Left 4 Dead

"Left 4 Dead is guaranteed fun"

A day of playing Left 4 Dead is a day of absolute fun. This game provides a lot of replay value and more variety than most zombie games. Multiplayer is the focus of this game. You work together as a team to complete various chapters with different locations on each. This is the story mode. The game allows up to 4 people to play online together because there are 4 characters in the game to choose from. You fight your way through houses, rooftops, streets, and subways to finish the chapters. Conserving ammo and health is a priority as wasting it could get you into a tight situation. But it all depends on what difficulty you're playing on. Friendly fire is also a bad on high difficulties.

Another mode featured in Left 4 Dead is versus mode. In this mode, 4 humans make their way through selected chapters to earn points. The difference between this mode and story mode is that actual players get to play as the special infected (special infected are the ones who aren't zombies but the ones who make the game difficult for you during the story). The object of this mode is to either stop the humans from making it to the safe house or make it to the safe house without getting killed by the infected. I'm not too fond of this mode but playing as certain special infected is pretty fun. Mainly because of the things they can do. They aren't like regular zombies at all.

The latest addition from the DLC (downloadable content) brings a new mode of fun called Survival. The object of this one is simple: survive. You select a chapter and await the horde that is ready to tear you apart. But this isn't no ordinary horde. Oh no, this horde does not stop. Your goal is to last as long as you can. There is a timer on this mode and you get bronze, silver, and gold based on your time. All for fun really. This mode is pretty good as it adds more replay value to the game since the game started to lack before. Recent DLC also added more chapters to select in versus mode. Before, you could only play on about 1 or 2 chapter areas.

Let's me talk about the game itself. The graphics aren't too amazing but the fun level definitely makes up for it. But I can say that the opening scene looked pretty good and realistic graphics wise. The sound in this game is GREAT. From eerie music to the sound of decapitating a zombie, sound definitely wins in this department. The game may look cartoony at times but the sounds are pretty realistic as you progress through. Gameplay is an automatic win for me. It's first-person shooter and I'm pretty fond of games like that. But the thing that makes Left 4 Dead different from the others is the speed. Your character moves not too slow but not too fast either. A nice pace to make it around the chapters without annoyance.

Left 4 Dead is an experience I'm not likely to forget. It's a really good game to play with friends and it'll leave you wanting more. I would consider this a definite buy but if that's not possible, then a must rent.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/18/09

Game Release: Left 4 Dead (US, 11/17/08)