Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders unlock exclusive weapon

One of the more sly announcements made at the Penny Arcade Expo, which is currently running in Seattle, was the reveal that an exclusive melee weapon will be unlocked for those who pre-order Left 4 Dead 2.

The weapon in question is, according to ShackNews, an American baseball bat that is essentially very similar to the cricket bat weapons which is already in the game.

However, as Valve's Chet Faliszek clarified with ShackNews, there's more to the weapon that meets the eye and the baseball bat isn't actually as exclusive as it might sound.

"How it'll work is, if you're playing with somebody that's pre-ordered it, everybody playing gets it," explained Chet.

Melee weapons that replace firearms are one of the new additions in Left 4 Dead 2, allowing much more powerful attacks at the cost of range and speed. Also, you can't use any other item without first dropping your melee weapon of choice.

To be honest, we weren't huge fans of the melee weapons when we last had a look at Left 4 Dead 2 - the trade-off didn't really seem to be worth it and the weapons felt slow and not nearly as effective as a shotgun. We'd also question why you'd want to pre-order a game if the main benefit is being able to share your exclusive item with other people...

Ah well. Let us know your thoughts in the forums - and don't forget to check out our own interview with Valve's Chet Faliszek.