Co-op, zombies, what more could you ask for?
There have been multiple attempts at making a game based on Co-op, and almost every time with ether bad, or very mixed results. Well famous game studio Valve, behind the Half-Life series, has delivered a fantastic game. Left 4 Dead delivers probably the best new multiplayer experience out of any game in 2008.
Left 4 Dead is a four player Co-op game that takes place during a zombie apocalypse. There's not really any story to the game, it's main focus is the game play. So don't expect some mind blowing explanation, or any at all, to why there are zombies everywhere. Just enjoy the game.
If your getting this game, don't plan on playing it alone, because this is truly a Co-op game. The game is a lot less fun if you decide to play it alone. This is because the game relies are team work, and its not as easy to do that with the AI team mates. So make sure you have some friends to play with, if you don't? No problem, the game can match you up with three other players over Xbox Live. So that makes playing find a game with three other players easier.
There are four campaigns to play though, each with the same objective, find a way to escape. But you won't get there without a fight, because there are a lot of zombies. And one thing that make Left 4 Dead so special is that the zombies will never appear in the same place twice. That's because Left 4 Dead has a AI directer.
This makes each play though of a campaign exciting to play though, because zombies will spawn according to how your playing. Which is important because four campaigns will take only about 45 minutes to a hour to finish. But don't worry, they are highly re-playable. The AI directer keeps every play though fresh.
Though the regular zombies can be dangerous in large hordes, things get pretty crazy when the special infected attack.
Besides the normal infected that you'll see wondering around, there are five types of special infected. Each special infected have a ability that make them more of a threat than other zombies. Tongue grabbing, horde attracting puke, and giant muscular, to name a few. If for some reason these powers sound fun to you, you'll love the versus mode.
The versus mode takes eight players, the player is ether a special infected, of a survivor. The survivor's goal is the same as it is in the campaign, find a way to escape. Except now its with a twist, now you have four other player coordinating attacks on the survivors to stop them from reaching the safe room. And since special infected can respond, and survivors cannot. Playing as a survivor is now a whole new challenge. Playing as a survivor, and playing as a special infected are two completely different experiences.
Left 4 Dead is a fantastic multiplayer experience. No other game makes team work such an important element in a game. So if you like Co-op games, you won't want to miss Left 4 Dead. There are many zombie blasting fun times to be had.
