Left 4 Dead

[MrBrightside919]

It's that time of the year again. The leaves on the trees change colors and fall off, turkeys everywhere cower in fear at the idea that they could die by the millions, and most importantly, the video game industry is going to unload a shit load of games on you. The industry has already unloaded a shit load of amazing games, but do they have enough quality titles for the holiday season?

Yep...

A lot of the high quality titles like Fallout 3, LittleBIGPlanet, and Fable 2 have already been released, but what's left to be released? Well, there are still plenty of titles to pick up for the holidays...and Left 4 Dead might be one of them...maybe

I just wanna get one thing out of the way before I begin talking about the game. I was not excited for this game to be released. Up until I actually bought the game, I was not impressed at all and was not planning on picking the game up. My opinion has changed, but you'll just have to read this review to figure out which way it went.

First and foremost is the story. Left 4 Dead doesn't really have a story. All you really need to know is that you are part of a group of 4 survivors and there are an assload of zombies who wanna nibble on your throat. That is all the exposition you are given and for some reason it just feels right. Seriously, did you play Resident Evil for the story? No you played it to shoot yourself some zombies.

The lack of any story doesn't really hurt this game because you weren't gonna play it for the storytelling in the first place. You were gonna play it for other reasons (more on those later).

L4D sports the same old source engine that has powered most of Valve's games from Half Life 2 all the way up to Portal. Source is back in L4D and it is starting to show it's age. Not that i'm saying that L4D is a bad looking game, it's just not as good looking as it should have been. The character look nice, but they lack a certain "sheen" that a lot of other games have today. Not only that, but you'll see the same looking zombies through the game, not that you'll notice what they look like when you are blowing their heads off.

Even though there are downsides to the graphical prowess of the Source engine, it doesn't hide the fact that there are some awesome graphical touches through out L4D. Whether it is the light from your flashlight of some awesome looking textures, the Source engine is definitely pushing it's limits with L4D and I applaud Valve for that.

Let me just say that if the game came out looking like it did a few months ago, it would have gotten many more harsh words from critics because I originally thought the game was a Half Life 2 mod that went big like Counter Strike did.

A really cool looking aspect of the presentation is the movie posters that precede the missions (more on those later). These posters along with the overall tone of the game really provide a sort of B-Movie feel that really draws you in while you play.

Sound design only adds to the experience and the immersion. You will be on the edge of your seat when you hear the sound of the horde running towards you and the screech of the witches will make your spine tingle. Sound is a key feature that must be excellent to make a survival horror game scary and L4D nails it with fantastic results.

The dynamic music system in L4D really amps up the adrenaline factor of the game, making every situation a thrill to run through. Left 4 Dead is a game that just screams surround sound and it really makes the experience if you have a sound system.

Gameplay is what makes this game unique. Left 4 Dead puts players in the role of a group of survivors who are trying to escape an onslaught of zombies who want a midnight snack of brains and flesh. Players will choose one of 4 survivors to play as. There is Zoey (the horror flick fan girl), Bill (the grizzled war vet), Francis (the biker action hero) and Louis (the office working man). I didn't notice much difference between the characters so it will really come down to which character you think looks best. For me, I chose Louis because he reminds me of Shaun from Shaun of the Dead.

There are really 3 modes to play through in Left 4 Dead. You can either play the game by yourself with AI controlled partners, go online for Co-op with friends or randoms, or you can play versus mode.

Single player and Co-op are identical with the exception of the AI being replaced by real people. You and your team will play through 4 campaigns, each composed of a few smaller scenarios. The goal of each scenario is to simply survive through the level and make it to the safe room where you can stock up on ammo and health. When you get to the last mission things change up when you initially have to survive for a certain amount of time while a helicopter comes to your rescue.

Along with the 4 characters, everyone has access to a variety of weapons that is kinda lacking. You've got your standards like pistols, shotguns, sub machine guns, assault rifles, Molotov cocktails, grenades, and pipe bombs.

The game plays very similarly to every other first person shooter out there. You can run, jump, shoot, and melee your way through the level. L4D does things differently by relying very heavily on team work, whether it be with the AI or your buddies. If you try to go gung ho by yourself, you are fucked because you will be overwhelmed by zombies and they will tear you a new food hole.

