Left 4 Dead

To start off, I'll say that Left 4 Dead is one of the best games of the year, as seems to be typical of a game released by Valve, who have been on a roll for years now.  Although it is not as content-packed as last year's legendarily overstuffed Orange Box (nor does it have as much variety), few (if any) games take such a compelling premise and execute so well, and the content that is there is highly replayable.

I'm going in here with the assumption that you've already read a lot about this, so I don't need to overview the most basic concepts for you. A brief summary would be that there are four survivors

What I loved:

Versus Mode - So good you might ignore the regular modes

I didn't really anticipate playing much Versus Mode after playing the incredible prerelease demo online, which didn't include it. The co-op was already so fun, why would I even need Versus mode? But while it's true that Versus is by nature a more variable experience in quality than the regular co-operative mode, it is incredibly addictive and satisfying to play against a team, trying to one-up each other's score and successfully coordinating attacks. Knowing that humans are on the zombie side, attempting to kill you and coordinating, lends an added urgency to the proceeding, something that a horror game can always use. And while playing the Infected can be more frustrating than playing the humans (regardless you are required to play both sides in Versus so get used to it) there are few things more satisfying in games than successfully wiping a Survivor team with your teammates, knowing that someone somewhere is very angry at you as you tear their brains out.

The Sound - Terrifying

While there isn't much music in Left 4 Dead, when it does kick in (you hear a sort of distant-sounding, three-note trumpet motif) you start fearing for your life, because it usually signals a horde mere seconds away from closing in on you. The music isn't as important as the sounds of the game however. Each of the "boss zombies" have blood-curdlingly distinct sounds associated with them, whether it's the chilling cry of the Hunter, or the hacking and wheezing of the Smoker. And whenever a Boomer vomits on you (attracting every zombie right to you) or a Smoker reels you in with his super-long tongue, a symphony of discordant strings shrieks in the speakers (or headphones, as it were). The only thing better is the sounds of your teammates valiantly crying to help you over voice chat (a necessary for the game to reach its full potential, by the way). It won't take long for you to realize that you and all your teammates sound exactly like the characters in zombie movies when you're talking to each other, at which point you realize just how awesome this game is. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention all the automatic sound cues in the game - all your characters will inform the others out loud when they're reloading, or if they've found med packs, ammo, etc. and even if they've figured out which boss character is out there.

The AI Director - A sadistic son of a bitch

The AI Director is the key to Left 4 Dead's replayability, something important because as far as actual content goes you've only got about four to five hours if you just play through once. The Director randomizes the experience - although it stops short of changing the actual design of the level. But it decides when and where to spawn which and what kinds of zombies every game dynamically, partially based on how well you're doing and also looking to give dramatic peaks and lulls to the playing experience. Most of all though, it's looking to scare and thrill you every time, and does a fantastic job. It does the essential job of having Left 4 Dead stay scary, because if you knew exactly how and when everything was going to happen each game, it would only surprise you the first time.

Truly cooperative - Is it the first time ever?

Co-operative play has lately become a popular feature (at long last) thanks to the success of games like Halo and Gears of War but in most games you don't actually have to play cooperatively, you just happen to be playing with each other. Left 4 Dead forces players to coordinate - a daring move considering the complaints it could cause - which makes it thrilling and makes the payoff of succeeding all the greater. If you ever stray out of sight from your teammates, rest assured that the zombies will get you before your teammates do, especially if you're playing on some of the higher difficulty levels (which I would advise once you get acclimated to the game). In Versus whichever team is playing Infected (zombies) have to coordinate too, otherwise the Survivors will have a breeze getting to the safehouse (which signals the end of the level).

And the little things:

- Flashlights are physically attached to your guns, which means that whenever your gun moves, so does the flashlight. So if you're reloading, or do a melee attack, you live in paranoid fear for those few moments when you might not even be able to see what's coming right at you.

- AI partners are competent, and in fact, probably better than most human players. Which doesn't mean you should play this in single player, as it's not near as fun, but more importantly that whenever people leave they are more than capably replaced by a computer until a new person drops in to replace them (which doesn't take too long).

