat shotgun. To do it disturb her and wait until she stands up - she can't be hurt during the standing animation. Before you do it make sure you have reloaded. As soon as she is standig and out of the standing animation - pump as many shots as you can into her adn go for the head.

4. Tank :- The tank takes massive damage to kill - the trick to beating him is to try to get out of enclosed spaces so you can manouver. If you have pain pills or a shot - and are low on health - use it! Being able to run is the key to beating the tank. Keep your distance, but avoid the thrown debris it's one hit one incap. A good tactic is to have the survivors split into two pairs and for the pair who the tank isn't chasing to do all the shooting - then change, he seems to take over 7000 damage at least so you can't assume he's nearly dead at any time.

The normal tactics apply to all the infected - but avoiding taking a hit becomes more important than ever. And you need to make sure you stick together - sometimes losing sight of a wandering survivor can kill the group. Friendly fire is far more damaging in Expert Realism too - you really need to avoid this, one close up shot from the right weapon will incap a survivor who was on 80% health. Make sure you stick together even when looking for pills and health packs, and do check the usual spots - you'll need everything you can find.

I haven't spent my allotted agreed time on Scavenger Mode, at the moment I'm really focused on firstly claiming 'The Real Deal' Achievement for beating a campaign on Expert Realism. I'm enjoying the challenge, and playing on this setting has definately upped my game.

Left 4 Dead 2 : Defeating Expert Realism Mode.

I didn't play scavenger last night, I committed to doing that on a Friday, and I won't be able to next Friday because I will be out for the evening.

Instead last night I have another concerted attempt at tackling Expert Realism. It was an interesting night actually - I didn't get particularly far, but that's not the point - I did pick up enough information to make what can seem impossible difficulty do-able.

I think counter-intuitively all of the Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns start with a very challenging section. Large open areas, lots of infected and little useful cover. In the normal play-mode it works well, becuse they hit the survivors hard, and it makes the little skirmishes that occur later on more effective because the survivors are in a weakened state. If it started easy and built up - it'd probably be too easy.

Last night I focused on 'Dark Carnival' now I've seen numerous teams not even make it off the road - falling to the hoard of zombies before they've even climbed over the cars. I've seen better teams limping along, wounded and missing a member by the time they get to the under-pass just before the hotel.

The point here is that although before I said you need good 4 way comms and 4 good players, there's something else you need too! That is solid tactics. The infected on Expert Realism will take an immense amount of firepower to drop them unless you hit the head - when a hoard is charging you from every angle, it's impossible to snipe with an analog stick and head-shot them. On Expert Realism, this initial high-challenge works a bit differently, rather than weakening the survivors - it wipes them out.

On Normal and Easy - especially non-realism, it's pretty easy to get complacent - a few shoves, a few well placed shots and you can get through these sections with very little effort - only the specials offering any serious threat. When you up the difficulty and go realism - you need to start looking for better tactics.

Here's some ideas on how through the Dark Carnival Motel with your health kits intact and your health in the green/amber.

1. At the start, after the talk about Jimmy Gibbs Junior's car - grab your weapons and health kits, and I strongly suggest choosing the sub-machine gun. You'll need to be able to shoot accurately and you'll be in close quarters to your team mates so the shotgun is dangerous and not as effective - you'll mainly be trying to keeop the infected at range.

2. Once you're tooled up, the entire team should run and jump past the infected until the road is blocked, at that point there is an open Luton Van or Lorry to the left of the road - pile in quick, then turn to face the entrance, front two crouch the back two stand - keep killing until the infected stop coming. The risk here is that a Spitter will gob into the van - if that happens, and you're at the middle, try moving back - the spit might not have made it to the back wall. If not you're going to have to get out. If someone feels like playing 'fall guy' he can stay out of the van, let the team in the van cover him and specifically try to take out the special infected, particularly Spitters. You need someone good to do this job - they might get hunters, smokers, chargers and jockeys coming at them and quick reflexes will help them not lose so much damage. If a boomer barfs on the team - everyone get in the van, maintain formation and keep shooting.

3. Once you're through the first encounter where you hole up in the first van, make your way around the blocked road, instead of heading down the slip-road to the hummer stay on the road, there should be a thrown weapon and another weapon at the campsite. Still, don't go down to the slip-road, to the left is an over-turned lorry and some bushes, it's possible to jump on the bushes and then onto the over-turned lorry cab, avoiding going under the under-pass. If it's very busy when you go around the corner from the first van there is another van you can use the same tactic in - usually you can move straight through though and climb over.

4. Once over the lorry, you are on top of the under-pass that you normally go under. There's another van that tends to have pills or similar in it -if it gets busy you can hole up in that van as before.

5. You should now have a clear run to the sign above the Motel, which you often climb over to get on top of the Motel roof. Once there try to pick up the sniper rifle. Then jump onto the Motel roof from the sign.

6. Once on the Motel roof make your way on top of the roof to the top floor of motel rooms. At some point you'll trigger a hoard attack and a tank can come. Don't be tempted to hole up in a room - that should be the last resort. A better bet is to stay on the balcony near the centre of the line of rooms that leads from the Motel to the swimming pool and the way out. Two face forwards, two face back, at this point - a Tank often appears. Try to keep your distance, use the sniper rifles on it as much as possible, molatov it if possible - if you're not going to take it down and it's charging you - try to get around it and make a run for the exit, or try to back up to where you've got more room to manouver - staying on the balcony is a bad idea at this point.

7. Once you're through the Motel and sludging through the river at the bottom of the hill, look out for a little wooden shack. I don't think it's big enough for four, but if two go in, one can crouch and one stand, and they can cover the backs of the two exposed survivors - at that point, you can just try adn run the gauntlet and get to the safe room - but that's an alternative tactic that can work well.

Conclusion, if you're playing any campaign and having trouble, try going back to easy mode, kill everything - and spend a long time looking for choke points and places you can hole up.

I hope this helps!