Left 4 Dead is a game that I've been meaning to review for some time, but I've been too busy playing it!
Gameplay- Left 4 Dead's core gameplay is an incredible amount of fun, and if you've ever played zombie mods for other multilayer shooters and wondered what the most awesome ungodly combination of zombie gaming would be, this is it. Basically you and three teammates (AI or human) go through these campaigns together fighting off hordes of zombies and specialized monsters all while being tormented by the mysterious and much vaunted AI director. Well the director is quite talented at mixing it up. Even on your hundredth playthrough of a given campaign, you won't know where the attacks are coming from exactly. The game does get a bit predictable in terms of spawn points, but that's really only limited by the mapper and the overall feeling is one of scared confusion, perfect for a zombie game. I could describe Left 4 Dead's core zombie gameplay for hours but it's really something you just have to play. It's very intuitive and a whole lot of fun. A few complaints are legitimate, however. In total there are 5 guns besides your side arm(s): shotgun, auto-shotgun, assault rifle, smg, and sniper rifle. A bit more variety and customization would have been nice, though these weapons all work just fine. Also, although you wouldn't know it now, valve has been slow on patching this game up to what it should have been at release, doing things like unlocking all campaigns for versus, and adding survival mode. Ultimately, they will continue to support Left 4 Dead, but they get marked down for being slow.
Graphics- It's a late build of the source engine, but it's still the source engine: nice, but not anything special in 2008, let alone 2009. it does the Job and they have spruced up the lighting and dismemberment effects quite a bit.
Sound- The sound in this game is a lot of fun. The aural cues given off by special infected and the musical crescendos that precede major fights are things you only tune into the more you play. The weapons sound and feel satisfying, and some of the special infected noises are just gross, or even disturbing. Very fun.
Value- Left 4 Dead is a game to be played online, preferably with friends. The bots will give you your money's worth, but the true longevity of this game is in both competitive and cooperative online play. Valves updates both past and possible future ones will continue to add content for the players. All in all, a much better value than meets the eye.
Tilt- I love zombie games and movies, so what might have been an 8.7 on the old scale becomes a 9 on the new one.