Valve's Faliszek Talks Left 4 Dead 2 Melee Weapons

November 17th draws nearer and nearer, and in its wake a trail of undead follows. The infected hordes of Left 4 Dead 2 are even more swollen then in the first game, and sometimes a couple pistols and a shotgun won't cut it. That's where the melee weapons come in handy. We have the full list of all 10 new melee weapons being featured in the game, and we asked L4D2 writer Chet Faliszek about the process of incorporating them into the game.

Here is the full list of weapons. There are some obvious homages tucked in here, which should make shredding ghouls that much more fun.

Baseball Bat
Cricket Bat
Crowbar
Electric Guitar
Fire Axe
Frying Pan
Katana
Machete
Tonfa (police nightstick)
Chainsaw


And here is our Q&A with Left 4 Dead 2 writer Chet Faliszek:

Game Informer: From the electric guitar to the chainsaw, there's a wide variety of weapons featured in L4D2. What went into deciding what weapons would make it into the game?

Chet Faliszek: Some were picked by L4D2 being a zombie game, the chainsaw and axe being ones that just screamed to be in the game. The cricket bat was an ode to one of our favorite zombie movies, Shaun of the Dead. The guitar came in once we had some of the locations created and it made sense in those locations. Each weapon has a reason we chose to put it in the game, but each reason was different.



GI: It’s already been stated that the frying pan is great for knocking back droves of undead, and that the fire axe is great for slicing and dicing. What other offensive properties can we expect the other weapons to have, and how will this affect gameplay?

CF: Each melee weapon has different characteristics. For example, the crowbar is fast and great for one on one battles. The chainsaw can plow through large groups. We wanted you to be able to choose the melee weapon based on your play style or what conditions you are expecting to encounter in each campaign. The good thing is, if you decide you don’t like the one you just picked up, don’t worry, there are plenty more to choose from.

GI: Lastly, we all know that one day we will inevitably face the zombie apocalypse. If you have to trust your survival to one of these weapons, which would it be?

CF: You need to go low tech and sturdy. I would also worry about the weight of the weapon if you are constantly swinging through hordes. So to that end, I would follow Gordon’s lead and go with the trusty crowbar.

A lot of nifty information there. After reading that, how can you not visualize Gordan Freeman fighting his way through the undead uprising? I'm going to have to second Faliszek's choice of zombie-slaying weaponry. The crowbar is not only a deadly bludgeon, but a useful tool as well.

What weapon would you choose out of the 10 being featured in the game?