Nothing 'Dead' about this game

By: Fernando Dutra

Posted: 12/3/08

How did Valve celebrate the 10-year anniversary of seminal PC game "Half Life?" Why, they released a game that showed off how relevant their Source engine still is, of course.

Originally developed by Turtle Rock Studios, who were purchased by Valve when the title was first being made, "Left 4 Dead" is a cooperative survival horror first-person shooter for the PC and the Xbox 360 that follows a group of four characters as they fight through a zombie apocalypse. This isn't a psychological horror game - more emphasis is placed on a visceral, intense experience than ambience.

The emphasis on the game is on cooperation - if players decide to stray from their teammates, they will most assuredly meet their death at the hands of infected humans (not zombies in the traditional sense). Players that do die are able to respawn, but the players will have to wait until a teammate gets them or until the team reaches a safe room. The "infected" are also prone to jumping lone wolf players, who must then defenselessly wait to be rescued by a teammate or suffer death.

The game features four unique levels: No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, and Blood Harvest. Each of these locations has a set start and end point, but alternate routes can be taken to reach each of these. Each level features a unique scenario. For example, No Mercy is the city level, which has players navigating escalators and shops while Blood Harvest is a sylvan level, providing ample trees for the infected to spring from.

At its best, "Left 4 Dead" provides arcade-style, shoot-'em-up fun. The gameplay isn't necessarily deep, but is varied enough to warrant repeated plays. Since items and enemy spawn points change every time a map is loaded, it ensures that no two experiences will be the same. These subtle changes help create an uncertainty that makes the horror element more realistic, denying new players the comfort that comes with knowing where everything on a map is. By this time, however, it's possible that "Left 4 Dead" diehards already know where everything will spawn, which may take away from the experience somewhat.

In the Versus multiplayer mode, players are able to play as the Infected as well. The Infected are tasked with trying to stop the four main characters from getting to the end of the level - it's like the game in reverse, though it allows players to play as the enemies they've grown to hate. Each round changes which team plays as the undead, meaning everyone has a fair chance to play as the bad guys. The only drawback is that only two of the four levels are playable in the Versus mode.

With such an emphasis on camaraderie, the degree of satisfaction this game will give depends largely on whether or not the game is played with friends. Otherwise, players will be subjected to the foul-mouthed, ill-tempered online gaming community that is spoken poorly of so constantly. Convince friends to purchase this game and play with them, this will guarantee a higher level of enjoyment from this game. Since multiplayer is the main draw of the title (the single-player campaign lasts just six to seven hours), this is the top thing that should be considered before purchasing the title.

Between the PC and 360 versions of "Left 4 Dead," the PC version of this game is probably the better deal. Valve is primarily a PC developer, and mods will extend the enjoyment of the title. One needs to look only at the "Orange Box," released last year, to see Valve's strategy. Xbox 360 owners need to pay $5 to get all the updates PC gamers got for free (and the PS3 isn't even getting any updates), so it's safe to assume that it will be the same case with "Left 4 Dead." With friends, "Left 4 Dead" can be the multiplayer game of the year, despite its only having four stages. Hopefully future updates will enrich and extend the experience.