Left 4 Dead Versus Preview - Infected Play and Hunter
Infected Play
When the round begins, the Director assigns each player the boss they will first spawn in as. Infected players start out in "ghost mode." In Ghost mode, you can walk freely around the map, invisible to the Survivors. You can see your fellow ghost Infected as silhouettes, so you can coordinate your first attack. Once the Survivors leave the safe room and you've found a spot far enough away from the Survivors while out of their line of sight, you can spawn in. When you die you must wait at most 30 seconds (but usually around 20 seconds) before you can get back into ghost mode and setup for your next spawn. The director will choose which Infected you spawn as based on what Infected have already been spawned.
Each Infected share a low-powered melee attack and the ability to climb anything marked by a glowing indicator – pipes, ladders, etc. The melee attack is useful for breaking down doors, dishing out last second damage before you die, or adding on damage to a Survivor already helpless from another Infected attack. Boss Infected do not take damage from falls, but the Boomer will explode if the fall is too great.
Hunter
Since the Hunter is the only boss that can have two spawned in at once, he's the one you'll be playing most often, and I think most will be happy about that. His primary attack is a short distance lunge. Charge this attack by crouching, however, and you can fly large distances to land on top of a Survivor and rip him to shreds.
The Hunter is, without a doubt, the most skill-based Infected. Not only do you need to know when and where to strike, but you also need to be able to judge the distance and accuracy of your pounce. Toss in his ability to time jumps from wall to wall, and you'll find a lot of creative attacks that require timing and practice to get right. The player is even rewarded for long pounces by doing additional damage on impact based on the distance, which is only available in Versus mode.
The Hunter can fill several roles on the team. By jumping around and screaming, the Hunter can cause distractions for the other Infected. Pouncing on a Survivor may buy enough time for one of your teammates to attack. If you can manage long-range pounces, the Hunter is great for dealing out damage to a fast-reacting team. And while all the bosses are great at picking off lone Survivors, the Hunter is the best, as he is the hardest boss to counter on your own. His main weakness, however, is that he is forced to be in the middle of the action. Jumping into a group of four Survivors can be suicide.
