Left 4 Dead Review
Left 4 Dead is a game for the XBOX360 console in which you will be assuming the role of 1 of 4 different characters. You and the other 3 characters are survivors of a zombie infestation. It is your job to navigate through levels (or scenes) to try to get rescued, and survive the onslaught of zombies. You'll be able to have a gun of your choice and a trusty pistol (unlimited ammo on the pistol). There are several campaigns that you'll be able to partake in.
Graphically this game has a certain grit to it that you'd expect from any zombie horror movie. The character models for the zombies are well done, but at the same time you're going to be shooting what appears to be the same guy over and over again. I do like the different look of the zombies, ie the smoker, boomer, witch, tank, and hunter, so that there is no confusion when you're facing off against them. The levels definitely belong in a zombie movie with their use of caution tape, dead bodies lying all around, abandon cars, hospitals torn apart and more.
There's not a lot to the voice acting, so don't be surprised when you hear a line for the 10th time. The sounds do blend into the horror film genre, but it doesn't distinguish itself enough to really immerse you.
The controls are pretty straight forward, you've got your shooting button, your scope (if you've got the rifle), toggle items buttons, and more. There's really nothing wrong with the controls, I can't say they are my favorite setup, but they were sufficient enough to get me through the different levels.
Each campaign is like a mini-movie. You're going to have a setting and it’s you taking control of the action as you try to survive long enough to get rescued. The only thing that really breaks the horror, zombie, movie mold is that no one dies from your squad. You're all going to get rescued in the end. There's plenty of action as you'll have zombie crawling from all over the place. You'll have a limited amount of ammo for your personal choice of weapons, so be careful. Between scenes you're going to see some of the stats for the previous stage, usually it shows you headshot count, number of zombies killed, amount of damage taken, etc. The one thing that really hurts this game is the fact that as soon as you start you have access to all campaigns, and all scenes. So if you're not careful you're not going to get the achievements you thought you're going to be getting. I personally played through all the campaigns, but I didn't do one straight through. I would get back into the game and then start where I left off, and you don't get credit for that. The multiplayer allows you to switch sides and become one of the zombies, my personal suggestion, Smoker.
This game is meant to be played with others, by playing by yourself you're committing a terrible crime, and you're also exposing the true weakness of the game. That is the AI for team members. If you're looking for a survival horror game with zombies that you can play by yourself, don't get this game. If you're looking for a zombie bloodbath game, which feels like a movie, that you can play with some of your friends, then this is the game for you. This game gets a7.8 out of 10.
