Left 4 Dead (PC) > Reviews (10)

LEFT 4 DEAD is a first-person zombie survival cooperative game by VALVE.

Copied from DooYoo account of the same name

Gameplay

The sound of zombies raged from all sides as we struggled through the floors of the abandoned, bloodied hospital. Helicopters fly dangerously close overhead and the building began to shake as the amplitude of the oncoming zombie attack became more apparent, more intense, and infinitely more deadly. Another three people surround me, their names, Bill, Louis and Francis, and they are just as terrified at what might come next. Bill pulls out a fire axe, blood still dripped and stained it from it's last, terrifying, use. Francis held steady his shotgun, feeding it shells with cold, large shaking hands. Louis stood there, calmly awaiting what he knew would come next, cradling his assault rifle in his arms. For a second, there was silence, alas, it was short lived. The door across the corridor slammed open, revealing a linear path between us and the zombies. Louis and Francis stand, gripping their weaponry to attention, then they grip the weapons strongly, and pull the trigger. In a short matter of seconds, there was blazing fire, death in all directions. Charging zombies toppled forwards, backwards and throughout the region, the collapsing of a swarm could be heard. We advanced into the crowd, fingers pressed sorely onto the triggers that were ensuring our survival, our eyes drawn both to the sights of the rifle and the ammunition from which we would reload our weapons. The zombie apocalypse has not left us dampened in sprit. In heart, in mind, in body, we advance.

The gameplay of Left 4 Dead is exactly what you would expect from a game where the world is overrun with zombies, cooperative fun with a variety of weaponry. Actually, that doesn't sound like what a zombie apocalypse would be like. The gameplay doesn't have a lot of variety, but one thing is certain, it is endlessly replayable and brilliant every time. There is, among a selection of general infected almost 'human' enemies. There are other, special, zombies. These include the smoker - the man that has inhaled too much tobacco over his life time, who, when shot produces a cloud of deadly cloud that threatens to choke your team and restrict vision. There is also the Boomer, a sick feeling man who has had too many sandwiches, he's slightly overweight, and he's ready to throw his horde-attracting lunch all over you and the other survivors. In addition, there is the hunter, most equivalent to men who hugely enjoy acrobatics, flying to and fro, sliding onto respective survivors and pulling their guts out in a flurry of gore. There's also the man that should not have taken so many steroids before the infection, and can now knock you a mile with a flick of the wrist. However, possibly the most fearful zombie on the list, is the witch. Transformed from a depressed teenage girl to an absolute evil, you charges at the first sight of light and munches at your arm for producing a footstep, and is the most terrifying zombie of the entire game.

There are several game modes that range from survival to versus. Co-operative is brilliant fun, and the versus modes are fantastic with friends, Valve also regularly add mutations which alter and change the game modes to be completely different. It's an extraordinary idea and it's pulled off very well, especially since these modifications are entirely free on the PC.

Graphics

Left 4 Dead uses the award-winning Valve Source engine, it's hugely scaleable, looking brilliant and running equally brilliantly on the highest settings and running fantastically for lower-end systems such as laptops on lower end settings. The lighting is perhaps the only downfall of the game, as it lacks the dynamic shadows that characterises the atmosphere of so many similar games. The textures, however, are extremely well done and easy to look at. The engine has also been praised for its extreme amount of modification that can be performed on the engine. For this reason, the graphics can be great and there can be so many flavours of gameplay as there are so many maps and gamemodes that have been created by the community. Perhaps it isn't primarily the graphics, but it is an excellent, game elongating feature.

Sound

The sound of the game is characterised by its moody music and the sounds of the oncoming zombie hordes. Everything has a definitive and brilliant sound, from the vomit gurgling of the boomer to the hoarse coughing of the smoker to the chilling resentful sobs of the witch. The sound adds a new dimension to the game, and the game wouldn't be quite the same without it's fantastic addition.

Value for Money / Longevity

The value for money on Left 4 Dead really depends on what you are buying the game for. The game is fantastic with those who have friends to play it with and would like a game where you progress through a zombie apocalypse, and many people may find that they could play the games campaigns over and over again. However, some people may find the games repetitive zombie killing a bore and would want to restrain themselves from ever playing again. The value for money in your mind is really restricted to what you like to play. However, if like me, you enjoy the genre, I'd recommend that this game would satisfy your zombie killing needs for a long time yet.

Multiplayer

The entire prospect of the game is essentially multiplayer, and not just because the bots that feature so prominently in the singleplayer game are both incredibly stupid and occasionally get caught behind walls and taken down by zombies. There is really no reason to put yourself through the cooperative singleplayer experience, when you could be fighting the idiots with your three best mates. The multiplayer is easily among the best features in the whole video game, and I'd highly recommend that you have the internet connection to play it, otherwise you may find the game slightly frustrating and incredibly annoying to play through.

Difficulty

The game ranges from incredibly easy to incredibly hard, with varying difficulty settings.

On the highest difficulty settings, the zombies are near impossible to kill as they swarm you in huge numbers, separating you from your team of buddies, whereas on easy they are your average toddlers as they stammer to and fro your path, almost ignoring you with a big 'Shoot me' sign on their large, squidgy heads. The game is just the right difficulty to be great fun.

Content Watch

There is some content in Left 4 Dead that some may find offensive, here is the rundown.

Violence

The violence in Left 4 Dead isn't quite as brutal as it's sequel, it still allows for the mutilation of limbs and the shotgunning of faces, but it isn't nearly as intense or as graphic as the sequel.

There are a variety of weapons to use, but none of them produce significant gory detail.

Language

Bill uses the military term 'FUBAR' at times.

Content Conclusion

It isn't too hard on content, so I presume that anyone that is over the age of fourteen should be able to pass through the games depths fairly well, I'd say 13 up for this one.

Game Conclusion

Shotgun blasting, assault rifle firing and fire axe slicing fun. Left 4 Dead is the whole first-person cooperative linear challenge for a group of up to four friends. It's a must buy for any cooperative fan, especially at the low price at which it can now be found.

I award the game five out of five stars.