To some people, the Zombie genre is completely played out. There are countless games, movies, book and TV series involving these undead brain eaters, and yet somehow, Left 4 Dead manages to stand out. The game is a first person shooter, and can be played either own your own (with the rest of your team being controlled by the AI), or with friends or other people online.

The basis of the game is extremely simple; make your way from one safe house to the other, and then eventually to rescue, all while trying not to become one of the infected horde. To aid your on your way, you will a choice of a main gun, a side arm, and then items such as a Molotov cocktail or a pipe bomb. You will also have things to aid you in your own health, such as first aid kits, and pain pills.

While the vast majority of the zombies you face are just simple infected (although they are fast moving, running zombies, rather than the slow walking ones), there are also several types of "special" infected, which make the game harder. These include: The Boomer, a bloated zombie which can spit bile at the survivors, which will attract the horde. Boomers will also explode when killed. The next "special" infected is The hunter, an infected who leaps around and pounces on the survivors, tearing at them until either the survivor is killed, or is killed by another survivor. The final "special" infected is the Smoker. The Smoker has a long tounge which can lynch survivors.

On top of these there are two other infected, though they are rare. The first is the Tank. A huge infected zombie, with the ability to throw large objects at survivors, as well as being able to punch survivors great distances. The final zombie is The Witch. If left alone, the Witch will cause no problems. However, if she is startled, either by light or being shot. Once startled she will chase the survivor who startled her, and will automatically down a survivor in one hit, making her the most dangerous of all the special infected.

The coolest feature of the game is the 'Director'. Use of the 'Director' means that there are no fixed places on a map where the infected will spawn. Depending on how your skill level, and current performance, the 'Director' will alter the game accordingly. What this means is that if you are new to the game, and are struggling, then it is likely that less zombies will spawn at certain points in the game. However, if you are breezing through the game, then the 'Director' may cause a huge mob of infected to spawn. This will also happen if you spend too long standing around in one place, meaning that it is impossible to clear an area and then rest.