Left 4 Dead

"A gaming apocalypse? No...Just an awesome Zombie one!"

A gaming apocalypse? No! Just an awesome Zombie one!

Left 4 Dead sanitizes the world of Zombies, in a pure and oblivious manner. Valve, known for such famous games as Half-Life and Counter-Strike, have a large pinnacle of big name games and have bestowed us with not only a masterpiece that outlooks these games, but a modern art gaming emission sure to change the way people play games online. It acts as a center-piece, but more so a motif to the provision of team work.

Story - 6/10
The story is simple. End of world Zombie apocalypse and ironically, you are in it. The game revolves around four key players, whether human controller online or AI built. These four players are the iconic symbolism for saving the world. These characters have been generalized in a movie themed style, from the pretentious rich girl to the hard out biker. Despite these attributes, they play a minor part in the game overall. Over a series of four different stories, each encompassing five different styles of maps, you are to guide yourself from a point of catastrophe to a point of salvation. Lackluster in story development, it is still an effective approach to bind yourself into a force field of addiction.

Graphics - 9/10
Half-Life 2 has been described for it's outdated graphics, and Left 4 Dead doesn't make large improvements on it but is still stunning to play. Nonetheless we still see some beautiful animation within the game from the human aspect towards the environment around. The four protagonists all look life-like, in the sense you could generalize them to someone as a real human. What is more important is how the player animations react to certain things in the environment, whether through players bleeding or zombies rushing towards you. Graphically speaking, it's a masterpiece when compared to Half-Life.

Sound - 10/10
This is where games lose their loop and in contrast, are absolutely out of the way of the game itself. But Left 4 Dead, stunning as it is, doesn't disappoint. Sound plays a pivotal part in this game. With the exception of in-game microphones, it is the single most effect tool in game. Especially handy when playing Expert mode. The sound itself is brilliant in the way, you can prepare yourself for incoming hordes or bosses. Generally, you will encounter long periods of silence, but this can quickly change as hordes rush up to you, clearly portrayed by the sounds, on-going yells, footsteps and the horrific styled music. A lot of effort has gone into the sound department of the game, for this reason exactly. It makes you want to listen closely to the sounds and not mute them to use everything possible, a resource of survival.

Presentation - 10/10
The world of Left 4 Dead is beautifully portrayed. Not in a manner to which you would want to live in it, but enough to terrify you and use certain environments to your advantage or disadvantage. The large aspect of this world is shown through different areas such as subways, forests and towns. The environment is beautifully depicted through the nature of the silence, the rain and the glowing night. This all adds the the effect of the apocalypse and gives the game it's horror theme. The ambient world is under rated and is castrated beautifully for both Zombies and Humans. With difficulty in explaining how much depth goes into the Left 4 Dead world, it must be seen to be experienced.

Game Play - 10/10
This is where the most pivotal parts of any game leads to, and I'll break it down into different sections.

AI Director
The AI Director put simply, is a method in which Valve has created, to make sure every time you play the game...it is never the same. It is a pivotal part of the game as it doesn't exactly put the game through such strains of repetitiveness. The AI Director adapts the team towards the situation. So if a team is going well, they will generally have to fight harder and if a team is going bad, they will generally have an easier fight. With this, we see uses of flags used to implement the game play. The point of this will make enemies, bosses and weapons spawn in different areas and is will base itself on a factor of luck to suit the players needs.

Bosses
The bosses are what help steady the game. We see the Hunter, Boomer, Smoker, Witch and Tank all play a role in the game in it's own manner. The Hunter And Smoker are the most common bosses. Hunters are hooded zombies who pounce on their enemies and rip them to shreds while Smokers are long range Zombie assassins who grasp their prey via their long tongues and usually bind them till death. Boomers are large rounded zombies that use Vomit to temporarily blind humans and attract large masses of zombies. With this, we see the Witch and Tank, being two of the most feared bosses in the game and a certainly less common. The Witch is quite simply; a witch. In it's corner alone it cries, harmless it seems but when disturbed can demoralize its assailant in a single slash. While the Tank is in itself, a self-representation. A giant masculine monster able to obliterate a whole team with it's bewildered strength. Each of these zombies are the main causes for challenge and give the game it's exciting outlook.

Game Modes
Single Player - Able to play single player with three other AI bots, although the AI bots are generally rather unintelligent and rely on you to make moves.
Campaign Mode - The most popular mode, yourself and three other players from, whether around the world or friends, play together to complete a particular campaign mode.
Versus Mode - Humans team up against four infected players to try and reach the safety point before being struck down. This results in a 4 v 4 battle and allows humans to play as boss zombies such as the Hunter, Boomer, Smoker and rarely, the Tank.

General
With that said, those are the biggest aspects of game play to note. Simple in style, it lends itself into 10 different types of weapons such as Shotguns, Rifles and Grenades. It follows a control scheme similar to it's partners, Half-Life and Counter-Strike and most other FPS's. Starting from a point A to reach point B, with the four players teaming up to journey through to the place known as the 'Safe House'. The game relies on team play for a good reason. Med Packs and Pills are used to heal each other and are essential for survival. Med Packs are used as full recovery and take time while Pills are instant temporary health. Each having its Pros and Cons. You will rely on picking each other up when incapacitated, stopping players from bleeding to death. Pistol ammo is unlimited and always used as a secondary weapon while your main firearms such as Assaults, Rifles and Shotguns are what you will be using during the game. Another function in the game is basically the shove function, one of (if not) the most useful function of the game. It allows you to fend off large amounts of zombies with your item in hand and can generally save you many times. The gist of the game play is simple to adapt to and is still beautiful in style.

Re-playability - 8.5/10
The basis of this game is co-operative play, and for this reason, gives the game a quality outlook. Single Player is a lackluster attempt and can basically be finished over 2 hours. But adding in the replay values of Campaigning with people worldwide and the option of playing Versus Mode, this game clearly is made for co-operative play.

Conclusion - 9/10
I think it's pretty clear about the perception I have of this game. It one of the most entertaining and internet social games you could possibly play as it demeans the facet of playing as a single player, but revolves around team work. This game does not open up a large attraction to the gaming market, but does leave those spines that play it, tingling. This is clearly one of the greatest games in this era that add a new sense of game play and should not be 'Left 4 Dead'.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/08

Game Release: Left 4 Dead (AU, 11/20/08)