If anything, Left 4 Dead is down right intense. You'll constantly be overrun by zombies who have nothing more than a hunger for your brains. These aren't your typical "walking dead" either. These zombies will run at full speed right up into your face. And it isn't just one or two zombies. You will be up against maybe 10 or 20 zombies AT A TIME. That's a pretty large number and I haven't even mentioned all the zombies that will follow. The number of zombies quickly climbs into some pretty high numbers. I wasn't really counting, but in one particular scenario there were probably more than 30 zombies nipping at my neck.

Zombies can and will come from absolutely every crevice in the levels. Open this door and you get zombies. Open that door and there are still zombies. Open this fridge and there are some zombies. Open that mail box and you get zombies. This only adds to the level of intensity that L4D already provides. Left 4 Dead is pretty damn scary I must say. It's not Dead Space scary, but it does a good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. Zombies can only be so scary but somehow Valve has re-injected that scariness back into the idea of zombies.

Players can become hurt, their team can heal them and revive them with med packs and pain killers. L4D does a great job of informing players that someone is in trouble with colored outlines for each character when you aren't together in the same room. It's easy to navigate the levels and it is easy to stay together. The only way you'll really ever get separated is if the team splits up completely (not a good idea either).

Like I said before, Teamwork is absolutely essential for success in Left 4 Dead. Playing with the AI is like it sounds, boring. Playing with buddies is where this game really gets a lot of its fun. Online play is the main draw to L4D and you will not have as much fun playing single player as you would if you played online.

The Versus mode plays a little differently from the main game. Players are split into teams of 4 where one team plays as the survivors and the other plays as the zombies. Yeah, you can play as the zombies. What is cooler is that you can play as each type of zombie from the main game; the witches, the leapers, the smokers, and the boomers. The zombies have to kill the survivors before they get killed.

Versus mode isn't nearly as fun as the main game because of one major problem, the versus mode is insanely unbalanced. What I mean by that is the survivors have guns and the zombies don't. That initially means that the survivors have a huge advantage over the zombies because the zombies have to get close enough to the survivors to hurt them with their claws and shit. Playing as a zombie is super cool, at first, but the experience is killed when you realize that you have a tougher time than the survivors do. I will say that it is nice that you get to play as each of the types of zombies during a versus match.

Left 4 Dead is looking to get a good score, but it's the short comings that really hold it back from complete domination of your life. The problems start when you initially play through the game. If you were looking for a story, you're gonna be disappointed. Even the little exposition you are given isn't explained. "Why is everyone a rage zombie? Why are these 4 survivors sticking together anyways? Why am I not playing this game online?"

While it might not be a real problem, I do have a complaint about the flashlight. It's nice having the light to navigate dark places. The problem is that it takes a long time to get used to because you have to navigate some places by the little light circle that the flashlight makes, which can be tough to follow at first. I know i'm just nit picking, but it is annoying bumping into walls because its so hard to see in a dark building. Plus, the colored outlines of the characters doesn't help either.

The arsenal is pretty generic too. With the large amounts of enemies on screen, the game screams for some bigger weapons like flamethrowers, mini guns, and rocket launchers. I dunno bout you but I really have the urge to roast some zombies with a flame thrower. Some people might say that would take away from the realism. Well the game isn't very realistic to begin with so those people can be easily ignored.

Left 4 Dead is a very short game that is a blast to play while it lasts. If you are playing this game for it's single player, you are going to be disappointed. The online is great, but the Versus mode doesn't stack up to the Co-op campaigns. You can blast through this game by yourself in about 10 hours total. If you are playing Co-op with friends, you can probably get through the game in half that time. Each scenario will take about 30 minutes to beat either way. Even with it's short length, Left 4 Dead is extremely re-playable. Because of the random nature of the zombies, each play through will be different from the last, but that doesn't mean you'll wanna play through the game over and over.

Overall, Left 4 Dead is an insanely fun game. This is the zombie game you have been dreaming about. Playing through Left 4 Dead with friends is one of the most rewarding experiences in gaming because it is just so much fun to play. The versus and single player aren't up to snuff, but they will be forgotten under the weight of the amazing Co-op gameplay.

I give Left 4 Dead a 9 out of 10. It's a fantastic original game that has a lot of great ideas underneath the hood. Unfortunately, that fantastic original game is bugged down by a lack of content and modes. The game will only last as long as you want it to because of the short campaigns and pretty boring single player.

If anything, Left 4 Dead just screams downloadable content. But, knowing Valve's track record of DLC on the 360, it doesn't look too good down the line. Once again I am jelious of those people who bought the game on the PC.

