Left 4 Dead = Dead good! (Left 4 Dead (PC))

Member Name: eelam_garek

Product:	Left 4 Dead (PC)
Date:	16/03/09 (63 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Zombies. Multiplayer is amazing. Clever AI. Achievements add an extra flare to the game

Disadvantages: 1 player is a bit boring, but other than that - very good game.

It's very rare that a game appears that I think, "wow" everytime I play it. Left 4 Dead however, definatly envokes that word (and words like it) each and every single time I boot it up. Essentially, Left 4 Dead is a first person shooter, based around the zombie killing series. That is such a cold and brief description though, for a game that is so much more. Let's take a closer look!

So what's the story? As I've already said, it's a zombie shooter, but what exactly is the beef? Well, a deadly virus has broken out all around the world, which has turned all but a minority of humans into flesh eating zombies. For the lucky (or unlucky?!) survivors, their task is to survive to fight another day and reach the safe areas of the world (a familiar, but very successful story line). This is where you come in.

In normal mode you take on the role of one of four survivors. Your task is to do what it says on the tin, survive! You and your team of merry men (and one woman) fight your way through zombie infested levels trying to fight the hordes of zombies that fly your way trying to stop you. The levels themselves are split up into 5 chapters, each connected with a safe room that begins and ends a level. So the safe room you reach at the end of level 1 for example, is the same safe room that you start in on level 2 - and so on.

The weapons available for you to blast those zombies are somewhat limited. They are split into 2 tiers. The first weapons are the ones you start your journey with. They consist of an Oozy, a basic shotgun and your trusty pistol. You also get a medpack to heal yourself if the need arises. These are like gold dust however, so use your medpack only when you really need to - you never know when you might come across another one...if you do at all. The second tier of weaponry you need to find somewhere throughout your game. This tier consists of upgraded weapons. You have an assault rifle, an automatic shotgun and a second pistol to add to your arsenal. These weapons are much more powerful so you're right to be excited when you discover them!

There are also a number of items you can pick up around the game world. There are things such as Molotovs (essential for killing The Tank, more on him later); pipe bombs, which zombies are VERY attracted to; pills, which provide a valuable but temporary health boost at that vital moment and the occasional med pack or second pistol to upgrade your survival.

Some might view the lack of variation in weaponry as a disadvantage, but I see it as a nice touch. The game isn't designed to be overcomplicated in terms of weaponry. The focus is on gameplay and teamwork rather than blasting zombies in the face with an insanely big rocket launcher. Take it from me, the formula really works, the weapons aren't even a concern once you get into the zombie slaying fun.

You can play this game on your own, and the computer will assume the other 3 survivor roles, or alternatively you can work through a campaign with 3 friends and play together for survival. This is more fun really, and as has become apparent over the last few months of playing this game - multiplayer is where the real fun is at.

Now, this is where the game REALLY heats up, and all those, "wow" words will really start to come flying out your mouthes. Not only can you play as the survivors, but you can also enter "versus" mode, where 8 people can play in one game. 4 are survivors, but the other 4 are...wait for it....INFECTED! That's right, you can become a zombie and bite your friends neck! Ok, I might not be selling it very well but let me go into more detail...

As infected, you assume the role of one of 4 "special" zombies. You can be a Hunter, a Smoker, A boomer or a Tank. When you get killed as any of these you have a respawn time of between 10-20 seconds, and you will randomly respawn as one of these special infected. You also have the advantage of all the random (but normal) AI zombies to help you out. These are scattered in great numbers throughout the level.

A hunter is a range attacker, capable of pouncing from great distances onto their pray. This lets you scale walls, jump great heights and generally assault the survivors from far away. Watch out though, you make a distinctive scream that the survivors can hear! If you do manage to pounch a survivor successfully, one of their friends must help them out or they're done for!

The Smoker, has a very long tongue, that upon command (YOUR command), can fire it's tongue at an unsuspecting survivor and drag them away from the pack - all the time doing damage. Again, if a survivor gets snared by a smoker, a friend will need to step in and help them. Or it's goodbye cruel world! You do cough quite alot as a Smoker due to that big tongue, so you can't afford to get too close! Buildings and dark spots are your friend as a Smoker.

The Boomer is arguably the most fun infected to be. You don't have much health, move slower than the other infected and you are VERY noisy, so you have to be stealthly as a must. If you can get near the survivors however, then it's very worthwhile. You can vomit on survivors! This horrible bile is very attractive to your AI zombie allies, who will come screaming toward the survivors in great numbers. The boomer is key to organising a decisive strike. You can also explode as a boomer and have the same effect as vomiting.

The Tank, is the rarest of your special infected. This is a very tough zombie with alot of health and hits VERY hard. You can even pick up objects, or smash existing objects in the world toward the puny survivors in an attempt to kill them. The infected usually only get one tank per level (if at all), so use this unit tactfully if you want to win! Also, be very careful not to harm your allies. The tank is far too powerful for it's own good and can smash a Hunter, Smoker or Boomer to smithereens in one hit! Think of the tank as the hulk, he even has the half cut jeans!

It's noteworthy that all of the special infected, don't have very much health. 250 at most, which is basically a couple of shots of your shotgun. With the exception of the Tank, who has 5000 HP, you need to make your attacks count. That is why it's imperitive that you make the most of your attacks!

So as you can imagine, team work is a must in this game. Whichever side you play, it's worth working together as a team to unite against the enemy. The multiplayer really is loads of fun, and I'm amazed at how well it works when you have 8 human players all playing together. 4 vs 4 fun is great, and you're unlikely to find anything else more fun in the current gaming climate. I'll leave this open to discussion, but suffice to say Left 4 Dead is up there with the best.

The last thing I want to mention is the achievement system. The game has employed a list of 50 or so achievements which you can unlock as you go. These range from saving an incapacitated survivor to killing a number of hunters and so on. They are split up between survivor and Infected achievements, so you get them for playing as either "faction". They have no real relevance to the game or your progress, but they add a nice little extra feel good factor, and look good on your game stats!

Left 4 Dead really is something special, and I can't praise it enough. Hopefully that has given you a decent insight into the game but nothing compares to the real thing. Suffice to say you really ought to be left 4 dead if you pass this one up - go buy it - now!

Summary: Zombie killing where you can also BE the zombies - buy it now!