Left 4 Dead 2 was built from the ground up and used material and ideas from the development of the original Left 4 Dead. Left 4 D ead 2 remained largely the same over the course of its development with very few changes made until the game’s release. In a nut shell, most of the concepts that weren’t incorporated into the original Left 4 Dead were incorporated into Left 4 Dead 2.
Disclaimer: What is documented in this analysis is quoted from left4dead.wikia.com. Most of the images are from IGN.com and the beta & leftover item images are from www.Left4dead.wikia.com
[Article by DCodes 7, corrections by Nate Edwards]
The Survivors:
The survivors changed (somewhat) over the course of Left 4 Dead 2’s development, but didn’t change as much as the survivors from Left 4 Dead 1 had. Left 4 Dead 2’s survivors changed solely in terms of color scheme and back-story.
For example, the developers changed coach’s shirt from a yellow & turquoise color scheme in the beta to a purple & yellow color scheme in the final.
Rochelle also received a color change as well. In the beta her shirt was a bright orange T-Shirt, whereas in the final version, her shirt was a pink Depeche Mode T-shirt.