 

[milskidasith]

I always open up my review posts by noting what factual inaccuracies you have. I'm finding that a cliche, but I'll sort that out on later reviews.

Anyway, you mentioned that there were molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and grenades. There aren't any grenades: the former two are your grenades (and damn good ones).

Second, your count for the amount of zombies in a horde is wrong. In reality, I figured out that a typical plot-line horde (IE: one where you pull a lever or something and get a horde) will contain roughly two boomers, hunters and smokers (possibly more if you linger, and less if you do really kickass or have been doing so horribly the AI director takes what little pity it has on you), and around 150 to 200 zombies, with smaller hordes being 50 to 100 (and boomer hordes being mostly lingering zombies, ranging from as few as 5 to around 50 if you are really unlucky)) (considering the average of the levels is about 350 for the first few stages and around 500 for the last one, in my experience))(I probably screwed up where the close parentheses went in that train wreck of stream of conciousness facts). Of course, even with everyone simply using single pistols about half of them will die before reaching a human, but still. 30 doesn't do the game any justice.

 

[[Gavo]]

Good review, milskidasith already pointed out the things that I was going to say.

also, they're hunters, not leapers.

Again, nice, solid, long review.

 

[101194]

Good Review If they don't put out DLC for 360 I'm going to murderer them all Look if they add a "Make your own map" thing then L$D will ButF*ck the LBP Owners i would love to make my own zombie map and have like 18 friends try to survive .

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Good Review If they don't put out DLC for 360 I'm going to murderer them all Look if they add a "Make your own map" thing then L$D will ButF*ck the LBP Owners i would love to make my own zombie map and have like 18 friends try to survive .

There's SDK's for L4D and source already. An SDK in general "buttfucks" most other games anyway.

 

[MrBrightside919]

I always open up my review posts by noting what factual inaccuracies you have. I'm finding that a cliche, but I'll sort that out on later reviews.

Anyway, you mentioned that there were molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and grenades. There aren't any grenades: the former two are your grenades (and damn good ones).

Second, your count for the amount of zombies in a horde is wrong. In reality, I figured out that a typical plot-line horde (IE: one where you pull a lever or something and get a horde) will contain roughly two boomers, hunters and smokers (possibly more if you linger, and less if you do really kickass or have been doing so horribly the AI director takes what little pity it has on you), and around 150 to 200 zombies, with smaller hordes being 50 to 100 (and boomer hordes being mostly lingering zombies, ranging from as few as 5 to around 50 if you are really unlucky)) (considering the average of the levels is about 350 for the first few stages and around 500 for the last one, in my experience))(I probably screwed up where the close parentheses went in that train wreck of stream of conciousness facts). Of course, even with everyone simply using single pistols about half of them will die before reaching a human, but still. 30 doesn't do the game any justice.

I'm still learning...you'll just have to bear with me...

 

[rossatdi]

Decent review. It did seem that by the time you'd finished you'd talked it down to a 7 or an 8, instead of a 9, but I've got L4D so I know where you're coming from.

As for the flashlight I actually found that one of the cooler aspects in the game. Especially when you're in a really dark area and you punch a zombie to get a clear shot. The light swings properly as if it was actually attached to your gun leaving you a little disorientated which all adds to the panic stricken terror.

 

[MrBrightside919]

Decent review. It did seem that by the time you'd finished you'd talked it down to a 7 or an 8, instead of a 9, but I've got L4D so I know where you're coming from.

As for the flashlight I actually found that one of the cooler aspects in the game. Especially when you're in a really dark area and you punch a zombie to get a clear shot. The light swings properly as if it was actually attached to your gun leaving you a little disorientated which all adds to the panic stricken terror.

That's what I was saying. It is disorienting at first, but you'll get used to it and learn to love it...

 

[Scumsberg]

This is a very thorough review but I think L4D should have been half the price considering its lack of content.

6 gun types in the entire game, where half are upgrades of the old ones with similar if not identical gameplay mechanics. This cuts variety in half from an already limited selection.

6 monsters in the entire game, 2 of which are rare. They all spawn on the very first level and are never unique, which completely removes all sense of discovery and variety as the game progresses through the campaigns. 98% of the game is the same 4 zombies all the time.

Don't get me wrong, the game is incredibly fun thanks to the tight, forced teamplay and randomness of the AI director, but it feels like they spent the majority of their time creating and gussying up the gameplay engine without actually adding content for it.

