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::PUBLISHER::
Valve/Electronic Arts
::DEVELOPER::
Certain Affinity / Valve
::GENRE::
First-Person Shooter
::RELEASE DATE::
11/20/08
::PLAYERS::
1-4
::LIVE::
Voice Support, Voice Messaging, Leaderboards, Marketplace Downloads, Players Co-op: 1-4, Players: 2-8
::COST::
59.99
::FEATURES::
Players: 1-2, Players Co-op: 1-2, Multiplayer Versus, System Link: 2-4, Dolby 5.1 Surround, HDTV 1080p, Hard Drive Required, Storage Device
Good: Co-op!
Bad: Very short game.
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Left 4 Dead Review
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Left 4 Dead is like the best haunted house you’ve ever been to and one that you can go back to time after time with new twists and turns. Me and Dameon White take a stab at this blessing of a game.
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The AI Director — Valve’s own behind-closed-doors game puppeteer — takes center stage and makes for a terrifying good time with friends who you’ll need to help up, heal up, and not shoot. After all, friendly fire (in the upper difficulty levels, anyway) is lethal.
Playing with friends is where the game shines. Expectations of coming in and playing it as a single-player game should be put in check right from the start. L4D is fully playable by yourself but can be incredibly boring, especially played on normal, and short. The “story” (spanning four movies with five acts each) can be plowed through in 3-4 hours.
It only works for learning the mechanics, end goals, and figuring out how the various “infected” work against you to keep the “survivors” from reaching the next checkpoint. Playing with the considerate AI — they will actually heal you unlike your jerk friends — for a campaign or two readies you for the online challenge. Among the many things L4D does right, atmosphere is one of them where every environment is different from the last and the music cued lets you in on the dangers afoot. The level design, especially, is great in that it varies the situations from claustrophobic townhouses to wide-open train yards.
Also, the meter system that accompanies actions (healing, helping teammates) is a smart move in creating tension for the game: “Will I finish patching up before the horde gets me?!” Online is where players will get the biggest chunk of their money’s worth. Normal makes for a fun, relaxed time but, trust us, if you want a real tense, zombies-are-after-my-brains sense of dread go up to Advanced or Expert. Teamwork and a tight strategy is needed (i.e. crouch if you’re in front of the pack), but the fact that every bullet counts and friendly shots knock down your teammates makes for a more satisfying experience.
Unlike campaign co-op, where you can effectively play with total strangers, versus mode disappoints a bit. If you have a good team it plays out great but, unfortunately, both teams aren’t made equally fun. Grievers will love playing as the infected — hiding out waiting for survivors — but they are weaker, have long “reloads” and 25-second respawn times slow the game to a crawl.
L4D doesn’t have an extensive list of options (only Versus and Campaign are available), but what’s there will tide gamers over until Valve, when and if, releases new DLC. And that’s what holds the game back: a lack of content. It’s a full-priced, $60 (360) or $50 (PC) game completely reliant on multiplayer with limited options and the hopes that it will be supported continuously down the line.
I can’t completely shake off the feeling that Left 4 Dead is somewhat overpriced, but if you’re willing to pay a premium price for a superior, essentially online-only, co-op experience playable with three other friends — buy it. The shortness of this game makes this review just that much shorter. Unfortunately there just is not that much offered! The AI Director keeps the action fresh enough to make every playthrough unique and hopefully Valve updates the light-on-content title regularly with new “movies” on Xbox 360. Check out Dameon's take on the next page.
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