Killing zombies has always been fun. There are numerous movies, games,
TV shows or even comic books who predict some sort of an infestation
which will transform people into zombies. We all love zombies. More than
loving zombies we love killing zombies. The more, the better. That's
exactly where Left 4 Dead steps in. Valve took our long lasting guilty
pleasure of killing zombies and created this game. Based on the somewhat
old Source engine from Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead is a fast paced first
person shooter which will take you on a survival quest in an infested
world.
The game's story isn't the most important. People become zombies. That's
the main idea. You play as one of four characters which will need to
make their way to safety in a world full of zombies. You will advance
through several locations on your way to a safer place.
One of the best parts in the game are the zombies. And especially the
sheer number of them. As you make your way through the game, from one
area to another, you will be surprised by how many zombies there are. On
streets, black alleys, stores, old and abandoned houses, woods, under
bridges and probably anywhere you can think of you will encounter them.
You can usually find them in big packs being stationery. Once they spot
you, they come after you. They won't be coming like the one's from
Resident Evil, just sliding slowly towards you. They'll run towards you
and start attacking you. Probably to balance things out a little, the
zombies are not that powerful. This is because of the great number you
will have to confront them. You will have to deal with 50 or more
zombies at a time, all attacking you. Among the normal an less powerful
zombies, there are others who possess certain powers and strengths which
make them more difficult to kill. These zombies are not that frequent
and don't really ever feel like a real challenge.
To deal with all these zombies, the game has a couple of weapons. The
first weapon is a pistol. The pistol is your default weapon and is the
most basic ranged weapon in the game. Its ammo is unlimited. Assault
Rifles, Sniper Rifles or Shotguns are also present. Knowing when to use
weapons is very important as you'll need to save as much ammo as you can
because zombies are constantly attacking. You will also have bombs
which will attract zombies and then blow up to take out more of them.
Molotovs and other weapons are also present.
On your way through the areas, you'll be accompanied by 3 other
characters. They will put up a good fight against the zombies. They will
rescue you when down in battle and give you health packs when needed.
They will communicate with eachother and speak about their actions. This
makes the survival feeling intensify.
Graphically Left 4 Dead is a fair game. It uses a pretty old game engine
which doesn't really bring anything spectacular. The game's graphics
look good however and it looks like Valve have taken the most out of the
Source engine in this game. It is not a looker, but it definitely does
not disappoint and looks pretty good. The game does a great job with
the framerate which stays steady even with dozens of zombies on the
screen at once.
Multiplayer is very important nowadays in games. Left 4 Dead has a great
multiplayer. You can play with up to 3 more players online on any of
the campaign levels. Playing with friends online is a different
experience to the offline one. Playing with friends makes the game a lot
easier or a lot harder. If you are playing with someone who always goes
Rambo style, leaving the group and getting killed often, will make the
other party members suffer as well.
The game focuses on staying together as a group and this is very
apparent in the singleplayer. As good as you may be with first person
shooters, getting away from the 3 characters that accompany you, will
most likely get you killed. The game's difficulty is perfect. Easy is
probably the best way to start but you will make your way to higher
difficulty after getting used to the game.
One of the most important part in the replayability of this game is the
fact that zombies interact to the way you play. If you make noise they
will come after you in greater numbers. If you manage to avoid getting
too much attention, they will attack in smaller numbers and from
different areas. The game never plays the same and zombies never attack
the same. This makes the game one of the best in recent history.
Left 4 Dead is a guilty pleasure. We all love killing zombies because
killing zombies is a lot of fun. There are not many games that play as
well as this and even fewer games with zombies in them. This game is a
game that delivers a lot of fun and will make you addicted to killing
dozens and dozens of zombies at a time.
