Game Info
Game Name: Left 4 Dead
Developer(s): Valve
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Platform(s): Xbox 360/PC
Genre(s): First Person Shooter
Release Date(s): November 17, 2008
ESRB Rating: M
Let’s kick some zombie butt!!!
Zombies have overtaken the city, and Francis, Louis, Bill, and Zoey must battle their way through the hordes of zombies. As the zombie plague grows, new mutations arise and Boomers, Hunters, Smokers, Tanks, and Witches are going to be out to kill them. Can they reach safety or is humanity doomed?
Left 4 Dead was developed by Valve and produced by EA. It was leased to rave reviews and won multiple awards for its game play. It can be played solo with three other computer controlled characters or a multiple combination of players through either local play or online play.
Let get into nature…and the undead!!!
I have to say, that Left 4 Dead is terrifying at points…but not as scary as it could be. While playing through four different missions (“No Mercy”, “Death Toll”, “Dead Air”, and “Blood Harvest”) with five segments each (plus a bonus mission called “Crash Course” with two segments), I kind of thought a game filled with zombie hordes in a first person shooter would scare the crap out of me (Resident Evil games are scary). I actually found it to be more of an action game than a horror game.
The zombie hordes do provide a lot of shooting and terror. When the music starts to pick up and the “here they come” alert goes up, it just turns into a shooting fest. It doesn’t feel particularly dangerous however and surviving the hordes at lower difficulties really is just a matter of time.
Zombies have invaded…I wonder if our insurance covers that…
What does really amp up the play and provide scares is the special zombies. Hearing a boomer, a hunter, a smoker, and a tank coming is pretty nerve-racking…especially if you can’t pinpoint the direction. If they happen to sneak-up on you, this is when the jumps really occur. The most terrifying (in my opinion) of these specialties is the sobbing witches that you can sneak by…of course I like to tempt fate, especially since a Trophy/Achievement involves popping one in one shot in the head right after she’s alerted.
Things like the witches are where they game starts to get tricky if you are playing alone. The AI characters are pretty good. They generally supply you with health etc. when you need it, but they are horrible when it comes to stealth. Don’t expect to sneak by any witches if you are playing by yourself and this can be pretty irritating.
I’ve got a gun…you’ve got teeth…I win
The big appeal of Left 4 Dead is the multiplayer and online play. The game really changes once you go online and join a game. There are different styles of play (simply playing through the levels as a team) or the more fun aspect of being a randomly spawned zombie. The only problem with this is like with many online games…there is no learning curve. You are thrust in with many overly skilled players and it is hard to get down the skills of the specialized zombies before you are killed.
Left 4 Dead is a worthwhile purchase…even if you aren’t into zombies or first person shooters. The game moves fast and furious and each mission takes only about an hour or less (depending on how fast you are trying to get through). That makes the total game time on this game pretty short, but there is a lot of replay. Get Left 4 Dead…it is generally pretty affordable and a Game of the Year edition won’t cost you much. Left 4 Dead was quickly followed by Left 4 Dead 2 in 2009.
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Left 4 Dead is a Classic