 

[Hevoo]

That was a different look at L4D.

 

[MrBrightside919]

This is a very thorough review but I think L4D should have been half the price considering its lack of content.

6 gun types in the entire game, where half are upgrades of the old ones with similar if not identical gameplay mechanics. This cuts variety in half from an already limited selection.

6 monsters in the entire game, 2 of which are rare. They all spawn on the very first level and are never unique, which completely removes all sense of discovery and variety as the game progresses through the campaigns. 98% of the game is the same 4 zombies all the time.

Don't get me wrong, the game is incredibly fun thanks to the tight, forced teamplay and randomness of the AI director, but it feels like they spent the majority of their time creating and gussying up the gameplay engine without actually adding content for it.

I'd rather have an insanely fun game with little content and a gussied up engine than a game that is shitty with tons of content...

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

This is a very thorough review but I think L4D should have been half the price considering its lack of content.

6 gun types in the entire game, where half are upgrades of the old ones with similar if not identical gameplay mechanics. This cuts variety in half from an already limited selection.

6 monsters in the entire game, 2 of which are rare. They all spawn on the very first level and are never unique, which completely removes all sense of discovery and variety as the game progresses through the campaigns. 98% of the game is the same 4 zombies all the time.

Don't get me wrong, the game is incredibly fun thanks to the tight, forced teamplay and randomness of the AI director, but it feels like they spent the majority of their time creating and gussying up the gameplay engine without actually adding content for it.

How exactly a lack of content. It works with any source map. Plus on expert the campaigns are of a decent length

 

[MrBrightside919]

This is a very thorough review but I think L4D should have been half the price considering its lack of content.

6 gun types in the entire game, where half are upgrades of the old ones with similar if not identical gameplay mechanics. This cuts variety in half from an already limited selection.

6 monsters in the entire game, 2 of which are rare. They all spawn on the very first level and are never unique, which completely removes all sense of discovery and variety as the game progresses through the campaigns. 98% of the game is the same 4 zombies all the time.

Don't get me wrong, the game is incredibly fun thanks to the tight, forced teamplay and randomness of the AI director, but it feels like they spent the majority of their time creating and gussying up the gameplay engine without actually adding content for it.

How exactly a lack of content. It works with any source map. Plus on expert the campaigns are of a decent length

He's talking about the 360 version...which is the version I reviewed in the review...

The PC version has so much more content with all the mods that will come out, the extra maps, the user created stuff, etc etc etc...

 

[Scumsberg]

I'd rather have an insanely fun game with little content and a gussied up engine than a game that is shitty with tons of content...

Me too! But that doesn't mean both can't exist at the same time, especially from a developer like Valve. Remember Half-Life 1 and 2? Those were loaded with content - a broad selection of weapons, enemies, NPC and map interactions, vehicles... the list goes on. L4D, not so much... in fact, I would argue L4D is Valve's cheapest offering to date in terms of sheer content. I would also argue the developers were lazy in some respects, while hyper-obsessive in others.

Example of the former: the church guy being a simple 'spawn random boss infected' trigger as opposed to being a unique encounter.

Example of the latter: literally thousands of unique, situational voice files. Immersive and impressive, but mostly cosmetic in terms of gameplay.

How exactly a lack of content. It works with any source map. Plus on expert the campaigns are of a decent length.

I already explained the lack of content in my first post. The length of campaigns is debatable - my last two expert trips online took 1 hour and 1 minute each. Average that out and it's 4 hours and 4 minutes worth of map gameplay in the entire game. This is a bit of a moot point because of the inherent replayability of the game, but decade old shooters with co-operative support offered many more maps than L4D shipped with. There's also the trouble with Versus only supporting two campaigns...

He's talking about the 360 version...which is the version I reviewed in the review...

The PC version has so much more content with all the mods that will come out, the extra maps, the user created stuff, etc etc etc...

No, I'm talking about the PC version. I feel bad for anyone with a console version because they won't receive content updates.

In my opinion, for a $50 title, L4D has half the content of similarly priced games in its genre both modern AND ancient. I understand what you're saying, but I'm not the kind of person who expects my games 'completed' six months or a year after buying them, especially when that work is done by third party developers. I still look forward to it, though.

People get really upset when I criticize L4D (as is the nature of the Valve fan), but I don't feel there are any inaccuracies in this criticism. Personally I'm looking forward to Yahtzee's review if he makes one - we all know how much he loves Valve.