Left 4 Dead - A Short Review

Left 4 Dead is Valve's new zombie co-op shooter. The game has been in development for sometime now and was developed by Turtle Rock Studios which was eventually bought and incorporated into Valve. The guys that made Left 4 Dead are the actual guys that also made Counter Strike. So there was a lot of expectation for this game to live up to even before the game was released.


Left 4 Dead was shipped with two modes. One was the campaign mode where four players can play in a co-op campaign over four movies(maps which Valve made to feel like movies). The other was the versus mode where four players would play as the survivors and another four would be playing as the super zombies trying to stop them. This mode at the moment only has two maps made for them.

The campaign mode is what most people will relate to Left 4 Dead. There is four difficulty level to choose from with expert being a challenge to complete. The game requires good co operation and coordination between players as the focus of the game is survival which is different from most other games that focus on killing the bad guys.


Yeah you probably need to kill zombies, but sometimes running away might be the more prudent option. One important note, the zombies run fast, they aren't the slow shambling zombies so you need to constantly be on your toes.

The normal zombies are generally passive as you start the game. They seem to be in a daze and will only react if you bump into them, walk near them or fire at them. At certain points however, the game will unleash the horde at you. This is where a bunch of the normal zombies run towards you and I use the term bunch lightly.

What I meant was a billion zombies start running at you! The horde will be triggered either at key points in the map, or by triggering certain object(sounding the car alarm), or just randomly by the AI director(which is a feature I will need to talk about).


You wont just be facing just normal zombies, there are also what can simply be put as super zombies. These are zombies that have specific traits and attacks. There is the hunter, who moves around like spiderman scaling walls and jumps at you and thrashes you. There is the smoker, that uses his long tongue to pull you towards him and constricts you and separates you from your teammates(you have to watch out for this).

Then there is the boomer, a big, fat, puss filled zombie that pukes at you. He explodes very easily, however if he manages to vomit at you or you stand too near to him when he explodes, your vision gets blurred by the goo and this attracts the zombie horde towards you.


The you have the extra super zombies. These ones were put in the game for the purpose of screwing up the players experience. The tank is a humongous super zombie that looks like a Hulk zombies. He actually moves fast and has two attacks. He can break blocks of cement from the ground and fling them at you. He also smashes you with his hands which will throw you off your feet. This ones especially funny if you face him on top a building. One smack and you fly off the roof tops and fall to your death.

Then there is the witch, and they say 'you shouldn't startle the witch'. They mean it! The witch is this passive super zombies that cries like a little girl but once startled, she will strike the person who startled he and run off aimlessly. One strike will bring you down so don't say I didn't warn you. Turn of the flash lights and don't make any noise!


The atmosphere in the game is breathtaking as sound and visual design oozes in very high production values. The sound design may be one of the best ever in video games. The music rises to a crescendo as the horde is unleashed, and it plays a sad piano music when you die. The game plays a sort of freaky music when you move closer to a witch.

Valve used the theme of a zombie movie when developing this game and this is reflected even in the graphics with the game using very film like effects like film grain etc. This all gives it a very zombie movie like experience(down to even the end game credits that roll when you complete a movie).


I have to make a note of the brilliance of the AI director. The game somehow keeps track of how you and you group of teammates are doing and adjust the level of challenge and pacing accordingly.

The AI director might choose to ruin things for you, it might spawn a tank or maybe two tanks. This leads to a more unpredictable game. No two games are alike. It definitely increases the longevity of the game too.

There is a lot of depth in the co op game play as you need to learn to tackle the situation with the condition of your teammates as well as management of medikits. Weapons are not plentiful but you have the main sub machine guns, shotguns, rifles and the improved versions of them. Each type of weapon may require you to play differently.


The versus mode is an interesting beast. You can't choose which super zombie to play as. The AI director picks what you will spawn as and you pick where you want to spawn. The super zombies die easily so your strategy would be to work with other super zombies to break the survivors apart and use the horde whenever you can. If you get assigned as the tank(which the AI director randomly might spawn any one player as) you still need to use your environment as the survivors pack a punch especially with the 2nd tier weapons.

Left 4 Dead is perhaps my game of the year. It is one of the best games I have ever played. This is a very online focused game and while it has a single player segment, that is more for practise if you ask me. The strength of the game lies in the experience you get with your online mates. A very enjoyable game. If you have a good broadband connection, it is a must have. Valve based on its past track record of updating its games, will update and add new content for a long time. You can be sure that this game will have long legs.

Whatever you do, stay away from this guy! LOL

The Good

• One of the finest online multiplayer experience
• A lot of replayability with unpredictable Director AI
• Great sound design that follow the mood and the progress of the team
  
• Movie like graphical effects
• Versus mode is plenty of fun
• New content as Vavle adds more to the game and polishes it further

The Bad

• You need to wait for Valve to update the game if you want more than the 4 campaigns
  

Retail Price : RM 138
Availability :pcgame.com.my
The Software Boutique

Rating 5/5