Left 4 Dead has grabbed my attention. The jury is still out as to how long this grasp takes hold, but for now I’m committed! Valve has done it again! Just like TF2, they took out all of the BS and left a clean addictive yet terrifying game, which in my opinion is the best team oriented game I’ve played since Battlefield 1942. Oh, and flag whores do not exist in this game. You leave your team, you die.
The basic storyline revolves around 4 survivors trying to escapre a city crawling with infected, blood thursty zombies, who want nothing more than to rip your face off and feast on what remains.
But, these zombies are in pretty bad shape and spend most of their time staggering around, barfing on each other and on occasion you may witness a love spat between two of them.
They are rather harmless until the humans come in contact with them. That is when they understand their mission in death, which is to attack your ass with everything they have, until either you or them die.
The 4 survivors are well armed and can easily take them out, so to make it interesting there are 5 infected that have boss characteristics and will scare the living shit out of you. Each has a specific power. Each has a specific sound that alerts the survivors of their presence.
The Hunter - Attacks like a rabid cat.
The smoker - Uses his tongue to pull you close so he can finish you off.
The Witch - Likes to use her claws to rip your face off.
The Boomer -Pukes on you to summon the zombie horde.
The Tank - Attacks like a roided out bulldozer.
The game is very cinematic (is that a word?). The music and sound, play as big a part in this game as the gameplay itself. Its an extremely intense game that takes a lot out of you while playing. Its almost like you are playing the part of Dr. Robert Neville.
Nightmare much? I’ve played these campaigns over and over in my sleep. What am I thinking?
My favorite part of the game is the Versus mode. There are 4 survivors versus 4 infected. Each team rotates playing infected one round and survivors the next. The scoring is based on a few things including which survivor team makes it the furthest. Once the survivors either die, or make it to the safe room, the score is tallied and the teams switch. Its very competitive, and extremely team driven. Nothing beats being part of a well timed attack against the survivors to end the round.
If I had a vote for the best games of 2008, I would not hesitate in putting this up there. My computer is a POS and freezes up playing Counter-Strike Source, and TF2, but it runs this game smooth as butter! I’m hoping Valve keeps the interest in this game bringing in fresh campaigns and adds new things to keep it going. If you do not have this game, you must get it! The only thing that would make this better is if Valve would have decided to go Jules
instead of Louis. But nothings perfect.
RMP00N
