A truly thrilling co-op experience...
Just when it seemed Capcom had successfully cornered the zombie horror market with the Resident Evil series, out of nowhere pounces Valve's Left 4 Dead, with its surprisingly lucrative co-op-focused take on the survival horror game.
It seems the developers of the Half Life and Counter Strike series' had some interesting boardroom discussions in the wake of their next project – a multiplayer based zombie apocalypse. Or it could just have been a, “Hey, why don’t we combine the story elements of Half Life, with the online co-op aspect of Team Fortress?” followed by another guy who said, “Yeah. And, like, lets throw some zombies in too, for good measure.”
But that's pretty much where comparisons end, as the game is intentionally simple in terms of plot, going along the lines of your typical manifistation of the rabies virus into a mass epidemic, ultimately leading to the destruction of a nameless small town in America. There are four survivors amidst the chaos, and it is your job to get them to safety. That’s it, and really that’s all we need to know.
There are four campaigns, each with five chapters and provided you survive long enough you will reach the level finale – which pretty much takes the form of a timed stand–off against the relentless zombie horde as you await rescue.
The four characters you can choose to control have a lot of personality and are very likable, and work really well together as a unit. The dialogue and voice acting are really tight, and actually serve as a gameplay factor in times of crisis. The survivors will shout to each other when in need of assistance, point out if you need to reload or heal yourself or even just talk to each other when things seem calm enough.
The game is built to encourage teamwork. So any gung-ho radicals who decide to rush ahead or leave their counterparts will always regret it, as it is incredibly difficult to fight off the hordes even as a team of four, never mind with just one. Survivors have to stick together, watch each other’s backs, help each other out when pinned down by the Special Infected (I’ll get to them in a moment) and even dish out health packs or pain pills where a survivor is clearly near death. This brings out a level of tactical thinking to the campaigns, and is exceptionally fun on-line over Xbox Live.
A chapter is complete when the remaining survivors make it to the safe room and shut the door. If one survivor is killed but the rest get to safety, the dead survivor will be revived by the next chapter. So the game is pretty merciful in that respect.
During each chapter the survivors will face off against a variety of awful creatures. Firstly, the common infected are pretty numerous. When they say hordes, they mean HORDES. Like, man, there are a lot of zombies in this game. It can get real crowded real fast, and with just one teammate down you’ll notice the difference as they swarm the remaining survivors. It can be overwhelming to say the least.
But as well as that, the survivors will occasionally come up against the Special Infected. These are pretty much like boss characters, which have their own special abilities and characteristics. For example, the hunter is a zombie that can leap across large distances and pounce on a helpless survivor, and it is up to the others to save them. This is similar to the Smoker, which can fire out its tongue to reel in an unsuspecting survivor and if there is no one around who can help, that character is as good as dead. These two are primarily the reason it is essential for players to stick together as a cohesive unit.
There are two more boss infected which occur in fewer numbers, but are arguably more dangerous. The most interesting is the Witch, which takes the form of a crying girl and can be heard from a distance. The Witch will not instantly attack you, and is meant to be avoided at all times. Trust me, you don’t want to anger the Witch, as I learned on my first play. The second is a gigantic boulder throwing monster called The Tank, and they don’t call it the Tank for nothing, either. This thing is tough, and will really do serious damage to you and your teammates before you can kill it.
The atmosphere can be really tense throughout the game, and this is helped through outstanding moody lighting and shadow effects. Although the models aren’t as detailed as some Xbox 360 games like Gear of War 2, etc, they still stand up pretty well to today’s standards. The eerie music also fits into whatever the situation is, and can give a clue as to approaching dangers. For example you will hear the Witch’s theme before you can work out where she is hiding.
The locations are suitabley dark and dreary, ranging from the typical abandoned hospital, deserted streets and railway lines, woodland areas and even in a spooky cornfield. However, it feels like there could have been a little more. Another two campaigns featuring the stereotypical zombie haunts, such as the overrun American mall or company office block wouldn’t have gone amiss. It’s a shame because after a few runs you begin to remember the quickest route to safety, and this is especially noticed more online on Xbox Live which takes away slightly from the experience of not knowing what will happen next.
Speaking of which, this game is pretty much expected to be played online, so those without an Xbox Live account would really be missing out with this title. The campaigns are the same online as offline but the addition of human teammates is always going to be a winner. Although the AI of the computer controlled teammates is actually pretty solid, the ability to interact and communicate directly with your fellow survivors is always good fun.
Online players are also given the opportunity to play a mode called Versus, which pits two teams against each other in a round based campaign, where in each round the teams will take turns as the survivors, whilst the other plays as the Special Infected. This is without doubt my favourite part of the game. As a hunter, smoker or boomer you can choose to spawn anywhere in the level and wreck havoc on the survivors, adding a new dimension to the gameplay. Smarter players will employ different tactics depending on which character they are; hunters and smokers are more effective at attacking survivors who have strayed slightly from the main group as there will be less chance of being saved, whereas the boomer is designed for simply jumping into the fray and getting as close to the survivors as possible.
Left 4 Dead combines all the necessary elements of standard first person shooters with the thrill of co-operative survival horror. The game constantly raises the bar for veteran players and is one of the best online experiences since Grand Theft Auto 4.
Simply put, this game is a lot of fun. It can be instantly played by anyone who is familiar with first-person shooters, and probably even those not so familiar, and the combination of tense moments between skirmishes and the outright madness of battling hordes of speeding zombies is an exhilarating feeling that few games can match.
