Left 4 Dead 2 at ComicCon: Introducing the Spitter

Brian Ambrozy 23 Jul, 2009 at 6:08pm ET Article published in Gaming

The Spitter

Today at ComicCon, Valve introduced a new special infected for Left 4 Dead 2 called the Spitter. The Spitter has “an area attack that can split up Survivors or flush them out of their hiding spots” according to the press release.

In addition to the Spitter, they announced a new “uncommon common” infected exclusive to the Swamp Fever campaign called the “Mudmen”.

News on some more items was released today as well, including a cricket bat, an AK-47, and a grenade launcher.

I was surprised to hear about “uncommon common” infected. One can assume this means they can be part of the swarm as normal infected can be, and are probably relatively easy to put down, but perhaps have special abilities that normal infected don’t have? The screenshot alludes to the fact that they’re crawling around; perhaps they are buried in the swamp and come up as you’re walking through. In addition, another odd aspect of the screenshot shows what looks like an infected suspended by a bunch of lines. Whether that means another infected strung it up there or it’s just a decoration remains to be seen.

Mudmen, and an oddly suspended infected in the background

Comments

23 Jul 2009 ~ 6:17pm Thrax Fucking sweet!
23 Jul 2009 ~ 6:23pm Snarkasm The name really makes me wonder how it'll be different from Boomer Bile or the Smoker's tongue. Looking forward to that.
23 Jul 2009 ~ 6:25pm primesuspect The impression I got is that perhaps you lose control of your character for a moment and run uncontrollably. Imagine, getting hit with a Spit and then automatically running randomly for a moment while you try to shake it off or something. That would seriously cause chaos.
23 Jul 2009 ~ 6:58pm GnomeQueen Is that a pregnant chick?
23 Jul 2009 ~ 7:22pm MAGIC

Gnome Queen wrote:

Is that a pregnant chick?

Yeah, hopefully if you don't abort the fetus it bursts out and attacks you as well.
23 Jul 2009 ~ 8:12pm K-c-k-crazy Spitters cause damage on contact, and when their spit hits the ground it goes napalmy and spreads, quickly killing those left in its grip. And, we already new about the uncommon common infected? Hazmat zombie? helloooo?
24 Jul 2009 ~ 9:11pm Koreish I'm not a fan of her character model but her ability sounds pretty solid.
25 Jul 2009 ~ 12:41am BobbyDigi Awesome Update. That spitter is Creepy! Yeah I remember watching an interview during some game play at E3 that explained the Hazmat zombies and their "special" ability of being immune to fire. The â€œuncommon commonâ€ will randomly appear (dependent on the level) and have 1 step up abilities over commons.

-Bobby
25 Jul 2009 ~ 11:36am Bobby That corpse is suspended by a parachute caught in the trees.
27 Jul 2009 ~ 11:48pm BobbyDigi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsgV5Qlqd-s
Vid of some Spitter action (very litle, but some) and Adrenaline!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gro_2YRCSG4
The Charger if you haven't seen it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGxVmeUsrH8
Worth the two min but mostly cuts of the first teaser. Mentions the Mudmen as "Creatures that crawl on all fours. Maybe to hide under water?
28 Jul 2009 ~ 11:03am UPSLynx Lord that spitter creeps me the frick out. lulz at the high heels though.

All the special zombies in L4D attack with traits of what the character model portrays. The smoker, obviously, was a smoker in life and inhibits the player by coughing and choking them. The boomer was a fat slob, and is completely disgusting, inhibiting the player by puking on them. The Witch is an insecure broken soul, perhaps potraying the popular yandere, ripping the player to shreds if they try to approach her no matter if the intent is malicious or not. The Hunter was probably a theif or murderer in life, sneaking around and assaulting the player in relative silence when they least expect it.

Though I have to admit, it's difficult to pinpoint the archtype that they're aiming at with the Spitter, other than freak out trailor trash. I have heard rumors of her being preggers though, (which I believe would be like a throwback to a classic zombie movie with a zombie fetus. one of the 'of the dead' films perhaps, can't remember)
28 Jul 2009 ~ 1:29pm Grimnoc I'm not a big fan of the model either, but then again I haven't played the game so that could easily change.
29 Jul 2009 ~ 1:45pm Koreish I always got the impression the hunter was a jogger, the Tank was a body builder, and the rest you described accurately. Spitter is either preggers or trailer trash. I'm not so sure about the charger.

And thanks Bobby for the charger vid, I thought he was just a fast version of the tank, I didn't know the uninfected would be slammed in the ground if they got caught.
7 Aug 2009 ~ 2:56am Tundran Wolf The mudmen also blind your screen with a bit of mud everytime they hit you, its like the boomer bile but it only comes in at a fraction of the blindness.
7 Aug 2009 ~ 3:10am Koreish Don't the mudmen move around fast too, like the hunter? They may be more annoying than the actual special infected.
7 Aug 2009 ~ 1:49pm GnomeQueen Sooo apparently women are only pmsing hormonal pregnant bitches in L4D, eh?
7 Aug 2009 ~ 2:00pm GnomeWizardd So I guess its not only racist its sexist too?
7 Aug 2009 ~ 8:42pm Koreish DAAAAAMN YOOOOUU VAAAAALVVVVEEE!!!!
8 Aug 2009 ~ 5:08pm Snarkasm Somebody forgot about Zoey and whoever the new chick character is.
8 Aug 2009 ~ 5:19pm ardichoke It's clearly just a token female to try and dissuade dissent. THIS TACTIC WILL NOT WORK!
8 Aug 2009 ~ 5:23pm Rexxar Holy crap that infected is uglyer then the boomer >< am going to get nightmares now
8 Aug 2011 ~ 5:39pm Lolz!!!! Uh? I have both left4dead 1 and 2. And the spitter is clearly just fat. xD I've also played AS the spitter. If you spit on someone, they will not panic or loose control. thyre not prego, because when they die the fat flap things show. Just saying people...
8 Aug 2011 ~ 10:02pm Canti oh my gosh i know, geez guise