Left 4 Dead Review:-

The co-op game to rival even the great Gears Of War?

by Lame360Gamer

© 2008 Warren Marshall:

One topic of conversation that always seems to come up after watching a zombie film is ‘how would you survive the outbreak?’.

D I E you bastard - DIE

Whether it be from your classic zombies (Romero style: slow and mindless) to your modern day zombie (run really fast, make a lot of noise) everybody has a different ‘imaginary’ survival plan.

So, with the popularity of the zombie film genre these days it only made sense that developers were going to try their hand at bringing them across to the gaming platforms.  And they have, big time.  Have a look at this list of zombie games.  With the recent Alone In The Dark and an upcoming title from the popular Resident Evil franchise, can Left 4 Dead bring something new to the outbreak of zombie games?  Does it have its own ’survival plan’?

Does Valve accomplish something new or is the title going to be ‘left for dead’?

Now before racing to the stores to get your zombie fix, probably the most important thing to remember is THIS GAME IS DESIGNED FOR CO-OP! Don’t go into this game thinking you are going to get an in-depth single player story mode with the option for a friend to jump in and play (like GOW 1 & 2 etc).

There is little to no storyline apart from four people trying to blast their way through a never ending horde of zombies, and in this game it works very well.

• Left 4 Dead – Opening Cinematic – More great videos here:

While it is possible to play this game on your own with your team of survivors being handled by AI bots, this game really comes to life when you are playing with a group of friends. If you decide to play the role of the hero and charge around the corner without waiting for your team, chances are you are all going to end up the main course on the Zombie menu. While the gameplay is simple it is very effective.

The game’s four scenarios are further broken down into smaller chapters which sees you and a group of survivors trying to make it from one safe house to the next. In total each scenario will give you roughly half an hour or so of gameplay, but it really depends on how well your team works together.

While it sounds like there isn’t much in the terms of replay value, each time you play a scenario, both the items to help you survive and the zombies themselves aren’t where they were the first time you encountered them. This keeps the players on their toes and means you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

The game moves very fast and keeps your group of survivors having to move forward. Stay in one place for too long and soon enough there will be a horde of Zombies barreling down the street coming up behind you.

Dinner time boys . . . come get it !

Survival is difficult with only a small amount of ammunition scattered throughout the maps and you will find that you are relying on your pistols more than you would like.

Now don’t think for a second that it sounds easy to survive the horde. Along with the swarm of Zombies charging through the empty city streets, it won’t be long before you encounter a series of ’special’ zombies.

These have their own characteristics and can mean certain death for those caught by surprise. Each one needs to be taken out with caution (don’t stand too close to the Boomer when he explodes!) or you will find yourselves taken out of the game very quickly.

The Tank is just what it sounds like. You will hear it coming and it will leave a path of destruction along its way.  It truly is built like a tank!

If playing as the survivors doesn’t sound like your cup of tea why not try to play as one of the undead ’specials’ with a sea of zombies running at your side. Just get ready to die a lot! It will only take a couple of shots to take you down but it is very satisfying stalking your prey before leaping over a vehicle and tackling one to the ground.

The actual A.I in this game I found to be a huge improvement over many other games out there and for once I would actually prefer to have three human controlled survivors alongside one being handled by the A.I. for extra help.

The A.I survivors are good. A little too good. They can take out zombies with one shot like snipers and know who to heal, who to cover etc. I had no complaints from any of our team over how the A.I handled itself as a survivor and it helps to have one on the team that actually knows what it is doing.

The visuals are amazing and really capture the look and feel of an apocalyptic world. Get used to relying on your torch because once you enter a building this is your life saver. I really felt that the apartments and the hospital itself looked outstanding and when walking through these halls picking off the odd shambling Zombie you felt a part of this world. If I had any complaint however over the visuals it would be that there were some locations that suffered terrain clipping. It was most noticeable in outdoor areas.

The biggest downside to this game, which not only gameplay but also graphics and sound suffers, is that it can get repetitive. Same sounds in the background, same looking zombies etc., however they have captured the feel of the characters with each adding their own spoken lines now and then.

Come on you mothers . . . taste this instead.

It is a shame that with the increasing amount of standout titles being released that this title is only going to have a short lifespan. One could easily finish what this game has to offer in the span of a day and fail to appreciate the fun of fast co-op action with friends, which is what this game was designed for.

I am not a fan of first person shooter (FPS) games myself but this one kept my attention. It is forgiving on a newcomer to this genre but also provides you with enough challenge later on, even for a veteran. There is always a large sigh of relief when you and your friends all manage to make it to a safe house without having to leave anyone behind.

If Valve wants this game to survive they need to be constantly injecting the title with a healthy dose of new maps, equipment or gameplay modes to keep the player from straying elsewhere. Unfortunately, I can see it falling into the same category as games like Shadowrun. It delivers exactly what it set out to, but it is going to have to show gamers that there is still a future in it for it to ’survive’.

“9/10

©2008 Warren Marshall:

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