Is Left 4 Dead 2 harder than the first one?

[CallMeLeonidas]

I think it is

[Pandora]

Well the melee weap and billis help a lot.. but those endless waves in some map are a pain in the ...Never tried the first one in pc so dont know how different from x box version.

[Stark Raven]

Considering how broken Left 4 Dead 2's AI Director is, I'd say Left 4 Dead is easier.

[4K_240hz_MLED]

There are many ways in which l4d2 is mostly harder than l4d1. The common infected take way more bullets or hits to kill, and often can survive even when their limbs are blown off. While the older special infected have been nerfed, the newer special infected more than make up for it along with the fact that multiple specials get spawned. In l4d1, only 1 or 2 specials would spawn at a time, but in l4d2 it's typical to see 2 or 3 spawn with sometimes several of the same types being spawned. There are also more zombies now, which make l4d1 seem more empty, as well as uncommon infected having special properties like being bulletproof or fireproof. Like the others said, a lot of the crescendo events have infinite infected coming after you until you reach the saferoom or stop the alarm.

[Vile]

After all of my time with both games to get every achievement in them, I'd say that the second game is harder.

1. Being that in the second game you can't hang around an area too long or else a hoarde will show up randomly.

2. The maps are more open area based than the first game was and so infected can show up from any direction.

3. With the inclusion of gas cans during finales, most of the new escape based missions are harder than the first game.

4. The safe zones like The Safe Rock during Death Toll and the Vents in No Mercy have been patched in this game.

5. Rushing during fast timed events happen more in this game than it did in the first. An example would be the roller-coaster, the final part of the Barns mission and merry go round in Dark Carnival. The stairs in the mall and the Cola event during Dead Center. The bridge in the Parish, The underground bunker in Cold Stream, etc.

6. There's more Special infected and the new ones counter corner camping and the Jockey, Spitter, and Charger all tries to separate the team from each other.

7. On Expert, there are more witch encounters on maps than there was on expert in the first game.

[Moryalti]

Overall, L4D1 is easier but it's still harder in some ways if you've become used to tactics or equipment only in L4D2.

That being said, the Director in 2 being a cheater/total ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ alone makes L4D2 the harder game.

[aDm]

depends on the map and situation

[JAiZ]

It depends what you look at, if you compare survival mode then l4d2 maps are more difficult (l4d1 world records are in the hundreds, while l4d2 has world records nowhere near 100). In versus you have more special infected at your disposal and you can kill survivors easier (example: death charge) but on the survivor side there's more items too, melee weapons, bile bombs, Better tier 2's, etc...
Lots more you could use to discuss this, but I'd say l4d2 is harder for these reasons and a bunch more I couldn't be bothered to write :p