Innovative, addictive and proof that Valve is still king of the FPS genre.
With load screens that resemble classic horror movie posters, as well as stereotypical lead characters, Valve has no shame in mimicking horror films like Dawn of the Dead. Much like that film, L4D is loaded with rapid gunplay, severed limbs and senseless gore. It is on the surface of this presentation that the game appears to be a standard FPS. Yet at its core is an immensely fun and unique multiplayer experience that rewards players for their ability to work together as a team. There are numerous tasks throughout the game that force players to work together. Gone are the days of multiplayer teams being just about who's team you were on. Rather, in Left 4 Dead, players must help fallen allies off the ground, bash zombies off friends or heal teammates with the med kits. It is possible to play the single player mode with bots, but this does not have the same spontaneity as the multiplayer action. You never know when one of your human teammates is going to either do something heroic or something obtuse. There is something incredibly intense and satisfying about surviving the zombie horde and making to the safe house with your mates that the single player can't offer.
The four campaigns are made up of environments populated with large hordes of zombies. There are also five special types of infected including: Hunters, Smokers, Boomers, The Witch and the Tank. Each of these differs greatly in attacking styles. The Hunter for example can leap far into the air and then pounce on a survivor; straddle them and then rip away at their flesh, till they are bashed off. Smokers however work from a long range and are able to use their lengthy tongues to sniper their victims and then strangle them, or allow other zombies to beat them to death while incapacitated. Boomers are much slower and even more vulnerable than the Hunter and Smoker. When in close proximity to a human the Boomer can vomit over them, covering the player in goo, which immediately attracts an attacking horde of zombies. When the boomer is blown up they will also douse players in the substance if they are close enough. In contrast to these classes, the Witch is rarer enemy, faced once or less on each map. Players can either choose to fight the Witch and take the risk of heavy damage or they can sneak past her. Finally the Tank is the strongest of all the monsters and requires the entire team to take down. A mixture of the Hulk and King Kong, the Tank is able to smash survivors across rooms and throw concrete slabs. Although it is not very common, the Tank has the ability to change the rapidly change the tide of the campaign and cause misery for players. It is quite clumsy however, and can be often be brought down by being evaded and turned around regularly. All of these monsters are instant classics into the cannon of FPS enemies, as they look and sound terrific. Despite their seeming simplicity, they are more than just cannon fodder. Instead they have all been very well thought out and designed in reflection of the co-operative game play, encompassing the necessity for players to combat them together as a team. If a hunter or smoker incapacitates a survivor, then they will have to hope that their teammates can kill the monster and then get them off the ground. If all Survivors are incapacitated then the game is over.
Throughout the campaign players will find a small selection of weapons, starting with a pistol, a pump action shotgun and a submachine gun. The second tier of weapons is more impressive, which includes an M16 machine gun, a sniper rifle and an automatic shotgun. There are also Molotov Cocktails to light up enemies and pipe bombs as well. Although there isn't a huge selection here, these still adequately fill the needs of short to long range combat. Pipe bombs are scarce, but they are imperative in changing the tide of a battle. If the player is struck by a boomer or surrounded by a horde, the pipe bomb can be thrown to attract the attention of nearby zombies and have them blown to smithereens. All of the weapons are a lot of fun to use because they feel so satisfying in their handling. They seem to all have been designed to really suit the rapid speed of the game play, at which you are attacked and surrounded by enemies. All of the guns, even the rifle, have a very fast firing rate and relatively quick reload times. It does take time to get used to this very loose and fast feel to the gunplay and the physics, but it is a lot of fun and very addictive.
The campaign for Left 4 Dead has been criticised for being quite short. Indeed there are only four campaigns and each may take an hour to finish. However, these can be replayed over and over again given that Valve have implemented Director Technology, which allows the game to make variations as to where enemies come from, and where weapons and supplies are hidden. Although the changes may seem subtle, it does add to the tension and spontaneity of the game play since you don't know where enemies might be lurking. You may have to verse the Tank when you have little to no health, or you may not have to fight him at all. The excellent AI is also a benefit to the game. If you play the game with Bot teammates they will always keep up with you, shut doors behind you to slow down zombies, and pick up additional weapons and use health packs as a human player would. Only rarely, very rarely, as you wait for a final showdown, will they stand in a spot that will have you shaking your head. Zombies act as they should too, that is not particularly intelligently for the undead, by staring off into space and then rushing into your weapons, hoping for their sheer numbers to overwhelm you. The chaos in these battles, with hordes of zombies swarming around you, is just amazing and quite unlike any other zombie game you've played. Amidst the chaos of a battle it can be easy to mistaken teammates for zombies and friendly fire is always kept on throughout the game.
The Special Infected is more intelligent, with Hunters and Smokers in particularly looking to catch out players flagging behind their teammates. You really don't appreciate the level of tactics employed by the Infected until you play Versus mode. In those mode you will verse an opposing team, switch between playing as the Infected and the Survivors. It takes a fair amount of time to master each of the Special Infected classes. Once you play this mode several times however, you will come up with regular tactics that you can use against teams. Even as the Infected it is still necessary to play as a team in order to stop your enemies. For example, it can be highly rewarded if Hunters attack Survivors at the simultaneously, or if a Smoker covers the Hunters in case the other Survivors try to launch a rescue of their teammates. Playing with and against humans is the strength of the game and probably its greatest weakness too. It doesn't matter how good a player you are, because if you have an uncooperative team then you will lose, which can be incredibly frustrating. In contrast though, when the game just gels and you are winning, it is such a fun and satisfying experience. It is unfortunate that Versus often becomes a lopsided contest given that one team will normally outclass another well before the end. Closer matches would have been much more exciting. It is also disappointing that Versus only allows you to play two of the four campaigns. It still remains a lot of fun to play these two campaigns and Versus greatly extends the life of the game. I played Left 4 Dead for well over 40 hours in total and Valve is meant to be releasing additional content in the next few months.
Some have said that technologically the game shows the age of the Source Engine, but the game still benefits from some really superb animations for the Infected. The way they move and run towards you and get blown back by your weapons is spot on, exactly as how you would expect it to be in a real zombie horror film. The character models on the Survivors are not the most detailed, but just looking at them you can still grasp a sense of who they are and a bit of their story. The voice acting of the Survivors too is competent enough and really accentuates the miming of the Romero-style zombie films. It is Left 4 Dead's focus on game play as opposed to spectacular effects that is really quite refreshing for a FPS. The way the game has been so well thought-out and designed to encourage co-operative play, and the importance of playing as a team is innovative, addictive and proof that Valve is still king of the FPS genre.
4.5/5