- It's a breeze to tell when your teammates need health or have a special boss zombie attacking them, which makes the coordination a lot simpler. If you don't save your teammates it will be easy for the Director to kill the rest of you off since you'll have a quarter of your firepower gone.

- Ammo is relatively limited (although you don't have to be all that stingy, and you always have an infinite-ammo pistol although it's largely useless) and health is even moreso. Waste either and it spells disaster. While there are lots of nooks and crannies in the level that may or may not contain these things (placement is randomized), if you waste too much time then the Director will have more chances to send zombies at you, which gives a nice cost-reward give and take to the game.

- While some complained about the lack of story, I liked the sparse narrative and cheesy B-flick style presentation that start and end the campaigns or "movies". If there was a lot of narrative extra stuff it would only distract on replays and mess with the vibe. Plus, while there may be only one cutscene (plays when you start the game),  it's totally kickass.

What I hated:

Four campaigns - Just four? Really?

Okay, so the Director gives pretty much infinite replayability, so this isn't a big problem. That said there's lots of potential in the zombie movie premise, and although Valve has an excellent reputation for postrelease content (PC-side that is) you know it will be a while before we see it. While Left 4 Dead more than justifies its price tag, I'd love to see more.

Versus support for only two campaigns - The other two look neglected

Versus is so fun that I barely even play the other two campaigns that don't have it. So why aren't they supported? There must be a reason but I can't figure out why. While there was a user-mod to fix this on PC I don't know how well it works and that's not much help to those on the consoles. Versus is perhaps Left 4 Dead's best feature, so it should be shown off accordingly. Of any of my complaints, this is the one I would like to see fixed right away.

Funky matchmaking - My friends, where are you?

It's not that I really like server browsers, and for the most part the matchmaking system on Left 4 Dead (for PC, this is) works flawlessly. That said it's a little tricky playing with friends sometimes. The small game sizes (either four for normal or eight for cooperative) mean that you generally won't be able to join ongoing games with friends in them, which is inherent to the gameplay, but even when you want to set up new games with friends and then have other people join it's a bit tricky. You can't reserve specific slots for specific people and open the rest up, so you just have to make a friends only lobby, wait for them to join, and then open the lobby up publicly. It works fine even though it's a bit clunky, but when I did this it sometimes seemed like Steam didn't really open it up, as people would join super-slowly or not at all over several minutes, which is not the norm. Overall it's not a big problem, but it's worth mentioning.

And the little things:

- As with most multiplayer games, there are some real jerks out there. Furthermore, it's frustrating to play with people that don't have mics, and even more with those who have them but don't use them. You probably fare better on Steam than XBox Live, though, as I've only encountered a few memorable ones and have met some people that were very cool. Once you find a good group you can play with them for quite a long time, and there might be no better game experience this year if that happens. Obviously if you just play with friends you won't run into this problem.

- The Source Engine runs very smoothly and allows some older PCs to run the game, which I appreciate. For the most part I don't mind the oh-so-slightly dated visuals as much as some seem to - plus a cutting-edge engine might not be able to handle all the zombies on the screen at once. Even four years after Half-Life 2, though, the occasional crash seems to occur, particularly with a looping sound bug. Even with computers that it does happen to it is infrequent, so I wouldn't worry too much, but it's worth mentioning.

- The Tank seems overpowered, particularly in Versus where he seems to show up more often. A Tank with a competent person at the helm usually signals a party wipe for the opposing team, which can boil Versus down to which team gets the Tank earlier sometimes. It's a minor balance problem that Valve should consider addressing somehow.

Conclusion:

While Left 4 Dead obviously isn't perfect, it transcends its flaws very frequently to create an experience unlike any other. Viscerally exciting and terrifying and nearly infinitely replayable, I suspect my complaints about Left 4 Dead won't stop me from playing for quite a long time. If you have even the slightest interest in zombie movies, shooters, or cooperative play, this is an immediate must-buy. Even if you don't (I don't really like zombie movies personally) you might consider trying it out with friends. Left 4 Dead is absolutely among the most unique and polished experiences of 2008.